I have been a supporter and donor to the Fairchild Environmental Challenge since its inception, nearly 8 years ago. "Ms. Lewis was a superstar teacher and principal at Ransom Everglades School before joining Fairchild," I wrote in November. I know: Ms. Lewis taught my eldest son and more: he thrived despite the peculiar characteristics of a Miami institution and she was the reason, why. Ms. Lewis is strong and powerful educator and mentor. "For all of us," I wrote, "It was a stroke of luck joining Ms. Lewis to Fairchild: solving the great missing link between urbanized generations of Floridians and environmental awareness required the skills of a great educator."
Apparently, my enthusiasm was poorly timed: a stroke of luck to me and readers was not universally appreciated by the leadership under Bruce Greer. In mid-December, after more than than 70 members of the Garden petitioned the Board of Trustees for a special meeting as provided by by-laws to express support for Ms. Lewis in her (then) position as Director of Education, Mr. Greer convened an emergency meeting of the board. (I have been involved and continue to be.) In the course of that meeting, the board accepted allegations against Ms. Lewis that served as the cause for her termination. She had never, at any time, been given an opportunity to respond to criticism through a normal process of personnel management. As news leaked out, community support for Lewis started to grow, with many members and teachers sending letters to the Garden and its trustees. On December 30, the Garden issued a letter by way of damage control: "Caroline Lewis, our Director of Education for the past seven years, is leaving Fairchild to pursue other opportunities." Ms. Lewis responded this weekend in a widely distributed email. (please click 'read more', for her letter.)
33 comments:
"... I answered a question bluntly and, later learned, that my statement had
offended a staff member."
What words in this blunt answer created Mr. Risi's,
"explosive situation on our hands"?
Yes, we do need to know the nature of her comments to decide for ourselves instead of dancing around them, as she does in her letter. Greer might be right.
Fairchild actions are unfair. Why wasn't the Human Relations / Resources Dept. part of the final conversation? Wasn't it convenient that the firing occurred over winter break? Additionally, the letter sent by Carl Lewis was insulting, as it was a total misrepresentation of what had happened. Without Ms. Lewis, the heart of the Challenge is gone.
Seriously, how can she pretend to be about equity, balance, honesty, and letting people make up their own minds if she won't even mention what was said?
Very sad.
Why wasn't HR consulted?
Mr. Risi's right. They do have an explosive situation on their hands now. Public outrage is coming. Mr. Greer's self-serving agenda is about to explode as the truth comes out. And you thought only "Mr. Stinky" could make such a stench of a foul smelling event at the Garden. Stay tuned!
What kind of organization allows innuendo and allegations to drive a highly qualified and respected educator from her position supervising a program that has generated so much acclaim and praise? Was there ever a word of criticism against the Fairchild Challenge? Now Ms. Lewis is being asked to defend herself by responding to questions about alleged comments that were never given a hearing by personnel while she was employed by Fairchild? To what end? It is a kind of witch hunt perpetuated by men who should know much, much better. Due process should be, exactly that.
I'm confused. If Dr. Carl Lewis feels Mrs. Caroline Lewis is not being treated fairly just who is handing down this punishment. Obviously it isn't the HR Department as they were not even involved as Mrs. Lewis states. Isn't Dr. Lewis the Director of the Garden? Does he not have the final say or is he just a political puppet with no real authority to run the Garden.
The board of directors of Fairchild is clueless.
She says her termination was the result of a "blunt" statement she made about a subordinate. How can anyone comment on this situation if we don't even know what the "blunt" statement was? Was it racist or otherwise discriminatory? The fact that she did not restate it in her letter suggests to me that it was probably very inappropriate. Also, was this her first "blunt" statement or were there others? I would like to know what the statement was before I cast judgment on Fairchild.
I agree with you C.
Trust me C, or is it B? The majority of the Garden staff, volunteers and donors, not to mention thousands of teachers, students, school administrators, and local, national and international partners know (as should you), that Caroline is the antithesis of a discriminatory racist. There may be reason(s) why the exact comments have yet to be fully shared. Regardless, nothing excuses the lack of logical, fair, respectful and professional due process in this matter.
count me in as another person who is curious to see what she said that was offensive. was is that not being revealed? some people are visionary and creative, but not suitable for a role supervising others. perhaps ms. lewis is one of them.
also to the last anon, i dont understand your belief that lewis should be able to grieve her separation in a due process proceeding. did she have an employment contract that stipulated that? do the bylaws require due process separations? did someone there promise her that she could keep her job for life?
i would have guessed that she was an at-will employee who served at the pleasure of her employer (just like the rest of us). Again, i am curious to see what she said that was offensive so that I can judge the seriousness of the matter.
btw - i am hr professional with no connection to fairchild. i am just a regular reader of this blog.
To give you an inside look on the "reason" and reaction to the dismissal of Caroline Lewis, check out this letter sent out amongst teachers involved with the Challenge:
Dear Colleagues and Educators,
Probably some or all of you got the unacceptable news about the dismissing of Caroline Lewis as Education Director of the Fairchild Garden. I just learned about this outrageous decision made by the Board of Trustees of the Fairchild, whose president Bruce Greer was directly involved.
There were some very pitiful, unfounded, and misleading allegations from newly hired employees that Caroline is "racist"! Of all the people! I consider this action is another whack to education and educators.
I think we all owe our gratitude to Caroline; a visionary and genuine, enthusiastic, sincere, and outstanding educator who founded the Fairchild Challenge; she supported teachers in ways for which we should be profoundly grateful. She gave opportunities to thousands of students to feel successful and proud. When the Garden tried to limit her responsibilities in a new, diminished role, Caroline would not agree. Well, I do not agree that we should just let this silently pass; her great work just shuffled off to the side for their own reasons.
We certainly can and should express our deep appreciation of what Caroline Lewis has done for environmental education. I urge you to write letter of support on her behalf and send them to Carl Lewis, the Fairchild Director and to Bruce Greer, the President of Board of Trustees.
Caroline Lewis stood up for us, and it is time for us to stand up for her.
Thanks for the insight in the last post. The cat is now out of the bag. Unless her actual words surface and indicate a different conclusion, I will have to assume that a "blunt remark" is just a euphemism for a racist remark.
Racist remarks should never be tolerated at Fairchild Tropical Garden by any staff member, especially by an executive. Now that I understand the situation, the Garden was more than generous when they offered Lewis a VP position. She should have quietly taken the new job instead of opening this can of worms. I hope she likes what she will find in Pandora's box.
Being part of a nonprofit board is generally a thankless job. Imagine the stress of serving on a board where a high profile employee and a loud group of supporters believe she is untouchable? Good grief!
And after reading the letter from Lewis, I can only imagine the intimidation level of the meetings she had with the offended and potentially offended employees. If I needed my job, I would tell my boss whatever she wanted to hear, including apologizing to her instead. Did the supervisors present also answer to Lewis? If so, the intimidation level for those two employees would have been volcanic.
Given the kind of muster Lewis has kicked up, I think the employees who brought her offensive comment to the attention of her superiors were very brave indeed. They were also fortunate that there were 5 witnesses present when she made the statement.
has a nerve been struck?...Pandora's box eh??
Interesting to read the Bruce Greer trolls on this blog. This uproar is because of meddling by a few trustees in the operation of the Garden; most trustees are oblivious. It is a long standing complaint that uses hired managers as proxies to reach down through the ranks and has caused a profound loss of morale. To say Ms. Lewis is reponsible for "mustering" loyal allies is laughable. Ms. Lewis may not have had a contract but she was owed decency and respect; far more than trustees using dirty tactics like innuendo to rid the Garden of an employee who helped elevate the Garden to its current stature.
I don't know Bruce Greer and I am not a "troll," I don't like innuendo either so get to the real issue. WHAT DID SHE SAY?
I've spoken with Caroline. She did not make any sort of racist statement. Her comment was of a completely different nature. She fully explained it to the person who was offended (not the person to whom the remark was directed, by the way) and she probably hasn't repeated it due to the (I assume) possible legal action she could initiate against Fairchild. I do know that she's consulted an attorney.
I have been following this blog and I am familar with Mrs. Lewis's accomplishments both at Ransom Everglades and Fairchild Botanical Garden. I find it nearly impossible to believe that a well respected educator like Mrs. Lewis could possibly make such a hugely offensive comment that would warrant her dismisal. I am also perplexed at why any member form the board including the president, is meddling in the day to day operation of the garden. Isn't the board there to support the members, promote the gardens mission and to attend high-falutint social events. Something is amiss here. The director of the garden, Dr. Carl Lewis, should be running this garden and not apologizing to Mrs. Lewis for the way she is being treated. Goodness gracious what did this woman say.
Ms. Lewis's was fired for financial reasons. The Challenge's budget is separate from the rest of the Garden. Ms. Lewis fought for this throughout her tenure. The Garden is seriously struggling for money right now, and Lou Risi wants to take some of the Challenge money for other parts of the budget.
The reason that the HR director was not involved in the process is that there was no HR issue. DUH! Get it?
Maybe the Montgomery Botanical Center will take over the Challenge, and its financial supporters. Fairchild has been overrun by sociopaths.
I keep reading posts from people who are defending Caroline Lewis, but who won't reveal what she said that was offensive. What is the military secret? Come out with it. What was her so-called "blunt" statement about one of her employees that was so offensive that she felt the need to apologize for it?
The only hint I have is that it is race-related. I have no doubt that it hasn't been revealed thus far because it is highly inappropriate and embarrassing to her and would immediately explain her termination to any neutral observer.
Anyone who is defending Caroline Lewis won't have any credibility with me unless I know the actual offensive remark she made.
To Anonymous who questioned Mrs. Lewis's equity, balance, honesty, and letting people make up their own minds when she won't even mention what was said, the answer should be apparent. She is not allowed to repeat what was said since some junior staff members stabbed her in the back, and now she's in the position of contemplating a lawsuit. Anyone who has spent any time with Mrs. Lewis knows that her concern has always been to offer support and provide a quality educational experience for teachers and students. It's unfortunate that the junior staff members lacked the maturity to appreciate that. If they were intimidated by her, wait until they get a job in the real world and not in a beautiful tropical garden.
I do get it now! They hid behind a pretext, well all be damm. I knew if we waited long enough the truth would come out. I knew there was no way an educator of this stature could possibly say something so bad to warrant her dismissal. Shame on you Mr. Risi. Hopefully her money will go with her. The Montgomery Environmental Challenge, I like that.
I'd sure hate to be the junior staffer who stabbed her in the back. Do they realize they have helped launch the biggest PR nightmare in Fairchild's history. Since there was no HR issue we now know there was nothing said that warrants being repeated. Mr. Risi you'd better set that money aside to pay a lawsuit I see coming. What a costly mistake.
as an hr professional with a law background, I don't see any legal cause of action for ms. lewis if she did not have a contract. the legal liability for fairchild would have existed if they retained her because one or more of the employees might have a title vii hostile work environment claim against them. the notion that revealing lewis's offensive comment could affect a nonexistent legal case is pure silliness. she just wrote a 3-page letter for crying out loud. the statement is clearly being kept from public disclosure because it is embarrassing.
I can also see why the trustees took charge of the situation because they have a fiduiciary responsibility and must protect the organization from a discrimination lawsuit.
maybe it would be easier to identify what was said if Ms. Lewis had actually been presented with the allegations made against her. from what i know, not only were these allegations against her never shared with her, but she was never allowed to see her HR folder. if anyone is acting on the sly and covering anything up, its the 'leadership' of the garden, not Ms Lewis. Racist comments?! please, anyone who knows her knows that is the antithesis of who she is.
twrogers get your facts straight. The trustees nor the board took action, Bruce Greer did. He convened a special meeting, hid behind a client/lawyer privalage cloth and told them what what he wanted done. He's hiding behind a pretext that allowed him to convince trustees who are loyal to him that this had to be handled the way it was. He claims the board authorized the Director of the Garden, Dr. Carl Lewis to act when Carl was given no choice or he to would be shown the door. The facts are surfacing as time goes by. Ms. Lewis was told her HR file was clean, empty, nothing, not one disciplinary action upon her termination. Also, we now know the motive behind her dismissal was monetary. Her budget was swelling as donor money poured in and she was able to grow her dept. while the rest of the garden was cutting back. They need her money to get the much promised science building going and the only way to get it was to remove the person holding the bag. Four directors gone and not one replaced. What an ugly PR nightmare Bruce has created, what a lost for the Garden.
Wow! So Caroline Lewis is unable to tell us her "blunt statement" until she knows the allegations against her? Are you kidding me? If she is unsure of her exact quote, why doesn't she at least tell us what she thinks she said?
Of course, any one of her defenders is free to tell us what she said as well. Obviously, they know exactly what she said because otherwise they wouldn't be vehemently defending her.
I do take exception that the junior staffers somehow "stabbed her in the back" or "ratted her out" because they reported her inappropriate remark to her supervisor. I think the staffers were courageous and did the right thing. Employees shouldn't be expected to be silent when a supervisor does something wrong.
And regarding PR. as we can see now, it's Lewis herself that has a PR problem on her hands, not so much Fairchild.
Think again Mahalo, Or should I say read for yourself. A new post this AM, A Cold Affront at Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden has just released her very statement and cleared the air. None of us knew what she said until now. How trite and innocuous is this. We are supporting Caroline Lewis based on her history of being a great educator. She was rallying her troops in support of diversity and equality for all and an immature, newly hired into the workplace, junior staffer found it offensive based on the encouragement of others. I am embarrassed for the Gardens reactions. This will now obviously be a PR nightmare of epic proportions for the Garden. How will they climb out of this mess.
As a Student who has participated in the Fairchild Challenge, I can attest to her character. She motivates students like no other. She is the most caring and understanding person- as she was always willing to lend a hand when problems arose.
Ms. Lewis brought Fairchild the challenge. The challenge will never be the same without her. The heart and soul has been removed. No longer can students expect to enter a stress-free, understanding, nurturing environment- as the Fairchild staff in light of this incident has been anything but.
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