‘Inappropriate’ Cake Leads To Firings At Michigan Morgue

A cake that showed up in the break room of a Detroit area morgue was the last straw for employees fed up following a long list of complaints.

The employees at a Macomb County morgue say they have been subjected to racial and sexual abuse for years before a cake with a penis on it showed up in the break room. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. Several people were fired following the incident, which occurred in early June.

Three workers at the Macomb County Medical Examiners Office were fired in the wake of a complaint filed to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. All three employees were female.

"There has been an ongoing hostile work environment within the Medical Examiner's Office since I have been here," the Detroit Free Press reports the July 18 complaint states. "The office culture is tainted with racism toward people of color. This was not only ignored by managing personnel, but participated in by the supervising staff."

Macomb County Human Resources Director Andrew McKinnon told the Free Press the employees let go were afforded due process and they were fired for sexual discrimination, not racism.

But at least one former employee told the Free Press that they witnessed several racists incidents revolving around black deceased persons being taken care of by the morgue.

The Macomb Daily reported that pornographic images featuring mostly males were placed in public areas of the office and could be seen by people conducting business with the morgue.