--- title: West Virginia Official Fired For Racist Michelle Obama Post description: Pamela Taylor, the West Virginia nonprofit official who called Michelle Obama an "ape in heels," was officially fired. canonical: https://time.com/4618912/michelle-obama-facebook-post-fired/ author: Samantha Cooney article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-28T16:04:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:04:15.040Z og:title: West Virginia Official Who Called Michelle Obama An 'Ape in Heels' Loses Her Job og:description: She was originally scheduled to return to work og:url: https://time.com/4618912/michelle-obama-facebook-post-fired/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54e80c4d35bda153/6988b341428a9e99d7cd54ce/michelle-obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Michelle Obama og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: West Virginia Official Who Called Michelle Obama An 'Ape in Heels' Loses Her Job twitter:description: She was originally scheduled to return to work twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54e80c4d35bda153/6988b341428a9e99d7cd54ce/michelle-obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # West Virginia Official Who Called Michelle Obama an 'Ape in Heels' Loses Her Job  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Dec 28, 2016 4:04 PM UTC  Michelle Obama speaks after the screening for the movie 'Hidden Figures,' in the White House, in Washington, on Dec. 15, 2016. Michelle Obama speaks after the screening for the movie 'Hidden Figures,' in the White House, in Washington, on Dec. 15, 2016.Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP  by [Samantha Cooney](https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/)  ## Samantha Cooney Dec 28, 2016 4:04 PM UTC The West Virginia nonprofit director who called First Lady Michelle Obama an “ape in heels” will lose her job after all, [the Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/12/27/the-nonprofit-director-who-called-michelle-obama-an-ape-in-heels-has-lost-her-job-for-good/?utm%5Fterm=.610d14eee569). Pamela Taylor, the director of the Clay County Development Corp., [wrote a Facebook post](http://time.com/4571315/west-virginia-michelle-obama-ape-heels/) about Obama last month after the election. “It will be refreshing to have a classy, beautiful, dignified First Lady back in the White House,” Taylor wrote. “I’m tired of seeing a Ape in heels.” After intense backlash, Taylor [apologized](http://wchstv.com/news/local/clay-county-development-corporation-director-placed-on-leave-following-facebook-post), and the nonprofit, which provides services to low-income and elderly residents, placed her on leave. But the nonprofit’s board later decided to reinstate Taylor, and she was [scheduled to return](http://motto.time.com/4599263/michelle-obama-racism-ape/?iid=sr-link1) to work on Dec. 23\. But, according to the Washington _Post_, Taylor’s Facebook post sparked interest about the required discrimination policies in place at the nonprofit, which receives government funding. As a result, the _Post_ reported that after Taylor’s reinstatement, Robert Roswall, commissioner for the West Virginia Bureau of Senior Services, and Cynthia Beane, acting commissioner for the state’s Bureau of Medical Services, wrote to the nonprofit’s board seeking assurance that discrimination or harassment won’t be accepted within the organization. **_Read More_**: [_Michelle Obama Has Repeatedly Faced Racism as First Lady. Here’s How She Responded_](http://time.com/4573554/michelle-obama-racism-first-lady/) “Following the state’s request for specific assurances that the CDC is following anti-discrimination policies, we have been assured that Pamela Taylor has been removed from her position as CCDC director,” the governor’s office said in a statement, according to the Washington _Post_. And the nonprofit has been placed under state oversight. The Appalachian Area Agency on Aging will oversee the nonprofit for a six month period to make sure it’s following the appropriate rules. \[[The Washington _Post_](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2016/12/27/the-nonprofit-director-who-called-michelle-obama-an-ape-in-heels-has-lost-her-job-for-good/?utm%5Fterm=.610d14eee569)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4618912/michelle-obama-facebook-post-fired/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4618912/michelle-obama-facebook-post-fired/"},"headline":"West Virginia Official Who Called Michelle Obama an 'Ape in Heels' Loses Her Job","datePublished":"2016-12-28T16:04:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:04:15.040Z","description":"She was originally scheduled to return to work","url":"https://time.com/4618912/michelle-obama-facebook-post-fired/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54e80c4d35bda153/6988b341428a9e99d7cd54ce/michelle-obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Samantha Cooney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/samantha-cooney/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt54e80c4d35bda153/6988b341428a9e99d7cd54ce/michelle-obama1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Michelle Obama","caption":"Michelle Obama","creditText":"Pablo Martinez Monsivais—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4618912/michelle-obama-facebook-post-fired/","name":"West Virginia Official Who Called Michelle Obama an 'Ape in Heels' Loses Her Job"}}]}] ```