Metro TIPLINE LEADS TO UNEMPLOYMENT WHEN USED: PART II

As many of you know Eric Garrett was exonerated of any charges brought against him by his Managers in the Department of Public Works and Assets, and yet his situation is far from resolved.

In the words of Paul Harvey: Now for the rest of the story.

On October 19, 2010, the Department of Human Resources informed Union officials that Garrett was to return to work with all charges dropped, and with pay and benefits restored. But documents I have recently seen show that the effects of retaliation committed against him remain in the public record and the people responsible are not being held accountable.

For background purposes check out Part 1 here: Louisville News and Politics: METRO TIPLINE LEADS TO UNEMPLOYMENT WHEN USED

The Metro Council spent a couple of years finally putting together an ethics tipline for any citizen to report misconduct and/or mismanagement in our Government. It seems pretty straight forward does it not? With whistleblower laws etc there are to be no repercussions for making a call and complaint right?

Garrett filed a complaint through the Ethics Tipline and reported that Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) maintenance had been badly undermined by the combined efforts of Betty Younis and her boss Ted Pullen, an area of work in Facilities Management where Garrett was very much involved.

The TIPLINE report was made on 2/11/2010. Then the repercussions set in. Garrett was suspended indefinitely and ordered to undergo counseling and a psychiatric examination on 4/8/2010, about a week after he met with then Councilman Hall Heiner to discuss his report.

Meanwhile behind the scenes Younis, Pullen, HR, and Jennifer Maupin were busy doing such things as closing the investigation into Garrett’s report on 9/16/2010. I have a copy of the report from an open records request, including internal memos and hand-written notes that show, for instance, that the case was sent from the “investigators” in the Department of Human Resources to the Office of Internal Audit to be reviewed and dismissed on the same day that HR learned that Garrett’s request for a court order restraining HR’s demand for a psychiatric exam was denied.

Judge Shake ruled that the Government has the right to demand that Garrett (or any employee/citizen) submit to a psychiatric examination without cause, and as soon as they find out about it HR says close the investigation on HVAC maintenance in government buildings. But it really didn't matter since they had done nothing with the investigation for about 5 months anyway.

So what is the connection between a psychiatric examination and HVAC maintenance?

As I have pointed out previously, and as was testified to in court, the tag team act of Betty Younis (Facilities Administrator) and Jennifer Maupin (former Deputy Mayor Rick Johnstone's daughter and legal liaison at HR) included Maupin assigning Younis (named in the ethics report and responsible for Garrett’s punishment) as the sole source of information about Garrett for the psychiatric exam the government demanded.

As an attorney she couldn’t imagine how Younis would not be objective? Younis was the BASIS for the complaint and she is the sole person responsible for the Garrett psychiatric report.

Talk about in house shenanigans. As the assigned investigator (her own conflict of interest) into Garrett’s Ethics Tipline report against Younis and Pullen, Maupin once again astonishingly goes straight to Betty Younis and interviews her about the report Garrett made, showing her all of Garrett’s report and in clear violation of the Ordinance that established the Ethics Tipline and the policies and procedures that state Younis should in no way be any part of the “investigative process”.

Yep show the accused the report so she can decide what to do against the laws governing such actions. Typical isn't it?

That's just the beginning.

What is also clear when reading the report and the notes is that the TIPLINE is itself a tool of retaliation, and I would seriously recommend that no person should use it. The so-called “third set of eyes” in the Office of Internal Audit run by Michael Norman that is supposed to keep the TIPLINE on the up and up is a joke.

And folks wonder why the independent tipline was set up last year by the STOP I.T. group before Metro's.

Norman completely ignores the basic, clear violations of the Ordinance and declares the investigation into Garrett’s report “extensive and thorough” when no supervisor was questioned, no equipment looked at, no records examined, and not even a glance at any of the material generated by Johnson Controls, the Fortune 100 Corporation that just completed a thorough examination of the HVAC equipment in most of the major buildings referred to in Garrett’s report.

In the documents used to close the investigation, it is clear that rather than actually investigate the substance of the report, Maupin and Younis began to compile a list of shabby accusations attacking Garrett that they then used against him, which of course makes the investigation and the retaliation a joke. Michael Norman must have felt that since Garrett reported Younis, it would only be fair if Younis got a chance to report Garrett too.

Still with me? As this case unfolds, we are likely to see even more into how ETHICS (or lack thereof) has been understood by the Abramson machine.

Other, recent decisions in the Department of Human Resources by Ms. Maupin include the complete rejection of longstanding complaints by two veteran supervisors, with nearly 50 years combined experience, also against top Management in the Department of Public Works and Assets, yep I have those letters as well, the allegations are simply declared “unsubstantiated” and no real investigation is required.

Even on the theme of workplace violence, which HR and the County Attorney's office harped on when justifying the fraudulent campaign against Mr. Garrett, Metro Government has a wide variety of standards.

Timothy Robinson, a Maintenance Supervisor, reported a physical assault on 9/21/2010 by a recently appointed Manager, Dreco Adkins, that happened right in the offices of Facilities Management with numerous witnesses, including Betty Younis herself.

Robinson had to flee from the assault and went directly to HR where he reported, once again, to Jennifer Maupin. Robinson was so discouraged by Maupin’s response he made his report in writing on the same day to William Hornig, Director of Human Resources and sent copies to all members of Metro Council.

To date, Dreco Adkins, a manager appointed to his position by, yep you guessed it Betty Younis, has not been affected by Robinson’s report. In fact, the next day they put Adkins in charge of the whole department without one word from Metro Council or HR.

When a report is made against cronies in the machine and they come back unsubstantiated, we now know what that means. It means the inner circle talks amongst themselves and asks if they can ignore the report, or if they need to attack the person who made it.

It also means that some people who are sold to us as responsible, certified, and professional in the conduct of their offices, are actually just looking around at what their decisions might do for them or their allies. They could care less about the way government offices function.

Welcome to the game folks and stay tuned.

There is more to come I assure you...