Jindal Fires State Employee Day After She Criticized Him

Friday, October 9, 2009

Louisiana Democratic Party Chairman Chris Whittington has called for an investigation into the case of a state worker who was fired the day after she publicly criticized Gov. Bobby Jindal and state privatization efforts during a forum held by the Commission for Streamlining Government.

Melody Teague, a state Department of Social Services contract grants reviewer, was told she was fired because of the handling of the disaster food stamps program four years ago following Hurricane Katrina, the Advocate reported today.

"For all of his talk about ethics reform, how ethical is it to fire a state employee for expressing her opinion publicly at a forum?" said Chris Whittington, chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. "Bobby Jindal's history of threatening critics with their jobs is shameful. I hope that her firing by Jindal is investigated properly."

According to The Advocate, Commission for Streamlining Government member Leonal Hardman said Teague was "unfairly targeted because she spoke out publicly at the streamlining forum." He said that he is concerned that this is a sign of Jindal's efforts to silence state workers.

But this is not the first time Bobby Jindal has tried to silence his critics.

In July, the AP reported that Jindal tried to force out one of his picks for the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, Tammie McDaniel, after she questioned State Superintendent Paul Pastorek's budget decisions. McDaniel refused to leave her post, and she was able to rally the support of other board members and community leaders. The Jindal administration remained mum about the controversy.

In March 2008, Jindal fired James Champagne, who had been executive director of the Louisiana Highway Safety Commission for 12 years, after disagreeing about the state motorcycle helmet law. Champagne said that he firmly believed that he lost his job because he wanted to keep the motorcycle law, while Jindal wished to repeal it.

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