Remnants Of A Kangaroo Court

                                                                                 

Never in my years sitting on the bench have I seen this level of unprofessionalism , deceit and blatant disregard for rules as I've seen while working on this case. To make matters worse the gross misconduct is the results of an employee of a reputable organization.

Yesterday I received a document that represented the first correspondence from the program manager that addressed the specifics of the clients alleged misconduct. The client had never seen the specific nature of his alleged misconduct until it emerged in this progress note written by the manager on 03/22/2019. Approximately 2 months after he filed his grievance this document was sent to him by a counselor who had nothing to do with the grievance.

The manager never gave the client a written reply to his grievance as set forth in the center's grievance procedure. The begging question is why ? Why didn't the program manager give the client her rebuttal to his claims as outlined in the grievance procedure?  She instead neglected his repeated requests, preferring to hide her opinion in an obscure computer file under the name "Progress Note". The file was given to Carey by a counselor who was not involved in the grievance.

 Although the counselor was not directly associated with Carey's case, he was surely aware of it. Carey had consulted with him during a period in which he did not have an assigned counselor. As of the date of this letter the client still does not have a designated counselors.

During their times together Carey spoke of the difficulties he was having with the program manager in regard to her handling of his grievance. The counselor told him there wasn't much he could do since he was not his counselor. However, on 4/19/19 the client was surprisingly given the progress notes of his grievance meeting with the program manager.  As Carey read the document, a nefarious  motive behind  the manager's delays seem to become increasingly clear.  The begging question of  why the program manager did not give the client her written reply as outlined in the grievance procedure appears to have been answered. Carey believes the program manager was willing to fabricate a false and/or misleading record because of her belief  that the record would never be scrutinized by anyone outside her control.

Did Carey stumble across the tools of a kangaroo court?  A kangaroo court is an unofficial court held by a group of people in order to try someone regarded, especially without good evidence, as guilty of a crime or misdemeanor.  The "progress note" tells the fictional story of untruths. But her plan backfired when she wrote that she would call right then and the client could dose that day. That entry by the program manager is the proverbial nail in her coffin of lies, so to speak.  

     
Their meeting started at 11:30 am, so Carey had already taken his required dose at 8 am that day and the dosing window closes at 9:45 am. It's not plausible that he would be in a discussion about dosing that day. And, he certainly was not interested in leaving his recovery based friends and family. The program manager willfully misconstrued the events of that day in an attempt to frame the client as a disgruntled patient. For example  she  writes:      

 "Counselor told him that was not true and that if we make a referral to them they can get him in that day and dosed that day. Client did not respond to this" 
                                                                             
As you can see, the manager had a nefarious agenda on her mind when she wrote those fraudulent  words. On the surface the manager's progress notes appears innocent of any wrongdoings. However, a critical examination of it contents and subtle messaging exposes the underbelly of a purposeful misconstrued chain of events. A document of this nature works in a closed court. The client is not given the opportunity to argue in his own defense nor present supporting evidence of his innocence. Furthermore, in a kangaroo court the prosecutor is also the judge. In this case they're one in the same, the manager of the treatment center.  This client, Carey, has been stripped of his take-home privilege, causing unreasonable financial and personal burden for a alleged violation of a rule that does not exist. The program manager writes:

"Counselor asked him what he did with the left over dose if he did not take it all. Client stated that he would flushed it down the toilet. Counselor told him that he is supposed to bring the unused medication back to us to be destroyed"

Case in point, there is not a single rule or regulation that speaks to the manager's assessment of the disposal of medication. The clients have not received any such rule. Therefore it's unreasonable to believe that Carey knowingly violated a company policy when said policy does not exist. Yet, in a kangaroo court that truth is a moot point. It will never be presented as evidence of Carey's innocence. 

In the last half of the document the manager framed a fictitious account of her incurring Carey's wrath as she tried to advise him of an effective means of achieving his alleged goal of obtaining more methadone.  That's the false image the manager was attempting to sell.   
It's safe to say that if the manager's  "progress notes" had not been leaked to the client, that document alone would  serve as the primary and only source of information concerning the ongoing affairs of Carey's grievance and his interactions with the program manager. In such, we have exhibit "A" in the formation of a kangaroo court.

To an untrained eye the progress note may have been successful in promoting the images of a soft spoken manager who is innocent of all wrongdoing.  However, unfortunately for the client, the "progress note" also promotes the image of an unruly, loud and less than average thinking substance abuser whose only desire was to obtain more drugs. We now know that contrived, made-up image does not represent this young man, thus it exposes her sordid details. When we discovered the pattern of the manager's fictitious accounts of the meeting, we were compelled to uncovered more false and damaging portrayals of our client, Carey. 

Needless to say the progress note was intended to serve as a character assassination by painting the manager as the quintessential "good guy" and the client as the stereotypical "bad guy".  However, in the eyes of a skillfully trained investigator the progress note reads quite differently. Additionally, although our friend has not mentioned "race" as a point of contention, it should be noted that the manager does not share skin colors with our client. One is an African American, the other is what is commonly referred to as Caucasian or white-skinned.  

The begging questions are how did the manager maintain this hoax for so long? What was her motive and if there are others? How many other clients could she have harmed?  Until an investigation is initiated, only the manager knows for sure. She will most certainly plead innocence, at first, yet, the preponderance of truth leans heavily toward her guilt.

 "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." 

With that in mind, if I was her supervisor or if she worked in my organization, I would quietly request a meeting with her. I would not accuse her of anything at that time yet I would temporally suspend her with pay, while we secured her files. If their computer systems are equipped with time and date stamps on each file, when opened, her ability to change data is limited. If their system is not so equipped, her ability to make undetected changes must be scrutinized. I would advise her not to talk to any other employees about this case. If it's necessary I'd provide her with some of the material we are concerned with. It's always best to start an internal investigation before the feds arrive to do theirs. This case reeks of foul play that could have been avoided if only the manager would have admitted her error in judgement, instead of attempting to cover it up and/or justify and/or rationalize her mistakes. 

I felt strangely complicit in this case because I couldn't stop her, and families lives were in the balance. However I decided to do my fair share to bring this injustice to light by writing this piece and helping a fellow veteran. It's a trite phrase but fitting in this case: "The truth will set you free." 

We have received several calls on our helpline. Some were very specific in detailing with other abuses at this treatment center., CADS. Some only needed a place to vent their frustrations.We are compiling a list. We will forward it to the proper organizations. 

The following 7 posts --will all address the inner workings of a manager's gruel style of leadership. I would suggest that you first read the client's full grievance to achieve a deeper understanding of the manager's motives to hide her footsteps.

 Is She Wagering Her Career On A Kangaroo Court --

The Client's Fight Had Just Begun --

Good People To The Left And Bad People To The Right --

2nd Letter To The US Department Of Health --  

Driven To Requesting Help From The US Department Of Health -- 

The Cover Up Is More Damaging Than The Origina

The leaked copy of Program Manager's hidden progress note