Talking to the media about former employer?

I had a government job (county) until about 4 years ago. I developed a chronic illness and the managers refused to make accommodations and tried to get rid of me, so I went on disability.

Today I got a call from "Shawna" who recently quit and moved out of state. She was my boss, but she demoted herself because she could not stand working for the people above her. They are the ones who are abusive fucks. She told me about an employee I never met named "Tiffany" , who quit just last week and contacted the media because she was verbally abused. Apparently the place has only gotten worse since I left, and is an absolute train wreck of discrimination and abuse of all kinds. About 30 percent of employees have quit or been fired.

Shawna says she will talk to the media and use her real name. She said other people are talking, some anonymously, some not. I told her I'm not sure if I should talk because I still live in the local area and get disability payments. She said it was okay, enough other people have talked, but I might want to call Tiffany and offer her support. So I just called Tiffany and left a message. I said I would talk to her but maybe not the media.

On one hand I would love to help expose the managers for the evil worthless pieces of shit they are. But I don't want to jeopardize my disability payments. My mom said don't talk, just enjoy the show from afar. Shawna said to watch the local paper, a story could come out soon. I guess that doesn't guarantee the shitheads will get in trouble.

What do you think? Would it be dangerous to talk to the media anonymously?

I already have an update. Tiffany called me back and wanted to know about what happened. She said everybody but her will be anonymous in the news story, and she needs as many anecdotes from as many people as possible. She said the reporter can investigate things. I told her I filed complaints with the equal opportunity commission. I guess it's okay if the reporter is digging things up and I'm not providing it directly. I told her she can call me back; and she might. This could get very interesting.

The problems in your situation are: 1. you cannot give a description of yourself without outing yourself. If you say they were not accommodating of your disability and not following the law with respect to your disability***, they could probably figure out who you are and 2. you are still dependent on them for income. These other people aren't.

*** Because you work for a public entity, the laws are clearer as to how they must accommodate you.

"She said the reporter can investigate things. I told her I filed complaints with the equal opportunity commission."

You could direct them to information that is publicly available through a FOIA request. For example they could ask under FOIA how many people filed complaints with the EEOC, how many were validated, turnover rate, etc. (Of course, they may not answer truthfully or they could skew the numbers,etc.)

"Shawna said to watch the local paper, a story could come out soon. I guess that doesn't guarantee the shitheads will get in trouble."

I'm a long time public servant and I can say, this is sad but true. Generally not much will be done about bad management unless it crosses the line to non-production or criminal behavior.

I'm in favor of merit protected jobs for public employees because I've seen what happens when public employees aren't protected. I once worked in a city where the purchasing agents had zero merit protection--they could be fired at will. The city was rife with corruption. It kept happening over and over, and it went like this: A mayor would be elected. He would appoint his friends to jobs within his administration. Next thing you know, his side businesses and his friends' businesses would be getting contracts. Employees would blow the whistle to the press and after it became too scandalous or embarrassing for the city, the house would be cleaned. Because none of the politicians wanted to empower the employees because they benefited from the system, and because they thought they were lower than dirt, it would happen again. Lather, rinse and repeat.

Unfortunately merit protected jobs mean non-productive people are harder to fire because poor performers take advantage of the rules and nobody wants to to take the time to fire them.

Things generally have to cross the line into criminal behavior before people will be removed, such as mismanaging public funds or falsifying records. I just spent two years under a boss who was completely incompetent. He ran afoul of management, not because of what he was doing to his employees, but because nobody could ever find him and he was falsifying his time card. They finally had to deal with him and he gave them a reason to remove him.

But generally if people are treating their employees unethically, unethical behavior may not be too far away. Keep us posted. Should be interesting.

I'm in agreement with your mom. It would be one thing if you were removed from them completely, but if you depend on them for anything it's best to not get involved. You have so much to lose and they have enough money to get away with it.

My charges with the EEOC are public record, so they can find them whether or not I cooperate. There was another employee named Alice who was chased out for being disabled. She also went on long term disability. Nobody can find her now, but other people have told Tiffany about her. Tiffany asked me about her. I said Shawna probably knows the most. So they are going to get her full story without her cooperation, but I'm sure they won't use her name. Some people who still work there are talking because they are just sick of all the bullshit. Shawna and some others will talk to the reporter and let him quote them, I would never do that.

The managers are guilty of PLENTY of unethical behavior besides treating employees like shit. Most of them work far less hours than they are supposed to. They are paid an annual salary but they are supposed to work at least 40 hours a week. Very few of them work anywhere near that amount. Soon after I left they got a time clock, but only the worker bees have to use it. The managers are far bigger abusers of the system.

There are two I will call Witch and Warlock, who are obviously having an affair. They are both married to other people. They go out to lunch in the work truck, which is against the rules. They act like a couple, and she spends a lot of time in his office. More than one person has seen them at bars and restaurants when they were supposedly at work. I hope the affair comes out because they are the two that gave me trouble. They were also the main ones harassing Alice. Witch was constantly lecturing people about ethics, while she was breaking every rule. Warlock said he didn't believe me when I told him Witch was bullying me. The rule is managers are supposed to investigate claims of bullying.

There are probably many other ethical violations I don't even know about. There might be other people who will come forward after the story comes out. I guess I should just watch the show and enjoy it.