Life-insurance company fires manager for telling Black Lives Matter activist to ‘die’

A managing director at New York Life, one of the largest life insurers in the United States, has been fired after telling a Black Lives Matter activist to die.

Corey Multer was fired after he contacted Shanelle Matthews on Facebook and called her a “racist pig whore” before telling her, “The world would be a much better place if you jumped in front of a moving train. Die!”

@TheShanelleM Hi Shanelle, we take your feedback seriously. Can you please send us more information at socialmedia@newyorklife.com? — New York Life (@NewYorkLife) August 10, 2016

A spokesperson for New York Life called the comments “completely indefensible and inconsistent with the values” of the company and said that “this individual is no longer employed by New York Life.”

Matthews has since addressed the controversy on Facebook, writing that she believes she might have been targeted specifically because of her views about Palestinian rights.

“What Mr. Multer’s vicious remarks actually say is that my values and beliefs are not only wrong and unvalued but that I deserve to die because of them,” Matthews said.

“We all have a moral and ethical responsibility to hold accountable those who use rhetoric to incite unprovoked violence, to affirm that a grievance of disagreement does not warrant a death wish, and that people’s sexual proclivities don’t make them disposable.”