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IS LITIGATION YOUR FINAL ANSWER?
WHY THE HEALTHY WORKPLACE BILL
SHOULD INCLUDE AN ADR PROVISION
Florence Z. Mao*I. INTRODUCTION
On the morning of May 2, 2005, Marlene Braun wrote in a
two-page e-mail to a coworker, “I cannot bear the thought of
coming into the office this morning or ever again.... I cannot
take any more abuse... and any more of the humiliation I
have had to endure for the past year.”^1 Moments later, Marlene
used a .38 blue steel revolver to shoot and kill her dogs before
turning the gun to her head and pulling the trigger.^2
Marlene had served as monument manager at the Carrizo
Plain National Monument in Bakersfield, California and had
been a federal employee at the Bureau of Land Management
(“BLM”) for nineteen years.^3 One year before Marlene’s death,
the BLM office in Bakersfield acquired a new director who
- J.D. Candidate, Brooklyn Law School, 2014; B.A., Barnard College,
Columbia University, 2008. I thank my family and friends for their
unconditional support and encouragement, and members of the Journal of
Law and Policy for their time, patience, and thoughtful feedback. Special
thanks to my mother, Christina Gong, for inspiring my love of learning.
(^1) OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN., U.S. DEP’T OF INTERIOR, REPORT OF
INVESTIGATION: CARRIZO PLAIN INCIDENT 15 (2006), available at
http://www.workplacebullying.org/multi/pdf/braun_oig_report.pdf.
(^2) Id.; see also KAMuston, Fault Lines, DAILY KOS (May 11, 2007, 3:34
AM), http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/05/11/333443/-Fault-Lines.
(^3) An Act Concerning State Employees and Violence and Bullying in the
Workplace: Hearing on Substitute H.B. 5464 Before the H. Comm. on Labor
& Pub. Emps., 2010 Leg. (Conn. 2010) [hereinafter Hearing 2010]
(statement of Katherine Hermes, Conn. Healthy Workplace Advocates);
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GEN., supra note 1, at 3.