The university that employs the Colorado doctor accused of making racist remarks about First Lady Michelle Obama on Facebook is planning to fire her.
“We are beginning the process to terminate Dr. Michelle Herren’s faculty appointment,” University of Colorado Denver School of Medicine spokesperson, Mark Couch, told the Daily News Thursday. “We’ve had several students express concern through our office of diversity.”
The university’s decision to fire Herren comes after she responded to a woman’s comment praising the FLOTUS online.
“Doesn’t seem to be speaking too eloquently here, thank god we can’t hear her!” Herren wrote under the unflattering photo she posted of Obama. “Harvard??? That’s a place for “entitled” folks said all the liberals!”
“Monkey face and poor ebonic English!!! There! I feel better and am still not racist!!! Just calling it like it is!” Herren continued in her Facebook rant.
Herren works at Denver Health Medical Center in the children’s unit as a pediatric anesthesiologist and holds a non-paid assistant professor position at the university.
“Your comments and tone are harmful to the students we teach and the patients we care for. Your derogatory, insensitive remarks have resulted in harm to others in our community and beyond,” UC Dean of Medicine John J. Reilly said in a letter to Herren, and obtained by the Denver Post.
In a separate statement, the school said Reilly communicated with Herren over the Facebook debacle to remind her that she has “to conduct herself with civility” as a faculty member.
There is no indication Denver Health will take similar action toward Herren, since the center recently said its “bumping up against a first amendment right,” and are “working very hard to resolve this situation.”
But Denver Health spokesperson Kelli Christensen told The News that “Until further notice, Michelle Herren, MD, will not be seeing patients or providing anesthesia services at Denver Health Medical Center.”
A pressured Herren was supposed to tell her students today that she was getting fired from the school.
“She was going to share the news with them this afternoon,” Couch said.
