TEXAS : ‘Midget’ Remark Leads to Resignation

Houston Mayor Lee P. Brown said he had accepted the resignation of a senior city official who publicly referred to a Republican councilman, who is a dwarf, as a “midget.” Affirmative Action Director Lenoria Walker made the remark about Councilman Joe Roach during a panel discussion at the National Conference of Black Mayors in New Orleans earlier this month. Brown had initially suspended Walker but said that after looking into the incident, it was clear she deserved a significant reduction in pay and responsibility. Brown said that because of Walker’s previously unblemished record of 18 years as a city employee, she would be given another job.