Remembering Oma

 Yesterday, my husband and I drove to the gym to participate in cycle class, one of the things that has kept us partially sane during the past three years.  Mike parked the car and I got out and saw something that immediately sent me back to my youth. It was a bush, or rather a series of bushes, planted in the rows between the parking spots.  I don't know the names of these bushes, but I have enjoyed them many times before.  They are green and leafy, and this time of the year they sport the most delicate tiny pink blossoms, each blossom no more than a quarter of an inch in diameter.  These delicate blossoms are surrounded by little leaf-like sprouts that give the small blossoms a star-like quality.  I used to pick those blossoms in my grandmother, my Oma's, backyard.
   Oma, had a beautiful flower garden behind her small ranch-style home.  She did all of the planting and weeding herself.  She and my step-grandfather, who we called "Uncle Sam," built a concrete patio and surrounded it with a short brick wall. They placed pots of petunia on the wall.  But, the flowers that I loved were the lilies of the valley planted on the side of the house.  These flowers were so delicate.  They were simple, a stalk curved like a candy cane with random tiny white blossoms that looked like bells all up and down the stalk.  They were small, and unique, and perfect.
   Oma had not been born to be a gardener. At that time she was a seamstress, a member of the Ladies' Garment Workers Union.  She sewed sleeves onto coats.  That wasn't her first job in the United States.  When she first arrived with my six year old mother, my grandfather, and my great-grandmother in tow, she worked as a maid.  I remember her telling me about the first time she made gelatin and it was not hardening so she added cornstarch. By the time the gelatin had set, she could have fashioned that jell-o into bricks.
    It took me many years to realize that Oma was my real-life hero.  She forced her family to escape Nazi Germany at the end of 1938, right before Kristallnacht.  Many other relatives perished in concentration camps.
Oma learned English before she left to aid in our family's assimilation.  She, as many Germans are prone to do, worked hard. She worked very hard.  Oma sewed matching dresses for my sister and I.  She was always busy.
    Every summer, Oma and Uncle Sam took my sister, my brother and me to the Lake of the Ozarks.  I remembered how exquisitely excited I would get each and every time I first laid eyes on the water of the lake. We swam and fished and had a grand old time.  Those are the only out-of-town vacations we had when I was a child.  Uncle Sam took me fishing in Loose Park, the place which was ultimately the site of my wedding many years later.  There was a time that fishing was allowed in the urban park with the lake by Wornall, a pretty heavily traveled thoroughfare.  I (Uncle Sam, really) caught a catfish from the pond when I was seven.  We took it home to Oma' house and put it in a tub.  Of course it died, since the water was filled with chlorine, but we knew nothing about the chlorine hazard and watched the fish swim until its untimely demise.
     I learned a lot from Oma and Uncle Sam.  When Uncle Sam died from lung cancer (damn you cigarettes) Oma was devastated.  She loved that man more than she loved life itself.  She grieved, but she knew that her life must go on and what she made of the rest of it lay in her hands.  At age 63, my grandmother went back to school, to become an L.P.N.  Oma had secretly wanted to be a nurse her whole life.  She was the oldest student in the class, but I am sure no student studied harder than she.  She passed the classes and aced the test and was hired by a local hospital.  Oma was working on the floor of Research Hospital when Harry Truman was brought to that hospital to die.  Nursing was Oma's passion, but the hospital had a rule that nurses could not be over 70 years old.  At 70, Oma had to leave.  She worked at some part-time nursing jobs, but it wasn't the same for her as working in a hospital.  Within a few years, she died.
     I think of this amazing woman often.  She called me Lynnilla and used similar suffices for my siblings.  She was steady and safe and always there for us.  I remember the sun streaming into her living room through the picture window with the eastern exposure, making everything glow a hopeful yellow color.  When you saw that sunlight and were bathed in its warmth at Oma's house, the day was going to be okay.
     Oma was, and still is, my hero.  I hope everyone is fortunate enough to have a person in his or her life who inspires them to be their best.  Oma did that for me.
     Everytime I see one of those bushes with the exquisitely tiny pink flower/stars, or I find a delicate lily of the family, I think of my grandmother and home.

Thanksgiving - I am thankful for my brave clients.

I love Thanksgiving, and it's not all about the food - especially since I do most of the cooking.  I enjoy Thanksgiving because of the enrichment my family and friends provide to my life.  But, for this article, I want to thank and be grateful for my clients and how they have enriched my life.

There's Ruth Bates, who taught me what true courage and perseverance was.  She felt within her what was right or just and followed her gut.  She acted with dignity and courage in the face of media barrages and intrusions.  Ruth handled herself with dignity, while the opponent could have taken lessons in decorum and self-esteem from her.  Plus, I had the joy of getting to know her and her wonderful family and how they came together in Ruth's hour of need.  There is not enough that I can say about Ruth Bates.  Who says you can't fight city hall.

There's Terri Wallace, who after 7 years, finally made justice happen. Through two appeals and one jury trial, Terri persevered and prevailed.  She did not set a 7 year goal, but when she saw that 7 years is what it would take to receive justice, she didn't balk or lay down.  Heroes come from humble beginnings.

To the Campbell family, who hopefully will get some closure after the brutal killing of their father.  I particularly respect Debbie, who made her peace personally with the officer who killed her husband.  That took great courage and taught me a valuable lesson in forgiveness.  The girls are doing so well now.

To my former brave clients, who have given me strength through the years (this is not a comprehensive list) -

Of course, Serita Wright, one of the bravest women I know; Nancy Watson, who started it all for me, James Brock, who displayed incredible courage; Marlene Hickerson and Shirley Stroud, who showed what it meant to believe in moral values; Vera Sims, who refused to allow herself be treated like a piece of meat, and to the many others through the years who have helped so many, and particularly who have kept my hope for society's future alive.  To the brave and true nurses.

And there are the clients whose cases are pending - Christie Helm, who had the courage to tell the truth about a judge, and others I shouldn't name until we are finished with the case.

I went to the Holocaust museum and bought myself a tee-shirt with a quote from Margaret Mead, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: Indeed it's the only thing that has."

I am deeply indebted to all of these brave people who are willing to bare their souls in the name of justice, in the quest to eliminate discrimination and dishonesty in America's workplace.  And as the saying now goes, "How the workplace goes, so goes the U.S., and someday the world."

Thanks again to all of my clients.  You probably don't realize what difference you have made in my life.

Whistleblowers

Whistleblowers are an interesting breed. True whistleblowers are courageous, they speak the truth even though it is not in their self-interest to do so. Whistleblowers are not followers, they buck the system. Whistleblowers are not merely satisfied with the status quo, to just get by. True whistleblowers are hard to come by.

We are social animals by nature. We want to get along, be liked, not rock the boat. Whistleblowers act in ways that are unnatural, they take risks and know that they will not just be going with the crowd. It takes a lot of courage to be a true whistleblower.

Whistleblowers are not "snitches." "Snitches" have ulterior motives such as lower jail terms, monetary gain, etc. to accuse another of something he or she may or may not have done. "Snitches" are not altruists, they are in it for themselves. I represent whistleblowers, not snitches.

I am going to tell the stories of some brave whistleblowers whom I have represented. I am changing their names and also those of the employers, but their stories are true. The courageous whistleblowers whom I have represented are:

1. Kurtis* the scientist, who reported shipping irregularities of radioactive materials at the research reactor (yes, that is a nuclear reactor) at which he worked. Incorrect and erroneous shipping and labeling of radioactive materials can have obvious serious consequences, including illness and death. Kurtis should have been hailed as a hero, but instead he was labeled a troublemaker and demoted in his job. Kurtis' whistleblower case was tried before the Department of Labor under the Energy Reorganization Act. I will tell Kurtis' story.

2. Shirlena* and Marley*, were two office workers in a not for profit company. The purpose of the company was to serve physicians in such endeavors such as lobbying for tort reform, promoting continuing education, etc. Both employees discovered the long-term executive director engaged in financial irregularities. Both Shirlena and Marley reported these irregularities to the physician board members. Shirlena was fired. After Shirlena left, Marley discovered pornography on the executive director's computer and reported it to the physician board members. She was forced out of her position. A colleague from the Trial Lawyers College, Rafe Foreman, and I, tried Marley's case to a jury verdict. We began trial in Shirlena's case, but the case was settled in the middle of trial. I will tell Shirlena and Marley's stories.

3. Mary* was happy to get a job with a major pharmaceutical company as a salesperson for a new drug that was in the process of approval by the FDA. Until the drug was approved, she was ostensibly told to sell another drug. However, her boss told Mary and her co-workers to go ahead and start marketing the un-approved drug, which was anticipated to be very costly and was projected to help increase revenue since a major drug had just gone generic. Unfortunately, it is unlawful to market an unapproved drug for reasons that were shown in this case. The drug here was found to potentially be dangerous and got a "black box" warning. Throughout the time Mary's boss told her to market the drug, Mary complained. Mary was ultimately fired. I will share Mary's story.

4. A group of ten nurses and other health care providers were employed in a local hospital in the emergency department. There were serious problems in the emergency department with understaffing and insufficient and outdated equipment. Patients suffered and the health care workers complained. Most were fired, a few were forced to quit, and one was transferred. I will share the story of these courageous workers.

*Denotes not their real names.

Courageous Clients

What I plan to do is profile several courageous clients. In the next following weeks, I intend to talk about whistleblowers, sexual harassment, racial, disability, and age discrimination victims who fought back. Sometimes as a lawyer it is easy to forget the emotional toll fighting the system is for a client. Without the courage of these special people, and others like them, harassment and discrimination would still be rampant in workplaces and American society in general.

I am excited about telling my clients' stories because I am so proud to have represented them. These stories are true stories of courage. The most gratifying part of my job as a plaintiffs' lawyer is to catch a glimpse of the joy and pride my clients must have experienced before they were victims of discrimination and/or retaliation.

Sometimes we here that someone files a discrimination case and, in essence, it is a trip to the bank. That is just not true. It takes a special person to fight back. I am so honored to represent them.

In the next few days and weeks I intend to write about my clients, people such as Kurt, a scientist, who bucked the system by refusing to violate federal laws in transporting radioactive substantives and the retaliation he suffered in lack of promotions and pay when he complained. I will write about my clients who reported to the not for profit board of physicians in charge of their employee that the executive director was stealing from the company, resulting in the termination of the whistleblowers. I will be recounting the tale of my client, the pharmaceutical representative, who complained about her employer forcing her to market a drug which had not yet been approved by the FDA and her subsequent termination.

I will also be telling the stories of numerous sexual harassment victims, with differing degrees of indignities inflicted upon them who had the wherewithal to fight back. Generally, women are not plagued by sexually inappropriate bosses as in the past because of the courage of people like the ones I represented.

I hope you will find these stories interesting. They are fascinating to me, and it has been gratifying to represent such courageous people. We can change the world even if it is just one case at a time.