Opinion ID: 794242
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: A Threat of Harm

Text: 10 Approximately two months after Detectives Montes and Magaldi arrested Temple for aggravated harassment, the IRS fired Temple for misconduct unrelated to the arrest. The termination of employment was impelled by an incident at the entrance to the IRS office in the William Green Federal Building in Philadelphia on October 23, 2002. Temple was in Philadelphia to attend a meeting. A magnetometer began to ring as she passed through it to enter the building. When the Federal Protective Officer at the magnetometer asked Temple to remove any metal objects on her person, she became angry and started to argue with him. When asked to submit her photo ID, she shouted at the officer and pushed her ID up close to his face. As he attempted to grab the ID, she snatched it from him and left. She returned thirty minutes later, reentered the building, and loudly bombarded the officer with an obscene tirade. Three other officers of the Federal Protective Service were summoned, and one of them asked Temple to reenter the magnetometer. She responded: I am a government employee and should not be inconvenienced. Ultimately, two of the officers escorted Temple to her meeting. 11 A letter from the IRS Manager proposing the termination of Temple's employment referred to the incident in Philadelphia as the reason for the termination and advised Temple as follows: 12 I am also taking into account the fact that you were suspended for one day on January 22, 1992, for disruptive behavior. You were suspended for nine days beginning November 15, 1993, for insubordination and disruptive behavior. Again, you were suspended for 14 calendar days beginning on March 13, 1996, for disruptive behavior in a bank with which the IRS does business and for misuse of your position and failing to meet your financial obligations. 13 The letter notified Temple that further information was available from Senior Labor Relations Specialist James Petherbridge. It was Petherbridge who recommended and implemented the decision to terminate Temple, and he was familiar with her entire history at the IRS as well as the circumstances involved in her arrest by the New York City Detectives. 14 When Temple was terminated from her employment, effective May 7, 2003, she did not turn in her IRS badge identification as requested. She presented that identification to a bank manager at the Bank of New York on June 12, 2003. The manager called Petherbridge to verify that the person he was meeting was in fact Eva Temple. Petherbridge could hear Temple yelling in the background. He confirmed her identity but told the bank manager to keep the identification badge, which Temple was not entitled to have. The manager was unable to confiscate the badge because Temple had already retrieved it from him when the telephone call was made. 15 Upon arriving at work on the morning of June 13, 2003, Petherbridge found a message that had been placed on his office telephone voicemail by Temple on the afternoon of June 12. The message was placed at 5:12 p.m., after Petherbridge had left work for the day. The message was as follows: Yeah, you faggot ass bitch ass stupid faggot fuck. I'm gonna fuck you up, you faggot bitch. 16 Petherbridge testified that he was basically petrified after he heard the message and explained his fear as follows: I was well aware of her actions when she was arrested, her beating up the detectives in the car and the fact that she had threatened to hurt or kill her former landlord and child. So that led me to have great concerns about my own safety. Petherbridge immediately notified his manager as well as Agent McGowen of the TIGTA about the message. McGowen testified that, when he interviewed him, Petherbridge appeared nervous, scared, and was concerned that [Temple] was going to assault him. In his testimony, Petherbridge said that he basically was afraid and had lunch the next week in [his] office because [he] was really afraid to go out. It does not appear that he had any further contact with Temple.