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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP/RNN) - A white man who challenged a black family's use of a private community's pool has not only resigned from the homeowner's association board - he's also lost his job.

Sonoco announced Friday that Adam Bloom is no longer employed by the packaging and industrial products company, saying it doesn't condone discrimination of any kind, even if it happens outside its workplace.

A video posted on the Facebook page of Jasmine Edwards on July 4, seen more than 4 million times, shows what happened after Bloom questioned whether she was allowed to be at the pool in Winston-Salem. He also called police.


Bloom, Edwards and the responding officers all speak in measured tones in the video. She accuses him of singling out her and her young son as African-Americans by asking to see her ID. Bloom, who served as the chairman of the pool, responds that he asks residents to see their identification "a couple times" each week.

Officers then determined that Edwards, who lives in the neighborhood, did in fact have keycard access to the gated pool.

An officer then apologized to her. When Edwards asked Bloom for an apology, he walked away.

On Facebook, Edwards accused Bloom of racial profiling: "This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighborhood pool. This happened to me and my baby today. What a shame!!"

The social media backlash was fierce, and soon targeted Bloom's employer. In a Twitter post, South Carolina-based Sonoco apologized to Edwards and said the situation doesn't reflect company values.

"We are aware of a terrible incident involving the actions of one of our employees outside the workplace," the statement said, adding that the "employee is no longer employed by the company in any respect."


Company spokesman Brian Risinger confirmed that Bloom's separation was "effective immediately." Risinger said Bloom was a business development manager who had been with Sonoco for about five years.

An attorney for Bloom told the Winston-Salem Journal had simply been performing his duties as a neighborhood official after another woman approached Bloom questioning whether Edwards had the right to be poolside.

Lawyer John Vermitsky said his client called police to "make sure that the interaction didn't escalate," and said it's "unfortunate that conclusions are being reached by people who have seen a 46-second video of their interaction."

Police Chief Catrina Thompson warned that her officers "will not be used as pawns to further someone's dislike for anyone."

The Glenridge Homeowners Association said Thursday afternoon that Bloom resigned as the pool's chairman and association board member.

"We sincerely regret that an incident occurred yesterday at our community pool that left neighbors feeling racially profiled," the association statement says. "In confronting and calling the police on one of our neighbors, the pool chair escalated a situation in a way that does not reflect the inclusive values Glenridge seeks to uphold as a community.

Vermitsky said Bloom resigned from his neighborhood positions to limit negative publicity, and not because he did anything wrong.

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Officers then determined that Edwards, who lives in the neighborhood, did in fact have keycard access to the gated pool.

An officer then apologized to her. When Edwards asked Bloom for an apology, he walked away.

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Originally posted by braillediver:
And this is National News?

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Originally posted by chongosuerte:
"This is a classic case of racial profiling in my half a million $$ neighborhood pool. This happened to me and my baby today."

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Sonoco announced Friday that Adam Bloom is no longer employed by the packaging and industrial products company, saying it doesn't condone discrimination of any kind, even if it happens outside its workplace.

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Originally posted by LS1 GTO:


Where I've never appreciated another person to demand an apology from me (rubs my fur the wrong way doncha know) , regardless of the situation, I believe had said something along the lines of "sorry about that and thank you for finally shoeing me the proof" may have cleared a few things up.

I also suspect if the woman had shown her key right away, all would've been good considering (I'm betting a dollar here) it was not a pool full of them white folk.

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Originally posted by oldbill123:
Was it determined that she was a resident ? Have not seen that asked or answered

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Originally posted by trapper189:
According to this article: LINK; when first asked, Jasmine Edwards Abhulimen gave an address in the development where no homes had been built.

Also, pool membership is separate from just living in the development and non-members were using member's pool cards to get in. In an effort to clamp down on the abuse, they would ask people to prove they were members by asking who they were and what their address was. The article says they catch around 4 people a year of all races. The woman initially gave a phony address which is when the police were called.

It's still not clear whether Abhulimen was a resident or a pool member, police only verified she had a working pool key card. The article specifically states they didn't check ID.

Now if it were me, I'd give my name and address and be on my merry way. Unless I wasn't a member, then I'd leave. Of course I can't play the race card and make a big stink.

As president of my HOA, I understand why the guy walked away. As a volunteer, nobody really wants to deal with asshole neighbors who don't follow the rules. We're getting out.

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Officers then determined that Edwards, who lives in the neighborhood, did in fact have keycard access to the gated pool.

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"In confronting and calling the police on one of our neighbors, the pool chair escalated a situation..."

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Originally posted by trapper189:
According to the article:

"The issue was brought up. The officers asked the questions that needed to be asked to get the issues resolved," said Thompson. "They were able to prove that Jasmine had what she needed to get into the pool. At the end of the day, there was no need to see an ID, at that point, because there was nothing to say that an ID was necessary."

I read this to mean officers verified she had a working pool key card and did nothing else.

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Originally posted by BamaJeepster:

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Originally posted by trapper189:
According to the article:

"The issue was brought up. The officers asked the questions that needed to be asked to get the issues resolved," said Thompson. "They were able to prove that Jasmine had what she needed to get into the pool. At the end of the day, there was no need to see an ID, at that point, because there was nothing to say that an ID was necessary."

I read this to mean officers verified she had a working pool key card and did nothing else.

It's the media reporting, so anything is possible. Heck, the whole thing could be made up given the state of the media.

I think the HOA would be in a position to know if she was a resident or not though and according to their statement she is a member.