Bullying is Legal: A Survivor's Story by Dominic Richardson - HTML preview

III: Acts of Intimidation

APRIL 14TH, 2009

A brown haired man walked aggressively behind me in the hallway, stepped in front of me in the restroom without courtesy, proceeded to use the urinal that I was about to use, and then glared at me through the restroom mirror as he was washing his hands. This man was later connected with the “pepper spray” incident between August 24th and September 12th, 2009.

APRIL 16TH, 2009

Kim Gates (Data Entry Supervisor), who was one of the workers who interviewed me for employment, shared information from my résumé and cover letter with Lauren Steffans (Lead Data Entry Technician). The cover letter and first job listed on the résumé explains the essential functions of my self-employment with The Painter’s Express. The bottom of the résumé lists that I was awarded two bachelor’s degrees from “CENSORED” University in May 2008. Lauren Steffans, who was holding a plastic square bin filled with completed prescriptions, stood two feet away from me and replied to Kim Gates “No one gives a damn where you went to college” in reference to my background in education and “Look at me, everybody! I’m special!” in reference to my entrepreneurial efforts. Kim Gates is connected with two other instances of contributing to the hostile work environment, and Lauren Steffans is connected with verbal assault, sexual harassment and with contributing to the hostile work environment in many events listed in this document.

JUNE 14TH-27TH, 2009

A co-worker Sarah Fuller (Data Entry Technician) segregated patient’s medical paperwork according to their race. For three consecutive days she placed these bags on my desk. Every patient had a “non-American” name like “Rodriguez” or “Markowitz”, and other names that were particularly African-American and Latino. On the third day, one patient’s paperwork had a “racist” symbol on the address stamp of an iron cross inside of a circle. I returned the bag to the employee and expressed my disapproval of such discriminatory behavior.

AUGUST 2ND-15TH, 2009

My cubicle station had been transferred to a vacant cubicle in the Medicine “A” department and my new Supervisor became Heather Bradley. Outstanding employees in the Medicine “A” department are frequently promoted to higher positions within the company. Frankie Dill (Senior Data Entry Technician) and Lynette Williams (Lead Data Entry Technician) stood next to my desk as I was setting up my new work station, and Frankie said “Who it’s gonna be this time?” and Lynette Williams suggested that Frankie should “Keep an eye on this one.” Both Frankie Dill and Lynette Williams are major contributors to the hostile work environment, sexual harassment, verbal harassment and racial discrimination later stated in this document. As I opened the drawers of my desk I discovered that many documents were left behind by Harrison Davis (Data Entry Technician, who was wrongfully terminated days prior) with his employment identification number, social security number, personal mail correspondence and personal bottled medical prescriptions. It is against company policy and state and federal law for business employees to expose personal, private information like social security numbers to unauthorized individuals. It is against the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA) to expose Protected Health Information (PHI) with unauthorized individuals. When I reported the existence of these private materials to my new Supervisor, Heather Bradley, she insisted that I shred all documentation and dispose the materials.

AUGUST 17TH, 2009

Frankie Dill, whose cubicle was to my right, volunteered information by telling me that the previous worker in my seat was terminated for bringing a complaint to Human Resources (HR) about Heather Bradley, and she told me never to file a complaint to HR if I wanted to keep my job.

AUGUST 10TH-22ND, 2009

Heather Bradley, whose cubicle was to my left, exhibited hostile behaviors when she noticed that I could exceed the production goals set by the company. Heather Bradley would throw her keyboard against the wall that our cubicles shared. She would try to disrupt my job performance by typing loudly. She would call personal contacts on the company telephone and openly discuss her discontent with my outstanding work performance. She would consume alcoholic beverages during smoke breaks and act belligerently when she came back to her cubicle hours later. She would frequently shout inappropriate comments over the shared wall like “I’m not going to let him get a bigger bonus than me”, “Mommy, when I grow up I want to be the leader of the typing brigade” and other statements. She would frequently hit the back of my chair to get my attention or take a stack of paperwork and slam it down on my desk instead of addressing me appropriately by name. She would send me e-mails or tell me to come to her cubicle for impromptu meetings during times I was extraordinarily productive. She would frequently blow her nose, shout, grunt, throw staplers, pens, and other office equipment, print off hundreds of copies at the copy machine next to my cubicle (in attempts to make additional noise) for an extended period of time, and approach me at my cubicle with intimidating looks and aggressive behavior (many times it felt like she was about to slap me). When I needed her to retrieve additional office supplies (like Eltron labels, pens, and batch cover sheets) she would laugh at me for not having the authority to open locked cabinets. On days that I was most productive, she would add stacks of difficult work on my desk, hide refill mailers so that I could not process them (these pieces of paperwork are easy to process, and help me to shatter the company’s production goals even further), and call unexpected team meetings to get me away from my desk.

AUGUST 10TH-22ND, 2009

Christina Damon (Data Entry Supervisor), who was the second PPI employee that interviewed me for the position, was aggravated with my outstanding production numbers. She would stand at the copy machine, or enter Heather Bradley’s cubicle, and make harassing statements over the wall and into my area like “Hi, I’m blah blah blah and I own my own business and I’d be really great for your company”, “I can’t wait to get off work so that I can have a painting party on my website” referring to The Painter’s Express which manages an online social network for fine and performing artists, “When I leave work, I make more money because I own my own business”, “I need to hurry up and get out of here so I can make dinner for my husband”, “You know my husband and I have dinner reservations at a restaurant downtown, I’m getting out of here now so that I can prepare”, “I have rehearsal to go to tonight. We’re doing make-up and costumes. And I can’t wait to see the boys” in reference to my background in performing arts, “Oh my God, who is this texting me? I thought I told him not until later tonight” and many other statements.