SUWANEE, Ga. — A day care teacher said she was fired after exposing black mold at a center in the metro area.
Maryellen Pate said her termination came the same day the state came in to investigate her claims.
She was caught on camera using her cell phone, which is a violation of the day care policy. However, Pate said she was using her phone's camera to document unsafe conditions.
"I'm not OK with it, it really freaks me out, especially being a mom," said Pate.
She has a 5-month-old daughter and when she saw black mold at the Suwanee Prep School day care, she wanted to protect all of the kids she was caring for.
"Whenever I found all of these safety hazards in the school it just really made me think, 'wow, what if I had my daughter were in here,'" she said.
She only worked at the center for two weeks and said she raised her concerns with other employees who said they saw mold in the dishwasher, the clothes washer, under four sinks, and a cabinet.
"It was the same cabinet that housed their rainboots, which the kids had access to. If you were to take a paper towel and wiped those rainboots, the paper towel came out with mold," she said.
She thought it was bad enough that she took pictures of the mold and filed a report with Bright from the Start, the state agency that licenses day cares in Georgia.
She was fired the same day.
"Cell phone usage on the 17, which the 17 is the same day I took the pictures. When they went back on the cameras to review the day the state came in, they looked back on the camera and saw me taking a picture," she said.
The day care confirmed Pate was fired for using her phone. In a statement, the director said they were aware of the complaint about the mold and said they've fixed it.
"The care and wellbeing of our students and staff is a top priority, as demonstrated by our prompt response," they added in the statement
However, Pate said she wants parents at the day care to know about the potential exposure and wants to see the findings from Bright from the Start.
"They were very concerned. They came in and I filed the report on June 17, they came in on the 23 and she interviewed everyone who was relevant to the case," she said.
Bright from the Start told 11Alive the investigation is still ongoing. The day care had been in good standing with the state before this report.