A bus driver has been fired from the Jefferson County (Ky.) district after allegedly refusing to wear a mask inside an elementary school building.
WAVE-TV reports that Shavonda Offutt was informed through a letter last month from Superintendent Marty Pollio, informing her of her employment termination based on multiple reported incidents showing “neglect of duty, insubordination, misconduct and other grounds.”
According to the letter, Offutt was suspended by a supervisor after an incident Dec. 11 in which she was not wearing a mask while inside the Sanders Elementary School in Louisville.
When asked to place a mask on, Offutt refused, and was later told by an assistant coordinator to do so after the school called the compound to report it.
Offutt was also seen by personnel walking into the cafeteria “forcefully coughing and laughing” without her mask on.
Upon meeting with a manager and union representative on Dec.16, Offutt contended that she had her mask on with the exception of when she was eating.
She also said she had dropped her mask on the ground and did not put the mask back on because it was dirty.
School employees are required to wear a mask at work any time they are around people, according to guidance from the school district.
