Racist Remarks Caught on Voicemail at Montauban Hospital’s COVID Vaccine Center

"My parents are both 67 years old and have attested comorbidities. I made a first appointment via Doctolib. The call center called them and they were rejected. I still don’t know why," Sandrine tells La Dépêche du Midi. She doesn’t give up. She manages to make a new appointment. A hospital agent calls her parents back on March 20. The parents receive a voice message on their answering machine. However, the secretary forgot to hang up. She engages in a discussion with her colleague and shares with her her "dream of being a switchboard operator". "You are rejected," she says, laughing.

The insults quickly fly. "And the rebeus there," she says. She is talking about Sandrine’s father and his wife, who had encountered the first refusal of vaccination. "With his ’Conchita’, they got together. And the smart ones, they have duplicates both of them. I’ll give you some duplicates, bastards! Look, they even changed his email address the idiot," the agent continues. She changes the subject. "Until Monday, there are so many Arabs to clean up... he too has been rejected... the bastard. There’s cleaning to be done on Monday."

Sandrine’s parents, originally from Nohic in Tarn-et-Garonne, had the message played back to their daughter. The remarks aroused Sandrine’s indignation. These remarks refer to a sorting based on origin. Annoyed, she contacts the secretary again. "I told her she had to stop, but she denied everything," she confides. Last Monday, the first injection was finally administered to Sandrine’s parents. For her, it is still "discouraging". "Who knows, there may be others like her in France. Castex and Véran are pushing us to get vaccinated but it’s an uphill battle. Fortunately I was ferocious for my parents. What this woman said is very hurtful. It’s a dangerous behavior. I hope she will be severely punished".

The punishment comes. The management of the Montauban hospital "has decided to suspend the agent as of March 31 and to initiate disciplinary proceedings." "Furthermore, the management in charge of relations with users will very soon meet the person who reported the incriminating remarks," it added, reiterating its commitment to defending the values of public service and to the quality of care for the hospital’s users.