This all hits close to home for your humble blogger. Dale Turnbough, who signed my termination letter, used to be a PR type at the Tuscaloosa campus before she got divorced and apparently wanted to "get out of Dodge," landing safely thanks to her UA System friends at a cushy job in Birmingham (where, by the way, she's gotten divorced again.)
Dale Turnbough seems to have an estranged relationship with both husbands and the truth. In the early stages of the lawsuit regarding my termination, I've received affidavits from a number of current and former UAB officials, including Turnbough. Several of these folks made statements, under oath, that are real whoppers. We will be discussing those in future posts.
Gary Mans, who used to work under Turnbough and since has bailed out for the University of Louisville, is an example of the kind of PR types the UA System hires. When The Chronicle of Higher Education wrote about my unlawful termination, which was broken in a piece by Raw Story, Mans posted the following comment on the Chronicle Web site:
President Garrison asked that I respond to you. Contrary to Mr. Shuler's statements, his termination had nothing to do with politics or any conspiracy, and the university has not been contacted by any public official or representative of such about this matter. Mr. Shuler was dismissed based solely on his work performance. Because this is a personnel matter, we cannot comment further.
Gary Mans, Director
UAB Public Relations
How false, and defamatory, was this statement? It came after UAB's own grievance committee, following an almost four-hour hearing, determined that I should not have been terminated at all. It came after my former supervisor, Pam Powell, was asked repeatedly in that hearing to present any documents she had that supported her claim that my job performance merited termination. She repeatedly said she had no such documents--no oral warnings, no written warnings, nothing that is required by university policy.
In other words, UAB's own official records showed there was no problem with my work performance under university policy. But Gary Mans falsely stated to a national and international audience that I was terminated for performance reasons.
Thinking about university spokespersons reminds me of an old joke about lawyers: How do you know a lawyer is lying? His lips are moving.
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