Cheyenne teacher’s racist slur resurfaces on video from 4 years ago; district says issue has been addressed

CHEYENNE — A four-year-old video of a Laramie County School District 1 employee calling a man a racist slur off camera is circulating on Facebook among several Cheyenne groups.

The video shows a woman sitting on a couch, wearing a green T-shirt that says “Black Lives Matter.” She is talking on her phone when a man off-camera asks her if she just called him the N-word.

“I called you (N-word) because you’re (N-word),” the woman says on the recording. “You’re a black person, good for you. What’s wrong with that?”

Laramie County School District 1 officials confirmed Wednesday that the video had first come to their attention four years ago and that its content was addressed at that time.

The district was unable to tell the Wyoming Tribune Eagle how the incident was handled because disciplinary actions are part of an employee’s personnel file. Personnel files are confidential under Wyoming Statute 16-4-203(d)(iii), meaning the district cannot comment on what actions have been taken regarding personnel.

According to LCSD1, the district’s Human Resources Department was contacted Tuesday about the video. The person who shared the video reported that they had also shared it with a former administrator.

“District administration is aware that an old video of an employee outside of work hours surfaced on social media,” LCSD1 told WTE in a prepared statement. “This was originally reported to the district over four years ago and was addressed at that time.

“We understand that these posts are offensive and hurtful to many people in our community,” the district added in its statement. “As this is a personal matter, the district will not be commenting further.”

Generally, school board policy only applies to staff conduct within their official duties or during the workday. In certain circumstances, such as ethical conduct or harassment and discrimination, conduct outside of official duties that impacts the learning environment may be addressed, according to the district.

Although the video is four years old, it has only recently been circulating on Facebook. Comments on the post range from supportive to condemning the LCSD1 employee, including comments calling for her to lose her job.

It is unclear where the video came from or why it resurfaced.