Walmart manager fired over anti-Muslim Facebook posting

HAMBURG, N.Y., Sept. 5 (UPI) -- An assistant manager at a Walmart in Hamburg, N.Y., was fired for a Facebook post in which he lashed out against Muslim customers, the company said.

The expletive-filled post included a photo of two women in traditional, full-cover Muslim dress and the comment, "Halloween came early this year ... do they really have to dress like that ... your in my country ... get that ... off," was brought to the attention of Walmart executives by a local Muslim community member and the New York chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, The Buffalo News reported Thursday.

The newspaper said CAIR-NY identified the employee as Terry Earsing. A Walmart spokeswoman, Kayla Whaling, said the man was fired.

"As soon as we became aware, we began looking into this and as a result, this associate is no longer with the company. We set high expectations for our associates, and this associate clearly failed to meet these expectations at every level," Whaling told the newspaper.

Easing apologized, telling the newspaper, "I'm truly, honestly sorry about the whole thing," calling the incident a joke that went awry.

Ryan Mahoney, board president of CAIR-NY, praised the company for acting swiftly on its policies and noted the photograph was taken while Earsing was at work.

"Because he did it at his job, it's not about personal expression, it's about Walmart's policy toward hate speech," Mahoney said.