A black New York deliveryman is still so traumatized after receiving a noose from a meat butcher that he has yet to return to his delivery job.
Victor Sheppard, a deliveryman with meat distributor Mosner Family Brands, refuses to return to his job because Mosner Family Brands continues to serve the butcher who handed him the noose, reports the Root.
“I could have lost my life or been badly injured or in jail, and it didn’t mean anything to them,”Sheppard said. “It’s not easy returning to an environment where you mean nothing.”
Joe Ottomanelli with The Ottomanelli Bros. Butcher Shoppe allegedly handed Sheppard the noose as a prank last April. He told Sheppard “Here’s your present” and “You can use it when you’re stressed and need to end it all.” (RELATED: Delivery Man Says He’s Still Traumatized Over White Man Giving Him A Noose)
Sheppard claimed it was too hard for him to return back to work because his employer still worked with the butcher shop.
“Victor could not return to that environment. His employer knew exactly what happened and was supportive, but they never stopped doing business with Ottomanelli,” Wylie Stecklow, a lawyer for Sheppard, said.
Mosner Family Brands tried to offer Sheppard as much support as possible as they were equally horrified by the noose prank, even offering to put him on a different delivery route to avoid Ottomanelli boss Michael Mosner said.
“We did everything we could to hold his spot. He just didn’t do his part,” Mosner told the New York Daily News. The company issued him a letter June 9 saying they believed he left his job.
Ottomanelli has been charged with a hate crime and is set to appear in court later in September. Ron Kuby, his lawyer, argued the noose, while “hateful and deplorable,” was just a joke.
“There’s no reason for this man to quit his job besides the reason that suing is easier than working,” Kuby said.
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