Dearborn employee fired for anti-Muslim posting on Sports Illustrated model
The Dearborn employee who slurred Muslims in a Facebook post was fired Wednesday for his remarks and for trying to cover up his actions by claiming that he had been hacked.
"Bill Larion no longer works for the City of Dearborn," the city said in a statement.
On Saturday, Larion, 58, had posted on Facebook a comment that a Muslim swimsuit model in Sports Illustrated is like a camel, a remark that is used to demean Arabs and Muslims. Larion, who works part-time as a surveyor in the city's engineering division, posted the comment while off work.
After his comment was publicized on Facebook forums, some Arab Americans and others in Dearborn called for him to be reprimanded or fired.
Larion then told a Dearborn Police officer, Dearborn's human resources department and WXYZ-TV that he had been hacked and was not the source of the post, according to a city letter. On Tuesday, he admitted through attorney Ed Zelenak that he wrote the post seen as offensive by many in Dearborn, which is more than 46% Arab American.
Read more: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/05/08/muslim-sports-illustrated-swimsuit-model-racist-slur/1146197001/