A New Jersey middle school teacher will be allowed to keep his job after allegedly using the n-word in front of students, a state arbitrator has determined. The decision was made on the basis that the teacher’s alleged use of the slur came as teacher Bruce Bassetti was walking away from students while “muttering to himself,” and was not supposed to be heard by the students. According to the arbitrator, Peter Adomeit, students claim they heard him say “something to the effect of ‘I’m done with these n******,’ or ‘I’m not trying to deal with these n******.’”  In defense of himself, Bassetti, who is tenured in the school district, allegedly said he could not have used the word because the students in question were white. Adomeit said he believes that Bassetti did use the slur, but also believes the teacher was “speaking to himself.”

Adomeit wrote in his decision: “To uphold this termination would create a new common law of teacher termination: If you so much as breathe to yourself the word ‘n,’ with no intention to communicate it to others, but are overheard by some students, even if you never intended them to hear, even if you have never said ‘n’ to students in 14 years, your intent is irrelevant, and your spotless record is irrelevant, and you shall be terminated for the first offense.”