Two nursing aides say they were fired after 'Felt cute' pic posted online caused backlash
ETOWAH, Tenn. — Two nursing aides say they are out of a job after a social media post shows them making a joke on equipment used to help the elderly. One woman who recently lost her mom at a nursing home says they went too far.
Kristine Blankenship says a friend sent her a screenshot of a post from Facebook. The picture shows two women posing in a lift. It's captioned "Felt cute... might drop your grandma later."
"I felt the caption that was very disgusting, inappropriate, and I don't think that dropping anyone's grandma, mother, and dad is funny at all," Blankenship said.
The photo plays off of the popular online meme "Feeling cute, might delete later." Blankenship says the picture struck a chord with her, as her mom had recently died at a nursing home in Chattanooga.
"She had a fall and failure to thrive," she added.
Blankenship posted the screenshot to her own Facebook page, along with outrage and contacted the facility.
The two women are Cassie Moses and Symara Rakestraw. In an interview over the phone, both told us they were fired from Etowah Health Care Center after posting the photo on Saturday.
"I'm sorry that it was a poor choice of words," Moses said. "It was a joke."
Both women claim the photo wasn't even taken inside the nursing home. Moses says the picture is several years old.
"To take the picture and manipulate and twist it into something that it's not to destroy people's lives, to me, is a sick person," Rakestraw said.
After multiple attempts, Etowah Health Care Center wouldn't comment.
"It's getting out of control," Moses said. "I'm pretty pissed off and really hurt."
For Blankenship, she says it's social media taken too far.
"I think we really need to be careful about what we are putting on there," Blankenship said. "I think we need to be careful about what we are joking about."
Moses and Rakestraw say they are working to sue Blankenship for harassment and stalking.
