Monday, March 31, 2014

Does this sound like a hostile work environment?

From the great Heather Fazio, responding to an email from me about how certain parties have treated our Austin staff.  No names are named.  After all, we're dealing with lawyers....

Allen, I'm happy to help. There has been a clear pattern of abuse that Staff for LPT has endured, mostly by a few SLEC members. I'm thankful that, while I am not going to be working for LPTexas after the State Convention, you and others are cognizant of the fact that mistreatment of staff leads to lower productivity and high turnover. And, as you know, this raises the cost of doing business for a number of reasons.
I mentioned Amie and Christie (copied here) in our phone call earlier because they were both members of the LPT Staff in 2010/11 and were unnecessarily subjected to a hostile working environment. Robert Butler, Rob Lapham and Lauren Daugherty, our last three Executive Directors, are also copied here. I think that we all have stories of abuse to tell. I'll begin...

  • On several occasions, in public and private, I have had to assert to certain members of SLEC that I will not tolerate being spoken to disrespectfully. Each time this has happened, things seem to get better, but then inevitably revert back to disrespect.
  • An incredibly hostile working environment has been created by what appears to be a never ending effort by some to gain control of our organization, rather than building cohesion and a strong team. It's very obvious that some are interested in titles, credit, and fame rather than working to usher a peaceful revolution in Texas.
  • Fortunately, I've remained shielded from the SLEC Yahoo email list. Had I been on that distribution over the last four year, I'd have 1) probably quit by now and 2) not gotten a fraction of my necessary work done because of the sheer volume of nonsense.
  • Most recently, a member of our staff was berated PUBLICLY by a belligerent SLEC member after an event.This was wholly embarrassing.
  • Baseless accusations of sabotage, public berating, disparaging comments of staff's commitment to liberty, and being used as a political tool of controlling others in our organization. From childish to borderline criminal!
  • Using terms like "battle" when referring to organizational conflict does not foster healthy or productive working relationships. In fact, it is very indicative of a person's mindset and approach to dealing with others.

 With all of that said, one might wonder: why the hell did you stick with it? Answer: I am not a quitter! And I care about the people I work with/for. Plus, I have been able to rely on our Chairman as a rock of sanity and focus.

Thank you for hearing me, Allen.
Everyone else, please don't feel obligated to submit a short, informal testimonial about the abuse you've endured as an LPT Staff Member. But know that if you do take a few minutes to put your experiences in writing, it will likely go a long way to educating delegates who have not seen as we have.

Respectfully,

Heather Fazio

LPTexas Staff, 2010-14
 
And if you haven't had enough, and want to know more, you can always Click Here and return to The Whited Sepulchre.