On March 16, 2020, Kat Dyke,
a waitress at the Earle Restaurant
in Ann Arbor, was told she would
not be allowed to return to work
for the time being — not because of
her or anyone else’s wrongdoing,
but because of the COVID-19
pandemic.
Dyke said she was thrown into
a swirl of confusion when she
received her boss’s text saying the
Earle would be shut down for the
near future. Her boss was required
to close the restaurant due to
a COVID-19 emergency order
issued by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer,
which shut down restaurants
and entertainment venues across
Michigan temporarily. She said
she worried about the future of
her and her friends’ jobs in the
service industry.
“I was really nervous,” Dyke
said. “Just in general. My boss
texted everybody and was like,
‘Hey, you know, we’re done, we’ll
let you know when we need you.’
It was scary.”
Though Dyke said she was
able to return to work after about
three days to assist with takeout
deliveries,
which
were
still
allowed under Whitmer’s order,
the lack of work for some service
workers lasted for weeks to
months. In fact, in April 2020, the
leisure and hospitality industry
unemployment rate skyrocketed
to 39.3%, but has reduced to 6.2%
as of March 2021.
Dyke
said
her
colleagues
and friends within the service
industry who’ve faced layoffs
have struggled to keep up with
the economic strain resulting
from the pandemic.
“I talked to a couple of different
people that I worked with and
they’re like, ‘I either have to buy
food or pay my bills,’” Dyke said.
“(For the) people close to me, it
was really rough.”
In addition to high levels of
unemployment
among
service
workers
during
the
COVID-
19 pandemic, those who have
continued to work in-person
faced new struggles maintaining
their own safety while serving
customers.
Another
service
industry
worker and a student at the
University of Michigan spoke to
The Daily about their work in
the service industry. They asked
to remain anonymous for fear
of retaliation at their place of
employment and will be referred
to as Sam throughout the article.
Sam discussed struggles to
serve customers who specifically
don’t want to abide by the
statewide mask mandate and
said it is hard to manage different
priorities like her own safety
versus customer service.
“I
remember
one
specific
instance where (a customer) didn’t
want to wear masks and they were
very upset that we asked them to,”
Sam said. “And they were really,
really rude. We were treating
them the same way as we would
treat any other guests. And we
were just doing our best.”
Sam also spoke about the
difficulties restaurant and bar staff
have in trying to simultaneously
remain
efficient
and
follow
increased protocols. They said the
restaurant they work at has not
properly kept up with COVID-19
cleanliness requirements, such as
incorrectly sanitizing tables or not
changing gloves after one use, and
speculated that other businesses
were likely similar.
“There’s this expectation of
just being ‘back to normal,’ or this
desire to have that,” Sam said.
“And I think that it not only sets
up an unrealistic expectation of
what this worker’s going to be able
to do for you, but it also creates an
incentive for people to cut corners.
You do have to take little shortcuts
just to be efficient. There (are)
competing
incentives
between
how you want service to go and
how you work and maintaining
COVID-19 safety (protocols).”
Many service industry workers
have turned to Service Industry
Workers of the Ann Arbor Area for
help with their situations. SIWA3
is
an
organization
dedicated
to
mutual
aid,
workplace
organization and service worker
advocacy and has helped ensure
service workers in Ann Arbor can
stay afloat and are being treated
fairly by employers. Recently,
SIWA3 raised more than $10,000
from the Ann Arbor community
through a GoFundMe campaign
during the holiday season, funding
that helped over one hundred
service workers in Washtenaw
County.
Gabrielle Bussell, an organizer
for SIWA3, spoke to The Daily
about the organization’s mission
of helping workers who have
faced various difficulties within
the industry as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Bussell specifically said the
organization
has
looked
to
help workers facing wage-theft
PPE
shortages
or
workplace
discrimination. She said she also
thinks the state should put service
workers higher on the priority list
to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Currently, they are included as
essential workers in phase 1C
who are eligible earlier than the
general population, but later than
healthcare or education staff.
“We’re hoping we can get sort
of a stronger response from the
organizations that are responsible
for dealing with these workplace
complaints and everything that’s
been going on,” Bussell said.
“That’s what we’re all about.”
Dyke commended SIWA3 for
bringing service industry workers
together throughout this difficult
time and the support they have
given her and other service
workers
across
Washtenaw
County.
“Industry workers need that
level of solidarity that I feel like
we’re getting with SIWA3,” Dyke
said. “They’re definitely bringing
industry workers together to look
out for each other. It was already
a difficult industry to begin with,
and people now understand a
little bit more the effects that
our industry has on the greater
world.”
Dyke also said she thinks the
COVID-19
pandemic
exposed
the importance of the service
industry
that
will
hopefully
translate into better treatment
for workers beyond the pandemic,
especially as it pertains to their
health being considered when
decisions are made.
“This service industry has such
a huge effect on people; they want
to go out, they want to have a nice
time, but the people who are being
a part of your experience need to
be up to standard and need to feel
comfortable giving you their best
self,” Dyke said. “And they can’t
do that if they can’t come to work
(and) not (get) sick or if they can’t
go to the doctor when they’re sick.
So COVID definitely changed that
perspective, and it was just very
nice to see.”
Daily
Staff
Reporter
Julia
Forrest can be reached at juforres@
umich.edu.
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
Wednesday, March 24, 2021 — 3
MARTHA LEWAND
Daily Staff Reporter
Service industry workers in Ann Arbor
face unemployment, economic constraints
CITY
Repeated closures leave employees struggling to make ends meet
Fitzgerald said these individual
meetings led to the creation of a
staff handbook, a redesign of staff
meetings and the implementation
of drop-in hours with program
directors, among other changes.
Chidimma Ozor Commer, a
former ADVANCE employee from
Nov. 2017 to August 2019 and a
licensed social worker, confirmed
that ADVANCE employees were
given the opportunity to meet with
an “outside consultant” in 2019
but said this person was a friend of
the program’s leadership, making
the meetings a potential conflict
of interest. Ozor Commer also
confirmed that there was a new
staff handbook, new opportunities
for professional development and a
redesign of staff meetings — she said
she did not recall drop-in hours with
program directors.
Fitzgerald wrote in an email
to The Daily on March 15 that
because
ADVANCE
works
to
address faculty climate issues, “it is
expected that the ADVANCE team
would have knowledge of and have
a professional relationship with
experts in this field, both internal
and external to the university.”
Fitzgerald said ADVANCE hired
Vineyard Associates, a “university-
approved vendor,” to meet with
employees about internal climate
concerns.
Smith also said a number of his
former colleagues — particularly
women of color — often told him
that their writing was criticized for
not being eloquent or effective even
when the language was similar to
past ADVANCE work. Smith said
he received fewer comments on
work that was identical to that of his
BIPOC and women colleagues. Two
other former ADVANCE employees
contacted by The Daily corroborated
this claim.
“(My colleagues) were made to
feel, in very weird ways, like they
were not articulate, like they were
not skilled in terms of their writing
and their expression, which is
actually connected to some negative
stereotypes
around
African-
Americans in our country,” Smith
said.
“And he said, ‘Who’s going to
listen to you?’”
All former and current employees
who spoke to The Daily said climate
issues
coincided
with
a
high
turnover rate for ADVANCE staff.
One former ADVANCE employee,
who requested anonymity due to
fear of professional retaliation,
said they were struck by the irony
of working in a unit dedicated to
ensuring a positive faculty climate
while they faced internal issues
of retention. This source will be
referred to as Taylor.
“For a unit focused on faculty
recruitment and retention, there
was little done to create and
maintain a positive work climate
within ADVANCE,” Taylor wrote
in an email to The Daily. “Our
retention issues were probably
worse off, number wise, than
faculty’s. Our staff demographics,
such as the number of staff of color,
their status, and their length of stay
at ADVANCE, were not impressive
either.”
According to interviews and
anecdotal data provided by former
employees, 30% of the ADVANCE
team (three employees) quit in 2018
and 40% (four employees) quit
in 2019. The Daily learned of one
ADVANCE employee that was fired
in 2020.
When asked to confirm these
numbers and comment on the
rate of employee departure from
ADVANCE, Fitzgerald did not
specifically confirm these numbers
but wrote that the turnover rate is
unsurprising given the small size of
the organization.
“ADVANCE
is
a
relatively
small unit that typically has 12-15
employees,”
Fitzgerald
wrote.
“With a unit this small, staff growth
opportunities are limited and it’s not
unusual for staff in small campus
units to move to other campus
positions.”
In the months after the survey
results were released, numerous
ADVANCE employees said they
took steps to make sure employees
were aware of the issues facing
BIPOC in the office.
These
included
hosting
a
screening of the documentary “The
True Cost” and facilitating “lunch
and learn” sessions for employees
to
discuss
white
supremacy
in
academic
organizations,
according to reports written by
former
ADVANCE
employees
and submitted to the University’s
Human Resources office. These
reports were obtained by The Daily.
Ozor Commer began the “lunch
and learn” sessions in January 2019
to raise awareness about issues
facing BIPOC in the workplace
and to foster a sense of community
among staff. In an email to The
Daily, Ozor Commer said these
sessions gave ADVANCE employees
a chance to do crucial DEI work
within their own organization.
“The most rewarding aspect of my
work was starting Lunch & Learns
— informal educational sessions
during lunch — in January 2019
which became an opportunity to
actually engage in DEI work, unpaid
of course, and was instrumental in
improving the culture and making
it more inclusive and collegial,” Ozor
Commer wrote.
Ozor Commer said she was
prompted to begin these sessions
after experiencing a workplace
culture she described as “racist,
white supremacist, toxic, and hostile
for BIPOC.”
In June 2019, Ozor Commer
underwent her annual performance
review, which Linderman and
Malley oversaw. According to Ozor
Commer, the directors told her she
was not in her office when people
came looking for her and was not
a strong writer — claims that Ozor
Commer said were not valid.
“One day I asked Jan(et Malley)
what (she) would have wanted that
I did not produce, in terms of my
writing, and her response: clarity,”
Ozor Commer wrote. “That is not
constructive nor useful feedback.
What would one do with that?”
Ozor Commer said she pushed
back against the claim that she was
never at work, noting that she was
almost always in the office, but
struggled with migraines and often
kept the lights off. She also alleged
that when she would approach
Malley for clarification or feedback,
she was directed to other research &
evaluation team members.
“There were lies about my
performance which relates directly
to white supremacy culture at
ADVANCE,” Ozor Commer wrote.
“Mistakes are not seen as learning
opportunities, questions are not
answered.”
These claims of discrimination
have
been
echoed
to
The
Daily by two employees on the
administrative
team.
One
of
them, Benita Threadgill, former
senior administrative assistant at
ADVANCE, received criticism about
her performance in the months
before her position was terminated
on June 19, 2017, according to a copy
of the settlement agreement issued
by ADVANCE, given to Threadgill
and obtained by The Daily.
Threadgill had just returned
from a two-month medical leave
due to foot surgery when she
was placed on a Performance
Improvement Plan on April 17, 2017.
The PIP gave Threadgill 60 days
to meet the performance goals or
risk termination from her position,
according to a copy obtained by The
Daily.
Threadgill said issuing the PIP on
the date of her return made it clear to
her that ADVANCE leadership did
not intend to support her recovery,
which had kept her out of the office
since February 2017.
“The PIP? That’s legendary
across the University,” Threadgill
said. “That’s how they try to dress
it up. They document, document,
document, document. And when
they want you gone, then you’re
gone ... (Linderman) used it as a
threat.”
The PIP advised Threadgill
to meet with the directors once a
week to discuss her performance.
According to a report submitted
to University HR Representative
Linda Dabrowski in June 2017 after
six weeks of meetings, Threadgill
wrote she felt she had reached a
“stalemate” with Linderman and
Hudgins, her supervisor.
When contacted by The Daily
for a comment on her involvement
in Threadgill’s case, Dabrowski
directed the request to Fitzgerald.
In
the
report,
Threadgill
reiterated
her
commitment
to
ADVANCE and disputed the belief
that she was consistently late to
work by offering several examples of
her working overtime or coming to
work early.
Threadgill said she was criticized
for not completing tasks made
difficult or impossible by her foot
surgery, like greeting clients at the
door or walking across the office.
“If that’s what you wanted me
to do, was to come back, and I did,
you should’ve had somebody else
do those things,” Threadgill said.
“You had student helpers, you had
other people that were in there that
could’ve done that. They didn’t want
it to work.”
Rebekah
Ashley,
associate
director
of
academic
human
resources, declined to comment
on her involvement in Threadgill’s
case due to privacy concerns.
Fitzgerald confirmed in an email
that Threadgill was an employee at
the University from 2009 to 2017 but
said there is no evidence her surgery
impacted her position at ADVANCE
being terminated.
“We
have
consulted
the
ADVANCE
staff,
University
Human Resources and others and
I am absolutely confident in saying,
categorically, that no staff member
of the ADVANCE program has
ever been terminated because of a
disability,” Fitzgerald wrote.
Threadgill filed a charge with
the
U.S.
Equal
Employment
Opportunity
Commission
in
January
2018,
claiming
ADVANCE retaliated against her
for her disability and violated the
Americans with Disabilities Act.
The investigation, which found that
Threadgill did not have a disability
as classified under the ADA and
would have been placed on a PIP
regardless of whether she asked for
accommodations, concluded in May
2018.
Michael N. Hanna, Threadgill’s
attorney at the time, continued to
pursue the case and coordinated
a settlement agreement with the
University that said Threadgill
would be unable to “demean nor
disparage the University of any of
its current or former employees or
agents to any third party.” The non-
disparagement agreement, which
originally offered $4,000, was
raised to $6,000 and submitted to
Threadgill on Sept. 6, 2018.
“They tried to ... give a concession:
‘Well, we’ll give you $4,000,’”
Threadgill said. “I said ‘$4,000? For
what?’ (They said) ‘You know, for it
to all go away. Put a little something
in your pocket.’ I said, ‘For that I
will write a book, I will go to every
news story, I will post it to Facebook
myself.’ And (Hanna) laughed and
he said, ‘Who’s going to listen to
you?’”
Hanna did not respond to
multiple requests for comment.
In December 2019, The Daily
reported that the University spent
over $1.26 million on confidential
settlement agreements from Nov.
2018 to April 2019. These types of
agreements, which prohibit former
University employees from speaking
negatively
about
their
work
experience, have received criticism
as veiled attempts to silence former
employees.
Threadgill
said
leaving
the
University to work for a pastor
at New Hope Baptist Church in
Wayne, Mich. drastically reduced
her income, which she said made
her attorney and the University
believe she would more easily
accept the settlement offer. Even
so, Threadgill ultimately decided to
decline the offer and never signed
the agreement.
“I might be hungry, I might be
losing everything, but I have my
integrity and I have my character,”
Threadgill said. “And I’m not going
to be bought for that.”
“Without
an
organization
that’s willing to listen ... I don’t see
a lot of hope for change”
Former employees said they were
not sure how ADVANCE should
address these equity issues, many
of which employees said are so
ingrained and commonplace that
they feel unchallengeable. Some
acknowledged that while the data
collection and analysis ADVANCE
does is crucial to diversifying
departments and supporting BIPOC
faculty, the department needed to
change internally before it could
ethically carry out its mission.
Alex said ADVANCE leadership
needed to learn how to talk about
race and racism in ways that
promoted equality and included
the voices of the BIPOC employees
within the office. Without this kind
of understanding, they said, nothing
would change.
“Their ability to really have
meaningful conversations when it
comes to racial equity was nowhere
near where it needed to be,” Alex
said.
Another
former
ADVANCE
employee, who requested to remain
anonymous due to fear of professional
retaliation, said they also did not see
the culture at ADVANCE changing
without a major institutional shift.
The former employee will be referred
to as Morgan.
“I didn’t have very much hope for
ADVANCE changing, just because
leadership seemed to be particularly
defensive and were not really open to
hearing or really understanding the
challenges that their staff were facing
in that environment,” Morgan said.
“So without an organization that’s
willing to listen, is open to change
and (is) reflecting on (how) maybe
they haven’t been great, I don’t see a
lot of hope for change.”
Threadgill said the treatment of
ADVANCE employees, especially
BIPOC employees, was ironic and
offensive given the stated values of
the organization. She echoed many
other employees in arguing that
ADVANCE had to address internal
climate issues and racist practices if
they wanted to effect real change on
campus.
“We’re expected to promote
this work-life balance,” Threadgill
said. “We’re expected to respect
employees. But you didn’t do it for
me, and you didn’t do it for anybody
who works for ADVANCE.”
Managing
News
Editor
Liat
Weinstein can be reached at weinsl@
umich.edu.
ADVANCE
From Page 1
Polluter
Gelman
Sciences
and
interveners
from
Ann
Arbor, Washtenaw County, Scio
Township and the Huron River
Watershed Council will appear
before Judge Tim Connors from
May 3 through May 5 to weigh
in on potential changes to the
cleanup plan for Ann Arbor’s
decades-old dioxane plume.
The Gelman plume is an
accumulation
of
pollution,
specifically
the
chemical
1,4-dioxane, that has existed in
Ann Arbor groundwater for nearly
four decades. Negotiations for
cleaning up the plume have been
ongoing for over four years — the
relevant lawsuit against Gelman
Sciences for this upcoming May
hearing was filed in 2016.
After hearing oral arguments
from Gelman and the intervening
parties Monday morning, Connors
denied Gelman’s motion to cancel
upcoming
hearings
centered
around the potential new cleanup
protocol. As a result, all parties
will appear before Connors in
early May to present their ideas
on modifying the existing consent
judgment presiding over cleanup
efforts. A consent judgment is an
agreement between two parties
where the judge supervises to
ensure that the agreement is
enforced.
“We need to move forward,”
Connors said. “We need to have
some decision made, and it’s
my responsibility to make that
decision.”
Michael Caldwell, Gelman’s
attorney, argued Monday that
holding the remedy hearings
would
violate
Gelman’s
right to due process because
modifications to the current
consent judgment should not be
made without Gelman’s consent.
Nathan Dupes, attorney for Ann
Arbor, countered that Caldwell’s
argument is “premature” given
that Monday’s hearing is a
scheduling order for all parties to
present arguments.
Connors said he anticipates
Gelman will appeal his decision
to
move
forward
with
the
hearing, but he thinks this case
has gone on for too long. Though
he is the third judge to preside
over the case since it was first
filed in 1988, Connors said he
doesn’t think he will be the last
judge either.
Currently, the city is following
the
third
consent
judgment,
which includes a pump-and-treat
cleanup plan that opponents have
argued has not been enough to
adequately clean out the dioxane.
In August 2020, a fourth consent
judgment was proposed. Changes
to the third consent judgment
included lowering the cleanup
standard from 85 parts-per-
billion to 7.2 ppb, thereby reducing
qualifications
for
cleanup;
expansion of the Prohibition
Zone boundary to account for
the lower cleanup standard; and
increased monitoring of dioxane
spread using well installments.
The fourth consent judgment
was ultimately rejected by the Ann
Arbor City Council in October
2020, citing an insufficient plan
to effectively clean the dioxane
and hold Gelman accountable.
CITY
Gelman plume parties
expected to present edits
to consent judgment
All groups will appear before court
in early May to show their ideas on
modifying the existing cleanup proposal
KRISTINA ZHENG
Daily News Editor
Read more at
MichiganDaily.com