The stepmother of fired Atlanta cop Garrett Rolfe is breaking her silence and defending him saying the ‘horrible war on police officers’ needs to end, as she reveals she was axed from her job in a 56-second phone call after he was hit with charges.
Melissa Rolfe says that after her stepson shot Brooks twice in a Wendy’s parking lot during a botched arrest attempt on June 12, her employers initially told to take six to eight weeks of paid time off to be with her family.
But she lost her job as the human resources director of Equity Prime Mortgage in Atlanta days later on June 18.
Rolfe says she’ll never work for the company again and says she was fired in a ‘political move’ for supporting her stepson.
‘I would say withhold your judgement…Let the truth come out,’ Rolfe said to Fox News on Tuesday, revealing she believes Rolfe will be exonerated.
‘I feel like it was bad timing all the way around. We have a horrible war on police officers, and it needs to end,’ she added.
Melissa Rolfe, the stepmother of fired Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe, says she was axed from her job in a ‘political move’ after he was charged for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooks
On June 17 Garrett Rolfe (left) was hit with 11 charges including felony murder for fatally shooting Rayshard Brooke, 27, (right) in a Wendy’s parking lot during a botched arrest attempt on June 12
Melissa made headlines earlier this month with it emerged that Equity Prime Mortgage fired her from the company.
The company said she was fired due to a ‘hostile work environment’, but Rolfe says she was fired because of her relationship to her stepson.
‘It was such false statements about me. Nothing was true,’ Rolfe added.
Rolfe had worked at Equity Prime Mortgage in Atlanta since February and was the human resources director for the company’s nearly 400 nationwide employees.
Despite being initially offered paid time off, by June 18 – a day after officer Rolfe was hit with 11 charges including felony murder in Brooks’ death – her company changed its tune.
She was terminated from her position as human resources director of Equity Prime Mortgage in Atlanta, where she’s worked since February, a day after her stepson was charged
Melissa Rolfe and her husband dropped Garrett at the attorney’s office to turn himself into the authorities.
Afterwards she received a 56-second call from her direct manager saying she was being terminated immediately, but allegedly didn’t provide a reason.
The company released a statement saying Rolfe was fired for violating company policy and creating an uncomfortable work environment for fellow employees.
The company said while it values a ‘diversity of thought’, ‘when those views create a hostile working environment, we must make difficult decisions and part ways.’
Rolfe said she was left absolutely ‘stunned’ at the allegation and that as HR director she is wellversed on company policies and insists she did nothing wrong.
‘When I would speak with my direct manager and with the president, I was being assured that everything was fine in the office, continually through the phone calls and text messages that I was receiving,’ Rolfe said.
‘Everything’s fine. My job was fine. Don’t worry about it. We’re not getting any negative feedback. So I was very surprised at how I was able to create a hostile work environment. I hadn’t been back,’ she added.
The statement said Melissa, a HR director, had violated company policy and created an ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘hostile’ working environment as she was transitioning to a leave of absence granted by the firm
Melissa Rolfe suspects she was targeted for her posts on social media where she shares photos of Garrett saying ‘I Stand with Officer Rolfe’. She also reached out to local politician Marjorie Green, who supports the police system, about her family’s suffering through these times
Rolfe suspects she was targeted for her posts on Facebook where she stood by her step son including photos of him with the phrase ‘I stand with Officer Rolfe’
She also reached out to local politician Marjorie Green, who supports the police system.
‘Our family has been completely devastated by all of this nonsense,’ Rolfe wrote to Greene.
‘We’ve heard rumors that it was due to a Facebook post. We heard the rumor that it was because I reached out to our future Congresswoman Marjorie Greene, which I absolutely have the right to do. But again, they’ve not said anything so I don’t know what their exact position is,’ Rolfe said.
Rolfe claimed that the company’s president told her some of the security guards in the Atlanta office were upset with her for her link to Brooks’ death.
‘Supposedly the statement was “did you know your HR director’s son killed one of your brothers.” I was flabbergasted,’ Rolfe aid.
This screen grab taken from body camera video provided by the Atlanta Police Department shows Rayshard Brooks speaking with Officer Garrett Rolfe, left, in the parking lot of a Wendy’s restaurant on June 12 before he was fatally shot
Even though she lost her job, her husband still has full time employment and the family has been supported through donations from Garrett’s legal defense fund.
But she says she’ll never work for Equity Prime Mortgage ever again.
‘I do not want that job back. I’ve lost total confidence with that company. I wouldn’t feel safe at that company anymore. They have completely defamed me,’ she said.
Now Rolfe is focusing on proving her stepson.
On Tuesday he was granted $500,000 bond and he’s been hit with 11 charges in the killing of Brooks, including felony murder.