A woman who called out an Asian American family for “breaking the law” before stating that they could not be in the U.S. has resigned from her corporate job.
What happened: Taska earned the nickname “Park Ranger Karen” after starring in a viral video over the weekend, in which she is seen telling an Asian American family that they cannot be in the U.S.
- The incident occurred on a hike trail in Marin County, Northern California on July 4. The family had crossed paths with Taska while descending the trail back to their car.
- Taska first blocked the family’s 11-year-old daughter, who had been holding their pet dog on a leash.
- She told them that they were breaking the law for bringing a dog on the trail — and that they “can’t be in this country.”
- Signs on the trail showed dogs must be on a leash to be allowed on the trail, indicating the woman was lying.
- Hiroshi, the father, caught Taska’s remark on video, which he posted on YouTube and has since received more than 300,000 views.
The aftermath: Taska, who identified herself by her first name, became the subject of an internet witch hunt for “Park Ranger Karen” after the video went viral.
- Taska resigned from her post as chief people officer (CPO) at Topa Equities on Tuesday.
- CPO is a corporate position responsible for overseeing all aspects of human resource management, as well as industrial relations policies, practices and operations for an organization.
- “Following an internal review of the recent incident in Marin County, we have accepted the resignation of the employee involved, effective immediately. The conduct exhibited in the video was extremely disturbing. Topa Equities does not condone racism or discrimination of any kind in any form,” the company said in a statement.
- Taska reportedly told ABC 7 that she “deeply respects the right of all people and regrets her conversation did not illustrate this and wants to work toward unity.”
- “However, she also believes the video doesn’t depict what happened and that her words were muffled by the mask and that what they repeat is not what she said,” the outlet added.
- As of Tuesday night, Taska appears to have removed her blog and LinkedIn profile off the internet.
Feature Image Screenshots via Superduper koolguy
