Scuzzbucket of the Week

Due to the fact that a lot of us were paying attention to other things - namely surviving - in September of 2005, I missed this class act.

So I am crowing Miz Renee Holcombe of South Carolina as the Scuzzbucket Bitch of this week.

From the "Myrtlebeachonline" website Law suit settled over college official's "yard apes" comment about Hurricane Katrina evacuees.
Miz Renee Holcombe, formerly an associate vice president for student services at Greenville Technical College in South Caroline , told employees in two separate briefings last week that the school's aid for the mostly black hurricane victims staying at the Palmetto Expo Center would include sending yellow buses to pick up the "yard apes," said Barton and senior vice president Ben Dillard.

Dillard said Wednesday that Holcombe was referring specifically to the children of evacuees, who were provided separate transportation.

Reached at her home this afternoon, Holcombe said she was "numb and shocked." She declined further comment. She submitted her resignation to Dillard and there was no financial settlement, Barton and Dillard said.

She had been employed at the college for 19 years, Dillard said.

"Renee believed in her own mind that the best thing for her and the institution was for her to separate from us," Dillard said.

From: foxcarolina.com
Now Holcombe has filed an appeal with the State Budget and Control Board Office of Human Resources to get her job back. Renee Holcombe says the term wasn’t meant in a racial way. Holcombe says yard apes was used in the book “Ramona Quimby Age 8” by Beverly Cleary. In one passage the book reads “she yelled again, tears of anger in her eyes, yard apes!".

from Greenville online:
Greenville Technical College said Tuesday (2-12-07)they had settled a lawsuit she filed against the school.

Neither side would discuss details and whether a monetary payment was involved. The settlement was announced at the Greenville County courthouse by Circuit Judge C. Victor Pyle Jr., who later dismissed a jury hearing the case.

In a joint statement, attorneys representing Greenville Tech and Holcombe said Greenville Tech believed Holcombe's comment in 2005 "was unfortunate."

Through its investigation, the college believed that "she did not intend the statement to be derogatory," the joint statement said.

"Unfortunately, the situation was such that Ms. Holcombe could not effectively continue to serve in the position that she held," it said.

The statement said the settlement was reached so Holcombe "can pursue other endeavors" and Greenville Tech "can pursue its mission."

Well isn't that special? She's still a scuzzbucket in my book. You shouldn't even have terms like that in your vocabulary, Miz Holcombe.