DOT Whistleblower fears for job after coworker fired for talking to Fox 4

Steve Sherman - Fired DOT Whistleblower

I've spoken with dozens of disgruntled DOT workers, but Steve Sherman was the first one to go on-camera. He thinks the county is trying to send a strong message to whistleblowers.

Minutes seemed like hours as DOT worker Steve Sherman waited to find out if he still had a job.
Finally, Sherman and 2 of his supervisors were met by Stephanie Figueroa with Lee County's Human Resources, and that's when he got the news.  "They terminated me and wrongfully I may add." Steve Sherman says. Sherman was officially fired. Officials claim it's because they just realized Sherman violated several county policies. One of the policies included having his driver's license suspended back in 2004 for a DUI arrest, when his position required him to have a valid driver's license.

But documents show supervisors accepted this and re-assigned Sherman to a position that didn't require him to drive. Fox 4 asked Sherman if he thought HR even gave him a chance? "No this is a total railroad whitewash in my opinion, personally. They didn't even want to discuss item by item the material that I supplied them with last week." Sherman says. County officials claim Sherman was fired now because they decided to change his job title, and while looking through his records they found some baggage that was overlooked in his past.

Sherman says he was really fired because he spoke with FOX 4 about problems at DOT. Our reports prompted the county manager to order an audit of DOT. Sherman then filed for whistleblower protection.

"I think they're trying to instill a fear that if you speak out and you're not a team player in line with HR or the county managers, you're going to be out of a job.” Sherman says.

That has another DOT worker very nervous. I’m sure I'm next on the hit list." Bob Maxey says.
Bob Maxey also spoke out about problems at DOT and feels Sherman's termination will have a chilling effect on all county workers. "It's gonna scare the hell out of them it scares people and it's a sure way to shut people up." Bob Maxey says.

Maxey now plans to file for whistleblower protection himself. Maxey hopes county workers will stand together and speak up despite what happened to Sherman.

I asked Maxey why’s he decided to talk to FOX 4.
"Because someone needed to light the fire, buddy. Someone needed to let people know what was going on." Maxey says.
Sherman plans to sue the county if his job is not reinstated.
An attorney tells us that Sherman has a good case because he filed for whistleblower protection and the county terminated him for issues that seem very suspicious.
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/toprotator/125860983.html

Worker Fired for Blowing the Whistle after speaking with Mike Mason Fights Back

Steve Sherman

A DOT Whistleblower fired after speaking with Four in your Corner is fighting to get his job back. Today he met with county officials to plead his case and says he will sue the county if he doesn't get re-hired.
County officials claim Steve Sherman was fired because they were changing his job title and happened to look through his records and found some baggage in his past but Sherman says it's only because he blew the whistle on D.O.T. problems and now he wants his old job back.

Today Sherman prepared for his hearing with Lee County's Human Resources Department. He was fired on Wednesday and given just two days to refute the county's claims against him. He's now fighting to get his job back and his ammunition is a stack of documents.

Four in you Corner’s investigator Mike Mason was not allowed to attend the hearing but Sherman feels he presented a good case. He says, “ They can fire me any time any day but over these charges, no."
On Wednesday, Sherman was handed a document notifying him he was being terminated.Officials claim he violated county policies such as: having his driver's license suspended back in 2004 for a DUI arrest. His position required him to have a valid driver's license at the time.
But documents Sherman presented today show how supervisors accepted the circumstances of his arrest and reassigned Sherman to a position that didn't require him to drive. Sherman states, "That indemnifies me as far as notifying H.R. and notifying the county attorney who agreed to maintain me on the payroll in a limited working capacity back then."

The county also claimed Sherman failed to notify management after being arrested for violating an injunction in 2008. Today his supervisors provided written statements saying he *did* notify them.

Sherman says, "I presented all of this to H.R. today and they said they'd get back to me some time next week.” Sherman was fired just one day after he met with the Clerk of Courts office and requested Whistle-blower protection for speaking with FOX 4 and voicing accusations that D.O.T. officials use harassment, intimidation and are wasting taxpayer money.
Attorney Jason Gunter represents other county employees who were fired after blowing the whistle and says Sherman meets that specific criteria. Sherman says if he doesn't get his job back he will sue the county. "I'll definitely sue them for defamation of character, slander, harassment."
Sherman should know by next week if he'll be fired or re-hired. We'll stay on top of this and let you know.
To view the Fox 4 Report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/news/125670958.html

D.O.T Whistleblower fired after speaking with Fox 4's Mike Mason

Steve Sherman - Lee County D.O.T. worker

LEE COUNTY - Lee County officials drop a bombshell, firing a D.O.T. worker just one day after he applied for protection under Florida's Whistle-blower's Act. That whistle-blower spoke with Fox 4 and feared retaliation after exposing numerous problems with Lee County’s troubled Department of Transportation. One attorney says the county may be in hot water because of this. Four in your Corner investigator mike mason broke the story into problems at D.O.T and has the latest. D.O.T worker Steve Sherman has spoken out several times, accusing officials of wasting taxpayer money and harassing employees. He says supervisors intimidate employees along with being chastised and heavy handed. Sherman hoped things at D.O.T would improve with the help of Fox 4 and says that’s why he turned to us when county officials began retaliating against him. Sherman says, "I have nothing to hide. Bring ‘em on, let them do what they've got to do.” And Wednesday Steve Sherman was fired. He was handed a document notifying him he was being terminated for violating county policies such as:

Having his driver's license suspended back in 2004 for a DUI arrest and failing to notify management after being arrested for violating an injunction in 2008.

Attorney Jason Gunter says, “They wanted to get rid of this guy." Gunter says it's suspicious how the county fired Sherman for issues that happened several years ago and questions why they decided to terminate him just one day after he filed for protection under the state’s Whistle-blower's Act.

Florida's Whistle-blower's Act was established to "prevent agencies from taking retaliatory action against any person who discloses information alleging improper use of governmental office, gross waste of funds or any other abuse or gross neglect of duty on the part of an agency or public office."

Fired Director Rony Joel

Gunter represents several county employees who were fired after blowing the whistle and says Sherman meets that criteria. A Four in your Corner investigation has already sparked 3 investigations into D.O.T., led to the firing of its new director and triggered an audit by the Clerk of Courts. When Gunter was asked if he had faith that he Clerk of Courts would conduct an audit that's going to protect the employees he replied, "Not based on what I've seen thus far."

Gunter also feels the media is a powerful tool when it comes to exposing corruption. He says, "If individual employees want to come to Fox 4, yourself particularly, and disclose information they can do that on a confidential basis and you can agree not to share that information with anyone and nobody will ever know and you're not legally obligated to share that information with anyone."
Sherman has been given two days to contest his termination. The best ways employees can protect themselves from retaliation include the following: put complaints in writing, give them to a supervisor so there's a paper trail, contact an attorney, file charges with Florida’s Commission on Human Relations and apply for whistleblower protection. You can get the forms on our website, it's ‘Fox4 now.com’ and click on the Big Red 4.

To file for protection under the Florida’s Whistle-blower’s Act click here:
http://fchr.state.fl.us/complaints__1/florida_s_whistle_blower_s_act

Workers question if County audit is an investigation into Whistle blowers

Lee county's manager finally releases details about the audit into the Department of Transportation but some workers feel they're the ones being investigated for blowing the whistle.

Karen Hawes

Four in your Corner investigator Mike Mason sparked the audit after uncovering numerous problems with the troubled department. But the audit has a big problem; all of the issues Fox 4 exposed are related to D-O-T's Operation's Center and the audit states it will only focus on D.O.T.'s Traffic Department. Some workers now accuse county manager Karen Hawes of using shady tactics to avoid the truth. D.O.T worker Steve Sherman tells Fox 4, "Anybody who's been watching the news that you've been airing, I mean a blind man would know the problem is at Operations."

Four in your Corner contacted County Manager Karen Hawes to find out why she didn't include the Operations Center in the audit and only then did she issue an email stating the scope will *now also* include an investigation into the D.O.T. Operations Center. Sherman says that makes him very suspicious of Karen Hawes, "She just doesn't want to get to the problem for some reason, there's something there that she's protecting."

Hawes says the objective of the D.O.T. audit is to address employee harassment, intimidation and retaliation and also look into D.O.T management and employee non-compliance with county policies. The actual scope of the audit will include Interviewing D.O.T employees, reviewing the performance of Human Resources for compliance with county policies, verifying time-keeping and payroll data and determining if there is any misuse of county resources.

Our investigation previously exposed workers who say they were fired for coming to work late even though records show they reported to work on time. Fox 4 also showed how supervisors are accused of delivering tons of free dirt to family members while other residents have been told they will be put on a long waiting list if they want some dirt. Tom Mere is a Lee County resident and a North Fort Myers Firefighters Commissioner but he didn't receive any special favors when he requested dirt. He's been waiting for more than a year to have dirt delivered to a mobile home park he owns in North Fort Myers.

Steve Sherman

Fox 4 has also exposed supervisors who are accused of harassing employees. Sherman claims he is *still* being harassed because he blew the whistle on D.O.T. and spoke with us about the problems within the department. Supervisors have notified him that county officials have been rifling through his personnel records. Sherman says it doesn't surprise him, "I have nothing to hide, bring 'em on. Let them do what they've got to do. They're going to find nothing and they're going to look foolish at the end of it all."

And the buck stops with Karen Hawes, she's the top dog at Lee County and is paid 192-thousand dollars a year as county manager. Sherman doesn't feel Hawes is working to make Lee County a better place for employees, "I don't believe she's doing justice by the workers or the taxpayers."
To view the Fox 4 report click here: http://www.fox4now.com/story/15037662/county-audit-or-investigation-into-whistleblowers

Lee Commissioners sound off after Fox 4 investigation sparks audit

A Fox 4 investigation sparks an audit into Lee County's Department of Transportation and today county officials are reacting. For the past two weeks we've told you about the controversy surrounding the D-O-T with workers complaining about being harassed and intimidated by supervisors. They claim supervisors are doing favors for friends and wasting lots of taxpayer money.

Karen Hawes - Lee County Manager

Because of Fox 4's investigation, the County Manager, Karen Hawes, announced yesterday that she's requesting an independent audit into the allegations. At the County's commission meeting today she offered more details about that audit, "This will be a review of hiring practices in D.O.T which could expand into other areas, so the Clerk of Courts will do an independent objective audit."
You could say Lee County's Department of Transportation is currently under construction now that an official audit is set to investigate the way that department is doing business. D-O-T worker Bob Maxey reacted to the news, "It's time, it's time to look into the dealings at D.O.T, what's going on there with the management..I think it's time."

Frank Mann

At least two commissioners agree and they too support the audit. Lee County Commissioner Brian Bigelow says, "That's great, she's trying to seek facts and she's trying to advocate for transparency of government." Commissioner Frank Mann says he also supports the move, "I just think it's a good idea for her to bring somebody in from outside to take a look so it doesn't degenerate into a bunch of finger pointing and ‘he said' and ‘she said' and that sort of thing."
But some D-O-T workers remain skeptical. They claim supervisors are still harassing and intimidating employees and doing favors for friends on the taxpayers' dime.

Steve Sherman

Fox 4 Investigator Mike Mason asked D.O.T. worker Steve Sherman if he felt the audit would really create any positive changes. Sherman replied, "Possibly, with the help of the media. That's how it's been so far, without it we wouldn't have had a chance. I don't know we'll see."
Meanwhile, dozens of Lee County D-O-T workers attended the commission meeting to support, and say farewell to, their interim director, Paul Wingard. Wingard's last day is June 29th. He has worked for D-O-T for 18 years and said County officials led him to believe he would be hired as the full time Director. when he didn't get the job he decided to resign because he's says he was not happy with the current situation at work. At today's commission meeting, D.O.T. employee Steve Sherman approached the podium and accused Public Works Director, Doug Meurer, of lying to a large group of D-O-T workers.
Sherman says Meurer told them that Wingard would indeed be named the new Director of D-O-T and reported to commissioners, "In my presence and some 50 to 60 other supervisors and employers Mr. Meurer stated to us all that Mr. Paul Wingard was the panel's second choice."

Paul Wingard

The panel of people in charge of hiring a new Director did offer to job to someone but that person later turned it down. County officials now claim that Wingard was never the runner up and they are currently advertising for the vacant position.
To view the Fox 4 investigation click here: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14951733/lee-commissioners-sound-off-after-fox-4-investigation-sparks-audit?redirected=true

Fox 4 Investigation sparks audit into Lee County D.O.T

Karen Hawes - Lee County Manager

A Four in your Corner investigation sparks an audit into the controversy surrounding the Department of Transportation. Lee County manager Karen Hawes has officially called for an independent audit of D-O-T's hiring practices. Hawes says, "We're going to be looking into the D.O.T. hiring practices and the independent audit division will also be interviewing employees and this way it can be kept confidential"

That's good news for some D.O.T employees who have already aired their concerns. Steven Sherman works in D.O.T's traffic sign division and supports the audit, "It's a good thing, from my experience over there it's long overdue."

Clay Simmons - D.OT. Supervisor

A Four in your Corner investigation recently exposed what employees are calling horrible working conditions at D-O-T such as harassment and intimidation by supervisors and Division Director Clay Simmons is now in the hot seat.

Simmons has been accused of wasting taxpayers' money. Workers say Simmons ordered them to deliver 130 truckloads of dirt from Buckingham to a private home on Orange River Boulevard in Fort Myers. The Berner family says they used the dirt to build a slope along the pond on their 10 acre property. We are told the entire job took 10 hours and 7 workers to complete. If that's true that means dump trucks made 130 trips, driving about 7 and a half miles each way racking up nearly two thousand miles on county time and funded by taxpayer dollars.

Steve Sherman - Lee County D.O.T.

Fox 4 investigator Mike Mason asked Sherman, "they guys who were driving the trucks delivering the dirt on that day, what did they have to say about it? Sherman replied, "They say there was some sort of shenanigans, that's an exceptional delivery."
Sherman is one of the workers who blew the whistle on his supervisors and after Four in your Corner began digging up the dirt, the County Manager took notice. Hawes admits she initiated the audit because, "I've had other employees mention some things to me, your reports and other information that's coming forward, this is the time to do it?"
Four in your Corner visited D.O.T's Operations Center for the third time to speak with Clay Simmons but were told he's off on Mondays. One question we wanted to ask him was about his hiring procedures. Many employees say he's giving out promotions to people who may not be best qualified for the job. One of those employees is Shane Hinman who is a crew supervisor. Today our cameras caught up with him. Fox 4 Investigator Mike Mason confronted Hinman saying, "Some other employees say you got a job after only being here for 2 years and they were here for 10 or 20 years and they haven't gotten that job". Hinman replied, "You'll have to take that up with Downtown, man, ‘cause I don't know and I couldn't tell you."
After digging deeper Fox 4 Investigates also discovered Hinman may have been a ‘shoo-in' for the crew supervisor job. County records show Clay Simmons only advertised Hinman's position for 2 days last year, from December 22nd until December 249th; Christmas Eve. Fox 4's Mike Mason asked the County Manager if 2 days was really enough time to allow other people to apply for the job. Hawes simply replied, "It's not the norm. It's not the norm."

County Manager Karen Hawes says the audit will begin by investigating D.O.T's hiring practices but may expand to cover other issues such as claims that supervisors are harassing employees and potentially wasting taxpayer dollars. Fox Four Investigates will stay on top of this story and bring you the latest.
To view Fox 4 report click on link: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14945187/fox-4-investigation-sparks-audit-into-lee-county-dot?redirected=true

Disgruntled County workers threaten mass exodus

Lee County D-O-T workers threaten to call it quits if work conditions don't improve. They say they're being harassed and intimidated by their supervisors and they've had enough. Since Fox 4 Investigator Mike Mason began this investigation, he's spoken with dozens of workers but the problem is that most of those workers won't go on-camera because they're afraid of losing their jobs.


Bob Maxey is an equipment operator at Lee County D.O.T. and has been with the county for 9 years. He has a clean record but says supervisors are getting downright dirty, "Workers do have rights, we're being told to shut up."

On Wednesday, D.O.T worker Steve Sherman also spoke out, saying county supervisors are using sleazy tactics to run employees out of their jobs, "It's counterproductive to be chastised and be heavy handed in certain areas of departments with the employees."
Maxey says supervisors hold monthly meetings with employees but it's just a waste of time, "You won't hear anything out of most of the workers here because they're afraid for their jobs." Maxey says supervisors are required to conduct meetings but discourage input from employees, "they'll tell you how it's going to be and if you raise your hand in opposition against whatever their plan may be at the time you're kind of singled out you know it's like 'what is your problem? Do you have a question?' And the guy he'll generally shut up and melt back into the crowd because he doesn't want to be singled out like that in a group there."
Maxey and Sherman both agree upon which supervisor is using intimidation tactics at their particular D.O.T. office on Zip Drive in Fort Myers. Maxey says, "The Director right now is Clay Simmons. He makes you understand verbally that it's his way or no way."

Clay Simmons - Director D.O.T. Operations

Four in your Corner's Mike Mason went out to the D.O.T. Operations Center on Zip Drive to speak with Division Director Clay Simmons but was told Simmons was out for the day. While there Mason spoke with some of the employees in the office who said they'd like to talk to us about problems at the workplace but they're afraid for their jobs .
The maintenance supervisor in charge, Chuck Speake, called Simmons on his cell phone but claimed, "I didn't get a hold of Clay but if you guys want to make an appointment and come back he should be here tomorrow and I'm sure, he's not going to ‘not' to talk to you.
Workers feel this is really a countywide problem which needs to be handled from the top down. Maxey says, "I think the County Manager should be looking into it, talk to the working people here at D.O.T. off to the side and ask them what's going on."

Karen Hawes is the Lee County manager and Fox 4 left Hawes on her cell phone but received no response. We are told she's out of town. One thing is certainly clear; if County officials don't do something quick many workers say they're hitting the road. Maxey warns, "Other people have told me as soon as they can find another job they're gone. They want out of here they're done with this."

If you are a public employee and are having problems at work Fox 4 would like to hear from you. Head to Fox4now.com and click on the ‘Viewers' Voice' tab or call or text us at 239-206-Fox 4

To view the Fox 4 TV report click on this link: http://www.fox4now.com/story/14926395/disgruntled-county-workers-threaten-mass-exodus?redirected=true