Lunar Obverse

Strangely this is the only mention in the press (so far) of the six-figure award made in the case I’ve been posting about. It’s the second item from the bottom, to wit:

* Two weeks ago, County Chairwoman Diane Linn warned county employees that workplace discrimination would “not be tolerated.” Whaddya know?! Last Friday a federal jury said it wouldn’t tolerate it either, fining the county $650,000 for retaliating against a whistleblower at the Department of Community Justice. Computer trainer Lea Lakeside-Scott alerted her supervisor about favoritism and discrimination, and followed up with a complaint to the state Bureau of Labor and Industries–after which the county fired her. Lakeside-Scott sued in 2002. The verdict is not quite final, but some county employees are viewing it as a referendum on Linn, who in 2003 promoted Jann Brown, the manager who was allegedly the prime retaliator.

Quick note since one of the 3 or 4 readers of this blog have been nagging me to update (longer post later):

Testified in court today. Stressful, I forgot to bring up some stuff that may have been important (but I found out later that another witness testified to that fact, so at least it got out there), and I hope the plaintiff wins big. She deserves it.

Going for a run. No speedwork, just a 2 or 3 mile run to burn off some stress.

Attention!

My apologies — my site and my email has been unavailable for the past 24 hours. As you can see, it is working now (thanks to Caleb!) but if you sent me some email that was really important in the last day, you might want to send it again.

Although, most of the email I get is just friends saying “hi” (hi, back!) or spam. In fact, I got 10 pieces of spam in the past 24 hours. But, hey, whatever.

Let’s assume you’re being asked to do something that you have no legal obligation to do. Let’s assume that you’re being asked to do this thing by your employer, that your employer is a defendant in a lawsuit. Let’s assume that the thing you’re being asked to do is to talk to the defendant’s lawyer about the case, just you and the attorney, even though you’re a witness for the plaintiff.

Let’s assume that you respectfully decline to meet with the defendant’s lawyer (in other words, your employer’s lawyer). Further, you decline several times, but they press hard and get your boss’s boss to ask you, which turns it into an issue of insubordination.

Assuming all that… isn’t that intimidating? Isn’t that the word you would use, privately, amongst friends, to describe the position your employer is taking?

Three years ago, a coworker of mine was investigated by my employer, and eventually terminated. However, prior to being investigated, she had filed a complaint with the Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industry (BOLI), alleging harassment and discrimination from management. After being terminated, my coworker and her lawyer added retaliation to the charges.

Since I was the employee’s shop steward at the time I had a passing familiarity with the case. In fact, at the time, my boss called me into his office and strongly cautioned me about how I involved myself with it. I found out later that that could have been considered illegal threatening of a steward, a huge no-no for management. Since I was a fledgeling steward, I didn’t pursue it at the time.

Recently, I found out, from the legal department at my place of employment, that I was being called as a witness in the case, which is only now ready to come to trial. The wheels of justice, yadda yadda. Since I was aware that I was being called by the plaintiff, and my employer was the defendant in the trial, I knew that I really didn’t have any obligation to talk to the lawyers for the defendant. I checked with my union rep and, sure enough, he agreed that I didn’t have to speak to them. If they insisted, I should speak to them, but then we would look into grieving it.

After getting the letter from the lawyer, several days went by. Then I received an email (addressed to me and several others) requesting a meeting. I ignored the email and remained busy with work. Last Thursday I received a follow-up email, asking for a meeting once again. I replied that I respectfully declined.

That led to a series of emails back and forth, each more strongly worded than the other. I pointed out that, if I was being ordered to meet with the lawyer, I would, but failing that, I declined.

The carefully-worded emails from the legal department, however sugar-coated, could be interpreted as intimidation and threats. Y’know, in a certain context. However, they picked the exact wrong week to try to intimidate me. Tyrants need to be challenged; bullies need to be stood up to. I hope that those who wronged my coworker (and, indirectly, myself and my other employees), and have abused both their managerial power and the trust of their workers and the taxpayers and citizens of Multnomah County, will finally have to face the consequences of their actions.