A local jury awards more than half a million dollars to a white former Flint teacher who says he was illegally fired for a racial comment.
Lawyers for 37-year-old Craig Hecht say black staff members at Linden Charter Academy had made racial jokes but were never punished like him.
Hecht worked at the school for more than eight years before being fired in November of 2009.
He told another employee that "White tables are better than brown tables and brown tables should be burned."
Lawyers say the teacher apologized immediately to a black employee who heard him.
The school says it is disappointed by the decision and may appeal.
