Clay and Bones by Lisa G. Bailey

Author:Lisa G. Bailey
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Published: 2024-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

Reid was traveling, which meant we had the whole weekend to talk. Besides being sisters, Lauren and I are best friends. We can tell each other anything and are able to spend days on end doing nothing but hanging out and talking. We’ll get into giggle fits over the stupidest thing, and never let more than a day go by without talking, texting, or sending each other ridiculous memes, like dogs riding bicycles or chickens wearing socks. She already knew everything that had been going on at work, and had been furious on my behalf, but it would be fair to say this latest episode made her incandescent with rage.

After a weekend of talking about work, watching movies, laughing, and (did I mention?) talking about work, Lauren convinced me to go talk to an EEO counselor.

That Monday I made an appointment with Grace, the counselor for the laboratory. At that time, EEO counselors were regular support staff who volunteered for the program. This was meant to make the process less intimidating, and I can attest that it absolutely did help. Counselors weren’t part of management or human resources; they were one of us. I was more comfortable that what I said would remain confidential, and that trust was never broken.

We talked for over an hour. Everything I said in that meeting would be off the record, which is the way I wanted it. After I recounted everything that had been happening over the past year and a half, she urged me to consider mediation. I was still hesitant. I didn’t want to make things worse than they already were.

Then Grace made a suggestion. She could go to Harry and Frank separately, voice my concerns, and then discuss options of how we could “move forward in a more productive way.”

“Let’s do that,” I said. “Then they’ll know I’m not trying to fire all torpedoes. I just want to be treated like a human being.”

For most supervisors, that would be enough. Any supervisor with half a brain recognizes they have been given a gift. This is their opportunity to head off a formal EEO complaint, and it all stays off the record.

It didn’t go well. “You won’t believe what they said,” Grace told me the next day. “They said that this was their way of managing you. And if you don’t like it, you can quit.”

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