NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) -
A longtime Vanderbilt University employee is in trouble after cameras caught her taking dozens of newspapers and tossing them straight into the trash.
The papers were editions of Out & About, a monthly publication geared toward Nashville's gay and lesbian community.
For Out & About Editor Patrick Armstrong, it answers a frustrating and lingering question over what has been happening.
"It's our work being thrown in the garbage can," Armstrong said. "This had been going on for a year."
Police said the woman, identified as a longtime Vanderbilt employee, is seen in two different surveillance videos taking all the papers from a newsstand in Light Hall.
Channel 4 is not identifying the woman because she has not been charged, but officers said she admitted throwing the papers in recycle bins.
While she didn't give a motive, Out & About leaders said it is an attack on the local gay community.
"We are in the Bible Belt, and people don't necessarily agree with the GLBT community," Armstrong said.
Edward Guo is an intern in the building where the woman works at Vanderbilt.
"I think it's very rash of her and very unfair to the public," Guo said.
When the papers started disappearing, Out & About transitioned from a free newspaper to one in which the first issue is free and each additional paper costs 50 cents. That move allowed police to investigate the missing papers as a criminal matter.
"If this does ensue, then we can sue for theft," Armstrong said.
Police have not cited or charged the woman, but she could still face trouble at work.
In a statement Wednesday, Vanderbilt officials said:
"The matter is under internal review to determine if there is any need for further action by Vanderbilt. We recognize that this is a particularly sensitive issue and want to assure our campus is a safe and welcoming environment."
The woman accused in the newspaper incident works as a lab manager and has been a Vanderbilt employee for nearly 30 years.
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