Opinion ID: 43218
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Memos Addressing Performance Concerns

Text: On April 5, 2000, shortly after Jeronimus began his employment, Tucker 1 Head Start is an early childhood education program for three and four year-old children, after which, the children are prepared to begin kindergarten. 2 expressed concerns about the way in which he interacted with another PCOC employee. In a memo to his personnel file, Tucker recounted her efforts to resolve a conflict between Jeronimus and Elaine Dustin, a woman who was then Jeronimus’s accounting supervisor. In her August, 2000 evaluation of Jeronimus, Tucker indicated that Jeronimus met or exceeded expectations in all categories, but noted that he should work on his communication skills. On March 21, 2001, Tucker sent Jeronimus a memo expressing her concerns over several financial matters. Specifically, Tucker noted a transfer of agency funds between unrelated accounts, the failure to report to her the existence of a cash flow problem, the failure to complete correctly a line of credit application, and the delegation of research work to PCOC’s outside accounting firm. Tucker ended the letter emphasizing that “[t]hese are serious concerns, which need to be handled expeditiously.” In a May 16, 2001 memo to Jeronimus, Tucker expressed her concerns over his management of staff members. Specifically, she addressed an instance of intimidation by Jeronimus toward his staff members after they complained about him and the delegation of tasks that he should be handling. Tucker also noted that Jeronimus failed to complete properly a PCOC report. In her December, 2001 performance evaluation of Jeronimus, though, Tucker again indicated that 3 Jeronimus met or exceeded expectations in all categories; however, she also noted “[n]ot enough staff supervision. . . . [d]oes not get reports completed in a timely manner . . . [a]ttend required meetings on time [or] . . . [k]eep his staff informed.” On December 7, 2001, Tucker sent Jeronimus a memo, outlining five concerns which needed to be discussed. Specifically, Tucker noted: (1) that financial reports were consistently prepared late; (2) that Jeronimus was consistently late for meetings; (3) that monthly departmental meetings were not being held despite Tucker’s request; (4) that Jeronimus’s staff felt that important decisions were being improperly delegated from him to them; and (5) that Jeronimus reportedly had been borrowing money from staff members.