Former Postal Worker Talks About Customer's Racial Tirade
HINGHAM (CBS) -- A racially-charged video has gone viral, and a former Hingham mailman says it cost him his job.
Postal worker Hugson Jean made sure his cell phone camera was rolling when a customer launched into a tirade.
"No one would believe me if I didn't do this," he told WBZ-TV's Beth Germano.
The video has now been seen by tens of thousands of people nationwide. Jean, 48, took it with his cell phone last October when he tried to deliver a certified letter to Hingham resident Erika Winchester.
In the video Winchester is heard swearing and using racial epithets. He says she knew he was recording her and when Jean asks Winchester, "Why call me the "n" name?" Winchester responds, "Because you're acting like a moron."
Jean also says that Winchester slapped him so hard he had double vision. He says he couldn't pull away because she was so close to his truck and now he claims the encounter cost him his job with the postal service.
"They just couldn't do it based on my performance," he said. "They tried to find other ways and finally they found a way."
Jean claims he'd been subjected to verbal abuse from his supervisors because he was the only African American employed at the Hingham office. This video, he believes, shows him to be a troublemaker, not a victim, in their eyes.
But a statement from postal service says, "Let me assure you that the employee's job status has nothing whatsoever to do with the video."
According to Hingham Police Winchester was charged last year with assault and battery hate crime, but Hugson didn't want to testify against her.
There's a discrepancy in the case because Hugson says he was never notified and did want his day in court.
The postal service says the video was disturbing and they pursued the incident through the local police.
Hugson claims no action was taken by his supervisors.
