The tale of Gwen McCormick isn’t unique. We knew it wouldn’t be the only complaint of mistreatment in the Gilley administration.
We received this in a text message:
Lynn Orcutt, an HR Associate II, has worked for the county for 29 years. She had a heart attack and reportedly fired by HR Director Jana Still months before she reached 30 years in the Florida State Retirement.
She was terminated for insubordination. The story goes Orcutt was told by her direct supervisor, “It took you long enough to complete that project I assigned you.”
Her response was: “Well, it’s not like I don’t have other stuff to do.”
Orcutt was fired for that comment, according to the text.
In Mike Lowery’s arbitration case regarding his suspension for insubordination, the Arbitrator stated three elements must be present to constitute insubordination:
(1) there must be a direct order to an employee;
(2) the employee must be shown to have understood the order; and
(3) the employee must be shown to have blatantly refused to follow the order through actions, words, or both.
Orcutt’s comment didn’t satisfy any of these elements. The HR director should know this.
The reality of Gilley’s world is much different than the syrupy puffery she’s promoting.