Two fired after hanging 'prank'

FLORISSANT, Mo. -- Two white Laidlaw bus drivers have been fired for hanging a black doll from a noose above the desk of a black co-worker, the company said Friday.

Laidlaw area general manager Wayne Gensler said the doll was accompanied by a note that said: "Help Mommy, they hung me."

The drivers told bus company officials they meant the Wednesday incident as only a prank. But several employees of the bus company said hanging a black doll summoned up images of lynching, and was racially offensive.

Laidlaw officials did not release the names of the two women; they worked at the bus yard in north St. Louis County.

Gensler said the woman who was targeted was upset. "She didn't consider it a prank, just as we don't," he said.

St. Louis County Police spokesman Mason Keller said police are investigating to see if the crime of ethnic intimidation has been committed. No one has been charged.