By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Osceola County Clerk of Court Malcom Thompson is the subject of employee grievances after three members of the office’s Human Resources Department allege he is retaliating against them for testifying against him at his assault and battery trials in April.

Thompson, who declined comment through Clerk’s Office spokesman Rudolfo Celis, personally responded via email to one complaint, filed by Melissa Benoit, a Human Resources generalist, alleging she wrote the complaint on her office computer during company time.

“To answer your question about placing a letter in your folder the answer is ‘Absolutely Not!! I will NOT (sic) let this Clerk’s office to be set up for a furious lawsuit by you,” he wrote. “And, yes you did testify in front of a jury of your peers and not one of them believed you. If there is any retaliation it is on me.”

“You have made it a hostile work environment for me. This is your second threat of a retaliation suit in the past four weeks.”

Benoit said she wrote the grievance June 20 at home on her own time, the night she found out Thompson denied her request to attend  a human resources conference he had approved in June 2011 and had already paid for out of last year’s budget.

Thompson said Benoit could no longer attend the non-refundable conference due to a 7 percent cut in the Clerk’s Office budget for this year.

“I believe your motivation to retaliate against me will result in a harmful adverse action,” Benoit said in a letter to Thompson about her grievance, which she never filed due to Thompson allowing her to attend the conference. “Furthermore, I am constantly worried what retaliatory behavior you will do next, which has created a stressful and unprofessional working environment that interferes with my job performance, particularly in any matters that require contact with you.”

Human Resources employee Lisa Cubero also filed a grievance against Thompson for alleged retaliation in which Thompson pressured her and her co-workers at a meeting in May about putting the trials behind them and whether they liked their jobs. Cubero became upset during the meeting.

“You women react differently than men. We men deal with our problems and that’s the end of it,” Cubero quoted Thompson as saying during the meeting. “Maybe I need a lesson on women.”

Cubero stated Thompson’s actions have made her fear for her job.

“Sir, you have created such a hostile work environment for everyone that was involved in the court case, each and every one of us have been on eggshells waiting for, what my belief is, our termination,” she wrote.

Chief Deputy Clerk Kimberley Hennecy contacted the women to assure them she and Thompson had reviewed their grievances and wanted the women to find their working experiences “congenial and productive.”

Benoit and Cubero testified for the prosecution under subpoena in the battery trial in which Thompson was accused of pushing his administrative aide – he was found not guilty by a jury – and the assault trial in which Thompson was accused of threatening and pointing his finger in Human Resources Director Kimberlee Zander’s face. Orange Osceola Chief Judge Belvin Perry dropped the charge due to insufficient evidence.

Gov. Rick Scott suspended Thompson from his position pending the outcome of his trials. He was reinstated in May.

Zander, who also filed complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Florida Commission on Ethics, filed an employee grievance stating she felt Thompson was retaliating against her for her criminal filing as well as the other complaints. Zander alleged Thompson failed to invite her to director meetings where information pertinent to the Human Resources Department was discussed including the hiring of a new finance director, that he eliminated duties such as monthly training from the department’s responsibilities and was in discussions with County Manager Don Fisher to move Human Resources duties to the county, which would eliminate the department at the Clerk’s Office.

“This retaliation by you, Mr. Thompson, is an adverse employment action and has a tangible effect on my employment, my position here at the Clerk’s office, and my career,” Zander wrote. “As a matter of fact, since your return from suspension, you have not consulted with human resources on any issues including the hiring of the new finance director which clearly HR should have been involved in as we always have been involved in the hiring process.”

Hennecy, who served as acting clerk during Thompson’s suspension, said in an email to Zander that no directors were included in the meeting with the new finance director, which was only conducted to “re-acquaint ourselves with the applicant.”

Hennecy also addressed Zander’s concerns about her attendance at the directors meetings and training.

“The office acted rapidly to address the concerns expressed in the correspondence from Human Resources,” Celis said. “The administration certainly wants this part of our staff to feel productive, so efforts have been made to ensure their ease to every reasonable extent possible.”

Thompson is running for re-election.