Employee to sue blogger over race smear

Shirley Sherrod. Photo / AP.

SAN DIEGO: A woman who was ousted from her job at the Agriculture Department said yesterday she will sue a conservative blogger who posted an edited video of her making racially tinged remarks last week.

The edited video posted by Andrew Breitbart led Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack to ask Shirley Sherrod to resign, a decision he reconsidered after seeing the entire video of her March speech to a local National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People civil rights group.

In the full speech, Sherrod spoke of racial reconciliation and lessons she learned after initially hesitating to help a white farmer save his home.

She said she doesn't want an apology from Breitbart for posting the video that took her comments out of context, but she told a crowd at the National Association of Black Journalists' annual convention that she would "definitely sue".

Vilsack and President Barack Obama contacted Sherrod to apologise for her hasty ousting after the media picked up on the story.

Vilsack has offered her a new job at the department, which she is still considering.

- AP