White woman loses her job after being filmed deliberately coughing on a baby in 'racially motivated' incident

A white woman who was filmed deliberately coughing into a baby’s face has lost her job as a teacher.

Last month, footage showed the woman, thought to be in her 60s, removing her mask and coughing several times in the face of a 1-year-old boy in a Californian frozen yoghurt store.

After an appeal by police, the suspect was identified, although her name has not been released to the public.

However her employer, the Oak School Grove District, confirmed she had been let go.

In a statement, the district said:

As many know, there have been allegations that a District employee was involved in a videotaped incident in which the person appeared to have intentionally coughed on a baby at a local Yogurtland. 

We want to inform our community that the District employee who was alleged to have engaged in this conduct is no longer an employee of our District.

The Oak Grove School District’s highest priority is the safety of our students and the well-being of all of the children in the community we serve. We do not tolerate conduct from any employee that compromises any child’s safety. 

At time of the encounter, Mireya Mora, the mother of the child, told news outlets she thought the woman’s actions were racially motivated.

Mora is Latinx and claimed the white woman said “so you don’t understand, and do you even understand what I’m saying, like I’m not even speaking English" during their interaction.

The woman had become upset as she believed Mora was not maintaining social distancing, despite surveillance footage showing that she was standing apart from her.

It was at this point the woman removed her mask and coughed several times into the baby’s face, before leaving the store.

Police immediately launched a search for her which led to Mora eventually identifying her from a line-up.

Despite the child developing a mild fever soon after, he recovered and there will be no further charges pressed.

Losing your job in the middle of a pandemic seems punishment enough...