‘State workers, if you see Florida bungling COVID response, say something’ | Opinion

Employees at the Florida Department of Health wrote a bold and harrowing public letter to Gov. DeSantis last week.

“We are living in fear and feel our lives and our family’s lives don’t matter,” the letter said, “but too afraid to speak up for the fear of being fired.”

I know the fear they’re talking about. I lived it.

I may even be a large part of the reason those employees fear speaking out.

My public firing in May sent a message to DOH employees that questioning the direction of the governor would lead to public shame, embarrassment and, yes, termination.

I spoke up about the fears I had — the fear of what would happen as science and data were dismissed as political capital and opportunism were given priority and was fired after asking how to file a whistleblower complaint about it, among other grievances.

My firing also sent another message, though. A stronger and more impactful message that I see resonating with the dozens of employees who have now spoken anonymously to various media outlets, the public statements of former employees now plastered across the internet and even in the anonymous letter sent last week: If you don’t speak out and warn the public, who will?

The one thing I want the writers of that letter and all state employees to know is this: You are not alone.

More than a dozen DOH employees across the state have reached out to me to let me know what’s happening on the inside.

And the alarms aren’t confined to DOH — staffers at the Department of Corrections, the Agency for Healthcare Administration and the Department of Emergency Management have all told me stories about the gross mismanagement of Florida’s coronavirus response since my departure in May.

You are not alone. You have power in numbers and in truth.

You are an army inside the Department of Health.

And you have the greatest asset and weapon that any person could have: information.

My advice is simple:

- Document everything.

- Get everything in writing.

- Make sure you communicate your concerns clearly, frequently and always via email.

- Make a timeline of the events you think were unethical while it’s fresh in your mind. Be sure to document who was where and when, who might have heard what, contact information for parties involved. Write as close to an exact record of what happened as possible.

- Keep copies of those communications somewhere not on your work computer. Don’t expect DOH to fork them over if things go south -- I still have not received copies of emails requested more than two months ago, despite the state’s Sunshine Laws.

- Protect yourselves and your families.

- Remember, a job isn’t worth your life. It isn’t worth your spouse’s life, your children’s lives, your parent’s lives.

I was told that a DOH employee lost a loved one to COVID-19 when the virus spread throughout DOH without any warning to its employees or enforcement of its own professed protective measures.

Schools remain on schedule to reopen next month with no additional funding for smaller classrooms, distance learning programs or supplies to keep the teachers and children safe from this virus.

This is life and death. And it’s bigger than just you. This crisis will set the course of our nation for decades to come.

I have faith in you. Your friends, family and the public have faith in you.

You are not alone.

Rebekah Jones is the former Florida Department of Health Geographic Information Science Manager. She is the founder of Florida COVID Action.