He sent a racist and homophobic message from his work email, but in Montana, Yellowstone County Treasurer Max Lenington does not need to fear for his job, KTVQ reports.
In a memorandum and legal analysis from Monday, the county’s attorney’s office stood by the treasurer, saying that the offensive email and repeated personal use of his work email address were not grounds for Lenington’s recall.
"It must mean there are more lesbians, queers, Indians, Mexicans and n-words than the rest of us," Lengington wrote in a frustrated email after the nation elected Barack Obama for the second time.
Upon the email becoming public, calls for his resignation rang out, and Lenington graciously offered to step down—if he was paid $90,000 for his last year of services. The commissioners declined.
According to the county’s attorney general, Lenington’s action did not constitute a lack of mental or physical capacity, incompetency, violation of the oath of office, official misconduct or being a felon, and thus did not fall under the five specific grounds for recall.
Read more at KTVQ.