But what about a worker who calls himself the N-word?

That was the question Syracuse officials had to decide in the case of Todd Gordon, a black Department of Public Works employee. The city chose to fire him.

Gordon was working as a street repairman in the city's Department of Public Works in October when another worker objected to their job assignments.

The other worker, Ed Firnstein, went into a supervisor's office to complain that he should have been assigned a roller truck instead of a dump truck, Gordon said. Firnstein, who's white, wanted to switch assignments with Gordon, who had less time on the job.

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Gordon went in the office and objected. Firnstein called him a "f------ punk," according to Gordon.

"You know what, man? I'm tired of this. You don't like working with (N-words) like me," Gordon responded.

Four months later, the city fired him for using the racial slur.
http://www.syracuse.com/state/index....he_n-word.html