Three days before Christmas last year, Carol Clifford, owner of Albuquerque Hearing and Balance…read morefired me two days after giving me a raise. She said that state law wasn't required to tell me why I was let go, but the timeline of events clearly indicates that I was retaliated against for having brought attention to this medical office's lackadaisical and unsafe attitude towards alcohol use. I wouldn't have brought this up if both the Director of Administration and the Office Manager had not told me within days of being hired that the owner was a "functional alcoholic" and joked that I nearly botched my interview by mentioning my aversion to alcohol too emphatically. This troubled me even more after seeing alcohol on the premises.
After I met with Heather Auge (Director of Administration) for nearly 3 hours on December 12, I walked away with the feeling that she was trying to RETAIN me, considering the tenor and length of our discussion. We broadly discussed my concerns on lack of staffing, my training, and the alcohol situation. She told me she was glad I "didn't keep my mouth shut" with my concerns. After acknowledging holes in my training, assuring me I was doing a good job, and that my job was safe, she responded to me asking about the owner's alcohol use. When I asked about the alcohol use of Dr. Clifford she had the following to say over what was a lengthy conversation about the present/future of the company:
Here are some direct quotes:
"She's an alcoholic."
"Well, I mean, she is going more and more into not being functioning."
"It will, and Carol can't make it another six or seven years. Carol wants to work for another six or seven years. But if she's on this path, I don't know how she does it for another two."
Heather: "Yes, there is a succession plan. Um, that is something that Carol has been working on too, because you need to have a succession plan. (Employee A) is a part of that. (Employee B) is a part of that. I am a part of that. (Employee C) is a part of that. We have a lot of people who have been here for a really long time, who, we understand, how the company runs. We understand the history of... and if Carol would get hit by a bus tomorrow, the company would not close. We would continue to function. We've tried to make sure that we have backups for everybody, any one of us is expendable. And, like, nobody ever wants to hear, like, everybody's replaceable, but really everybody's replaceable. If I get hit by a bus, (Employee D) can do my job."
Me: "If she (Carol) hits the bus, we're all getting replaced."
Heather: "If Carol hits a bus, um, No, it's gonna be fine. We're gonna be fine.
The company will be fine. It won't be great press. That's my concern is not, um, like... in an error. It's more about what the perception of this place becomes. Yep. But internally and especially externally.
"You know, it's a good clinic, it's number one in the country, and it's run by an alcoholic"
"Most doctors know Carol. Most of them are aware of her situation."
"We had an audiologist who, (Audiologist's name), overheard saying, 'Yeah, when I took the job, I knew she was a wino.' "
"We have a respect relationship. And that has been falling away in the last couple of years because she can't get herself under control. And that's, like, a lack of control is something that I don't have a lot of respect for. And so talking with (Employee X) made me realize that I am not being fully present in my job if I'm not bringing this to Carol's attention because it's going to affect her business.
In reference to my job performance, security and training:
"Right now, as far as employees and providing support, like, you will be my first priority."
"I will get you what you need. We just need to figure out what that is."
"If you need six months of training, then that's what we will provide."
"Your job is safe."
Me: "No, I felt... I felt, honestly, abandoned. Heather: Yeah, and I didn't know that, so I apologize deeply. Um, I did not mean to make you feel that way and I will work towards fixing that, and I will make sure that the rest of our management team, (Employee A) is aware, and can try to work towards getting you what you need. We don't want to lose you. Me: I don't want to be coddled, either. Heather: Right. Right, but if that's what you need to get you to where you don't need to be, like, I mean, coddled might be the wrong word, right? Me: Trained. (CONTINUED IN PHOTOS BELOW)
