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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter from Vjera Stark regarding Charges for discrimination based on religion by DESSVjera Stark 2062 West Sacramento Ave Chico, CA 95973-9627 Butte County Board of Supervisors 25 County Center Drive, Suite 200 Oroville, CA 95965 Date: 12/14/2009 Stark 1 UOAROOFSUPeRV/SORS MC 15 20M OROV14, CALIFORNIA Subject: Charges for discrimination based on religion by the Butte County DESS. (Re: EEOC charge no: 550-2009-01065) To: Mr. Bill Connelly Ms. Jane Dolan Ms. Maureen Kirk Mr. Steve Lambert Mr. Kim Yamaguchi Dear Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, Respectful Members of the Board, I am writing you one more time with hope that you can give some different resolve in my situation. I believe there must be some rights, rules and laws to work for me in the Butte County DESS, as long as I am following all the rules "by the book". God knows and people know that for the last ten years working in this department, I have been doing so and I have broken none. I continue to be exposed to retaliatory and discriminative practices by my supervisor in Butte County Department of Social Services, at Chico office. On the day of December 9, 2009, Wednesday, my unit and my supervisor Penny Kerr went to a celebratory Christmas breakfast. This has been our unit's practice every year. As a member of my unit, I was participating in this kind of activities every year but this time I was maliciously and deliberately excluded from taking part in Christmas festivities with my co- workers. �G. ✓51� Stark 2 By this act, my supervisor: • Discriminated against me by simply denying me rights to express my religious views and celebrate Christmas holiday. • By abusing power, she deliberately took away my civic liberties and freedom to express myself, my personal religious views, and my right to co -exist at the works place even when being as different as I am. • Conscientiously and by intentional calculations, she did not give me any choice to decide myself to what level and extent I would like to take part in celebrating Christmas. • Insensitively and coldly, she deprived me of an opportunity to share Christmas festivities with my co-workers. • Took away from me a joy of Christmas season for 2009, even though it has been common knowledge that I have been participating in this activity willingly, by choice, and personal desire for the past nine years. • Denied my employee rights and duties to participate in the unit meeting and activities by manipulating the entire event. • Misinformed and misled me about the nature of the meeting even when I asked what was going on. • Disrespected and ignored me as an employee and a person by totally dismissing me as I was not even there. • Disregarded my presence of ten years in our department and belittled my role as an employee. • Ignored my feelings and my needs to belong, share, be included and appreciated. • Hurt me by being insensitive, rude, malicious, selfish, closed minded, and impolite. • Created in me again feelings of marginalization, isolation, alienation, rejection, mistreatment, harassment, non-acceptance, unfriendly and cold work environment, fear, demoralization, and dehumanization. • Caused around me and in me a lot of disturbance, distress, unhappiness, stress, concerns, worries, anxieties, and mistrust. • Installed in me feelings of worthlessness, hopelessness, helplessness, and loneliness. • Demonstrated unprofessional behavior, discriminatory practice, unfairness, favoritism, hostility and abuse of power. Stark 3 I was never even informed that the unit meeting was scheduled, and even more I was not invited to participate in this unit Christmas breakfast. When they were about to leave work area around 8:30 a.m., I went to ask my supervisor (in presence of Jo Kusie and Lori Campbell) is this the unit meeting. She flatly told me it was not. She even asked me to cover issuance of EBT cards for my co-worker while they were gone. I did not have any choice but to agree to do this new assignment. I was little bit surprised for not even being given any notice that I will be doing this extra work. My supervisor put me through 90 -day employee improvement plan in order to make me adhere to such practice and ask ahead of time my co-workers when they have to cover job for me. It took me a while to understand that my supervisor and my co-workers went out of building and this meeting this morning was actually our unit's Christmas celebration without me. By our departmental policies and procedures, unit can get approval to go out off site for lunch or breakfast only if it meets requirement of "having unit meeting outside of building." As an employee in this unit, I was neither informed nor invited to attend this "unit meeting." At 10:22 a.m. on 12/09/2009, I e-mailed my supervisor telling her how I felt by being excluded from taking part in Christmas celebration, being ignored, overseen, and without being given any choice or right in this matter. I am asking you for help. Thank you for your time, understanding and consideration. Sincerely, Vjer Stark 2/14/2009