The phone call Jack received from Director Undercash lasted only a minute.
The Director said, "it will be considered 'insubordination' if you talk to anyone about what is happening in the Fayetteville office." He told Jack there would be a meeting in Raleigh in two weeks to "discuss the situation in Fayetteville."
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Lori, Jack, and Harry meet to discuss Jack's research on the meaning of "insubordination" in the state agency. Director Undercash had told Jack earlier that week, "it will be considered 'insubordination' if you talk to anyone about what is happening in the Fayetteville office." Lori, Jack, and Harry were puzzled at what this meant. They had never previously encountered the use of that term in the workplace. It sounded like a term that might be used for managing highly disruptive school children. Jack made phone calls to some long-time employees in the Raleigh office to try and understand the Director's use of that term. What he learned was both surprising and alarming.
Lauren Sherry was arguably the most dedicated and hard working employee in the agency's division of air quality. She led efforts to investigate and write reports on the highest profile and controversial projects in the division of air quality. Jack had studied one of her reports and was impressed with its detail and thoroughness. Whereas, most employees in the division worked in tight silos and compartments, Lauren Sherry's work looked at everthing, including inspection reports, emission reports, permits, on-site sampling efforts, laboratory analytical results, and the historical data for a given facility or group of facilities.
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cast of characters
