FL DEP Employee Suspended and Forced to Obtain Medical Release for Mentioning Climate Change

(these people are becoming more insane by the day. I do not understand how any system can function with such idiocy in charge)


FL DEP Employee Suspended and Forced to Obtain Medical Release for Mentioning Climate Change



I just saw this unbelievable release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, via the Forecast the Facts Twitter feed.

It's been well-reported that Florida Governor Rick Scott has told state employees that they are not permitted to use the phrase "climate change" or "global warming." It's also public knowledge that other states, notably Pennsylvania and North Carolina, have gagged their employees in a similar manner.

Not to be outdone, it seems that Florida has now taken its policy to a new level, by suspending a Department of Environmental Protection employee for mentioning climate change in the official notes of a public meeting. And just to make sure that message is clear, the employee is also being forced to obtain a medical release related to his "behavior" before returning to work.

A quote from the PEER press release:

Barton Bibler is a long-time DEP employee who now serves as Land Management Plan Coordinator in its Division of State Lands. He attended a Florida Coastal Managers Forum on February 27, 2015 at which climate change and sea-level rise were discussed among a mix of public attendees. Mr. Bibler’s official notes on this meeting reflected all of that discussion. He was directed to remove any hot button issues, especially explicit references to climate change, and then was given a letter of reprimand for supposedly misrepresenting that the “official meeting agenda included climate change.”

As he was given the reprimand on March 9th, Mr. Bibler was told to not return to work for two days which would be charged against his personal leave time. Two days later he received a “Medical Release Form” requiring that his doctor supply the DEP with an evaluation of unspecified “medical condition and behavior” issues before being allowed to return to work.

. . . .

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/03/18/1371746/-FL-DEP-Employee-Suspended-and-Forced-to-Obtain-Medical-Release-for-Mentioning-Climate-Change?detail=email