The ad, which was placed in the New City Pennysaver on Oct. 15 by Interim Healthcare Inc. says it is looking for LPN or RN nurses in West Haverstraw but specifies "no haitians" will be accepted.
"This is outrageous discrimination in its purest form," said State Senator David Carlucci. "It is a direct violation of the Civil Rights Act and is completely illegal."
He urged Pennysaver to prohibit Interim from running future ads.
"My office will be urging the New York State Department of Labor as well as the federal Equal Opportunity Commission to conduct a full investigation."
Also weighing in was Rockland County Executive Ed Day, who said "This is beyond unacceptable here in Rockland or anywhere else for that matter as it is denigrating and downright disgusting. At my direction, our County Human Rights Commission will be launching an immediate investigation into this matter and taking any and all appropriate action allowable under the law."
The New City Pennsysaver, said the ad was "mistakenly published without proper editing protocol," according to a report on Fox News, which noted Rockland's large Haitian population.
Pennysaver said in a statement: "We recognize the wording was highly offensive to our readers, executives as well as the employees of The Pennysaver and by no means does it reflect the opinions or feelings of the company. We strive at The Pennysaver to publish fair and non-discriminatory content."
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