Florida employee "punished for using phrase 'climate change'"| Senior Land Manager Barton Bibler Files Legal Complaint
OP Part 1
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/mar/19/florida-employee-forced-on-leave-climate-change
State PEER Director Calls For Full Investigation of Scott "Executive Memo"*
"Bibler was instructed to stay away from the office for two days and told he could return to work only after a mental health evaluation from his doctor verified his “fitness for duty”, the complaint said.
In the letter to Florida’s inspector general, Candie Fuller, the state’s Peer director calls for a full investigation to the matter.
In a complaint against the state, worker says he was accused of violating policy and instructed to get a mental health evaluation after mentioning climate change.
Bibler told the Miami Herald that he “didn’t get the memo” about the gag order, so when he introduced himself by congratulating other officials on the call for the “exciting” work they were doing to address climate change, the “reaction was mostly shock”.
News of the governor’s ban on the phrases first surfaced in early March, when the Florida Center for Investigative Reporting found that the ban came from the top after Scott took office and appointed Herschel Vinyard Jr as DEP director.
Guardian requests for comment from Scott, the Florida inspector general and the environmental protection department were not immediately returned on Thursday, but representatives from his office have ardently denied such a policy exists."
*On 9 March, Bibler received a formal reprimand for “misrepresenting that ‘the official meeting agenda included climate change’”, according to a statement from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (Peer), a nationwide non-profit that champions public employees’ rights and providers resources and guidance to whistleblowers using its network of members across the country.
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OP Part 2
"Through The Looking Glass"
"Bibler currently serves as Land Management Plan Coordinator in DEP Division of State Lands.
On February 27, Bibler attended a Florida Coastal Managers Forum, where a number of attendees discussed climate change and sea-level rise, among other environmental topics.
Bibler’s official notes reported all of that conversation.
DEP superiors directed Bibler to remove any “hot button issues,” such as explicit references to climate change. The letter of reprimand, dated March 9, accused Bibler of misrepresenting the “official meeting agenda (so it) included climate change.”
Bibler was instructed to take two days off, which was charged against his personal leave time. He later received a “Medical Release Form” requiring his doctor to provide the agency an evaluation of unspecified “medical condition and behavior” before being allowed to return to work.
“Bart Bibler has fallen through a professional looking glass in a Florida where the words ‘climate change’ may not be uttered, or even worse, written down,” said Florida PEER Director Jerry Phillips, a former DEP attorney.
Phillips pointed out that Bibler currently has “no idea” whether he will ever be allowed to return to work.
“If anyone needs mental health screening it is Governor Rick Scott,” he added, “and other officials telling state workers to pretend that climate change and sea-level rise do not exist.”
http://www.saintpetersblog.com/archives/185247
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