'God Is Good': Security Guard Reinstated After Being Fired for Telling Student Not to Call Him the N-Word

Imagine your job firing you for telling someone not to call you a racial slur, then the conflicting range of emotions you’d experience once your job decided to reinstate your employment.

According to NBC 15, that’s exactly what’s happened to Marlon Anderson, a security guard at Madison West High School in Madison, Wy.:

The Madison Metropolitan School District rescinded the termination of a staff member, who was fired last week for using a racial slur.

According to a release from the union, Madison Teachers Inc., the Madison Metropolitan School District decided Monday to rescind the termination of Marlon Anderson, a security guard at Madison West High School.

Anderson was fired by the district after a black student said the n-word during an exchange, and Anderson repeated the racial slur when he told the teen not to use it. At the time, district leaders said Anderson was fired for violating its “zero-tolerance policy” for using the racial slur on school grounds.

Effective immediately, Anderson will return to paid status and his full benefits will be reinstated while he negotiates with the school to return to work as soon as possible.

“I’m back!” Anderson announced Monday on Facebook. “While at work today at Boys & Girls Clubs, I learned from the Madison Teachers Union President that School Supt. Jane Belmore has rescinded the decision of my termination. I will be placed on paid administrative leave and my transition plan is being negotiated. I will continue to work at the Club until we negotiate my return back to the district.”

In response to the firing, Anderson’s son, Noah, organized a massive walkout with hundreds of outraged Madison West students on Friday.

“A slur is directed towards somebody to be derogatory. What my father did was he told, he took a teaching moment as an African-American male to a younger African-American male why he shouldn’t use the word and why to not refer to himself that way,” Noah said.

And he’s right. Anderson should’ve never been fired in the first place.

“I thank God for the support. I thank God for the students and I’m so proud that they got out there and they fought, and that they made it happen,” Anderson told NBC 15.

But while he’s grateful to resume work, he’s mindful that the school district needs to prevent this type of thing from ever happening again.

“Now we have to address the policy!!” he wrote on Facebook. “God is good!!!”