Woman claims she was fired after comments against school board member, says Murphy should resign
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A Memphis woman who says she was fired because of comments made against a member of the Memphis-Shelby County School Board earlier this month met with district leadership to discuss the issue.
Paulina Avalos Marquez is the sister of a woman who was the target of several Facebook posts by school board member Towanna Murphy, who threatened to have her deported.
Original story: School board member won't apologize for deportation threat
Marquez initially contacted members of the media about the incident.
'I was like very adamant that the only resolution that my eyes and the eyes I feel like in the community as well, is that Towanna Murphy needs to resign from her position,' Marquez said.
She says the comments made against her sister are disheartening, which is why she took to social media to address them.
That's when she says her job with a company that does business with MSCS was terminated.
'She is a U.S. citizen, so she cannot be deported. So, for her to racially profile someone, especially a former student in this climate, it's just, it's disgusting. It's very harmful towards the Hispanic and Latino community,' said Marquez. 'This was a new step for me into the corporate world. And just to see the way that they terminated my contract, instead of standing with me in the sand and taking a very important stance against racism. They chose money over their own employee.'
Murphy issued an apology the day after a thread of messages was released to the public.
School board member apologizes for deportation threat
Marquez met with Interim Superintendent Dr. Roderick Richmond on Thursday to discuss the racially charged messages made by Murphy.
'I think it went really well. I thought the superintendent was very responsive to my complaints about how their response was to the whole situation,' said Marquez.
She says, though the meeting went well, she believes more steps need to be taken.
Mom says son is afraid after classmate stabs him with pen
A petition calling for Murphy's resignation is circulating and has gained nearly 1,000 signatures.
We reached out to MSCS to see if the petition would have any impact on their response moving forward. We're waiting to hear back.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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