TWO DAYS before Thanksgiving the University administration fired Dena Bowers, senior recruiter of Human Resources, based on an e-mail Bowers sent to one colleague of hers on Oct. 11. The pink slip Bowers received states she was fired because she "knowingly used her University title in conjunction with a dissemination of information by use of her U.Va. email account." The dismissal notice also stated that Bowers "collaborated in the further dissemination" of the information in the email. This is incorrect, according to Jan Cornell, President of the Staff Union of U.Va. Given the administration's disproportionately severe punishment for a minor infraction and its allegedly inaccurate accusations about collaboration in further "dissemination of information," it is more likely that the administration seized upon Bowers' minor indiscretion in order to eliminate one of the principal staff critics of "charter," and a longtime proponent of workers' rights at the University.
In the dismissal letter, the administration says Bowers used her title inappropriately and "expressly declined the opportunity to clarify the fact that the information disseminated in the e-mail did not emanate from her in her official capacity." Although she used her University account to send the e-mail, Bowers thought it was obvious that she was sending her colleague the email in her capacity as an NAACP activist, not as senior recruiter in Human Resources. She told a colleague in an e-mail, "If the U.Va. administration tries to get me for it I'll tell the truth, that being I didn't distribute this through my U.Va. capacity but through my NAACP capacity." Bowers made this statement to the colleague shortly after sending the original e-mail.
The firing is also inappropriate in the context of common use of University e-mail accounts for personal and political activities. Multiple professors have stated in the Daily Progress and to me that employees normally use their University e-mail accounts for personal and even political aims without punishment. The administration says that Bowers' use of her official electronic signature made this email particularly worthy of disciplinary action. Those of us who use e-mail know that it is not unusual to find automatically-generated e-mail signatures at the bottom of personal emails.
Bowers worked at the University for 17 years before she was fired last Tuesday, and received consistently positive evaluations for her work in Human Resources. According to Cornell, Bowers has been a strong workers' advocate throughout her tenure. Most recently, that advocacy took the form of critiquing the proposed "Charter" legislation. Last year, a coalition of staff, faculty and students (that included myself) worked successfully to reform the "Charter" legislation and eliminate the most egregious threats to employee welfare.
The group based much of its criticism on working conditions at the U.Va. hospital, which received greater autonomy several years ago. When promoting the "Charter," the administration claimed that it could replicate the success of hospital decentralization. The critics pointed out that success in this case amounted to fewer pay raises and benefits for hospital employees.
The Charlottesville/Albemarle NAACP recently issued a report that compared working conditions for classified staff as compared to hospital employees. The report corroborated data Charter critics publicized last year, demonstrating that hospital employees receive fewer, lower pay raises than classified staff and receive fewer benefits as well. Bowers attached this report to the e-mail she sent to her colleague on Oct. 11.
It appears that the administration did in fact target Bowers for sending the e-mail. It faulted her for not expressly stating that she was not sending the e-mail as an official departmental directive and for not clarifying it later. In effect, the administration probably fired Bowers for this lack of disclosure in order to eliminate a vocal critic of anti-labor administration policy and intimidate other employees who might consider criticizing University policy.
This anti-labor purge is consistent with administration antipathy toward workers at the University. During the original living wage campaign, a hospital employee was sent home for wearing a button demanding a living wage. Today, the administration continues to refuse to set a minimum living wage for University employees. Moreover, it tolerates managers who tell employees that they will be fired for joining the union, according to Cornell. It is illegal to fire employees for joining the union.
Bowers made the mistake of standing up for workers' rights throughout her 17 years at the University. She made the mistake of opposing anti-worker provisions of the "Charter." She made the mistake of supporting workers' human rights in a hostile labor environment. Last Tuesday the administration exploited confusion over an e-mail Bowers sent to a single colleague to eliminate political dissent in our community. As Cornell said to me, the administration is "trying to gag someone who wants what's best for workers.It's an intimidation thing, it's retaliatory." Administration behavior in this case appears retributive. It also happens to be an assault on human rights. Those of us who value freedom of expression, including the right to political dissent, must raise our voices now if we are to prevent the administration from establishing the dangerous precedent of purging voices of conscience from the classified staff.
Zack Fields' column appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at zfields@cavalierdaily.com.
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