California's Firefighters Keep Getting Injured While Training. Some Have Died
How Former Employees at a Berkeley Bastion for Literary Presses Ignited a Reckoning
Replacement Marriott Workers Say They Weren’t Paid, File Wage Theft Claims
Details of Uber Harassment Settlement Released
Can’t Get Any Work Done? New Survey Reveals Politics Is Killing Productivity
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His main reporting beat is the Bay Area's oil refining industry.\r\n\r\nPrior to joining KQED in 2014, Ted worked at CBS News and WCBS AM in New York and Bay City News and KCBS Radio in San Francisco. He graduated from Oberlin College in Ohio in 1998.","avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/16d702c9ec5f696d78dbfb76b592cf0a?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":"TedrickG","facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]}],"headData":{"title":"Ted Goldberg | KQED","description":"KQED Senior Editor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/16d702c9ec5f696d78dbfb76b592cf0a?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/16d702c9ec5f696d78dbfb76b592cf0a?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/tgoldberg"},"hmcdede":{"type":"authors","id":"11635","meta":{"index":"authors_1591205172","id":"11635","found":true},"name":"Holly McDede","firstName":"Holly","lastName":"McDede","slug":"hmcdede","email":"hmcdede@KQED.org","display_author_email":false,"staff_mastheads":[],"title":"KQED Contributor","bio":null,"avatar":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/999d9bf31bb3a2f0511932d99526cb3e?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twitter":null,"facebook":null,"instagram":null,"linkedin":null,"sites":[{"site":"news","roles":["author","edit_others_posts"]},{"site":"science","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"forum","roles":["editor"]},{"site":"perspectives","roles":["administrator"]}],"headData":{"title":"Holly McDede | KQED","description":"KQED Contributor","ogImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/999d9bf31bb3a2f0511932d99526cb3e?s=600&d=blank&r=g","twImgSrc":"https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/999d9bf31bb3a2f0511932d99526cb3e?s=600&d=blank&r=g"},"isLoading":false,"link":"/author/hmcdede"}},"breakingNewsReducer":{},"campaignFinanceReducer":{},"firebase":{"requesting":{},"requested":{},"timestamps":{},"data":{},"ordered":{},"auth":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"authError":null,"profile":{"isLoaded":false,"isEmpty":true},"listeners":{"byId":{},"allIds":[]},"isInitializing":false,"errors":[]},"navBarReducer":{"navBarId":"news","fullView":true,"showPlayer":false},"navMenuReducer":{"menus":[{"key":"menu1","items":[{"name":"News","link":"/","type":"title"},{"name":"Politics","link":"/politics"},{"name":"Science","link":"/science"},{"name":"Education","link":"/educationnews"},{"name":"Housing","link":"/housing"},{"name":"Immigration","link":"/immigration"},{"name":"Criminal Justice","link":"/criminaljustice"},{"name":"Silicon Valley","link":"/siliconvalley"},{"name":"Forum","link":"/forum"},{"name":"The California Report","link":"/californiareport"}]},{"key":"menu2","items":[{"name":"Arts & Culture","link":"/arts","type":"title"},{"name":"Critics’ Picks","link":"/thedolist"},{"name":"Cultural Commentary","link":"/artscommentary"},{"name":"Food & Drink","link":"/food"},{"name":"Bay Area Hip-Hop","link":"/bayareahiphop"},{"name":"Rebel Girls","link":"/rebelgirls"},{"name":"Arts Video","link":"/artsvideos"}]},{"key":"menu3","items":[{"name":"Podcasts","link":"/podcasts","type":"title"},{"name":"Bay Curious","link":"/podcasts/baycurious"},{"name":"Rightnowish","link":"/podcasts/rightnowish"},{"name":"The Bay","link":"/podcasts/thebay"},{"name":"On Our Watch","link":"/podcasts/onourwatch"},{"name":"Mindshift","link":"/podcasts/mindshift"},{"name":"Consider This","link":"/podcasts/considerthis"},{"name":"Political Breakdown","link":"/podcasts/politicalbreakdown"}]},{"key":"menu4","items":[{"name":"Live Radio","link":"/radio","type":"title"},{"name":"TV","link":"/tv","type":"title"},{"name":"Events","link":"/events","type":"title"},{"name":"For Educators","link":"/education","type":"title"},{"name":"Support KQED","link":"/support","type":"title"},{"name":"About","link":"/about","type":"title"},{"name":"Help Center","link":"https://kqed-helpcenter.kqed.org/s","type":"title"}]}]},"pagesReducer":{},"postsReducer":{"stream_live":{"type":"live","id":"stream_live","audioUrl":"https://streams.kqed.org/kqedradio","title":"Live Stream","excerpt":"Live Stream information currently unavailable.","link":"/radio","featImg":"","label":{"name":"KQED Live","link":"/"}},"stream_kqedNewscast":{"type":"posts","id":"stream_kqedNewscast","audioUrl":"https://www.kqed.org/.stream/anon/radio/RDnews/newscast.mp3?_=1","title":"KQED Newscast","featImg":"","label":{"name":"88.5 FM","link":"/"}},"news_11889263":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11889263","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11889263","score":null,"sort":[1632319232000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"california-firefighters-keep-getting-injured-during-training-and-some-have-died","title":"California's Firefighters Keep Getting Injured While Training. Some Have Died","publishDate":1632319232,"format":"standard","headTitle":"LAist | KQED News","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Even as he lay dying on the side of a Southern California mountain — his lips blue, the color gone from his face — wildland firefighter Yaroslav Katkov wanted to push on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re getting to the top. We’re finishing,” his captain recalled Katkov saying after collapsing atop a ridge during a training hike in hot weather, according to state records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katkov’s speech was garbled. He tried to stand, but couldn’t find his footing. His body temperature was reaching dangerous levels. He was suffering from heat illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happened on that sun-soaked July day in 2019 is one thread in a larger story about firefighter training in an era of intensifying heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the past 18 months, more than 150 firefighters were sickened by heat exposure while working for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a quarter of heat-related incidents — the largest category — involve firefighters who fell ill during routine training exercises, Columbia Journalism Investigations, KPCC and LAist found. Like Katkov, nearly all of these firefighters worked part time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889335\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1390px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889335 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration of a red firefighter helmet and goggles above five blurry white dots, on a black background.\" width=\"1390\" height=\"935\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration.jpg 1390w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration-800x538.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration-1020x686.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interviews with current and former Cal Fire employees, medical personnel and wildland firefighting experts reveal multiple issues involving workplace safety during Cal Fire training activities. This is true especially for those who don’t work year-round, such as seasonal and incarcerated firefighters. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Alborz Kamalizad / Photography courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The incidents, documented in Cal Fire’s workplace-injury logs, were specifically classified as heat related and occurred between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 3, 2021. CJI and LAist were unable to ascertain how typical the case numbers are. Cal Fire refused to say whether they were unusual or in line with annual totals for heat illnesses among workers over the past decade. The department declined to provide data that could put the numbers into a broader context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CJI and LAist compiled less comprehensive data from internal Cal Fire reports on employee training injuries dating back to 2001, in addition to other state records. These documents show at least 14 other incidents that bear what some experts say are hallmarks of heat-related illness. In five of these incidents, the firefighters died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' align='right']Over the past 18 months, more than 150 firefighters were sickened by heat exposure while working for Cal Fire.[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the firefighters succumbed to injuries not on the fire line in some remote California wilderness, but during required training. Many were decked out in full wildland gear — wearing long-sleeve jackets, pants and helmets while carrying heavy tools — and doing activities meant to simulate wildfire fighting — taking short hikes into the woods, for instance, or laying hoses up a mountainside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All but one of the deaths occurred in temperatures ranging from 70 to 87 degrees. Four of the victims were incarcerated, participating in a state program meant to bolster firefighting forces that dates back to WWII.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public health experts and federal workplace regulators agree that heat-related illnesses and deaths are 100% preventable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interviews with current and former Cal Fire employees, medical personnel and wildland firefighting experts, a review of hundreds of pages of government records detailing firefighter injuries and deaths and an analysis of worker heat death cases reveal multiple issues involving workplace safety during Cal Fire training activities. This is true especially for those who don’t work year-round, such as seasonal and incarcerated firefighters. Combined, they make up about half of the agency’s nearly 10,000-strong firefighting force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katkov’s death was exceptional in just how many institutional failures occurred during his hike, records show. But many of the other cases of heat-related injuries and deaths indicate the same underlying problems — a punitive culture that can endanger firefighters’ health, a lackluster physical screening process and an ineffective plan for building up firefighters’ tolerance for heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889384\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1380px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889384 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration composed of nine black-and-white squares that include images of the Lippe Hike, overlaid with a red outline of the trail.\" width=\"1380\" height=\"920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration.jpg 1380w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1380px) 100vw, 1380px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yaroslav Katkov collapsed on his second lap of the 1.45 mile Lippe Hike in Fallbrook, California, a mountain town ringed by ranches just outside of Temecula. According to documents related to the hike, Katkov's captain ignored signs from Katkov of potential illness. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Alborz Kamalizad / Photography courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Warning signs\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>On the day of Katkov’s hike, Cal Fire officials later found that his captain, Joe Ekblad, had missed opportunities to act on several telltale signs of heat illness. Not until Katkov collapsed at the top of that ridge did Ekblad begin emergency procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The captain later explained he believed that they could cool Katkov down if they moved fast enough. They stripped off his jacket and drenched him in water. But it didn’t work. Katkov took several deep “gulpy breaths,” according to documents obtained from the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA. Still, Ekblad delayed calling for emergency help because he thought Katkov “would snap back out of it,” the records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Statement from Cal Fire\"]'[Cal Fire] vigorously rejects the notion that a punitive culture exists in relation to the fitness, safety, or wellbeing of our workforce.'[/pullquote]Katkov died of hyperthermia at a hospital the next day. Cal Fire demoted Ekblad. The department found he had “failed to identify a crew member … in physical and/mental distress.” Ekblad didn’t respond to requests for comment. Records show he told investigators that Katkov was a willing participant in the exercises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire didn’t respond to several requests to interview the department’s head of safety. In a statement, it said it “vigorously rejects the notion that a punitive culture exists in relation to the fitness, safety, or wellbeing of our workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department says it trains all its firefighters — seasonal, incarcerated or otherwise — on the dangers associated with wildland firefighting, “including methods to prevent, recognize and respond to symptoms of heat related illnesses.” It described its efforts to combat heat-related injuries and deaths as “a partnership” with individual firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Each must do his/her part year-round to ensure that they are preparing for the upcoming fire season,” the department wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On July 28, 2019, Katkov embarked on a training exercise called the Lippe Hike, a 1.45-mile loop at Cal Fire’s Station 16 in Fallbrook, California, a mountain town ringed by ranches just outside of Temecula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gavin Bledsoe, one of the station’s other fire captains, later told Cal/OSHA investigators that “he had concerns with Joe pushing Yaro hard,” and that Ekblad had pushed other firefighters without giving them enough time for breaks in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889386\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889386 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A view from Lippe Hike: several hills and a light cloudy sky.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lippe Hike winds through the hills just behind Cal Fire Station 16 in northern San Diego County. \u003ccite>(Jacob Margolis/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to documents related to Ekblad’s demotion, the hike that preceded Katkov’s death had never been timed before that morning, and Bledsoe believed the standard for finishing it was set “specifically with Yaro in mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Joe has been pushing really hard to get Yaro to quit or up to his standards,” Bledsoe told Cal/OSHA investigators about the rookie firefighter who regularly hiked the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bledsoe didn’t respond to multiple phone calls and text messages seeking comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889397\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 427px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889397 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-1.jpeg\" alt=\"A studio portrait of a man in a Cal Fire uniform smiling at the camera.\" width=\"427\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-1.jpeg 427w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-1-160x240.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire firefighter Yaroslav Katkov. Katkov died of hyperthermia at a hospital the day after embarking on a training exercise called the Lippe Hike. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ashley Vallario)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A quarter-mile into the hike, seasonal firefighter Matthew Guerrero told investigators, Katkov was breathing heavily. At one point, as the hike wound from mountains alongside a road, Katkov was slow to move out of oncoming traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ekblad wrote in his notebook, “Road Hazard - Cognitive Question.” This was an early sign of heat illness that Ekblad ignored, Cal Fire documents show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trio completed the hike in about 40 minutes — 10 minutes slower than the time Ekblad had set for the station that morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We're gonna do it again. The first hike was unacceptable,” Ekblad said, according to the Cal/OSHA investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ekblad later told the agency’s investigators that doing the hike twice wasn’t standard practice. Cal Fire concluded that it was “clearly unnecessary” given the signs of distress Katkov had exhibited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trio rested for 20 minutes, drank some water and set off to do the hike again. By then, the temperature had climbed to nearly 88 degrees — five degrees hotter than the 40-year average for the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the steep, often-shadeless path, Katkov told Ekblad he was exhausted — another symptom of heat illness that Ekblad should have recognized, Cal Fire documents said. Rather than seek emergency care, however, the captain encouraged both firefighters to press on, and they pushed up the hill. Guerrero helped steady Katkov’s balance, but Katkov stumbled and had to pause at least 20 times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atop the 650-foot ridge, Katkov fell forward and sat down. Ekblad told him to take off some of his wildland gear, and Guerrero tried to shade him with a jacket. They poured water on him, but his eyes rolled back. He eventually passed out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly an hour after starting the hike a second time, Ekblad called for help. Katkov began to shake uncontrollably. It took another hour for an air ambulance to get to the remote location and transport Katkov to Temecula Valley Hospital. He died the next day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA inspectors found that Cal Fire:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Hadn’t provided enough water or shade on the hike.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Failed to monitor Katkov for preexisting sensitivities to heat.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Didn’t prepare Katkov for the intensity of the job, as required under Cal Fire’s heat-illness prevention plan.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Didn’t initiate an emergency medical response until it was too late.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA fined the department $80,875 — almost five times the average Cal/OSHA fine of $17,000 for all types of cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A 'toughness mentality'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Ashley Vallario, Katkov’s longtime girlfriend, said she was shocked after reading the investigation. It was clear that Cal Fire hadn’t done everything it should have done to protect Katkov, she said. Its safeguards against workplace heat appear to have failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They told me that everything that could have been done was done, and that there was no waste of time,” Vallario said. “I believed them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire didn’t respond to written questions about Katkov’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889399\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11889399\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A sign that reads, 'Cal Fire De Luz Station 16' next to a country road.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1696\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-2048x1357.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-1920x1272.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yaroslav Katkov worked at Cal Fire De Luz Station 16 located in the hills just outside of Temecula.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rank matters at Cal Fire. Impressing superiors can help a seasonal firefighter move on to a coveted full-time spot. But a tough paramilitary culture often pushes Cal Fire employees to their physical limits, even in hot temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many cases, that culture has contributed to serious heat-related injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, for instance, a Cal Fire firefighter was at a “rehire” training session in Riverside, meant for seasonal employees about to rejoin their crews. He and the other trainees were forced to do “extra rigorous” exercises after someone had arrived late, according to a Cal/OSHA investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the group practiced a simulated fire attack, the firefighter complained about feeling ill and asked his supervisor if he could take off his jacket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The instructor said no and told the firefighter to sit down in the sun, the records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11886628\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/RS50596_019_SanFrancisco_HeatWaveImpacts_08062021-qut-1020x680.jpg\"]About 10 minutes later, a colleague reported that the firefighter did “not look good.” His legs cramped, and he was gasping for breath — both symptoms of heat illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighter was hospitalized for two days, and Cal/OSHA fined the department $18,560 for violating California’s heat standard by failing to allow the employee to take an adequate rest break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a similar case in 2017, another Cal Fire firefighter was working in full wildland gear while moving a hose for a training exercise, according to Cal/OSHA records. After a break, a new instructor took over another round of the activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighter later told Cal/OSHA that the work was more strenuous the second time, and that the instructor had “pushed the employee to do more.” The firefighter struggled to finish the task. He was so confused that he couldn’t answer questions, Cal/OSHA records show. An altered mental state is a red flag for heat illness, medical experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The instructor mocked the firefighter and suggested he “go to Orange County since their training is easier,” the inspector wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As in the earlier case, the firefighter spent two days in the hospital. Cal Fire was fined another $2,430 for failing to educate employees about heat’s threats and not providing ready access to water and shade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Robert Salgado, Former Cal/OSHA inspector and wildland firefighter\"]'We don’t want the smartest guy … we just want a guy who can throw on a pack and hike hills.'[/pullquote]Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jon Heggie, who leads several fire stations based in San Diego, including Katkov’s former station, said the department is working to root out the “toughness” mentality that has pervaded its ranks. Some heat-related incidents “have been an unfortunate wake-up call that maybe that culture needs to change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that may be difficult. Robert Salgado, a former Cal/OSHA inspector and wildland firefighter, notes that Cal Fire’s do-or-die attitude is one of the “very deep-rooted cultural practices in the fire service” that is passed from department to department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want the smartest guy … we don’t want the most trained guy,” Salgado said. “We just want a guy who can throw on a pack and hike hills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire union president Tim Edwards of Local 2881 recalls a recent incident in which supervisors pushed firefighters in training activities beyond their limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll admit it, we had problems in San Diego in the last four months,” he said, explaining that one supervisor was warned about the way he was treating firefighters after a union member filed a complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisor was pushing firefighters to hike “when they weren’t feeling good,” Edwards said, “making them hike thinking if he pushed them a little bit further, it would help them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire, for its part, acknowledges that the department spoke with the supervisor but said he was not reprimanded. It describes the incident as an example of how the department and the union can work together to address potential health issues before they get worse.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>'Don't blame the firefighters'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Another problem, insiders say, is that Cal Fire doesn’t have a physical fitness standard that makes clear what kind of shape seasonal and incarcerated firefighters must be in when they return to duty after months off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11836399\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/44642_transform-1.jpg\"]Without such a standard, firefighters may not realize they’re not fit enough until they’re on training hikes or in the field on hot days. At that point, it’s up to individual supervisors to say whether it’s a problem for any firefighter, and what that firefighter needs to do to improve. And that can make for trouble when those supervisors push their employees too hard, especially on hot days, to reach whatever level they deem correct, insiders say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edwards, of Cal Fire Local 2881, notes that the union has “been pushing for years to have a minimal physical fitness standard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the union wants seasonal firefighters to have their fitness tested over a week, with intense physical exercise and step-by-step goals to measure their progress. If they fail to pass those tests, he said, they could be set on a remedial path or let go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edwards blames the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for issues involving incarcerated firefighters. He argues that Cal Fire has little control over these abilities when they arrive at fire camps, even though the 11 heat-related incidents involving incarcerated people identified by CJI and LAist occurred during official Cal Fire trainings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corrections Department said Cal Fire has always trained incarcerated firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, when a firefighter falls behind on fitness requirements, Cal Fire’s system leaves it up to individual stations to determine how that firefighter will move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889391\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889391 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A line of firefighters wearing bright orange uniforms and carrying equipment walk alongside a forest in front of a firefighter wearing a traditional yellow uniform.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Incarcerated firefighters on a training hike with Cal Fire. Incarcerated individuals make up a big chunk of California's firefighters during wildfire season, but some firefighter union officials point out that incarcerated firefighters don't receive enough physical training from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation before they join a crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When firefighters are assigned to a crew for the season, they are allotted an hour each day for personal training, and given access to wellness coordinators and workout gear. Supervisors are required to sign off on each firefighter’s monthly progress as part of a “Physical Fitness Documentation Log.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In more than half of heat-illness cases examined by CJI and LAist, the firefighters didn’t have a fitness plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In interviews with a Cal/OSHA investigator, some of Katkov’s former colleagues raised concerns about his physical fitness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Statement from Cal Fire\"]'Just as a runner cannot expect to run a marathon without months of preparation, a firefighter cannot show up for the beginning of fire season … without preparing their body for the tasks ahead.'[/pullquote]But Cal/OSHA found that Ekblad had not created a fitness plan or any documentation to measure Katkov’s progress, records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its statement, Cal Fire said it has no control over its firefighters’ “fitness efforts, caffeine intake, eating habits, water intake, sun exposure, alcohol consumption, or other factors that may impact their ability to perform their job functions” when they are off-duty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can take weeks or months for firefighters to safely build up their fitness, and experts say it’s not something that can be forced with strenuous exercise in a short period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just as a runner cannot expect to run a marathon without months of preparation, a firefighter cannot show up for the beginning of fire season … without preparing their body for the tasks ahead,” Cal Fire said in its statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brent Ruby, a University of Montana professor who has studied the physical demands of wildland firefighting, said ad hoc training is not the ideal way to train because there’s “a tendency to try to push” new or young recruits. As these firefighters press on, he said, the strain on their body builds up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They hike faster, they produce more heat,” Ruby said, “but the environment is still bearing down on them and pushing back on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Dr. Thomas Ferguson, Consultant for Cal Fire\"]'We've got to educate the supervisors to recognize that they need to pay attention to this.'[/pullquote]Dr. Thomas Ferguson, a consultant who says he reviews 8,000 medical files for Cal Fire each year, has seen how firefighters who are pushed too hard can get blamed for not meeting physical expectations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferguson told Cal/OSHA investigators that seasonal firefighters like Katkov are most vulnerable to heat illness. According to Cal/OSHA’s investigative file on Katkov’s death, Ferguson urged the department to adopt a fitness standard for seasonal and incarcerated firefighters partly for this reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don't blame the firefighters,” he said in a recent interview. “We've got to educate the supervisors to recognize that they need to pay attention to this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889395\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11889395\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two firefighters seem to be pulling a long hose through the forest.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters with Cal Fire San Diego practice a progressive hose lay during training. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Identifying the hidden risks\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Even before starting the job, Cal Fire’s health screening processes may miss conditions that could jeopardize firefighters’ lives, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seasonal and incarcerated firefighters get little more than a basic physical, which experts say doesn’t always screen for potentially problematic health conditions. That has had dire consequences on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2001, eight firefighters with underlying health problems have died during training — five of them likely from heat exposure, experts say. All of them were incarcerated except for Katkov. Four died from cardiovascular issues, such as heart attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While not all of those cases were directly tied to heat, researchers say high temperatures often play a hidden role in injuries and deaths, especially in workers who have underlying or preexisting health conditions, such as heart or kidney disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire said its screening policy requires “an annual medical evaluation for all applicants and employees who are required to be medically cleared.” Tests intended to check for preexisting conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and some cancers, are voluntary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent interview with CJI and LAist, Ferguson said Cal Fire has a hard time keeping up with the basic screenings for thousands of seasonal and incarcerated firefighters each year. “It’s an operational issue for them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union’s Edwards goes further. “When the State of California is hiring a temporary employee, and this is just the sad truth of it, they're not going to want to invest a whole lot of time and money,” he said. “We don't agree with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not until age 40 that full-time Cal Fire employees are required to take heart and blood tests, according to the union. Seasonal firefighters are offered the opportunity, but it’s not mandatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heart issues, which could be caught by more extensive tests, are among the preexisting conditions exacerbated by heat. When a firefighter dies, heat can be overlooked as the primary factor, creating a pattern of uneven enforcement, records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size='large' align='right']It’s not until age 40 that full-time Cal Fire employees are required to take heart and blood tests.[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April 2015, Raymond Araujo, a 37-year-old incarcerated man assigned to work in the Bautista Conservation Camp, set off on a training hike in Banning, California, about 30 miles from Palm Springs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cal/OSHA records, Araujo covered two miles of steep terrain. The temperature reached 81 degrees — 10 degrees hotter for the area for that time of year. He stumbled during the exercise. His colleagues tried to carry him to the finish but eventually he lost his vision and fell to his knees. About an hour after the hike began, paramedics declared him dead, according to the records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11889336\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50579_002_SanFrancisco_HeatWaveImpacts_08062021-qut-1-1020x680.jpg\"]A Cal/OSHA investigation named heat as a contributing factor in Araujo’s death, but the Riverside County coroner determined the cause was “hypertensive cardiovascular disease,” according to an autopsy report. Cal/OSHA’s medical unit, noting the preexisting condition, concluded that “it did not appear likely that a heat illness or other work-related illness or injury played any role in Araujo’s sudden death,” records show. The agency closed the case without issuing any citations for violating the state’s heat standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garrett Brown, a Cal/OSHA inspector from 1994 to 2014, investigated more than 100 work sites for heat issues. He reviewed the Araujo case at our request and said it was impossible to know why the agency chose not to address the heat standard violations. Despite that decision, Brown said the incident resembled many heat cases he had handled, in which workers suffered heart or kidney failure because of hot temperatures, and likely should’ve been handled as possible heat standard violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Cal/OSHA spokesperson defended the agency’s handling of Araujo’s death. “Cal/OSHA Enforcement relied on the Medical Unit's opinion,” the spokesperson, Frank Polizzi, wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferguson isn’t the only one who’s raised concerns about Cal Fire’s health-screening process. During the Cal/OSHA investigation into Katkov’s death, Tammy Stout, manager of the Cal Fire medical unit, was blunt in her assessment of the process, explaining that she had received medical clearance even though she believed she was physically incapable of doing a firefighter’s job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire Captain Cesar Nerey put it simply. “You could get a better physical playing high school football than the one required by Cal Fire,” he told the Cal/OSHA investigator.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A gap in existing heat protections\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There’s another concerning factor in how Cal Fire brings new firefighters onto the job: a lack of a department-wide regimented acclimatization plan that would ease employees into the heat. Instead, as with fitness training, Cal Fire leaves it up to individual stations to craft their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11886402\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/DSCF1773-1020x680.jpg\"]Here’s why that matters. Acclimatization — building up a tolerance for heat — is a crucial part of training firefighters to operate in extreme conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Easing firefighters into the work in hot temperatures is widely viewed as one of the best ways to prevent heat illnesses and deaths. It should happen during a new or newly returned firefighter’s two weeks of training, health experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For nearly 25 years, since the death of a California firefighter from heat exposure while constructing a fire line in 1997, a federal agency has recommended the state follow specific protocols for acclimatization of firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protocols, from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), call for:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>New employees working in heat no more than 20% of their first shift, with a daily increase of the same percentage until fully acclimated.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Experienced firefighters returning from an extended break working in heat more than 50% of the first day, with a gradual increase over the course of a week.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire said that it is considering those recommendations, but it “may not be achievable in all situations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department said following them “could cause issues in protecting the people and resources of California,” since firefighters often are thrust into emergency situations when a fire erupts and may come from areas across the state and be used to different climates. Cal Fire did not address non-emergency training scenarios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"science_1976705\" hero=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/MexicanCrew-Casimiro-1020x765.jpg\"]Some heat-related incidents have occurred early in a firefighter’s tenure and during training. Of all the incidents identified by CJI and LAist, records show at least 14 employees were sickened by heat at the Cal Fire training academy during their first weeks. Dozens more suffered from heat illnesses on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over a two-month period in the summer of 2014, three firefighters were hospitalized after they had trained in the heat. Two of these incidents occurred in the same week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA considers an acclimatization plan the pinnacle of heat awareness — indeed, it is one of the four pillars of heat safety in the state’s standard. Yet the agency leaves the details on how to acclimate employees up to individual employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a written statement, Cal/OSHA said “the acclimatization period, when employees are introduced to high heat, is the most critical in terms of illness prevention.” The agency rarely cites employers for failing to acclimatize their employees, as compared to other heat-related violations, having done so only 68 times since 2015, as of July 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What can prevent a tragedy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While heat continues to be an issue during Cal Fire training activities, a responsive supervisor can make the difference between life and death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly a year after Katkov’s death, yet another firefighter came close to dying on a training hike in Mariposa, 150 miles east of San José. The firefighter had suffered leg cramps and vomited on the same trail just two weeks earlier, according to Cal Fire documents. A physician cleared him for work, but people with prior injuries can be more susceptible to heat stress, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a hike in July 2020, the temperature reached 87 degrees. According to Cal Fire records, the captain, who said he’d been aware of the firefighter’s medical issues, watched his progress during the 60-minute exercise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the firefighter gasped for breath, the captain implored him to slow down. When his legs cramped, a colleague helped him down a hill. The captain called an ambulance, and the crew gave him oxygen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airlifted to a trauma center, the firefigher was treated for heat stroke and a heat-related condition known as rhabdomyolysis, which causes muscle tissue to break down and leak toxins into the blood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889393\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 623px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889393 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-5.jpeg\" alt=\"A smiling couple in formal dress sit together at a table at a party.\" width=\"623\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-5.jpeg 623w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-5-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 623px) 100vw, 623px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yaroslav Katkov with his longtime partner, Ashley Vallario. Vallario considered filing a lawsuit after Katkov's death but later decided against it. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ashley Vallario)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ashley Vallario, Yaroslav Katkov’s partner, who considered filing a lawsuit but decided against it, still can’t understand why Katkov wasn’t given the same level of care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katkov was selfless, she said, someone who would help others even to his detriment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early in their relationship, Vallario remembers Katkov taking her on a date to pick up trash on the beach. Initially, that gave her pause, but she’s come to realize it was Katkov’s way of giving back. “It definitely made me, like, a better person,” Vallario said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Katkov’s death, she has pushed Cal Fire to demand more of its leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You're supposed to have faith that those people would keep them safe,” she said. “It shows what kind of leadership that they're willing to allow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Brian Edwards reported this story as a fellow for Columbia Journalism Investigations, an investigative reporting unit at the Columbia Journalism School in New York, along with Jacob Margolis, a science reporter at KPCC and LAist, and a member of The California Newsroom.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Extensive interviews with current and former members of Cal Fire and reviews of hundreds of government records reveal multiple issues involving workplace safety that put at risk those who fight California's wildfires.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1632346272,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":117,"wordCount":5192},"headData":{"title":"California's Firefighters Keep Getting Injured While Training. Some Have Died | KQED","description":"Extensive interviews with current and former members of Cal Fire and reviews of hundreds of government records reveal multiple issues involving workplace safety that put at risk those who fight California's wildfires.","ogTitle":"California Firefighters Keep Getting Injured During Training and Some Have Lost Their Lives","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"California Firefighters Keep Getting Injured During Training and Some Have Lost Their Lives","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"disqusIdentifier":"11889263 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11889263","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2021/09/22/california-firefighters-keep-getting-injured-during-training-and-some-have-died/","disqusTitle":"California's Firefighters Keep Getting Injured While Training. Some Have Died","source":"The California Newsroom","nprByline":"Brian Edwards and Jacob Margolis","path":"/news/11889263/california-firefighters-keep-getting-injured-during-training-and-some-have-died","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Even as he lay dying on the side of a Southern California mountain — his lips blue, the color gone from his face — wildland firefighter Yaroslav Katkov wanted to push on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re getting to the top. We’re finishing,” his captain recalled Katkov saying after collapsing atop a ridge during a training hike in hot weather, according to state records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katkov’s speech was garbled. He tried to stand, but couldn’t find his footing. His body temperature was reaching dangerous levels. He was suffering from heat illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What happened on that sun-soaked July day in 2019 is one thread in a larger story about firefighter training in an era of intensifying heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the past 18 months, more than 150 firefighters were sickened by heat exposure while working for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a quarter of heat-related incidents — the largest category — involve firefighters who fell ill during routine training exercises, Columbia Journalism Investigations, KPCC and LAist found. Like Katkov, nearly all of these firefighters worked part time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889335\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1390px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889335 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration of a red firefighter helmet and goggles above five blurry white dots, on a black background.\" width=\"1390\" height=\"935\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration.jpg 1390w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration-800x538.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration-1020x686.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/firefighter-hat-illustration-160x108.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1390px) 100vw, 1390px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Interviews with current and former Cal Fire employees, medical personnel and wildland firefighting experts reveal multiple issues involving workplace safety during Cal Fire training activities. This is true especially for those who don’t work year-round, such as seasonal and incarcerated firefighters. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Alborz Kamalizad / Photography courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The incidents, documented in Cal Fire’s workplace-injury logs, were specifically classified as heat related and occurred between Jan. 1, 2020, and Aug. 3, 2021. CJI and LAist were unable to ascertain how typical the case numbers are. Cal Fire refused to say whether they were unusual or in line with annual totals for heat illnesses among workers over the past decade. The department declined to provide data that could put the numbers into a broader context.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>CJI and LAist compiled less comprehensive data from internal Cal Fire reports on employee training injuries dating back to 2001, in addition to other state records. These documents show at least 14 other incidents that bear what some experts say are hallmarks of heat-related illness. In five of these incidents, the firefighters died.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"Over the past 18 months, more than 150 firefighters were sickened by heat exposure while working for Cal Fire.","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"large","align":"right","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All the firefighters succumbed to injuries not on the fire line in some remote California wilderness, but during required training. Many were decked out in full wildland gear — wearing long-sleeve jackets, pants and helmets while carrying heavy tools — and doing activities meant to simulate wildfire fighting — taking short hikes into the woods, for instance, or laying hoses up a mountainside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>All but one of the deaths occurred in temperatures ranging from 70 to 87 degrees. Four of the victims were incarcerated, participating in a state program meant to bolster firefighting forces that dates back to WWII.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public health experts and federal workplace regulators agree that heat-related illnesses and deaths are 100% preventable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Interviews with current and former Cal Fire employees, medical personnel and wildland firefighting experts, a review of hundreds of pages of government records detailing firefighter injuries and deaths and an analysis of worker heat death cases reveal multiple issues involving workplace safety during Cal Fire training activities. This is true especially for those who don’t work year-round, such as seasonal and incarcerated firefighters. Combined, they make up about half of the agency’s nearly 10,000-strong firefighting force.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katkov’s death was exceptional in just how many institutional failures occurred during his hike, records show. But many of the other cases of heat-related injuries and deaths indicate the same underlying problems — a punitive culture that can endanger firefighters’ health, a lackluster physical screening process and an ineffective plan for building up firefighters’ tolerance for heat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889384\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 1380px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889384 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration.jpg\" alt=\"An illustration composed of nine black-and-white squares that include images of the Lippe Hike, overlaid with a red outline of the trail.\" width=\"1380\" height=\"920\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration.jpg 1380w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Warning-signs-illustration-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1380px) 100vw, 1380px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yaroslav Katkov collapsed on his second lap of the 1.45 mile Lippe Hike in Fallbrook, California, a mountain town ringed by ranches just outside of Temecula. According to documents related to the hike, Katkov's captain ignored signs from Katkov of potential illness. \u003ccite>(Illustration by Alborz Kamalizad / Photography courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Warning signs\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>On the day of Katkov’s hike, Cal Fire officials later found that his captain, Joe Ekblad, had missed opportunities to act on several telltale signs of heat illness. Not until Katkov collapsed at the top of that ridge did Ekblad begin emergency procedures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The captain later explained he believed that they could cool Katkov down if they moved fast enough. They stripped off his jacket and drenched him in water. But it didn’t work. Katkov took several deep “gulpy breaths,” according to documents obtained from the state’s Division of Occupational Safety and Health, known as Cal/OSHA. Still, Ekblad delayed calling for emergency help because he thought Katkov “would snap back out of it,” the records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'[Cal Fire] vigorously rejects the notion that a punitive culture exists in relation to the fitness, safety, or wellbeing of our workforce.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Statement from Cal Fire","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Katkov died of hyperthermia at a hospital the next day. Cal Fire demoted Ekblad. The department found he had “failed to identify a crew member … in physical and/mental distress.” Ekblad didn’t respond to requests for comment. Records show he told investigators that Katkov was a willing participant in the exercises.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire didn’t respond to several requests to interview the department’s head of safety. In a statement, it said it “vigorously rejects the notion that a punitive culture exists in relation to the fitness, safety, or wellbeing of our workforce.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department says it trains all its firefighters — seasonal, incarcerated or otherwise — on the dangers associated with wildland firefighting, “including methods to prevent, recognize and respond to symptoms of heat related illnesses.” It described its efforts to combat heat-related injuries and deaths as “a partnership” with individual firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Each must do his/her part year-round to ensure that they are preparing for the upcoming fire season,” the department wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On July 28, 2019, Katkov embarked on a training exercise called the Lippe Hike, a 1.45-mile loop at Cal Fire’s Station 16 in Fallbrook, California, a mountain town ringed by ranches just outside of Temecula.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gavin Bledsoe, one of the station’s other fire captains, later told Cal/OSHA investigators that “he had concerns with Joe pushing Yaro hard,” and that Ekblad had pushed other firefighters without giving them enough time for breaks in the past.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889386\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889386 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A view from Lippe Hike: several hills and a light cloudy sky.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Lippe-Hike-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Lippe Hike winds through the hills just behind Cal Fire Station 16 in northern San Diego County. \u003ccite>(Jacob Margolis/LAist)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>According to documents related to Ekblad’s demotion, the hike that preceded Katkov’s death had never been timed before that morning, and Bledsoe believed the standard for finishing it was set “specifically with Yaro in mind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Joe has been pushing really hard to get Yaro to quit or up to his standards,” Bledsoe told Cal/OSHA investigators about the rookie firefighter who regularly hiked the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bledsoe didn’t respond to multiple phone calls and text messages seeking comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889397\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 427px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889397 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-1.jpeg\" alt=\"A studio portrait of a man in a Cal Fire uniform smiling at the camera.\" width=\"427\" height=\"640\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-1.jpeg 427w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-1-160x240.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 427px) 100vw, 427px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Cal Fire firefighter Yaroslav Katkov. Katkov died of hyperthermia at a hospital the day after embarking on a training exercise called the Lippe Hike. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ashley Vallario)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>A quarter-mile into the hike, seasonal firefighter Matthew Guerrero told investigators, Katkov was breathing heavily. At one point, as the hike wound from mountains alongside a road, Katkov was slow to move out of oncoming traffic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ekblad wrote in his notebook, “Road Hazard - Cognitive Question.” This was an early sign of heat illness that Ekblad ignored, Cal Fire documents show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trio completed the hike in about 40 minutes — 10 minutes slower than the time Ekblad had set for the station that morning.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We're gonna do it again. The first hike was unacceptable,” Ekblad said, according to the Cal/OSHA investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ekblad later told the agency’s investigators that doing the hike twice wasn’t standard practice. Cal Fire concluded that it was “clearly unnecessary” given the signs of distress Katkov had exhibited.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The trio rested for 20 minutes, drank some water and set off to do the hike again. By then, the temperature had climbed to nearly 88 degrees — five degrees hotter than the 40-year average for the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the steep, often-shadeless path, Katkov told Ekblad he was exhausted — another symptom of heat illness that Ekblad should have recognized, Cal Fire documents said. Rather than seek emergency care, however, the captain encouraged both firefighters to press on, and they pushed up the hill. Guerrero helped steady Katkov’s balance, but Katkov stumbled and had to pause at least 20 times.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Atop the 650-foot ridge, Katkov fell forward and sat down. Ekblad told him to take off some of his wildland gear, and Guerrero tried to shade him with a jacket. They poured water on him, but his eyes rolled back. He eventually passed out.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly an hour after starting the hike a second time, Ekblad called for help. Katkov began to shake uncontrollably. It took another hour for an air ambulance to get to the remote location and transport Katkov to Temecula Valley Hospital. He died the next day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA inspectors found that Cal Fire:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Hadn’t provided enough water or shade on the hike.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Failed to monitor Katkov for preexisting sensitivities to heat.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Didn’t prepare Katkov for the intensity of the job, as required under Cal Fire’s heat-illness prevention plan.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Didn’t initiate an emergency medical response until it was too late.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA fined the department $80,875 — almost five times the average Cal/OSHA fine of $17,000 for all types of cases.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A 'toughness mentality'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Ashley Vallario, Katkov’s longtime girlfriend, said she was shocked after reading the investigation. It was clear that Cal Fire hadn’t done everything it should have done to protect Katkov, she said. Its safeguards against workplace heat appear to have failed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They told me that everything that could have been done was done, and that there was no waste of time,” Vallario said. “I believed them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire didn’t respond to written questions about Katkov’s death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889399\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11889399\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A sign that reads, 'Cal Fire De Luz Station 16' next to a country road.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1696\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-800x530.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-1020x676.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-160x106.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-1536x1018.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-2048x1357.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Cal-Fire-Station-Sign-1920x1272.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yaroslav Katkov worked at Cal Fire De Luz Station 16 located in the hills just outside of Temecula.\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Rank matters at Cal Fire. Impressing superiors can help a seasonal firefighter move on to a coveted full-time spot. But a tough paramilitary culture often pushes Cal Fire employees to their physical limits, even in hot temperatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In many cases, that culture has contributed to serious heat-related injuries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, for instance, a Cal Fire firefighter was at a “rehire” training session in Riverside, meant for seasonal employees about to rejoin their crews. He and the other trainees were forced to do “extra rigorous” exercises after someone had arrived late, according to a Cal/OSHA investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While the group practiced a simulated fire attack, the firefighter complained about feeling ill and asked his supervisor if he could take off his jacket.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The instructor said no and told the firefighter to sit down in the sun, the records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11886628","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/RS50596_019_SanFrancisco_HeatWaveImpacts_08062021-qut-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>About 10 minutes later, a colleague reported that the firefighter did “not look good.” His legs cramped, and he was gasping for breath — both symptoms of heat illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighter was hospitalized for two days, and Cal/OSHA fined the department $18,560 for violating California’s heat standard by failing to allow the employee to take an adequate rest break.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a similar case in 2017, another Cal Fire firefighter was working in full wildland gear while moving a hose for a training exercise, according to Cal/OSHA records. After a break, a new instructor took over another round of the activity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firefighter later told Cal/OSHA that the work was more strenuous the second time, and that the instructor had “pushed the employee to do more.” The firefighter struggled to finish the task. He was so confused that he couldn’t answer questions, Cal/OSHA records show. An altered mental state is a red flag for heat illness, medical experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The instructor mocked the firefighter and suggested he “go to Orange County since their training is easier,” the inspector wrote.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As in the earlier case, the firefighter spent two days in the hospital. Cal Fire was fined another $2,430 for failing to educate employees about heat’s threats and not providing ready access to water and shade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'We don’t want the smartest guy … we just want a guy who can throw on a pack and hike hills.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Robert Salgado, Former Cal/OSHA inspector and wildland firefighter","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jon Heggie, who leads several fire stations based in San Diego, including Katkov’s former station, said the department is working to root out the “toughness” mentality that has pervaded its ranks. Some heat-related incidents “have been an unfortunate wake-up call that maybe that culture needs to change,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that may be difficult. Robert Salgado, a former Cal/OSHA inspector and wildland firefighter, notes that Cal Fire’s do-or-die attitude is one of the “very deep-rooted cultural practices in the fire service” that is passed from department to department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t want the smartest guy … we don’t want the most trained guy,” Salgado said. “We just want a guy who can throw on a pack and hike hills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire union president Tim Edwards of Local 2881 recalls a recent incident in which supervisors pushed firefighters in training activities beyond their limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’ll admit it, we had problems in San Diego in the last four months,” he said, explaining that one supervisor was warned about the way he was treating firefighters after a union member filed a complaint.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The supervisor was pushing firefighters to hike “when they weren’t feeling good,” Edwards said, “making them hike thinking if he pushed them a little bit further, it would help them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire, for its part, acknowledges that the department spoke with the supervisor but said he was not reprimanded. It describes the incident as an example of how the department and the union can work together to address potential health issues before they get worse.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>'Don't blame the firefighters'\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Another problem, insiders say, is that Cal Fire doesn’t have a physical fitness standard that makes clear what kind of shape seasonal and incarcerated firefighters must be in when they return to duty after months off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11836399","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2020/09/44642_transform-1.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Without such a standard, firefighters may not realize they’re not fit enough until they’re on training hikes or in the field on hot days. At that point, it’s up to individual supervisors to say whether it’s a problem for any firefighter, and what that firefighter needs to do to improve. And that can make for trouble when those supervisors push their employees too hard, especially on hot days, to reach whatever level they deem correct, insiders say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edwards, of Cal Fire Local 2881, notes that the union has “been pushing for years to have a minimal physical fitness standard.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said the union wants seasonal firefighters to have their fitness tested over a week, with intense physical exercise and step-by-step goals to measure their progress. If they fail to pass those tests, he said, they could be set on a remedial path or let go.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Edwards blames the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for issues involving incarcerated firefighters. He argues that Cal Fire has little control over these abilities when they arrive at fire camps, even though the 11 heat-related incidents involving incarcerated people identified by CJI and LAist occurred during official Cal Fire trainings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Corrections Department said Cal Fire has always trained incarcerated firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Currently, when a firefighter falls behind on fitness requirements, Cal Fire’s system leaves it up to individual stations to determine how that firefighter will move forward.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889391\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889391 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"A line of firefighters wearing bright orange uniforms and carrying equipment walk alongside a forest in front of a firefighter wearing a traditional yellow uniform.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Incarcerated-Hike-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Incarcerated firefighters on a training hike with Cal Fire. Incarcerated individuals make up a big chunk of California's firefighters during wildfire season, but some firefighter union officials point out that incarcerated firefighters don't receive enough physical training from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation before they join a crew. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When firefighters are assigned to a crew for the season, they are allotted an hour each day for personal training, and given access to wellness coordinators and workout gear. Supervisors are required to sign off on each firefighter’s monthly progress as part of a “Physical Fitness Documentation Log.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In more than half of heat-illness cases examined by CJI and LAist, the firefighters didn’t have a fitness plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In interviews with a Cal/OSHA investigator, some of Katkov’s former colleagues raised concerns about his physical fitness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'Just as a runner cannot expect to run a marathon without months of preparation, a firefighter cannot show up for the beginning of fire season … without preparing their body for the tasks ahead.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Statement from Cal Fire","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But Cal/OSHA found that Ekblad had not created a fitness plan or any documentation to measure Katkov’s progress, records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its statement, Cal Fire said it has no control over its firefighters’ “fitness efforts, caffeine intake, eating habits, water intake, sun exposure, alcohol consumption, or other factors that may impact their ability to perform their job functions” when they are off-duty.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It can take weeks or months for firefighters to safely build up their fitness, and experts say it’s not something that can be forced with strenuous exercise in a short period.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Just as a runner cannot expect to run a marathon without months of preparation, a firefighter cannot show up for the beginning of fire season … without preparing their body for the tasks ahead,” Cal Fire said in its statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brent Ruby, a University of Montana professor who has studied the physical demands of wildland firefighting, said ad hoc training is not the ideal way to train because there’s “a tendency to try to push” new or young recruits. As these firefighters press on, he said, the strain on their body builds up.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They hike faster, they produce more heat,” Ruby said, “but the environment is still bearing down on them and pushing back on them.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'We've got to educate the supervisors to recognize that they need to pay attention to this.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"align":"right","size":"medium","citation":"Dr. Thomas Ferguson, Consultant for Cal Fire","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Dr. Thomas Ferguson, a consultant who says he reviews 8,000 medical files for Cal Fire each year, has seen how firefighters who are pushed too hard can get blamed for not meeting physical expectations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferguson told Cal/OSHA investigators that seasonal firefighters like Katkov are most vulnerable to heat illness. According to Cal/OSHA’s investigative file on Katkov’s death, Ferguson urged the department to adopt a fitness standard for seasonal and incarcerated firefighters partly for this reason.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Don't blame the firefighters,” he said in a recent interview. “We've got to educate the supervisors to recognize that they need to pay attention to this.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889395\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11889395\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Two firefighters seem to be pulling a long hose through the forest.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1707\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-scaled.jpg 2560w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Progressive-Hoselay-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Firefighters with Cal Fire San Diego practice a progressive hose lay during training. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Cal Fire)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Identifying the hidden risks\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Even before starting the job, Cal Fire’s health screening processes may miss conditions that could jeopardize firefighters’ lives, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seasonal and incarcerated firefighters get little more than a basic physical, which experts say doesn’t always screen for potentially problematic health conditions. That has had dire consequences on the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2001, eight firefighters with underlying health problems have died during training — five of them likely from heat exposure, experts say. All of them were incarcerated except for Katkov. Four died from cardiovascular issues, such as heart attacks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While not all of those cases were directly tied to heat, researchers say high temperatures often play a hidden role in injuries and deaths, especially in workers who have underlying or preexisting health conditions, such as heart or kidney disease.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire said its screening policy requires “an annual medical evaluation for all applicants and employees who are required to be medically cleared.” Tests intended to check for preexisting conditions, such as cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders and some cancers, are voluntary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a recent interview with CJI and LAist, Ferguson said Cal Fire has a hard time keeping up with the basic screenings for thousands of seasonal and incarcerated firefighters each year. “It’s an operational issue for them,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The union’s Edwards goes further. “When the State of California is hiring a temporary employee, and this is just the sad truth of it, they're not going to want to invest a whole lot of time and money,” he said. “We don't agree with that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not until age 40 that full-time Cal Fire employees are required to take heart and blood tests, according to the union. Seasonal firefighters are offered the opportunity, but it’s not mandatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Heart issues, which could be caught by more extensive tests, are among the preexisting conditions exacerbated by heat. When a firefighter dies, heat can be overlooked as the primary factor, creating a pattern of uneven enforcement, records show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"It’s not until age 40 that full-time Cal Fire employees are required to take heart and blood tests.","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"large","align":"right","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April 2015, Raymond Araujo, a 37-year-old incarcerated man assigned to work in the Bautista Conservation Camp, set off on a training hike in Banning, California, about 30 miles from Palm Springs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to Cal/OSHA records, Araujo covered two miles of steep terrain. The temperature reached 81 degrees — 10 degrees hotter for the area for that time of year. He stumbled during the exercise. His colleagues tried to carry him to the finish but eventually he lost his vision and fell to his knees. About an hour after the hike began, paramedics declared him dead, according to the records.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11889336","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/RS50579_002_SanFrancisco_HeatWaveImpacts_08062021-qut-1-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>A Cal/OSHA investigation named heat as a contributing factor in Araujo’s death, but the Riverside County coroner determined the cause was “hypertensive cardiovascular disease,” according to an autopsy report. Cal/OSHA’s medical unit, noting the preexisting condition, concluded that “it did not appear likely that a heat illness or other work-related illness or injury played any role in Araujo’s sudden death,” records show. The agency closed the case without issuing any citations for violating the state’s heat standard.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Garrett Brown, a Cal/OSHA inspector from 1994 to 2014, investigated more than 100 work sites for heat issues. He reviewed the Araujo case at our request and said it was impossible to know why the agency chose not to address the heat standard violations. Despite that decision, Brown said the incident resembled many heat cases he had handled, in which workers suffered heart or kidney failure because of hot temperatures, and likely should’ve been handled as possible heat standard violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Cal/OSHA spokesperson defended the agency’s handling of Araujo’s death. “Cal/OSHA Enforcement relied on the Medical Unit's opinion,” the spokesperson, Frank Polizzi, wrote in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ferguson isn’t the only one who’s raised concerns about Cal Fire’s health-screening process. During the Cal/OSHA investigation into Katkov’s death, Tammy Stout, manager of the Cal Fire medical unit, was blunt in her assessment of the process, explaining that she had received medical clearance even though she believed she was physically incapable of doing a firefighter’s job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire Captain Cesar Nerey put it simply. “You could get a better physical playing high school football than the one required by Cal Fire,” he told the Cal/OSHA investigator.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A gap in existing heat protections\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>There’s another concerning factor in how Cal Fire brings new firefighters onto the job: a lack of a department-wide regimented acclimatization plan that would ease employees into the heat. Instead, as with fitness training, Cal Fire leaves it up to individual stations to craft their own.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"news_11886402","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/DSCF1773-1020x680.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Here’s why that matters. Acclimatization — building up a tolerance for heat — is a crucial part of training firefighters to operate in extreme conditions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Easing firefighters into the work in hot temperatures is widely viewed as one of the best ways to prevent heat illnesses and deaths. It should happen during a new or newly returned firefighter’s two weeks of training, health experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For nearly 25 years, since the death of a California firefighter from heat exposure while constructing a fire line in 1997, a federal agency has recommended the state follow specific protocols for acclimatization of firefighters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The protocols, from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), call for:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>New employees working in heat no more than 20% of their first shift, with a daily increase of the same percentage until fully acclimated.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Experienced firefighters returning from an extended break working in heat more than 50% of the first day, with a gradual increase over the course of a week.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>Cal Fire said that it is considering those recommendations, but it “may not be achievable in all situations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The department said following them “could cause issues in protecting the people and resources of California,” since firefighters often are thrust into emergency situations when a fire erupts and may come from areas across the state and be used to different climates. Cal Fire did not address non-emergency training scenarios.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"aside","attributes":{"named":{"postid":"science_1976705","hero":"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/35/2021/09/MexicanCrew-Casimiro-1020x765.jpg","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Some heat-related incidents have occurred early in a firefighter’s tenure and during training. Of all the incidents identified by CJI and LAist, records show at least 14 employees were sickened by heat at the Cal Fire training academy during their first weeks. Dozens more suffered from heat illnesses on the job.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Over a two-month period in the summer of 2014, three firefighters were hospitalized after they had trained in the heat. Two of these incidents occurred in the same week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cal/OSHA considers an acclimatization plan the pinnacle of heat awareness — indeed, it is one of the four pillars of heat safety in the state’s standard. Yet the agency leaves the details on how to acclimate employees up to individual employers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a written statement, Cal/OSHA said “the acclimatization period, when employees are introduced to high heat, is the most critical in terms of illness prevention.” The agency rarely cites employers for failing to acclimatize their employees, as compared to other heat-related violations, having done so only 68 times since 2015, as of July 2021.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>What can prevent a tragedy\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>While heat continues to be an issue during Cal Fire training activities, a responsive supervisor can make the difference between life and death.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nearly a year after Katkov’s death, yet another firefighter came close to dying on a training hike in Mariposa, 150 miles east of San José. The firefighter had suffered leg cramps and vomited on the same trail just two weeks earlier, according to Cal Fire documents. A physician cleared him for work, but people with prior injuries can be more susceptible to heat stress, experts say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a hike in July 2020, the temperature reached 87 degrees. According to Cal Fire records, the captain, who said he’d been aware of the firefighter’s medical issues, watched his progress during the 60-minute exercise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When the firefighter gasped for breath, the captain implored him to slow down. When his legs cramped, a colleague helped him down a hill. The captain called an ambulance, and the crew gave him oxygen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airlifted to a trauma center, the firefigher was treated for heat stroke and a heat-related condition known as rhabdomyolysis, which causes muscle tissue to break down and leak toxins into the blood.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11889393\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 623px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11889393 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-5.jpeg\" alt=\"A smiling couple in formal dress sit together at a table at a party.\" width=\"623\" height=\"415\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-5.jpeg 623w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/09/Yaro-5-160x107.jpeg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 623px) 100vw, 623px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Yaroslav Katkov with his longtime partner, Ashley Vallario. Vallario considered filing a lawsuit after Katkov's death but later decided against it. \u003ccite>(Courtesy of Ashley Vallario)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ashley Vallario, Yaroslav Katkov’s partner, who considered filing a lawsuit but decided against it, still can’t understand why Katkov wasn’t given the same level of care.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Katkov was selfless, she said, someone who would help others even to his detriment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Early in their relationship, Vallario remembers Katkov taking her on a date to pick up trash on the beach. Initially, that gave her pause, but she’s come to realize it was Katkov’s way of giving back. “It definitely made me, like, a better person,” Vallario said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since Katkov’s death, she has pushed Cal Fire to demand more of its leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You're supposed to have faith that those people would keep them safe,” she said. “It shows what kind of leadership that they're willing to allow.”\u003c/p>\n\u003chr>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Brian Edwards reported this story as a fellow for Columbia Journalism Investigations, an investigative reporting unit at the Columbia Journalism School in New York, along with Jacob Margolis, a science reporter at KPCC and LAist, and a member of The California Newsroom.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This story was supported by the Fund for Investigative Journalism.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11889263/california-firefighters-keep-getting-injured-during-training-and-some-have-died","authors":["byline_news_11889263"],"categories":["news_19906","news_8"],"tags":["news_6383","news_6145","news_4807","news_20341","news_5043","news_23831","news_18512","news_21241","news_4463","news_29880","news_20600","news_23063"],"affiliates":["news_7055","news_24117"],"featImg":"news_11889298","label":"source_news_11889263"},"news_11883845":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11883845","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11883845","score":null,"sort":[1628621046000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"how-former-employees-at-a-berkeley-bastion-for-literary-presses-ignited-a-reckoning","title":"How Former Employees at a Berkeley Bastion for Literary Presses Ignited a Reckoning","publishDate":1628621046,"format":"audio","headTitle":"KQED News","labelTerm":{"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>When J. Worthen was hired as a warehouse assistant at Small Press Distribution in Berkeley in 2014, they hoped to work there for the rest of their career. The mission of Small Press Distribution, or SPD, is to make writing by underrepresented communities more accessible. Worthen loved having a role in helping to make that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by 2018, Worthen said it became impossible to ignore the divide between the nonprofit's mission and how they were being treated because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a trip to Tampa, Florida, for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference that year, Worthen was eating dinner with their boss, Brent Cunningham, and Abigail Beckel, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://rosemetalpress.com/\">Rose Metal Press\u003c/a>, one of SPD's publishers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of nowhere, according to Worthen and Beckel, Cunningham said Worthen was asexual, and went on to ask a series of intrusive questions. Worthen said at one point he asked whether they would still be asexual if they weren't so close to their sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I really was in escape mode. I didn't know how to address it at the moment without jeopardizing my job,\" Worthen said. \"[Rose Metal Press] is one of SPD's top publishers. He had no problem creating an uncomfortable situation for both of us.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beckel said she thought Cunningham's behavior was \"wildly inappropriate.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, Worthen published an \u003ca href=\"https://www.vidaweb.org/body-of-a-poem-neither-here-nor-there-asexual-and-agender-in-the-literary-world/\">essay\u003c/a> that described the experience. While Worthen did not name anyone in their piece, they still expected to lose their job, or for there to be some sort of reaction from the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Cunningham \"liked\" the essay on Facebook and after that, Worthen said, they never heard from members of the SPD board or leadership about the incident until Cunningham apologized over two years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It felt like I didn't exist. It just felt like the experience meant nothing to the people who played a part in it,\" they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883911\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883911\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J. Worthen, who started as a warehouse assistant at Small Press Distribution in 2014, says they loved playing a role in helping to make literature accessible. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of J. Worthen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cunningham, who left SPD in June, said in a statement that he \"profoundly misread\" the dinner and a number of situations with Worthen. Worthen said Cunningham referred to them as \"my J.\" and commented on their cheap lunches and \"Midwestern work ethic.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I deeply apologize for any and all comments I made that were insensitive, and regret them. I never intended to hurt but now understand the unintended impact of my words. I have worked on and will continue to work on rooting out as much unconscious bias as I can in the hopes of being a better ally to marginalized people going forward,\" Cunningham said in the statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worthen said the issue was not just Cunningham's behavior but the way the SPD board responded when employees came forward and denounced his behavior in posts \u003ca href=\"https://wearespd.medium.com/?p=21ce94bf25e0\">online\u003c/a>. In February 2021, Worthen says, they filed a harassment complaint when a different employee persistently misgendered them and sent them condescending messages. Cunningham was one of two people who determined whether that behavior violated SPD policies, emails shared with KQED show, even though a majority of SPD employees had previously penned an open letter that called for his termination or resignation. [pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='J. Worthen, a former employee at SPD']'I really felt like this could kill me, staying in a situation with no end in sight, having to deal with the person who harmed me, while the people who should have been holding him accountable were protecting him.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alan Bernheimer, the president of the SPD board of directors, did not comment on the work dinner or respond to questions related to the complaint about Cunningham's behavior or how the board responded. He also declined interview requests and declined to answer almost all questions sent to him with criticism or allegations about Cunningham or SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SPD did, however, hire a law firm, Oppenheimer Investigations Group, to conduct an independent assessment of the nonprofit earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The OIG assessment concluded that SPD needed a reboot of its management, workplace policies, and relationship between staff and leaders,\" Bernheimer wrote in a statement to KQED. \"The OIG report was completed the first week in March, and we announced [Cunningham’s] departure as [executive director] on March 8.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to a series of questions sent to him last month, Bernheimer wrote in an email sent to KQED seemingly by mistake, \"For any response we provide, we should strongly consider aligning with what Brent [Cunningham] is telling her [KQED reporter Holly McDede].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11884265\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-800x314.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-800x314.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-1020x401.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-160x63.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response.png 1360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He did not answer any specific questions after that, writing instead, \"No further comment.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worthen, who learned they had cancer in 2019, worried the stress of staying at SPD could affect their health. Soon after they filed the complaint, they decided to leave the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I really felt like this could kill me, staying in a situation with no end in sight, having to deal with the person who harmed me, while the people who should have been holding him accountable were protecting him,\" they said. \"I needed to get away from that so that I can heal from cancer and have a fighting chance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884059\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11884059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-800x456.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-800x456.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-1020x582.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-160x91.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-1536x876.jpeg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Small Press Distribution currently warehouses some 350,000 books. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Sam Lefebvre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A Reckoning for Literary Spaces\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Since its founding in 1969, Berkeley-based Small Press Distribution has distinguished itself as the place for indie publishers to get experimental, avant-garde works in the hands of booksellers and customers nationwide. The nonprofit has a staff of fewer than a dozen people and works with some 400 presses, and has distributed titles that have won prestigious awards, like Pulitzer in poetry winner \"Olio\" by Tyehimba Jess. On its website, SPD emphasizes this commitment: \"Everything we do is aimed at helping essential but underrepresented literary communities participate fully in the marketplace and in the culture at large.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some former employees said that incidents like what Worthen experienced, and an overall lack of personal or professional boundaries, were part of a broader problem at SPD. They said management seemed to push the idea that employees were more like friends than co-workers. Workers said that contributed to a toxic environment where staff concerns were not taken seriously or addressed through formal mechanisms, and it felt impossible to hold people accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernheimer said in a public statement that human resources departments were not commonplace when SPD was founded in 1969, particularly in small nonprofits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"But it's inexcusable that we failed to grow with the times and that SPD employees suffered as a result,\" Bernheimer wrote. \"We believe a holistic HR approach, run by specialized experts, will preclude recurrences, as well as foster a healthy workplace with interactional and procedural justice for all.\" [pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Jeffrey Lependorf, former executive director at SPD']'For many years, long before me, SPD was a small group of poets trying to get books out ... We were not HR professionals. We were artists running an arts organization. We were doing our best to learn and to institute HR processes. We, in many ways, did a good job, and failed a lot in our best efforts. I think that's fair to say.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonprofits have a \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/the-plight-of-the-overworked-nonprofit-employee/497081/\">reputation\u003c/a> for low pay, burnout and high turnover. Some former employees said they expected disorganization or poor treatment at SPD because those issues are common in arts nonprofits, bookstores and other creative industries. Former employees said the SPD board, which included poets and publishers, was absent or out of touch when it came to working conditions at SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cunningham said in a written statement that the working conditions and the culture at SPD were not meaningfully different from or worse than those at any under-resourced nonprofit. He said the primary obstacle to any change was always a lack of resources rather than a lack of will, and that there was also a lack of agreement or articulation among the staff about the real, practical changes they wanted to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"For many years, long before me, SPD was a small group of poets trying to get books out,\" said Jeffrey Lependorf, who was the executive director at SPD until 2020. \"We were not HR professionals. We were artists running an arts organization. We were doing our best to learn and to institute HR processes. We, in many ways, did a good job, and failed a lot in our best efforts. I think that's fair to say.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernheimer said since allegations were first made online in December, the SPD board has invited staff to attend board meetings and created a staff-board liaison process to improve communication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884055\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11884055 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-800x596.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-800x596.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-1020x760.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-160x119.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes.jpg 1180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clay Banes, a former Small Press Distribution employee, also worked at Pegasus Books in Berkeley, where he organized a reading series. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Clay Banes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But while some of the longstanding problems at SPD may be common to many organizations, SPD holds a unique position as the only nonprofit literary distributor in the country. Small literary presses rooted in social justice and committed to bringing underrepresented voices to readers have few other distribution options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There's pretty much no other. Whoever has existed, SPD is the one left standing. Even as we speak, everything is getting consolidated in the commercial distributing world,\" Clay Banes, a former employee at SPD, said. \"So many writers, so many publishers, so many poets, for the most part, none of these people want to get into the fray of this. No one wants to harm SPD, including me.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the pandemic caused workers all over the country to question not only their safety but also how they're valued on the job — including at nonprofits and bookstores. Current and former Black and trans booksellers at Pegasus Books in Berkeley and Oakland created an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CEK89VTpFOC/\">anti-racist bookstore initiative\u003c/a> to demand better treatment. Booksellers at \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/moesbooksunion?lang=en\">Moe's Books in Berkeley\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bscworkers?lang=en\">Bookshop Santa Cruz\u003c/a> voted to form unions this year, a rare move for any independent bookstore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883930\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883930\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rows of books line the second floor at Moe's Books in Berkeley on July 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"I think there still is a perception that somehow these professions are special or have cultural capital,\" said Amy Wilson, a poet, an organizer and a master's student at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. \"But what workers are saying is you can't eat [or] can't pay your rent with cultural capital.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Toxicity in the Workplace\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many of the former workers who spoke to KQED said they had tried to fix the culture and structure at SPD internally, but not enough seemed to change. The environment became increasingly hostile in 2019, they said, when employees were told SPD was in the midst of a financial crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"SPD is making available books that don't make a lot of money,\" said Jeffrey Lependorf, then-executive director of SPD. \"And the book industry at that time was facing tough times. And we were a part of it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Employees said it seemed like workers who were vocal about changes they wanted to see at SPD were also under the most scrutiny during SPD's financial challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's like SPD could fall apart at any moment, [so] we have to be hypervigilant and never change how we do anything,\" said E Conner, who worked at SPD during that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883932\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883932\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-800x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-800x672.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-1020x857.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-160x134.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-1536x1291.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-2048x1721.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-1920x1614.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E Conner worked at Small Press Distribution until late last year. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of E Conner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Former employees said managers began an \"efficiency audit\" to identify redundancies. As part of that effort, staff said they were asked to describe in detail what they did during the day. But Conner said it felt like even when she explained how she spent her workday, the manager didn’t believe her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"As I was explaining what I did, I was told, 'But you don't really do that, right?'\" Conner said. \"And I explained that 'I'm just trying to tell you what I do.' Everybody was terrified we were going to lose our jobs.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another former employee at SPD, Nich Malone, said he was outspoken about some of the issues at SPD, like the lack of clear job descriptions or the need for professional boundaries. But he said his suggestions only seemed to make some of his bosses uncomfortable, and the efficiency audit felt like an attempt to wear him down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It was literally, like, sitting in a room for an hour, not doing work, so you could justify your job,\" Malone said. \"It would sort of break you down so that you work harder so that you'd keep your job.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these audits were happening, Lependorf lived on the other side of the country — another issue that employees said they found frustrating as they, and their lower-paid co-workers, faced the threat of layoffs. \"He lived and worked in Hudson, New York, while Small Press Distribution is in Berkeley, California,” Conner said. \"The knowledge and the skill to navigate through this very chaotic organization was all on the lower-paid workers to do, and do well.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lependorf said the remote position made sense for years, considering that many valuable ties in the publishing industry are in New York. But he said his distance from the nonprofit seemed less practical as the climate at the workplace became more toxic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There were issues of misgendering, there were issues of gender bias, there were issues of crossing boundaries, and [it] became more difficult ... it was certainly difficult for me not being present,\" he said. \"I was in a position of being a little helpless to deal with some of that.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said management was working hard to make sure employees could keep their jobs, but he could also understand how the financial issues made staff feel threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We were really, really trying to listen. We were out there trying to pull in pennies to keep everyone employed,\" he said. \"You don't want to scare your staff, but you also don't want to hide things from them. It's a tricky balance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884456\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11884456\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-800x472.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"472\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-800x472.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-1020x601.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-160x94.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-1536x906.jpeg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poetry covers the walls of the break room at Small Press Distribution in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Sam Lefebvre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lependorf left SPD last year, and Cunningham said Lependorf's departure was the solution to the financial challenges. (Lependorf said he was planning to leave within a year or two anyway.) Cunningham, who became executive director after Lependorf left, said he could not comment on personnel matters out of concern for privacy. Cunningham said of himself that he treated all employees fairly and equally, and that while in leadership at SPD, he did not witness any other SPD director treating any employee in a way he would call unfair, unequal or retaliatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then around the time of the nonprofit's financial issues, staff learned from management about errors related to payroll. SPD leadership said in a statement last year that a total of five employees had been underpaid, and that staff had also been given pay stubs that were not in compliance with the law; they did not show hourly wages or hours worked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person was underpaid a total of more than $4,000 throughout most of 2019, documents shared with KQED show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SPD board of directors, Cunningham and SPD Finance Director Andrew Pai released a statement saying that as soon as the payroll errors came to their attention, leaders apologized to staff, informed all staff of the error and remedied the mistakes — including paying missing wages with interest to those affected. They said they also switched to a different payroll processing company that complies with current regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883934\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11883934 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-800x760.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-800x760.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-1020x969.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-160x152.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-1536x1460.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-2048x1946.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-1920x1824.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E Conner's desk at Small Press Distribution, where she worked until late 2020. She advocated for better working conditions while an employee there. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of E Conner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Former employee Malone said that these financial issues and mismanagement contributed to the hostile environment at SPD, where employees felt they had to justify their positions, and eventually it became too much. Malone decided to leave last March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I just figured, if I could leave the organization, that means my friend who is also on the chopping block, at least ... they probably won't lose their job,\" he said. \"I couldn't still be part of something that I loved so much, watching it slowly die.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 60% of employees who worked at SPD in September 2019 have since left the nonprofit. [ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The Conversation Moves Online\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It took a Medium \u003ca href=\"https://damagedbookworker.medium.com/terrorized-by-spd-612014765e7c\">post\u003c/a> published last December by a former employee to force the conversation open about working conditions at SPD. Hundreds of writers, publishers and community members signed an \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJKgNqaN_FZ7GWKiciKDFQQZgLZ1JI895b_Z3Apx5Ic/edit\">open letter calling for Cunningham to resign from his leadership position at SPD. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We're using a pseudonym — Marisela — to protect the identity of the former employee who wrote the post because of concern that being identified would put their safety or employment opportunities at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the post, Marisela described how management continued to ask them to perform intensive physical labor in the warehouse in spite of a reported physical disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wrote that Cunningham would regularly \"unload\" to them about his personal life. They said he would approach their desk in the morning and begin complaining about personal issues with his family — emotional labor that Marisela, as well as several other former employees, said made them uncomfortable, particularly from a boss. Marisela described feeling like a \"captive audience\" as he overshared details about his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marisela was also the employee who was underpaid more than $4,000 in 2019, documents shared with KQED show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883938\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1.jpeg 1331w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A former employee at Small Press Distribution, who asked to be called Marisela, published a piece about working conditions at Small Press Distribution last December. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Marisela and Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marisela said over a month before first learning they were underpaid, they had to borrow money from a church to pay rent. They said their mental and physical health continued to decline, and the stress was making it impossible to work there. They felt like they had no choice but to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Cunningham said he apologizes for and regrets \"any instance of sharing too much personal information with staff members.\" He also said he responded to all safety and employee health concerns as soon as they came to his attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few days after Marisela handed in their resignation, SPD offered them a $2,500 severance agreement. In order to receive the money, Marisela would also have to sign nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses, requiring them to pay $500 for every instance they disparaged SPD or broke the agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Marisela did not sign it, and thus did not receive any severance pay, they said it made them afraid to talk about their experience at SPD for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I didn't have any other resources. I didn't expect them to do that. It did what they wanted it to do. I felt like disappearing was my only option,\" Marisela said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SPD Board President Bernheimer said the nonprofit has \"rarely but occasionally offered severance to departing employees and, like the vast majority of organizations, used agreements that provided for confidentiality and mutual non-disparagement.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, less than a month after Marisela quit, the pandemic hit. Marisela was not only unemployed but even more isolated. By December 2020, they decided to come forward publicly. [pullquote size='medium' align='right' citation='Marisela, a former worker at SPD']'I felt like I physically needed to speak the truth, or my body was going to cave in ... This whole thing has been an act of survival. I didn't feel like I had any other choice.'[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I felt like I physically needed to speak the truth, or my body was going to cave in,\" Marisela said. \"This whole thing has been an act of survival. I didn't feel like I had any other choice.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That post launched a reckoning at SPD that previous, internal demands for change had not. Bernheimer said after the post was published, SPD added a board member with HR experience, and brought in a law firm to conduct an assessment of employee concerns and the nonprofit's culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm found Cunningham was insensitive around issues related to gender identity and ethnicity, according to a portion of the assessment shared with KQED and publicly. The SPD board said he stepped down as executive director in March after the report was complete, though he continued to work for SPD in other roles for months afterward. The SPD board has not released that assessment, citing privacy concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A Boycott and Social Media Campaign\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But seeking accountability through social media has also been complicated and, at times, hostile. Since December, Marisela has been running Twitter and Instagram accounts aimed at keeping the pressure on SPD and and bringing attention to working conditions in the book industry. Then, in March, someone set up a Twitter account to mock them. Marisela said soon after that account was suspended, someone claiming to be a friend of Cunningham sent them an abusive and threatening email, which they shared with KQED, telling Marisela to \"move on.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://www.instagram.com/p/CMxzrjhB6AR/\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of the people who have advocated for change at SPD say they're doing so in spite of backlash from the literary community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"For a lot of people, it's not just a fear of losing their job. It's a fear of losing social access,\" said Conner, who left SPD last year. \"And I will say I've lost a lot of friends. A lot of friends. There's a lot bound up in why it was so hard for anybody to say anything publicly for so long. It's work, it's art, it's this whole community and really important things for people, their livelihood, and what they're trying to create.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the issues at SPD have been shared online, a few presses have been trying to find other ways to distribute their books. But that hasn't been an easy process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't think there's an awareness about how much the publishers have to lose, and the books they represent,\" said KMA Sullivan, founder and publisher at Portland, Oregon-based \u003ca href=\"https://www.yesyesbooks.com\">YesYes Books\u003c/a>, which describes itself online as a publisher of provocative collections of poetry, fiction and experimental art. \"Presses are just trying to survive. Does that mean we shouldn't speak out for justice? Of course not, we should.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/YesYesBooks/status/1393252835421085697\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Game Over Books, a Boston-based publishing company of emerging and marginalized writers, announced it was ending its ties with SPD last year. Founder Josh Savory said they are still searching for a distributor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What SPD does is [get] your books into bookstores, libraries, university bookstores. You can't just go to most stores and say, 'Please carry our books,'\" he said. \"And without distribution, I think that you're doing a disservice to your writers and your authors and their work.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's also not clear what impact the social media callouts have had on the willingness of the SPD board to adopt changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This tension all came to a head in June when members of a recently formed group of anti-capitalist writers and publishers called Poets Union weighed in. The group, which is not an actual union or tied to SPD, decided to boycott SPD. One SPD employee released a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IzIF2s2IZ5EXzkqfYNdLkQKvNbjiexW2rUpWcxmJu98/edit\">statement \u003c/a>anonymously supporting the boycott and saying that she had no faith in the SPD board and felt isolated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email sent to staff, and later \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I57aq8arehBdBjh4AVn2kYw28WKSytmw/view\">shared online\u003c/a>, the interim executive director of SPD Cindy Myers wrote in response: \"Torpedoing your employer on social media is truly not acceptable, in any organization. What is really needed is a statement from staff that conveys confidence that SPD is solving its problems collaboratively and is not a hostile workplace. I can't make that statement for you - and you don't have to make that statement at all, it's really up to you. But I am telling you, that is what is called for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Myers declined interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the email was sent, SPD employees released a \u003ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/SPD-Staff-Response-to-Poetry-Workers-Union-Boycott.html?soid=1103707940910&aid=P6F7nYlvh4o\">statement\u003c/a> that said all but one worker opposed the boycott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are SPD workers writing to express our dismay at the recent calls to action made in our name. At this time, the Poets Union boycott does not align with our wishes or needs as workers. We are a fragile, overworked crew and fear coming forward publicly would expose us to online harassment, which is why we are writing to you anonymously,\" the statement reads. It was signed \"7 of 8 Current SPD Workers.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883940\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 717px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11883940\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/J-Worthen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"717\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/J-Worthen.jpg 717w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/J-Worthen-160x131.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 717px) 100vw, 717px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J. Worthen during a reading. Worthen and other former workers at Small Press Distribution want to see working conditions improve. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of J. Worthen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Still Hoping for a Transformation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>SPD staff members recently completed mediation, a process where employees agree to changes in the workplace with the help of a third party. In an email sent to the small press community, Myers said details of that mediation are confidential. Board President Bernheimer did not comment when asked what the next steps are for improving practices at SPD now that mediation has ended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means many in the literary world and former employees will have to continue to wait and see what SPD will look like over the next few months from the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a month into the pandemic lockdowns, Worthen shared a fundraiser for SPD online. In that post, they asked people wanting to help with expenses related to their cancer treatment to instead donate to SPD. They said they could not imagine a literary world without it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a year since then, Worthen said it’s hurtful that people now claim they're a threat to the nonprofit's future. They said former employees have the right to speak about harm experienced in the literary community, and about improving the situation at SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Worthen and Malone say they still care about the future of SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I would love the closure of, like, 'Cool, close this book. And SPD is going to be OK,\" Malone said. \"Instead of being like, 'Cool, close this book, and everything's on fire.'\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Disclaimer: Holly J. McDede volunteered at Small Press Distribution in 2013.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Many consider Small Press Distribution, or SPD, vital to the nation's ecosystem of independent publications. But last December, an online post by a former employee forced a conversation about how the mission-based nonprofit treats its workers.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1631124880,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":88,"wordCount":4431},"headData":{"title":"How Former Employees at a Berkeley Bastion for Literary Presses Ignited a Reckoning | KQED","description":"Many consider Small Press Distribution, or SPD, vital to the nation's ecosystem of independent publications. But last December, an online post by a former employee forced a conversation about how the mission-based nonprofit treats its workers.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"disqusIdentifier":"11883845 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11883845","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2021/08/10/how-former-employees-at-a-berkeley-bastion-for-literary-presses-ignited-a-reckoning/","disqusTitle":"How Former Employees at a Berkeley Bastion for Literary Presses Ignited a Reckoning","audioUrl":"https://traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/0af137ef-751e-4b19-a055-aaef00d2d578/ffca7e9f-6831-41c5-bcaf-aaef00f5a073/bdeb628a-8348-406a-ad6e-ad9d011fa91c/audio.mp3","path":"/news/11883845/how-former-employees-at-a-berkeley-bastion-for-literary-presses-ignited-a-reckoning","audioDuration":343000,"audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>When J. Worthen was hired as a warehouse assistant at Small Press Distribution in Berkeley in 2014, they hoped to work there for the rest of their career. The mission of Small Press Distribution, or SPD, is to make writing by underrepresented communities more accessible. Worthen loved having a role in helping to make that happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But by 2018, Worthen said it became impossible to ignore the divide between the nonprofit's mission and how they were being treated because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a trip to Tampa, Florida, for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference that year, Worthen was eating dinner with their boss, Brent Cunningham, and Abigail Beckel, the founder of \u003ca href=\"https://rosemetalpress.com/\">Rose Metal Press\u003c/a>, one of SPD's publishers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Out of nowhere, according to Worthen and Beckel, Cunningham said Worthen was asexual, and went on to ask a series of intrusive questions. Worthen said at one point he asked whether they would still be asexual if they weren't so close to their sister.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I really was in escape mode. I didn't know how to address it at the moment without jeopardizing my job,\" Worthen said. \"[Rose Metal Press] is one of SPD's top publishers. He had no problem creating an uncomfortable situation for both of us.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beckel said she thought Cunningham's behavior was \"wildly inappropriate.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few months later, Worthen published an \u003ca href=\"https://www.vidaweb.org/body-of-a-poem-neither-here-nor-there-asexual-and-agender-in-the-literary-world/\">essay\u003c/a> that described the experience. While Worthen did not name anyone in their piece, they still expected to lose their job, or for there to be some sort of reaction from the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Cunningham \"liked\" the essay on Facebook and after that, Worthen said, they never heard from members of the SPD board or leadership about the incident until Cunningham apologized over two years later.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It felt like I didn't exist. It just felt like the experience meant nothing to the people who played a part in it,\" they said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883911\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883911\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-800x600.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-800x600.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-1020x765.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa-160x120.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/08/gQ-pw7hXa.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J. Worthen, who started as a warehouse assistant at Small Press Distribution in 2014, says they loved playing a role in helping to make literature accessible. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of J. Worthen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Cunningham, who left SPD in June, said in a statement that he \"profoundly misread\" the dinner and a number of situations with Worthen. Worthen said Cunningham referred to them as \"my J.\" and commented on their cheap lunches and \"Midwestern work ethic.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I deeply apologize for any and all comments I made that were insensitive, and regret them. I never intended to hurt but now understand the unintended impact of my words. I have worked on and will continue to work on rooting out as much unconscious bias as I can in the hopes of being a better ally to marginalized people going forward,\" Cunningham said in the statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worthen said the issue was not just Cunningham's behavior but the way the SPD board responded when employees came forward and denounced his behavior in posts \u003ca href=\"https://wearespd.medium.com/?p=21ce94bf25e0\">online\u003c/a>. In February 2021, Worthen says, they filed a harassment complaint when a different employee persistently misgendered them and sent them condescending messages. Cunningham was one of two people who determined whether that behavior violated SPD policies, emails shared with KQED show, even though a majority of SPD employees had previously penned an open letter that called for his termination or resignation. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'I really felt like this could kill me, staying in a situation with no end in sight, having to deal with the person who harmed me, while the people who should have been holding him accountable were protecting him.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"J. Worthen, a former employee at SPD","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alan Bernheimer, the president of the SPD board of directors, did not comment on the work dinner or respond to questions related to the complaint about Cunningham's behavior or how the board responded. He also declined interview requests and declined to answer almost all questions sent to him with criticism or allegations about Cunningham or SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SPD did, however, hire a law firm, Oppenheimer Investigations Group, to conduct an independent assessment of the nonprofit earlier this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The OIG assessment concluded that SPD needed a reboot of its management, workplace policies, and relationship between staff and leaders,\" Bernheimer wrote in a statement to KQED. \"The OIG report was completed the first week in March, and we announced [Cunningham’s] departure as [executive director] on March 8.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In response to a series of questions sent to him last month, Bernheimer wrote in an email sent to KQED seemingly by mistake, \"For any response we provide, we should strongly consider aligning with what Brent [Cunningham] is telling her [KQED reporter Holly McDede].\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11884265\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-800x314.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-800x314.png 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-1020x401.png 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response-160x63.png 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/KQED-Response.png 1360w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He did not answer any specific questions after that, writing instead, \"No further comment.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Worthen, who learned they had cancer in 2019, worried the stress of staying at SPD could affect their health. Soon after they filed the complaint, they decided to leave the organization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I really felt like this could kill me, staying in a situation with no end in sight, having to deal with the person who harmed me, while the people who should have been holding him accountable were protecting him,\" they said. \"I needed to get away from that so that I can heal from cancer and have a fighting chance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884059\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11884059\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-800x456.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"456\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-800x456.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-1020x582.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-160x91.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better-1536x876.jpeg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Warehouse-Overview-Better.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Small Press Distribution currently warehouses some 350,000 books. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Sam Lefebvre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>A Reckoning for Literary Spaces\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Since its founding in 1969, Berkeley-based Small Press Distribution has distinguished itself as the place for indie publishers to get experimental, avant-garde works in the hands of booksellers and customers nationwide. The nonprofit has a staff of fewer than a dozen people and works with some 400 presses, and has distributed titles that have won prestigious awards, like Pulitzer in poetry winner \"Olio\" by Tyehimba Jess. On its website, SPD emphasizes this commitment: \"Everything we do is aimed at helping essential but underrepresented literary communities participate fully in the marketplace and in the culture at large.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some former employees said that incidents like what Worthen experienced, and an overall lack of personal or professional boundaries, were part of a broader problem at SPD. They said management seemed to push the idea that employees were more like friends than co-workers. Workers said that contributed to a toxic environment where staff concerns were not taken seriously or addressed through formal mechanisms, and it felt impossible to hold people accountable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernheimer said in a public statement that human resources departments were not commonplace when SPD was founded in 1969, particularly in small nonprofits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"But it's inexcusable that we failed to grow with the times and that SPD employees suffered as a result,\" Bernheimer wrote. \"We believe a holistic HR approach, run by specialized experts, will preclude recurrences, as well as foster a healthy workplace with interactional and procedural justice for all.\" \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'For many years, long before me, SPD was a small group of poets trying to get books out ... We were not HR professionals. We were artists running an arts organization. We were doing our best to learn and to institute HR processes. We, in many ways, did a good job, and failed a lot in our best efforts. I think that's fair to say.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Jeffrey Lependorf, former executive director at SPD","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Nonprofits have a \u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/the-plight-of-the-overworked-nonprofit-employee/497081/\">reputation\u003c/a> for low pay, burnout and high turnover. Some former employees said they expected disorganization or poor treatment at SPD because those issues are common in arts nonprofits, bookstores and other creative industries. Former employees said the SPD board, which included poets and publishers, was absent or out of touch when it came to working conditions at SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cunningham said in a written statement that the working conditions and the culture at SPD were not meaningfully different from or worse than those at any under-resourced nonprofit. He said the primary obstacle to any change was always a lack of resources rather than a lack of will, and that there was also a lack of agreement or articulation among the staff about the real, practical changes they wanted to see.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"For many years, long before me, SPD was a small group of poets trying to get books out,\" said Jeffrey Lependorf, who was the executive director at SPD until 2020. \"We were not HR professionals. We were artists running an arts organization. We were doing our best to learn and to institute HR processes. We, in many ways, did a good job, and failed a lot in our best efforts. I think that's fair to say.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bernheimer said since allegations were first made online in December, the SPD board has invited staff to attend board meetings and created a staff-board liaison process to improve communication.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884055\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11884055 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-800x596.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"596\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-800x596.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-1020x760.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes-160x119.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/Clay-Banes.jpg 1180w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Clay Banes, a former Small Press Distribution employee, also worked at Pegasus Books in Berkeley, where he organized a reading series. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Clay Banes)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>But while some of the longstanding problems at SPD may be common to many organizations, SPD holds a unique position as the only nonprofit literary distributor in the country. Small literary presses rooted in social justice and committed to bringing underrepresented voices to readers have few other distribution options.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There's pretty much no other. Whoever has existed, SPD is the one left standing. Even as we speak, everything is getting consolidated in the commercial distributing world,\" Clay Banes, a former employee at SPD, said. \"So many writers, so many publishers, so many poets, for the most part, none of these people want to get into the fray of this. No one wants to harm SPD, including me.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the pandemic caused workers all over the country to question not only their safety but also how they're valued on the job — including at nonprofits and bookstores. Current and former Black and trans booksellers at Pegasus Books in Berkeley and Oakland created an \u003ca href=\"https://www.instagram.com/p/CEK89VTpFOC/\">anti-racist bookstore initiative\u003c/a> to demand better treatment. Booksellers at \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/moesbooksunion?lang=en\">Moe's Books in Berkeley\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/bscworkers?lang=en\">Bookshop Santa Cruz\u003c/a> voted to form unions this year, a rare move for any independent bookstore.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883930\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883930\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-800x533.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-160x107.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/RS50297_014_Berkeley_SmallPressStory_07192021-qut-1.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rows of books line the second floor at Moe's Books in Berkeley on July 19, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\"I think there still is a perception that somehow these professions are special or have cultural capital,\" said Amy Wilson, a poet, an organizer and a master's student at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies. \"But what workers are saying is you can't eat [or] can't pay your rent with cultural capital.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Toxicity in the Workplace\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Many of the former workers who spoke to KQED said they had tried to fix the culture and structure at SPD internally, but not enough seemed to change. The environment became increasingly hostile in 2019, they said, when employees were told SPD was in the midst of a financial crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"SPD is making available books that don't make a lot of money,\" said Jeffrey Lependorf, then-executive director of SPD. \"And the book industry at that time was facing tough times. And we were a part of it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Employees said it seemed like workers who were vocal about changes they wanted to see at SPD were also under the most scrutiny during SPD's financial challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's like SPD could fall apart at any moment, [so] we have to be hypervigilant and never change how we do anything,\" said E Conner, who worked at SPD during that time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883932\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883932\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-800x672.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"672\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-800x672.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-1020x857.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-160x134.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-1536x1291.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-2048x1721.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-1920x1614.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E Conner worked at Small Press Distribution until late last year. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of E Conner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Former employees said managers began an \"efficiency audit\" to identify redundancies. As part of that effort, staff said they were asked to describe in detail what they did during the day. But Conner said it felt like even when she explained how she spent her workday, the manager didn’t believe her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"As I was explaining what I did, I was told, 'But you don't really do that, right?'\" Conner said. \"And I explained that 'I'm just trying to tell you what I do.' Everybody was terrified we were going to lose our jobs.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another former employee at SPD, Nich Malone, said he was outspoken about some of the issues at SPD, like the lack of clear job descriptions or the need for professional boundaries. But he said his suggestions only seemed to make some of his bosses uncomfortable, and the efficiency audit felt like an attempt to wear him down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It was literally, like, sitting in a room for an hour, not doing work, so you could justify your job,\" Malone said. \"It would sort of break you down so that you work harder so that you'd keep your job.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While these audits were happening, Lependorf lived on the other side of the country — another issue that employees said they found frustrating as they, and their lower-paid co-workers, faced the threat of layoffs. \"He lived and worked in Hudson, New York, while Small Press Distribution is in Berkeley, California,” Conner said. \"The knowledge and the skill to navigate through this very chaotic organization was all on the lower-paid workers to do, and do well.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lependorf said the remote position made sense for years, considering that many valuable ties in the publishing industry are in New York. But he said his distance from the nonprofit seemed less practical as the climate at the workplace became more toxic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"There were issues of misgendering, there were issues of gender bias, there were issues of crossing boundaries, and [it] became more difficult ... it was certainly difficult for me not being present,\" he said. \"I was in a position of being a little helpless to deal with some of that.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said management was working hard to make sure employees could keep their jobs, but he could also understand how the financial issues made staff feel threatened.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We were really, really trying to listen. We were out there trying to pull in pennies to keep everyone employed,\" he said. \"You don't want to scare your staff, but you also don't want to hide things from them. It's a tricky balance.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11884456\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11884456\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-800x472.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"472\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-800x472.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-1020x601.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-160x94.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall-1536x906.jpeg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/SPD-Kitchen-wall.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Poetry covers the walls of the break room at Small Press Distribution in Berkeley. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Sam Lefebvre)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lependorf left SPD last year, and Cunningham said Lependorf's departure was the solution to the financial challenges. (Lependorf said he was planning to leave within a year or two anyway.) Cunningham, who became executive director after Lependorf left, said he could not comment on personnel matters out of concern for privacy. Cunningham said of himself that he treated all employees fairly and equally, and that while in leadership at SPD, he did not witness any other SPD director treating any employee in a way he would call unfair, unequal or retaliatory.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then around the time of the nonprofit's financial issues, staff learned from management about errors related to payroll. SPD leadership said in a statement last year that a total of five employees had been underpaid, and that staff had also been given pay stubs that were not in compliance with the law; they did not show hourly wages or hours worked.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One person was underpaid a total of more than $4,000 throughout most of 2019, documents shared with KQED show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The SPD board of directors, Cunningham and SPD Finance Director Andrew Pai released a statement saying that as soon as the payroll errors came to their attention, leaders apologized to staff, informed all staff of the error and remedied the mistakes — including paying missing wages with interest to those affected. They said they also switched to a different payroll processing company that complies with current regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883934\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"wp-image-11883934 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-800x760.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"760\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-800x760.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-1020x969.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-160x152.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-1536x1460.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-2048x1946.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/E-Conner-Desk-1920x1824.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">E Conner's desk at Small Press Distribution, where she worked until late 2020. She advocated for better working conditions while an employee there. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of E Conner)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Former employee Malone said that these financial issues and mismanagement contributed to the hostile environment at SPD, where employees felt they had to justify their positions, and eventually it became too much. Malone decided to leave last March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I just figured, if I could leave the organization, that means my friend who is also on the chopping block, at least ... they probably won't lose their job,\" he said. \"I couldn't still be part of something that I loved so much, watching it slowly die.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 60% of employees who worked at SPD in September 2019 have since left the nonprofit. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The Conversation Moves Online\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>It took a Medium \u003ca href=\"https://damagedbookworker.medium.com/terrorized-by-spd-612014765e7c\">post\u003c/a> published last December by a former employee to force the conversation open about working conditions at SPD. Hundreds of writers, publishers and community members signed an \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZJKgNqaN_FZ7GWKiciKDFQQZgLZ1JI895b_Z3Apx5Ic/edit\">open letter calling for Cunningham to resign from his leadership position at SPD. \u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We're using a pseudonym — Marisela — to protect the identity of the former employee who wrote the post because of concern that being identified would put their safety or employment opportunities at risk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the post, Marisela described how management continued to ask them to perform intensive physical labor in the warehouse in spite of a reported physical disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>They wrote that Cunningham would regularly \"unload\" to them about his personal life. They said he would approach their desk in the morning and begin complaining about personal issues with his family — emotional labor that Marisela, as well as several other former employees, said made them uncomfortable, particularly from a boss. Marisela described feeling like a \"captive audience\" as he overshared details about his life.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Marisela was also the employee who was underpaid more than $4,000 in 2019, documents shared with KQED show.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883938\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11883938\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-800x600.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/img_d1d3773d8182-1_edit-2-1.jpeg 1331w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A former employee at Small Press Distribution, who asked to be called Marisela, published a piece about working conditions at Small Press Distribution last December. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of Marisela and Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Marisela said over a month before first learning they were underpaid, they had to borrow money from a church to pay rent. They said their mental and physical health continued to decline, and the stress was making it impossible to work there. They felt like they had no choice but to leave.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Cunningham said he apologizes for and regrets \"any instance of sharing too much personal information with staff members.\" He also said he responded to all safety and employee health concerns as soon as they came to his attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A few days after Marisela handed in their resignation, SPD offered them a $2,500 severance agreement. In order to receive the money, Marisela would also have to sign nondisclosure and nondisparagement clauses, requiring them to pay $500 for every instance they disparaged SPD or broke the agreement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While Marisela did not sign it, and thus did not receive any severance pay, they said it made them afraid to talk about their experience at SPD for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I didn't have any other resources. I didn't expect them to do that. It did what they wanted it to do. I felt like disappearing was my only option,\" Marisela said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>SPD Board President Bernheimer said the nonprofit has \"rarely but occasionally offered severance to departing employees and, like the vast majority of organizations, used agreements that provided for confidentiality and mutual non-disparagement.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Then, less than a month after Marisela quit, the pandemic hit. Marisela was not only unemployed but even more isolated. By December 2020, they decided to come forward publicly. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"'I felt like I physically needed to speak the truth, or my body was going to cave in ... This whole thing has been an act of survival. I didn't feel like I had any other choice.'","name":"pullquote","attributes":{"named":{"size":"medium","align":"right","citation":"Marisela, a former worker at SPD","label":""},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I felt like I physically needed to speak the truth, or my body was going to cave in,\" Marisela said. \"This whole thing has been an act of survival. I didn't feel like I had any other choice.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That post launched a reckoning at SPD that previous, internal demands for change had not. Bernheimer said after the post was published, SPD added a board member with HR experience, and brought in a law firm to conduct an assessment of employee concerns and the nonprofit's culture.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The law firm found Cunningham was insensitive around issues related to gender identity and ethnicity, according to a portion of the assessment shared with KQED and publicly. The SPD board said he stepped down as executive director in March after the report was complete, though he continued to work for SPD in other roles for months afterward. The SPD board has not released that assessment, citing privacy concerns.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>A Boycott and Social Media Campaign\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>But seeking accountability through social media has also been complicated and, at times, hostile. Since December, Marisela has been running Twitter and Instagram accounts aimed at keeping the pressure on SPD and and bringing attention to working conditions in the book industry. Then, in March, someone set up a Twitter account to mock them. Marisela said soon after that account was suspended, someone claiming to be a friend of Cunningham sent them an abusive and threatening email, which they shared with KQED, telling Marisela to \"move on.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"instagramLink","attributes":{"named":{"instagramId":"CMxzrjhB6AR"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Many of the people who have advocated for change at SPD say they're doing so in spite of backlash from the literary community.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"For a lot of people, it's not just a fear of losing their job. It's a fear of losing social access,\" said Conner, who left SPD last year. \"And I will say I've lost a lot of friends. A lot of friends. There's a lot bound up in why it was so hard for anybody to say anything publicly for so long. It's work, it's art, it's this whole community and really important things for people, their livelihood, and what they're trying to create.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since the issues at SPD have been shared online, a few presses have been trying to find other ways to distribute their books. But that hasn't been an easy process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I don't think there's an awareness about how much the publishers have to lose, and the books they represent,\" said KMA Sullivan, founder and publisher at Portland, Oregon-based \u003ca href=\"https://www.yesyesbooks.com\">YesYes Books\u003c/a>, which describes itself online as a publisher of provocative collections of poetry, fiction and experimental art. \"Presses are just trying to survive. Does that mean we shouldn't speak out for justice? Of course not, we should.\"\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"singleTwitterStatus","attributes":{"named":{"id":"1393252835421085697"},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>Game Over Books, a Boston-based publishing company of emerging and marginalized writers, announced it was ending its ties with SPD last year. Founder Josh Savory said they are still searching for a distributor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"What SPD does is [get] your books into bookstores, libraries, university bookstores. You can't just go to most stores and say, 'Please carry our books,'\" he said. \"And without distribution, I think that you're doing a disservice to your writers and your authors and their work.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's also not clear what impact the social media callouts have had on the willingness of the SPD board to adopt changes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This tension all came to a head in June when members of a recently formed group of anti-capitalist writers and publishers called Poets Union weighed in. The group, which is not an actual union or tied to SPD, decided to boycott SPD. One SPD employee released a \u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IzIF2s2IZ5EXzkqfYNdLkQKvNbjiexW2rUpWcxmJu98/edit\">statement \u003c/a>anonymously supporting the boycott and saying that she had no faith in the SPD board and felt isolated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email sent to staff, and later \u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1I57aq8arehBdBjh4AVn2kYw28WKSytmw/view\">shared online\u003c/a>, the interim executive director of SPD Cindy Myers wrote in response: \"Torpedoing your employer on social media is truly not acceptable, in any organization. What is really needed is a statement from staff that conveys confidence that SPD is solving its problems collaboratively and is not a hostile workplace. I can't make that statement for you - and you don't have to make that statement at all, it's really up to you. But I am telling you, that is what is called for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Myers declined interview requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After the email was sent, SPD employees released a \u003ca href=\"https://myemail.constantcontact.com/SPD-Staff-Response-to-Poetry-Workers-Union-Boycott.html?soid=1103707940910&aid=P6F7nYlvh4o\">statement\u003c/a> that said all but one worker opposed the boycott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are SPD workers writing to express our dismay at the recent calls to action made in our name. At this time, the Poets Union boycott does not align with our wishes or needs as workers. We are a fragile, overworked crew and fear coming forward publicly would expose us to online harassment, which is why we are writing to you anonymously,\" the statement reads. It was signed \"7 of 8 Current SPD Workers.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11883940\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 717px\">\u003cimg class=\"size-full wp-image-11883940\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/J-Worthen.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"717\" height=\"588\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/J-Worthen.jpg 717w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2031/08/J-Worthen-160x131.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 717px) 100vw, 717px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">J. Worthen during a reading. Worthen and other former workers at Small Press Distribution want to see working conditions improve. \u003ccite>(Photo courtesy of J. Worthen)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Still Hoping for a Transformation\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>SPD staff members recently completed mediation, a process where employees agree to changes in the workplace with the help of a third party. In an email sent to the small press community, Myers said details of that mediation are confidential. Board President Bernheimer did not comment when asked what the next steps are for improving practices at SPD now that mediation has ended.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means many in the literary world and former employees will have to continue to wait and see what SPD will look like over the next few months from the outside.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>About a month into the pandemic lockdowns, Worthen shared a fundraiser for SPD online. In that post, they asked people wanting to help with expenses related to their cancer treatment to instead donate to SPD. They said they could not imagine a literary world without it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than a year since then, Worthen said it’s hurtful that people now claim they're a threat to the nonprofit's future. They said former employees have the right to speak about harm experienced in the literary community, and about improving the situation at SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Worthen and Malone say they still care about the future of SPD.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I would love the closure of, like, 'Cool, close this book. And SPD is going to be OK,\" Malone said. \"Instead of being like, 'Cool, close this book, and everything's on fire.'\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Disclaimer: Holly J. McDede volunteered at Small Press Distribution in 2013.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"floatright"},"numeric":["floatright"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11883845/how-former-employees-at-a-berkeley-bastion-for-literary-presses-ignited-a-reckoning","authors":["11635"],"categories":["news_223","news_8"],"tags":["news_27626","news_21892","news_29766","news_29768","news_29767","news_20600"],"featImg":"news_11883846","label":"news"},"news_11708777":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11708777","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11708777","score":null,"sort":[1543622192000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"replacement-marriott-workers-say-they-werent-paid-file-wage-theft-claims","title":"Replacement Marriott Workers Say They Weren’t Paid, File Wage Theft Claims","publishDate":1543622192,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{"term":72,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Three housekeepers contracted to replace San Francisco Marriott workers who've been on strike for close to two months have told state regulators the company that hired them has neglected to pay them thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The replacement workers have filed claims with the California Labor Commissioner's office against the Hayward based firm Environmental Service Partners (ESP), alleging that in October the company withheld close to $13,000 in wages and overtime, among other benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Replacement workers are especially vulnerable to workplace abuses,\" said Katherine Fiester, a staff attorney at the San Francisco-based Legal Aid at Work, who is not representing the employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The janitorial industry is rampant with wage theft,\" Fiester added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 4, more than 2,000 workers represented by Unite Here Local 2 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11698130/san-francisco-marriott-hotel-strike-far-from-resolution\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">walked off the job\u003c/a> at seven Marriott hotels in San Francisco, calling for better wages and job protections, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several similar Unite Here strikes also took place in San Jose, Oakland and several other cities around the country. While many local unions have ended their strikes, Local 2 in San Francisco has not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702796/marriott-ceo-slams-hotel-workers-union-refuses-to-attend-s-f-hearing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marriott says\u003c/a> the workers are well-compensated and has emphasized that its hotels are still operating well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To replace workers at its San Francisco hotels, Marriott contracted with ESP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early November, several of those substitute workers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Temporary-workers-at-striking-SF-Marriott-hotel-13352971.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/a> they were not being paid for several days' worth of work. One of them later \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Marriott-hotel-temp-says-she-was-fired-after-13359018.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the newspaper she was fired\u003c/a> after speaking out about the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, three housekeepers have filed wage theft claims with the commissioner's office. Those claims, obtained by KQED, allege ESP did not pay workers the $17 per hour wages they were owed on multiple occasions, neglected to pay overtime and in at least one case, failed to compensate a worker for money he was owed after he quit.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11703249/striking-hotel-workers-vent-during-special-board-meeting-at-san-francisco-city-hall\">Striking Hotel Workers Detail Hardships During Special Board Meeting at S.F. City Hall\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11703249/striking-hotel-workers-vent-during-special-board-meeting-at-san-francisco-city-hall\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/mariott-strike-city-hall-0504-2-1038x576.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Efforts to reach the three workers were unsuccessful. ESP has not responded to several requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Marriott representative emphasized the hotel chain's contractors abide by the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Marriott's vendor contracts, including its contract with Environmental Services Partners, provide that vendors must comply with federal and state employment laws,\" said company spokesman Hunter Hardinge in an emailed statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wage theft cases are part of a pattern, according to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are disappointed but unsurprised to learn of yet another alleged instance of labor violations at a Marriott hotel under strike,\" said Unite Here press secretary Rachel Gumpert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Marriott is failing to behave as the industry leader it claims to be, and after separate allegations in multiple struck hotels, it's clear that Marriott needs to audit its contractors and ensure that temporary workers are not being exploited,\" Gumpert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wage theft claims are set to be the subject of a settlement conference involving the workers, ESP and the state labor commissioner's office on Dec. 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The goal is to have both parties try to reach an agreement to resolve the wage claim,\" said Paola Laverde, a spokeswoman for the Department of Industrial Relations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While ESP is named in the claims, Marriott could also be held liable for wage violations, according to Fiester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If Marriott is benefiting from the fact that Environmental Service Partners are providing these services, there's a sense that Marriott has an obligation to ensure that these workers are being paid correctly,\" Fiester said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NOTE: KQED has decided not to identify the workers who've filed wage theft claims in this story because of previous reports indicating they could be at risk of retaliation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"'Replacement workers are especially vulnerable to workplace abuses,' said Katherine Fiester of Legal Aid at Work.\r\n","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1543622192,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":23,"wordCount":613},"headData":{"title":"Replacement Marriott Workers Say They Weren’t Paid, File Wage Theft Claims | KQED","description":"'Replacement workers are especially vulnerable to workplace abuses,' said Katherine Fiester of Legal Aid at Work.\r\n","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"disqusIdentifier":"11708777 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11708777","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2018/11/30/replacement-marriott-workers-say-they-werent-paid-file-wage-theft-claims/","disqusTitle":"Replacement Marriott Workers Say They Weren’t Paid, File Wage Theft Claims","path":"/news/11708777/replacement-marriott-workers-say-they-werent-paid-file-wage-theft-claims","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Three housekeepers contracted to replace San Francisco Marriott workers who've been on strike for close to two months have told state regulators the company that hired them has neglected to pay them thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The replacement workers have filed claims with the California Labor Commissioner's office against the Hayward based firm Environmental Service Partners (ESP), alleging that in October the company withheld close to $13,000 in wages and overtime, among other benefits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Replacement workers are especially vulnerable to workplace abuses,\" said Katherine Fiester, a staff attorney at the San Francisco-based Legal Aid at Work, who is not representing the employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The janitorial industry is rampant with wage theft,\" Fiester added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Oct. 4, more than 2,000 workers represented by Unite Here Local 2 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11698130/san-francisco-marriott-hotel-strike-far-from-resolution\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">walked off the job\u003c/a> at seven Marriott hotels in San Francisco, calling for better wages and job protections, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several similar Unite Here strikes also took place in San Jose, Oakland and several other cities around the country. While many local unions have ended their strikes, Local 2 in San Francisco has not.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11702796/marriott-ceo-slams-hotel-workers-union-refuses-to-attend-s-f-hearing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Marriott says\u003c/a> the workers are well-compensated and has emphasized that its hotels are still operating well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To replace workers at its San Francisco hotels, Marriott contracted with ESP.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In early November, several of those substitute workers \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Temporary-workers-at-striking-SF-Marriott-hotel-13352971.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the San Francisco Chronicle\u003c/a> they were not being paid for several days' worth of work. One of them later \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Marriott-hotel-temp-says-she-was-fired-after-13359018.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told the newspaper she was fired\u003c/a> after speaking out about the issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since then, three housekeepers have filed wage theft claims with the commissioner's office. Those claims, obtained by KQED, allege ESP did not pay workers the $17 per hour wages they were owed on multiple occasions, neglected to pay overtime and in at least one case, failed to compensate a worker for money he was owed after he quit.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"alignright\">\n\u003ch3>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11703249/striking-hotel-workers-vent-during-special-board-meeting-at-san-francisco-city-hall\">Striking Hotel Workers Detail Hardships During Special Board Meeting at S.F. City Hall\u003c/a>\u003c/h3>\n\u003cfigure>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11703249/striking-hotel-workers-vent-during-special-board-meeting-at-san-francisco-city-hall\">\u003cimg src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2018/11/mariott-strike-city-hall-0504-2-1038x576.jpg\" alt=\"\">\u003c/a>\u003c/figure>\n\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Efforts to reach the three workers were unsuccessful. ESP has not responded to several requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Marriott representative emphasized the hotel chain's contractors abide by the law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Marriott's vendor contracts, including its contract with Environmental Services Partners, provide that vendors must comply with federal and state employment laws,\" said company spokesman Hunter Hardinge in an emailed statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wage theft cases are part of a pattern, according to the union.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We are disappointed but unsurprised to learn of yet another alleged instance of labor violations at a Marriott hotel under strike,\" said Unite Here press secretary Rachel Gumpert.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Marriott is failing to behave as the industry leader it claims to be, and after separate allegations in multiple struck hotels, it's clear that Marriott needs to audit its contractors and ensure that temporary workers are not being exploited,\" Gumpert said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The wage theft claims are set to be the subject of a settlement conference involving the workers, ESP and the state labor commissioner's office on Dec. 11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The goal is to have both parties try to reach an agreement to resolve the wage claim,\" said Paola Laverde, a spokeswoman for the Department of Industrial Relations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While ESP is named in the claims, Marriott could also be held liable for wage violations, according to Fiester.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"If Marriott is benefiting from the fact that Environmental Service Partners are providing these services, there's a sense that Marriott has an obligation to ensure that these workers are being paid correctly,\" Fiester said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>NOTE: KQED has decided not to identify the workers who've filed wage theft claims in this story because of previous reports indicating they could be at risk of retaliation.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11708777/replacement-marriott-workers-say-they-werent-paid-file-wage-theft-claims","authors":["258"],"programs":["news_72"],"categories":["news_1758","news_6188","news_8"],"tags":["news_19904","news_23738","news_2759","news_18208","news_20600"],"featImg":"news_11709374","label":"news_72"},"news_11688338":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11688338","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11688338","score":null,"sort":[1534981342000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"details-of-uber-harassment-settlement-released","title":"Details of Uber Harassment Settlement Released","publishDate":1534981342,"format":"standard","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{},"content":"\u003cp>Five months after Uber reached a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit filed by women and people of color who worked there as engineers, new details are emerging about the terms of the deal. The plaintiffs, both current and former employees, say they were subjected to harassment and discrimination at Uber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's the latest development for a company that has come under fire for its workplace culture in recent years. Uber has seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/06/531806891/uber-fires-20-employees-after-sexual-harassment-claim-investigation\">the firing of at least 20 employees\u003c/a> over sexual harassment allegations and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/21/533754816/uber-founder-resigns-under-pressure-as-ceo-published-report-says\">departure of its CEO\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The details of the $10 million settlement have not yet received final approval from a federal judge — a session scheduled for Nov. 6. The deal was announced in March and granted preliminary approval by a judge in April, according to a court filing from the settlement administrator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty-six people are set to receive an average payout of nearly $34,000 because they filed specific claims of \"incidents of discrimination, harassment, and/or hostile work environment and connecting their experiences to their race, national origin or gender,\" court documents state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amount will be determined using a scoring process, which takes into account the nature of the reported harassment, whom the offender is, whether there was a witness or other documentation and the impact of the harassment on the victim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A larger group of 483 people will be paid an average of nearly $11,000 because of other discrimination claims, according to the documents. The original lawsuit was filed by two Latina engineers, Roxana del Toro Lopez and Ana Medina, who say they were systematically discriminated against because of their gender and ethnic background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Court filings say 487 class members were contacted about participating in the case. Nobody objected, and two opted out. The terms of the deal were reported Tuesday \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-21/uber-harassment-settlement-56-workers-to-split-1-9-million\">by Bloomberg\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We agree with the plaintiff's motion which states that 'the class has responded extremely favorably to the settlement' with amounts that are 'fair, reasonable, and adequate,' \" Uber said in a statement to NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber has stressed that it is working to change. The company says it is taking actions on the issues highlighted by this lawsuit, including putting in place a new salary and equity structure and changing the performance review process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Moving forward, it's time to move in a new direction,\" CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMZyw5lPKgE\">TV commercial\u003c/a>. \"This begins with new leadership and a new culture. ... One of our core values as a company is to always to the right thing. And if there are times when we fall short, we commit to being open, taking responsibility for the problem and fixing it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the company conducted an investigation into more than 200 complaints of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/06/531806891/uber-fires-20-employees-after-sexual-harassment-claim-investigation\">NPR's Yuki Noguchi reported\u003c/a>. The 20 employees it fired included senior executives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That investigation received attention, Noguchi said, \"in part because Silicon Valley already has a reputation for attracting and catering to male tech talent, but not to women. So, in a way, Uber is a test case for how serious the tech industry is about fixing its gender-diversity problems.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Months before the investigation concluded, a former Uber engineer named Susan Fowler \u003ca href=\"https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber\">published a blog post\u003c/a> saying her new manager had propositioned her for sex the day she joined his team. When she went to report the situation to human resources, she says she was told that \"they wouldn't feel comfortable giving him anything other than a warning and a stern talking-to.\" \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Details+Of+Uber+Harassment+Settlement+Released&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Dozens of women and minorities who said they were harassed while working as engineers at Uber filed a class-action lawsuit. Hundreds of people also sued for discrimination claims.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1534981342,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":15,"wordCount":603},"headData":{"title":"Details of Uber Harassment Settlement Released | KQED","description":"Dozens of women and minorities who said they were harassed while working as engineers at Uber filed a class-action lawsuit. Hundreds of people also sued for discrimination claims.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"disqusIdentifier":"11688338 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11688338","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2018/08/22/details-of-uber-harassment-settlement-released/","disqusTitle":"Details of Uber Harassment Settlement Released","source":"NPR","sourceUrl":"https://www.npr.org/","nprImageCredit":"Eric Risberg","nprByline":"Merrit Kennedy","nprImageAgency":"AP","nprStoryId":"640900988","nprApiLink":"http://api.npr.org/query?id=640900988&apiKey=MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004","nprHtmlLink":"https://www.npr.org/2018/08/22/640900988/dozens-sued-uber-for-harassment-heres-what-they-re-set-to-receive?ft=nprml&f=640900988","nprRetrievedStory":"1","nprPubDate":"Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:34:00 -0400","nprStoryDate":"Wed, 22 Aug 2018 14:52:00 -0400","nprLastModifiedDate":"Wed, 22 Aug 2018 15:34:48 -0400","path":"/news/11688338/details-of-uber-harassment-settlement-released","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Five months after Uber reached a settlement agreement in a class-action lawsuit filed by women and people of color who worked there as engineers, new details are emerging about the terms of the deal. The plaintiffs, both current and former employees, say they were subjected to harassment and discrimination at Uber.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It's the latest development for a company that has come under fire for its workplace culture in recent years. Uber has seen \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/06/531806891/uber-fires-20-employees-after-sexual-harassment-claim-investigation\">the firing of at least 20 employees\u003c/a> over sexual harassment allegations and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/21/533754816/uber-founder-resigns-under-pressure-as-ceo-published-report-says\">departure of its CEO\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The details of the $10 million settlement have not yet received final approval from a federal judge — a session scheduled for Nov. 6. The deal was announced in March and granted preliminary approval by a judge in April, according to a court filing from the settlement administrator.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Fifty-six people are set to receive an average payout of nearly $34,000 because they filed specific claims of \"incidents of discrimination, harassment, and/or hostile work environment and connecting their experiences to their race, national origin or gender,\" court documents state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amount will be determined using a scoring process, which takes into account the nature of the reported harassment, whom the offender is, whether there was a witness or other documentation and the impact of the harassment on the victim.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A larger group of 483 people will be paid an average of nearly $11,000 because of other discrimination claims, according to the documents. The original lawsuit was filed by two Latina engineers, Roxana del Toro Lopez and Ana Medina, who say they were systematically discriminated against because of their gender and ethnic background.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Court filings say 487 class members were contacted about participating in the case. Nobody objected, and two opted out. The terms of the deal were reported Tuesday \u003ca href=\"https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-21/uber-harassment-settlement-56-workers-to-split-1-9-million\">by Bloomberg\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We agree with the plaintiff's motion which states that 'the class has responded extremely favorably to the settlement' with amounts that are 'fair, reasonable, and adequate,' \" Uber said in a statement to NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Uber has stressed that it is working to change. The company says it is taking actions on the issues highlighted by this lawsuit, including putting in place a new salary and equity structure and changing the performance review process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Moving forward, it's time to move in a new direction,\" CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in a recent \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMZyw5lPKgE\">TV commercial\u003c/a>. \"This begins with new leadership and a new culture. ... One of our core values as a company is to always to the right thing. And if there are times when we fall short, we commit to being open, taking responsibility for the problem and fixing it.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, the company conducted an investigation into more than 200 complaints of sexual harassment and workplace misconduct, as \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/06/531806891/uber-fires-20-employees-after-sexual-harassment-claim-investigation\">NPR's Yuki Noguchi reported\u003c/a>. The 20 employees it fired included senior executives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That investigation received attention, Noguchi said, \"in part because Silicon Valley already has a reputation for attracting and catering to male tech talent, but not to women. So, in a way, Uber is a test case for how serious the tech industry is about fixing its gender-diversity problems.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Months before the investigation concluded, a former Uber engineer named Susan Fowler \u003ca href=\"https://www.susanjfowler.com/blog/2017/2/19/reflecting-on-one-very-strange-year-at-uber\">published a blog post\u003c/a> saying her new manager had propositioned her for sex the day she joined his team. When she went to report the situation to human resources, she says she was told that \"they wouldn't feel comfortable giving him anything other than a warning and a stern talking-to.\" \u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.\u003cimg src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Details+Of+Uber+Harassment+Settlement+Released&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11688338/details-of-uber-harassment-settlement-released","authors":["byline_news_11688338"],"programs":["news_72"],"categories":["news_1758","news_6188","news_8","news_1397"],"tags":["news_20228","news_21892","news_20602","news_4523","news_20600"],"affiliates":["news_253"],"featImg":"news_11688339","label":"source_news_11688338"},"news_11330334":{"type":"posts","id":"news_11330334","meta":{"index":"posts_1591205157","site":"news","id":"11330334","score":null,"sort":[1488494882000]},"guestAuthors":[],"slug":"cant-get-any-work-done-new-survey-reveals-politics-is-killing-productivity","title":"Can’t Get Any Work Done? New Survey Reveals Politics Is Killing Productivity","publishDate":1488494882,"format":"image","headTitle":"The California Report | KQED News","labelTerm":{"term":72,"site":"news"},"content":"\u003cp>Only one time before has CEO Andy Ruben seen his co-workers so distracted by the news, and that was a very different situation: 9/11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruben is CEO of Yerdle, a San Francisco company that helps retailers resell used products. Since the election of Donald Trump and subsequent political turmoil, Ruben said it has been hard to keep his workers focused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their general feeling about the world right now is absolutely affecting their ability to show up and be productive at work,” Ruben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[soundcloud url=\"https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310380342\" params=\"color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false\" width=\"100%\" height=\"166\" iframe=\"true\" /]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How much of an impact are we talking about here? Well, that’s a tough thing for businesses to measure. Kris Duggan wanted to get a concrete answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'This is like a whole new world of distraction.' \u003ccite>Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Duggan is CEO of BetterWorks, which develops software to manage employee performance. Since the election, even his own employees have been unfocused. “This is like a whole new world of distraction,” Duggan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of recharging on weekends, like good worker bees, employees are out protesting. At work they are posting on social media and debating with colleagues. To try to quantify this distraction, Duggan commissioned the consultancy firm Wakefield Research to do a \u003ca href=\"https://blog.betterworks.com/feeling-distracted-politics-29-employees-less-productive-u-s-election/\" target=\"_blank\">national survey of 500 full-time employees\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The results were shocking,” Duggan said. “We found that 87 percent of employees are reading political social media posts during the workday.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey found that workers on average are spending two hours reading or talking about political news at work. For some employees it’s three or four hours a day. And it’s not just liberals in the Bay Area. People from across the political spectrum and across the country have become news junkies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted by Nathan Richter. He said interest in political news normally peaks around the election season, but he has never seen anything like this. “This is a whole new mountain rising out of the ocean and kind of towering over the landscape,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s most surprising, Richter said, is how current events have changed corporate culture. People are now talking politics at work, and not just with co-workers. According to the survey, nearly a third of respondents have talked to a client or customer about politics. More than a third have talked to a boss or a manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s insanity,” Richter said. \"Most career coaches, I think, would tell you to change the topic.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even employees who are not posting or talking about politics on the job are still distracted by it. Take Amanda Delzell, an employee at BetterWorks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delzell said she had never made a political post on social media before the election. She didn’t want to be “that person,” the one who is always opining on social media. But all of that changed Nov. 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delzell has friends and family on both sides of the political divide. She could not believe what some of them were posting on social media after the election. She could restrain herself no longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delzell began commenting, arguing and crafting elaborate responses in her head. It was exhausting and damaging to her mental well-being. Literally. It started bringing back some of the anxiety she had overcome years ago with therapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the height of all this I was experiencing anxiety attack symptoms again,” Delzell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she's not the only one. According to \u003ca href=\"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/post-election-stress-disorder-sweeps-nation/\" target=\"_blank\">PBS and Kaiser Health News\u003c/a>, many people have been suffering anxiety since the election.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'I'll typically be awake at 3 or 4 in the morning catching up on these articles.' \u003ccite>Christine Nguyen Vaeth, BetterWorks employee\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Her co-worker, Christine Nguyen Vaeth, is losing sleep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She stays up reading all the news she missed at work. “I'll typically be awake at 3 or 4 in the morning catching up on these articles,’ Nguyen Vaeth said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, a good night’s sleep will make her less groggy at work. But Nguyen Vaeth said it’s our responsibility as citizens to be informed -- especially now, when there is so much at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a boss you can’t stop people from reacting to what's happening in the world, said Yerdle CEO Andy Ruben.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clamping down and trying to deny people the way that they’re feeling outside of work would be counterproductive,” Ruben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he wants to keep his staff efficient. But he said it’s important to remember that people spend a lot of their time at work, and they need a place to discuss what’s on their minds. And right now, there is a lot on their minds.\u003c/p>\n\n","blocks":[],"excerpt":"Current political events have turned American workers into news junkies. A new survey finds a huge percentage of people are spending hours on the job reading, posting and talking about politics.","status":"publish","parent":0,"modified":1488494882,"stats":{"hasAudio":false,"hasVideo":false,"hasChartOrMap":false,"iframeSrcs":[],"hasGoogleForm":false,"hasGallery":false,"hasHearkenModule":false,"hasPolis":false,"paragraphCount":26,"wordCount":836},"headData":{"title":"Can’t Get Any Work Done? New Survey Reveals Politics Is Killing Productivity | KQED","description":"Current political events have turned American workers into news junkies. A new survey finds a huge percentage of people are spending hours on the job reading, posting and talking about politics.","ogTitle":"","ogDescription":"","ogImgId":"","twTitle":"","twDescription":"","twImgId":""},"disqusIdentifier":"11330334 https://ww2.kqed.org/news/?p=11330334","disqusUrl":"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/03/02/cant-get-any-work-done-new-survey-reveals-politics-is-killing-productivity/","disqusTitle":"Can’t Get Any Work Done? New Survey Reveals Politics Is Killing Productivity","path":"/news/11330334/cant-get-any-work-done-new-survey-reveals-politics-is-killing-productivity","audioTrackLength":null,"parsedContent":[{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Only one time before has CEO Andy Ruben seen his co-workers so distracted by the news, and that was a very different situation: 9/11.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ruben is CEO of Yerdle, a San Francisco company that helps retailers resell used products. Since the election of Donald Trump and subsequent political turmoil, Ruben said it has been hard to keep his workers focused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their general feeling about the world right now is absolutely affecting their ability to show up and be productive at work,” Ruben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cdiv class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__shortcodes__shortcodeWrapper'>\n \u003ciframe width='100%' height='166'\n scrolling='no' frameborder='no'\n src='https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310380342&visual=true&color=ff5500&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false'\n title='https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/310380342'>\n \u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/div>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How much of an impact are we talking about here? Well, that’s a tough thing for businesses to measure. Kris Duggan wanted to get a concrete answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignright\">'This is like a whole new world of distraction.' \u003ccite>Kris Duggan, CEO of BetterWorks\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Duggan is CEO of BetterWorks, which develops software to manage employee performance. Since the election, even his own employees have been unfocused. “This is like a whole new world of distraction,” Duggan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}},{"type":"component","content":"","name":"ad","attributes":{"named":{"label":"fullwidth"},"numeric":["fullwidth"]}},{"type":"contentString","content":"\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead of recharging on weekends, like good worker bees, employees are out protesting. At work they are posting on social media and debating with colleagues. To try to quantify this distraction, Duggan commissioned the consultancy firm Wakefield Research to do a \u003ca href=\"https://blog.betterworks.com/feeling-distracted-politics-29-employees-less-productive-u-s-election/\" target=\"_blank\">national survey of 500 full-time employees\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The results were shocking,” Duggan said. “We found that 87 percent of employees are reading political social media posts during the workday.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey found that workers on average are spending two hours reading or talking about political news at work. For some employees it’s three or four hours a day. And it’s not just liberals in the Bay Area. People from across the political spectrum and across the country have become news junkies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The survey was conducted by Nathan Richter. He said interest in political news normally peaks around the election season, but he has never seen anything like this. “This is a whole new mountain rising out of the ocean and kind of towering over the landscape,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What’s most surprising, Richter said, is how current events have changed corporate culture. People are now talking politics at work, and not just with co-workers. According to the survey, nearly a third of respondents have talked to a client or customer about politics. More than a third have talked to a boss or a manager.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s insanity,” Richter said. \"Most career coaches, I think, would tell you to change the topic.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even employees who are not posting or talking about politics on the job are still distracted by it. Take Amanda Delzell, an employee at BetterWorks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delzell said she had never made a political post on social media before the election. She didn’t want to be “that person,” the one who is always opining on social media. But all of that changed Nov. 8.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delzell has friends and family on both sides of the political divide. She could not believe what some of them were posting on social media after the election. She could restrain herself no longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Delzell began commenting, arguing and crafting elaborate responses in her head. It was exhausting and damaging to her mental well-being. Literally. It started bringing back some of the anxiety she had overcome years ago with therapy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During the height of all this I was experiencing anxiety attack symptoms again,” Delzell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And she's not the only one. According to \u003ca href=\"http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/post-election-stress-disorder-sweeps-nation/\" target=\"_blank\">PBS and Kaiser Health News\u003c/a>, many people have been suffering anxiety since the election.\u003c/p>\n\u003caside class=\"pullquote alignleft\">'I'll typically be awake at 3 or 4 in the morning catching up on these articles.' \u003ccite>Christine Nguyen Vaeth, BetterWorks employee\u003c/cite>\u003c/aside>\n\u003cp>Her co-worker, Christine Nguyen Vaeth, is losing sleep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>She stays up reading all the news she missed at work. “I'll typically be awake at 3 or 4 in the morning catching up on these articles,’ Nguyen Vaeth said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sure, a good night’s sleep will make her less groggy at work. But Nguyen Vaeth said it’s our responsibility as citizens to be informed -- especially now, when there is so much at stake.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a boss you can’t stop people from reacting to what's happening in the world, said Yerdle CEO Andy Ruben.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Clamping down and trying to deny people the way that they’re feeling outside of work would be counterproductive,” Ruben said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He said he wants to keep his staff efficient. But he said it’s important to remember that people spend a lot of their time at work, and they need a place to discuss what’s on their minds. And right now, there is a lot on their minds.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>","attributes":{"named":{},"numeric":[]}}],"link":"/news/11330334/cant-get-any-work-done-new-survey-reveals-politics-is-killing-productivity","authors":["253"],"programs":["news_6944","news_72"],"categories":["news_8","news_13"],"tags":["news_1323","news_20600"],"featImg":"news_11341334","label":"news_72"}},"programsReducer":{"possible":{"id":"possible","title":"Possible","info":"Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? 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You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>","imageSrc":"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg","imageAlt":"KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn","officialWebsiteLink":"/mindshift/","meta":{"site":"news","source":"kqed","order":"2"},"link":"/podcasts/mindshift","subscribe":{"apple":"https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mindshift-podcast/id1078765985","google":"https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5","npr":"https://www.npr.org/podcasts/464615685/mind-shift-podcast","stitcher":"https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/kqed/stories-teachers-share","spotify":"https://open.spotify.com/show/0MxSpNYZKNprFLCl7eEtyx"}},"morning-edition":{"id":"morning-edition","title":"Morning Edition","info":"\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. 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