What did Betty Griffin House ever do to speak out against Officer-Involved Domestic Violence?
What did Betty Griffin House ever do to get Justice for Michelle O'Connell?
I love the Betty Griffin House thrift store.
I hate their bigotry, and uncritical support for Sheriff DAVID SHOAR f/k/a "HOAR."
Time for a change in leadership at BGH?
Posted September 29, 2016 12:01 am - Updated September 29, 2016 03:51 am
By STUART KORFHAGE stuart.korfhage@staugustine.com
Former Betty Griffin House Thrift Shoppe employees file lawsuit, claim retaliation for complaints
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Six former employees of the Betty Griffin Thrift Shoppe in St. Augustine have filed a lawsuit in St. Johns County that says they were fired in retaliation for making complaints about what they perceived to be hazardous working conditions.
The suit was filed Sept. 21 by attorney Maria Mattox, a Tallahassee-based lawyer who specializes in cases of workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, termination and other civil rights abuses.
The complaint says former employees Jeff McCoy, Patricia Van Brocklin, Genevieve Kelly, Robin Seery, Chris Bassford and Shani Fields experienced some form of retaliation. Seery and Fields also claim they were not paid the legal minimum wage for all their work. And Fields also claims racial discrimination.
Individually, the claims are listed as in excess of $15,000, which is standard for civil suits.
A public relations specialist working on behalf of Betty Griffin House said the management could not respond to specifics of the complaint because of the pending litigation.
“At this time, Betty Griffin House has not been notified of a lawsuit,” said Joyce Mahr, CEO of Betty Griffin House, in an email statement sent to The Record on Wednesday. “This will be a matter for the court to determine and we believe the judicial process will adequately address the dispute.”
Betty Griffin House is a nonprofit agency that provides emergency shelter and other services to those who have been abused. The organization runs two thrift stores to help pay for the services it provides.
In the official complaint, the employees say the difficulties began around October 2015 when Mahr was given oversight of the thrift stores and hired Teresa Olivas as the director of sales.
“Upon accepting the position of director of sales, Olivas made it clear that she desired to remove many of BGH employees she inherited that were hired by past management and to replace them with new employees she could hand pick herself,” the complaint reads. “As much was clear when Olivas privately conveyed to plaintiff Chris Brassford the she intended to ‘clean house’ once she took over.”
Van Brocklin had been made store manager in July 2014, the complaint says, and McCoy was named operations manager in April 2015.
The complaint says the two “raised concerns in regards to certain hazards within the BGH thrift store” before Olivas was hired. Their concerns included black mold on the thrift store ceiling tiles, improper cleanup of fiberglass insulation, an infestation of rats, poor lighting and a dangerous storage platform.
According to the complaint, management’s action in response to the concerns was “minimal to nonexistent.”
McCoy and Van Brocklin said they sent photos of moldy tiles to Olivas on March 18 and went on vacation a week later. They both returned to work on March 30 and were fired the next day.
On April 28, an investigator with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration visited the thrift store in the Anastasia Square shopping center. The complaint says several of the other plaintiffs mentioned their concerns about hazards to the OSHA investigator while Olivas was present.
Following the visit from OSHA, the employees who spoke about concerns were subjected to “bullying and intimidation tactics,” the lawsuit says.
Seery, the complaint says, was denied paid leave for a time she reported being out sick. She also listed various disputes with management and said she was terminated after making a workers’ compensation claim.
Also in the complaint, Fields said as an African-American, she was subject to “a hostile work environment, disparate treatment, different terms and conditions of employment, and was held to a different standard because of her race by the all-white upper management.”
The lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Howard Maltz of the 7th Judicial Circuit. There are no court hearings scheduled at this time.
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