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July 30, 1995
office 3.6 years; the typical stay in Rep. Barbara-Rose Collins' office
is closer to a few months.
In the last year and a half, more than 30 people have left the Detroit
Democrat's payroll, most of them because they were fired, public records
and interviews show.
By contrast, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, recently tagged "boss from
hell in an unscientific survey linked to a movie publicity stunt, had
about half the turnover as Collins' office in the same period.
The staff turnover which has been higher-than-typical since Collins
came to Congress five years ago takes on added significance with a
ruling Tuesday in favor of an aide who says he was fired two days after
his gay partner died of AIDS. He says Collins and her chief of staff,
Meredith Cooper, feared he either had the disease or the virus that
causes it.
A hearing officer in Congress' internal grievance process ordered Collins
to pay Bruce Taylor attorney fees and back pay, as well as post written
information about her employees' rights in her Detroit and Washington
offices.
Collins has said she will appeal the decision.
Taylor said he hopes the case will inspire Collins to "find legitimate
reasons to fire people vs. just arbitrarily firing them.
More than a dozen former staffers interviewed by The Detroit News over
the last several weeks painted a picture of an office where employees are
in constant fear of being fired for no discernible reason.
"This is a pattern. You have got to look at the point that too many
people in that office have been fired, said Tony Martin, who alleges he
was dismissed for faxing a Detroit News article about Taylor's case.
"Everybody who's left that office is not incompetent, one former aide
said.
"I saw a lot of good people, extremely capable, extremely intelligent
veteran Hill staffers who could probably do a lot for her district ...
bounced on their ear, said another former staffer who asked not to be
named.
Collins called the charges the gripes of inept former staffers and said
she may have made some poor hiring decisions because she tends to lead
"with my heart and not my head.
She also said she should be given credit for giving people "a chance,
particularly African Americans whom she said other lawmakers won't hire.
Cooper admits she is the source of many of the ex-employees' complaints.
"If it's important enough, I'll do the tough stuff. She (Collins) should
not be burdened with administrative stuff, said Cooper, who has worked
for Collins for 20 years, since Collins was a state lawmaker.
Several aides claimed constant personnel changes hampered work.
"With the high turnover, you could take a project only so far, a staffer
said. "She had some very high-minded principles, but whenever we tried to
interpret those principles into real action, it became sort of a battle
of the details.
Collins said effectiveness has never been compromised.
Added Cooper: "Constituent service does not miss a beat.
High turnover was also a problem on the subcommittee chaired by Collins
last year, said Ken McGhie, a lawyer and the deputy under then-staff
director Cooper. The subcommittee's payroll was separate from that of
Collins' office.
One former Collins staffer, though, chalked it all up to the way Capitol
Hill works.
"You serve at their pleasure. That's the agreement when you walk in
there. It's part of political life. It's a very volatile place, the aide
said.
Detroit News Staff Writer Larry Bivins and News Assistant Dodie Port
contributed to this report.