Inside the Sausage Grinder--Part I

 

Documents that will be imminently released pertaining to a recent legal settlement with a former employee illustrate how contentious some personnel issues can become when board policy is not followed with fidelity

 

A large batch of documents became public late this afternoon.

They are related to a recent settlement that the county made with a former employee, a former paramedic in our EMS department.

I took an interest in this individual's circumstance when he reached out to me in frustration after his due process was violated an he was not treated fairly by staff.  He was left in limbo for months and months on end---before he ever even contacted me.

It was horrific, how badly this employee was treated.  I was disgusted when I peeled the onion and figured out just how badly this individual was treated.  So I took up his cause---and tried desperately to help him get resolution and salvage his career here in Escambia County.

But nobody in administration did the right thing.  One administrator that was leaving didn't have time to close the loop.  The incoming administrator did not fix the issue, saying she was unaware of it.  Once I spoke to her and brought it to her attention--she failed to fix it.  Instead, she doubled down on the bad and incorrect advice of her newly hired HR director and her "mentor" a former state representative who she brought in to "consult."  The new county leadership group failed to fix the issue, and allowed this employee to twist in the wind.  To the point he made a tough decision in absolute anger and frustration.

 He left the county and rebuilt his career in another location.  

But he never wanted it to come to this, and he certainly didn't want to be treated the way he was treated.  The county dropped the ball, staff turnovers exacerbated this situation, and NOBODY wanted to step up and fix the issue.  It was infuriating.

This employee suffered economic losses, and an attorney took the case on contingency.  It was an open and shut case--no wonder the attorney took the case.  Opinions have varied, and some don't see the issues as they unfolded.  But we have now gone through a couple of years and lots of facts and shade meetings since that happened.

Fast forward a couple of years, and we have now settled.  $200K and we're LUCKY it was not more--that's how bad our position was--thanks to staff inattention and feckless handling of the issue.  

I heard, just  today,  that the case is now officially closed.

So several documents will be coming out.  There will be the transcripts of three BCC "shade" litigation

sessions where board members, staff, and attorneys wrestled with the best course of action to handle this situation-----after it escalated to litigation.

There will be .pdf of  a late night email exchange between our former HR director and an insurance "claims" adjuster who lamented the size of the settlement in his emails.  He even went so far as to say it was my fault the issue had to be settled in this late night email to our former HR director.  "It wasn't your fault--it was that guy Bergosh--how dare he tank our 'defense' strategy by telling the truth once he was subpoenaed and had to testify under oath"  was the flavor of his comment..

What a tool.  I guess he must think I should have been a "team player" and lied under oath after I was subpoenaed.  Luckily--this individual adjuster and his flawed opinion mean nothing.  His client the insurance company got dealt a bum hand due to the bungling of many issues by staff.  They were, to their credit, smart enough to get this settled and not take it to trial.  

A read of the three transcripts I intend to release first thing tomorrow morning  (Inside the Sausage Grinder part II, III, and IV)   will illustrate this fact with crystal clarity.

Follow policy, fix issues, and don't sweep issues under the rug and these sorts of issues can be avoided.

Listen to bad advice, support weak employees, and fail to uphold board policy--------and we will be living in a virtual "Groundhog Day."

I think the new staff we are moving forward with understand this.  There are good things coming ahead.

Meanwhile-- over the next several days--- much of this same documentation will be released on various facebook chat sites.  Most will be devoid of contex, just snippets here and there designed to frame issues in certain ways to make some look great, and others look culpable for the failures..

Set the garbage opinions aside and remember the bottom line is this:

--The insurance company picked up this claim, 100% with no deductable.

--The insurance company's attorney was not confident we would prevail if this case went to trial.

--when several of us, during one of these sessions--said--"let's just go to trial!"----the insurance company attorney walked us back from that--illustrating MANY weaknesses in our case

--Going to trial vice settling this case could have cost the county $600K or more--plus additional legal fees

--The case is now settled, it is over.

--Most importantly--justice was served, culpable employees are gone, and the wronged employee has been made whole

These are the facts.