Article: Sleazy Employers Come in Many Varieties

Sleazy Employers Come in Many Varieties

Regular readers of this diary, and the Legal Schnauzer blog, know that we are keenly interested in the intersection between politics and employment.

And we know from firsthand experience that ugly mishaps can occur at that intersection. After all, I recently was terminated from my job as an editor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) after 19 years of service. And evidence makes it clear I was fired, not because of any misconduct or performance problems, but because I write a blog that takes a critical look at the Bush Justice Department--particularly its handling of the Don Siegelman prosecution. My research is pointing to a particular UAB donor, who has strong ties to the Alabama GOP, as playing a prominent role in my dismissal. More on that later.

But for now let's focus on two news items about sleazy employers--one with national implications and one of a personal nature.

News came this week that Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL) is embroiled in an employment-related mess of his own making:

Democrats Need to Roast One of Their Own

Mahoney took over the House seat vacated by disgraced Republican Mark Foley. You will recall that Foley is the chap who was outed for making homosexual advances to House pages.

Our guy Mahoney evidently thought it was OK to be a sexual predator as long as you are of the "hetero" variety. He apparently agreed to pay a former mistress and staff member $121,000 after she threatened to sue him. Another mistress has surfaced, the FBI is sniffing around, and it looks like Democrats might wisely throw the Good Ship Mahoney under the electoral bus.

We even have an audiotape of Mahoney treating his employee, and mistress, like dirt. You can check out the audio here, and it's enough to make your skin crawl. He makes the boss from Office Space seem like one enlightened dude:

Mahoney Audio

The woman in the Mahoney case evidently made a few mistakes--like sleeping with the boss. But she has my sympathy. In fact, the treatment she received reminds me of how I have been treated at UAB.

I will provide more details about UAB's sleazy tactics later. But for now, I have news that university president Carol Garrison has upheld my termination--even though her own grievance committee found that I had been wrongly terminated:

UAB's President Embarrasses Herself

This means I won't be receiving justice within the university framework. And that's not surprising considering the quality of "leadership" currently in place at UAB. And that's sad for a university that once had visionary leaders who cared about social justice and issues of right and wrong.

More details are coming about Garrison's handling of my case and her history of questionable behavior when it comes to ethics and use of state-owned equipment.