Official Calls Dwarf ‘Midget,’ Is Penalized

Mayor Lee P. Brown suspended the city’s affirmative action director for three days without pay for referring to a city councilman who is a dwarf as a “midget.” Brown ordered Lenoria Walker to apologize to Councilman Joe Roach and set up a sensitivity training program for city employees. He refused to ask for her resignation. Roach opposes a contracting program overseen by Walker and backs an amended plan to include people with disabilities--a policy that would affect dwarfs, among others. As a panelist last week at a conference in New Orleans, Walker, describing Houston’s program, said, “We have a Republican council member saying that we should have something with people with disabilities--a midget.”