City cans company whose workers are accused of killing a goose

The city of Charleston has quit using temporary employees from an agency whose workers were accused of killing a Canada goose — apparently for a meal — in a city park earlier this month.

Staffing 2000 was dropped, city officials say, because the goose incident prompted a review of the company's contract and the city noticed it was not on a state approved list of contractors.

Joseph Hughes, manager of the staffing agency, said he does not understand why his company and the 34 workers it provides the city, mainly for grounds work, have been suddenly dropped. He said his company has worked with the city for nine years with no previous problem.

"All of a sudden, overnight. None of this came up until this goose incident."

Hughes said he did all he could do as a manager to properly and promptly deal with the workers who killed the goose. He fired the three, all Mexican citizens, on the spot. He said he knows of no way he or anybody else could have anticipated what the workers did.

Read more in Saturday's edition of The Post and Courier.