Colorado DOT Worker Faces Discipline Over Obama Shoeshine Boy Email

A Colorado Department of Transportation worker faces discipline over an e-mail of Obama as shoeshine boy, and Sarah Palin as the recipient of the shoeshine. The email, originally sent from outside the CDOT and distributed by the worker using his official email, said, "It appears he (Obama) has found his niche" and contained the above obviously doctored image.

The sender of the email is a 73 year-old CDOT supervisor. While the name of the sender has not been released, reports indicate it is a woman, and that she is a registered Democrat who works as a program assistant. She supervises one other person and is a step above an administrative assistant.

The employee involved forwarded the e-mail to co-workers as well as outside email addresses on Dec. 22. Someone outside the CDOT who received a copy of the e-mail, with the CDOT e-mail address attached, complained to agency officials about it on Tuesday.

Mindy Crane, spokeswoman for the CDOT, noted that, politics aside, "state resources cannot be used for personal use, and that includes internet, computers, and email."

"It's certainly an inappropriate email to begin with, but its the fact too that it's being sent on state time and using state resources and for that we find that very unacceptable. It's very disappointing for us that employees are taking advantage of those resources available to them."

The worker, a 29-year veteran of state government who earns $51,684 a year, could face discipline ranging from a written reprimand to a suspension or firing, Crane said.