12 New Houston, Texas Fire Cadets Terminated For Racist Actions

Houston, Texas is already running with a major budget deficit, and even though a $1.2 million hit is just a drop in the bucket, the burn hurts none the less. According to this KHOU article, the city invests around $100,000 into every cadet to get them certified, and bring them aboard to serve the community as new fire fighters, so having a dozen terminated like this before their first day on the job is as painful to the wallet as it is embarrassing to the image of Texas's largest city.

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For the cadets in question, they were most likely in a no-win situation after an investigation determined that several of them were included in a private chat group on Instagram sharing content that was determine to be "racist and hateful." What is most troubling about the investigation is not one person came forward to acknowledge wrongdoing and accept accountability for their role, as they were less than a week away from graduation.

12 New Houston, Texas Fire Cadets Terminated For Racist Actions

This whole situation hopefully serves as a teachable moment in the recruiting process for city employees, and a potential overhaul with the vetting that goes into candidates history and references.