You make the call: Whistleblower or backstabber?
July 21, 2009 by StaffPosted in: Uncategorized
Was Mary Curlee a hero or a backstabbing co-worker?
Curlee was an administrative worker at Kootenai County Fire and Rescue (KCFR) in Idaho. She thought two of her co-workers wasted too much time on personal conversations and brought the matter to various supervisors.
Curlee claims two supervisors told her to document her co-workers’ behavior that she believed to be wasteful.
For several months, Curlee hand wrote a detailed, minute-by-minute log of what the two co-workers did.
One day, while filling in for Curlee, one of the co-workers found her log and also showed it to the third co-worker.
Curlee often referred to her two co-workers as “Buffy” and “Muffy” in the log. Both women thought the nicknames were derogatory and insulting, and spoke to the Fire Chief about the log.
When the chief discussed the situation with Curlee, she said she would never be able to have a good working relationship with the other two women and that she wouldn’t apologize to them. Curlee was fired.
Is she a protected whistleblower?
Curlee sued KCFR, alleging she was wrongfully terminated in violation of the Idaho Protection of Public Employees Act, commonly referred to as the whistleblower act, for documenting a waste of public funds.
KCFR denied the allegations and moved to have the case thrown out.
The stated purpose of the whistleblower act is to “protect the integrity of government by providing a legal cause of action for public employees who experience adverse action from their employer as a result of reporting waste and violations of a law, rule or regulation.”
Given that, the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that there are genuine questions of whether Curlee was fired for conduct protected under the whistleblower law. It refused to throw out the case. The high court said a jury should now determine whether her employer discharged her in retaliation for her documentation of waste.
Should someone who kept minute-by-minute logs of her co-workers’ actions be protected by a whistleblower statute? Let us know what you think in the Comments Box below.
July 21st, 2009 at 5:54 pm
This is why “The Office” is so funny, because it’s not that far from reality. The employee was complaining about her colleagues wasting time, I can’t imagine she was getting much work done while keeping a minute-by-minute log of their activities. It’s too bad the manager originally handled it so badly.
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:17 pm
Ditto that Darcy.
July 22nd, 2009 at 1:53 pm
The article did not make it clear…how often did Mary report her findings to the supervisors? If she did not report her findings, then would she be a whistle blower?
July 22nd, 2009 at 2:32 pm
I agree with Darcy that she couldn’t have been getting much work done watching others and journaling this info. The supervisors job is to determine employees job performance or production, not another employee. Were they paying Mary to review performances of her co-workers? I doubt it. Seems to me the supervisor did this to not have to be bothered with Mary.
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:04 pm
I agree with Darcy referencing “The Office.” While I was reading the article, I immediately thought that Dwight Schrute would do the exact same thing.
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:33 pm
Maybe they should have just fired the manager. If this much time wasting was getting done he couldn’t have been doing much managing.
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
This one is easy to answer:
For several months, Curlee hand wrote a detailed, minute-by-minute log of what the two co-workers did
July 22nd, 2009 at 6:27 pm
This one is easy to answer:
1) For several months……wrote a detailed, minute-by-minute log…….
2) referred to her two co-workers as “Buffy” and “Muffy”
3) wouldn’t apologize to them (at the very least for the name calling)
And then runs off to file suit for retaliation.
Sad ruling by the Idaho Supreme Court (or KCFR needs a better lawyer).
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 am
AZHR,
You left out one important fact (unless it was found to be untrue) – Curlee’s (is that a nickname) supervisors asked her to do the documentation.
Not handled the best by the supervisors.
July 23rd, 2009 at 8:01 am
minute by minute logs waste time and the manager should have taken the complaint into his/her own hands and not ask the employee to “spy” on her co-workers. I feel the nick names she gave her coworkers were inappropriate business ethics. Should she have been fired for following the direcdtion of her manager – probably not – they should have had “more” documentation on why they fired her. Document, document, document, then make sure you can still let someone go…
August 3rd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
I wouldn’t be so hard on the supervisors. It could have been a misunderstanding. I have had employees complaining about other employees and how they work or spend their time. They are usually upset with their co-workers and have an ax to grind. I have told those employees to file a complaint and make a report in writing of their concerns and we will look at it if any further action is required. Generally, that is the end of the complaint. I did have one person, though, who took that as license to “log their co-workers behavior.” The co-workers complained about this person not doing their work and put it in writing. The original worker was confronted and the situation was addressed. They eventually quit, but the problem was not with the co-workers. The original complainant had difficulty “working and playing with others.”
In this case, the derrogatory terms in the log and the rigid attitude reminds me so much of our previous situation.
August 17th, 2009 at 9:06 am
Just for the knowledge, would someone please explain how Muffy and Buffy are derrogatory? Granted when I hear those names I think of English high-brows but does that go so far as to be derrogatory? Nouns and verbs become adjectives so fast that I need helpl in keeping up with new meanings.
Thanks!