Whistleblower HR Meeting Just the Start
On Tuesday, The Current reported that Department of Health (DOH) employee Lisa Camuso had been ordered to a Wednesday meeting with DOH and Dept. of Administration officials. Camuso has provided an update from that meeting:
In what I can only describe as interrogation or intimidation, the State of Rhode Island Human Resource staff spent 49 minutes asking me to explain Mike Stenhouse’s video interview with me despite having viewed it themselves.
I informed the State just before the meeting that everything stated in the meeting was going to be made public. HR protested by stating I was not allowed to record, to which I quickly informed them that Rhode Island is a one-party-consent State and I had a right to record. I record as a way to protect myself and prove retaliation. Recording helped save my job after being placed on administrative leave for three months based on false allegations and given a written warning for it.
HR staff reminded me I signed a confidentiality agreement but appeared to be confused as to my rights under the Whistleblower Protection Act. That did not surprise me, as the State has violated those rights several times in the last five years.
They produced screenshots from the video, questioned who designed the video and who used the Department of Health logo in the video. Quite simply, they asked questions they already knew the answers to. My representation had to remind them multiple times the purpose of their meeting was to investigate and not interrogate.
A waste of time and a waste of taxpayer money when they could be investigating real corruption.