As far as Zoom mishaps go, it’s still going to be tough to beat New Yorker writer Jeffrey Toobin who was fired earlier this month after being caught pleasuring himself on camera during a work call.
However, a New Jersey woman is giving Toobin a run for his money after deciding to answer the call of nature during a Zoom meeting without turning her camera or microphone off.
Frances Cogelja resigned as a trustee of the Hackensack Board of Education over the embarrassing video fail last week when she brought her laptop into the bathroom to relieve herself, according to the Daily Voice.
Cogelja apparently was unaware she’d left the camera on — and her trip to the toilet was witnessed by nearly 140 attendees of the virtual meeting, including students.
The board’s vice president, Scott James-Vickery, addressed the mishap later on.
“As far as I’m concerned, while our teachers are being professional and you’re at home, sitting on the toilet, we are moving on with this district doing what’s best,” he said.
Cogelja made headlines over the summer for saying she was “disgusted and appalled” by a new law requiring LGBT history to be taught in classrooms, NorthJersey.com reported at the time.
“I find it repugnant that someone’s sexual preferences have anything to do with their contributions or achievements in society,” Cogelja wrote in an email to acting Superintendent Rosemary Marks in February. “Everywhere I turn, this alternate lifestyle narrative is being shoved (down) our children’s throats. Where does it end???”
Her comments provoked strong condemnation from parents at a subsequent meeting, with some demanding that she resign.