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Friday,
July 11, 2008
Blog
About Siegelman, Lose Your Job
Getting
elected and running for office as a Democrat in Alabama cost former Governor
Don Siegelman his freedom. Writing about the Siegelman story has cost me my
job.
The Raw Story Web site, in a
major investigative piece by reporter Lindsay Beyerstein, breaks news today
about my recent termination at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).
I had worked at UAB for 19 years, the last 12 as an editor in the Publications
Office, before being fired on May 19. At the time of my termination, I did not
have so much as an oral warning in my personnel file about the issues UAB
claims led to my firing.
In fact, before my Supervisor, Pam Powell, initiated an age- and gender-based
harassment campaign against me in December 2007, I didn't have an oral warning
about anything in my file. Only when I began to defend myself against this
harassment did UAB initiate an "investigation" of my computer use at
work. And when I defended myself against false charges of policy violations, I
got a written warning, followed by forced administrative leave, and
termination.
All of this is in clear violation of university policy and federal law. As
Columbia University law professor Scott Horton states in the Raw Story piece, UAB's
actions raise clear First Amendment issues.
As someone with 30 years of journalism experience, I'm not used to commenting
on a story that involves me as a central figure. But let me give it a shot,
with some thoughts just a few hours after the story has broken. I will be
adding considerable new information and analysis in the days and weeks ahead.
* The evidence is overwhelming that my termination was a "political
hit." Specifically, clear evidence shows that I was fired simply because I
write a blog that has to do with Don Siegelman. I feel certain that my original
reporting on the Paul Minor case in Mississippi--and my own experiences with
corrupt judges in Alabama--made certain folks in our state's Republican power
structure unhappy. But I have irrefutable evidence that simply blogging about
the Siegelman case was the driving factor behind my firing.
* Some might ask, "Schnauzer, sounds like you were blogging on UAB
equipment and time. Isn't that why you were fired?" Nope. At a grievance
hearing on my firing, the IT rep who conducted UAB's "investigation"
stated that I had not written the first word on my blog using UAB resources.
The university claims that I was "researching" my blog on UAB
equipment. But part of my job description is to keep up with current events and
issues that could become story ideas for university publications. The Siegelman
case was the biggest story in Alabama for a two-year period, and Siegelman's
codefendant (Richard Scrushy) is without question UAB's most famous alumnus. If
I had ignored the Siegelman story, I would have been neglecting my duty. But in
Karl Rove's Alabama, you can get fired at a public university for doing your
job. I know because it happened to me.
* A word about my supervisor, Pam Powell: I've known Pam for almost the entire
19 years I've been at UAB. In my first seven years at the university, she
sought me out to write for her publications, which I did (without compensation,
I might add). In 1996, she hired me as an editor in her office. When I joined
the group, we had four people (counting Pam) and five or six publications. When
I was fired, we had 12 full-time people and about 20 publications. Doesn't
sound like my performance was hurting the department does it? I'm 51 years old,
and Pam has a clear pattern of preferring younger people in the positions that
work closest with her. I've come to accept that and never thought it would have
a major impact on my job status. But the fact is this: Pam has not been easy on
folks who are in or near their 50s. During my time in the group, we've had
three people who fit that description. Two of us were fired, and one almost had
to be hospitalized when her blood pressure spiked due to job-related stress. In
spite of that, I would describe my relationship with Pam as good--at least
until her behavior took a turn toward the bizarre in December 2007. While I
have serious concerns about my supervisor's behavior in this saga, evidence
strongly suggests that her actions were not necessarily all of her own doing.
In fact, evidence indicates that my termination was driven by political forces external
to UAB. I have a real good idea about the path those forces followed, and who
was driving them. Much more information will be coming about that.
* Obviously, this story matters to me. But why should it matter to other
people? Two reasons come quickly to mind: (1) To my knowledge, this is the
first story that shows how people connected to the corrupt Bush Justice
Department do not target only public officials and major Democratic donors.
They also go after regular people; (2) You don't have to live in Alabama to be
impacted by this story. UAB is one of the leading biomedical research
institutions in the country. The university receives more than $400 million a
year in federal research funds. In the South, only the University of North
Carolina and Duke University rank higher than UAB in receipt of federal
research dollars. Those dollars flow into Birmingham, but they come from
Americans in all 50 states. My understanding is that part of every research
grant is a requirement that the institution will abide by federal law, that it
will conduct business in a lawful and nondiscriminatory way. My termination
shows that UAB has failed to live up to that commitment, and that should be of
concern to all taxpayers--and to members of Congress (particularly the House
Appropriations Committee) who oversee federal grants programs.
* One final thought for now: Obviously I'm not a disinterested, neutral party
in this situation. But I have a bachelor's degree in journalism, and I've
worked in the field for 30 years. I like to think I know a good story when I
see one. I definitely know a challenging story when I see one. Lindsay
Beyerstein and the Raw
Story crew were presented with a challenging story here. As the
story makes clear, people associated with UAB and the Justice Department did
their best to stonewall. But I can attest to the fact that the Raw Story folks take
their work seriously. I was terminated on May 19, and Beyerstein had been
working on the story for quite some time at that point. In fact, Raw Story's initial
query to me came in response to the unlawful auction of my house by Republican
officials in Shelby County, Alabama. By the time my employment issues came up,
Beyerstein already had the scent of an important story. (While I'm making
canine allusions, let me add one more: Beyerstein and her Raw Story colleagues
went after this story with the doggedness of a schnauzer. I can think of no
higher compliment I can pay a journalist.) In the end, it was fascinating to
watch a story unfold from the "other side," as a source. And it was
interesting to watch another reporter, and her editors, "work" a
story. And I do mean work. Beyerstein fired numerous informed, probing, and
challenging questions in my direction. She checked and doubled checked facts.
She took suggestions from editors, sent more questions my way, and incorporated
that material into her story. At one point, I remember thinking to myself,
"Gosh, no wonder people at UAB and the U.S. attorney's office are
stonewalling her. If I were in their shoes, I'd probably stonewall, too."
Of course, that's what good reporters do. They hold the powerful accountable.
And they make the shifty uncomfortable. I know from firsthand knowledge, that
Beyerstein and Raw Story have made a few people at UAB uncomfortable. And I
say, Bravo! As Beyerstein's piece shows, a number of folks associated with UAB
should be uncomfortable.
I've learned a lot in the past two months or so. But maybe my most important
lesson was this: A reporter doesn't have to be from The New York Times, ABC News, or Time to produce
world-class journalism. And a news organization doesn't have to have years of
tradition behind it to produce journalism that makes a difference. From the
outset, the story of the politicized Bush Justice Department has been driven by
the "alternative" press. My understanding is that TPM Muckraker essentially broke the story about the firings of nine U.S. attorneys. And it's
impossible to overstate the importance of work by folks like Scott Horton at Harper's.org, Larisa
Alexandrovna at Raw Story,
Glynn Wilson at Locust
Fork News, and Adam Lynch at Jackson
Free Press. They have driven this story of profound corruption into
the nation's consciousness.
Now Lindsay Beyerstein has added a new chapter, showing that governmental evil
can reach down and engulf a regular guy (and his wife and two kitty kats) who
happens to write a blog about a certain subject--with his own time and
resources. In Karl Rove's Alabama, you can (to quote Bill Clinton) "work
hard and play by the rules" and still wind up suffering mightily.
I strongly suspect that I'm not the only regular guy around the country who has
been cheated under the Bush regime. Don Siegelman has repeatedly said that the
story of his political prosecution is not just about him. I know today, more
than ever, what the former governor means. Raw
Story focused on me, but the story really is about all
Americans--all of us who pay taxes to support a system of justice, but instead
have been given a system that promotes injustice.
My prayer is that Beyerstein's story will help move us toward a day when quaint
concepts like "due process" and "rule of law" truly apply
to all.