NFEE Local 465 (representing Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Saguaro National Park, and Yellowstone National Park) is issuing the following statement to Acting NPS Director Jessica Bowron in support of Dr. SJ Joslin and their reinstatement to Yosemite National Park. The following Unions, along with NFFE President Randy Erwin, have signed this statement in solidarity: UPEC 792, AFGE L1105, AFGE Council 270, and NTEU Chapter 296. Collectively, these bargaining units represent over 4,200 National Park Service employees or an estimated 33% of the total NPS workforce across the country.
Open Letter
Dear Acting Director Jessica Bowron,
As Union members of NFFE FL 465 (Yosemite National Park, Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks, Saguaro National Parks, Yellowstone National Park), we write to communicate our deep concern with the news that the Yosemite Leadership Team has fired Dr. SJ Joslin for First Amendment activities Joslin engaged in while off-duty. This action impacts all employees in the National Park Service, across all park units, in ways we believe will negatively affect the strong organizational ethos of respect and integrity that enables us to do our jobs.
Based on publicly-available information from reliable news sources, it is our understanding that Dr. Joslin was terminated for flying a flag in celebration of their gender identity while climbing El Capitan. Importantly, we note that Dr. Joslin reportedly;
- was not on-duty or using any furnished government equipment,
- did not deface or otherwise damage
- did not interfere with any other climber’s activities
- raised a flag widely understood to be celebrating an aspect of their identity, which was not a protest sign nor a political ad calling for a specific policy change, nor did it denigrate any individual or group of persons.
- complied with all ranger requests to remove the flag
- did not knowingly engage in an activity specifically proscribed by the Superintendent’s compendium at the time (similar activities have reportedly occurred without legal or administrative consequence at least several times prior).
Unless federal employees’ off-duty activities violate the well-defined guidelines set forth in the Hatch Act, our off-the-clock choices about how to express ourselves should not be the object of politicized scrutiny by our supervisors. And if we are convicted of breaking the law off-duty, after being investigated and tried as a private citizen, any professional repercussions should stem solely from the severity of the actual law broken, not any perceived political connotations associated with the crime.
The National Park Service imbues us with many foundational principles, including duty, respect, and integrity, and to expect the same from our leaders. Throughout our units, we are fortunate to have many supervisors who consistently demonstrate these values, leaders who respect us regardless of our differences and lead us into complex, difficult, and sometimes dangerous situations to protect both lives and public lands. Despite coming from a wide-range of political persuasions, gender/sexual identities, and other life experiences, we are able to work together as a cohesive unit in part because we trust that these distinctions will not be used to judge, reward, or punish us as employees.
Unfortunately, the reported actions from the Yosemite Leadership team, including then acting Superintendent McPadden and then acting Deputy Superintendent Globokar, make us question whether these values extend farther up the chain of command at Yosemite National Park and beyond to the rest of the National Park Service. Favoring or punishing civil service employees on the basis of their private politics as opposed to their public work is disrespectful, and the timing of the changes made to the superintendent’s compendium raise basic questions about the integrity of the entire process.
For those of us who are gay or queer, or who have family or friends or teammates who are, we are left wondering whether our ability to show our support -or even just to exist – off-duty will lead to negative professional consequences under current leadership. And whether we personally would have chosen to display a “Pride” flag or a “Don’t Tread on Me” flag (or both or none), employees represented by NFFE Local 465 overwhelmingly believe the reported firing of Dr. Joslin threatens our own protected rights to freedom of expression as federal employees.
Dr. Joslin is a respected, valued, and trusted member of the Yosemite community. It is beyond the bounds of our expertise and positions to evaluate their fitness in their professional duties as a uniquely skilled biologist helping to preserve Yosemite’s bats from a devastating fungal outbreak. Yet since Dr. Joslin was fired for reasons that could have equally applied to any of our position descriptions, the information we have received concerning Dr. Joslin’s dismissal process is sufficiently concerning that we are moved to collectively inform you, our Acting Director, of its impact on your employees in the Service.
As the Acting Director, we ask that you consider evaluating SJ’s wrongful termination and reinstating them back into their position, including compensation with back pay. We reiterate our appreciation for your leadership during this difficult time in the Service, and we ask only that our concerns are appropriately heard and recognized.
Thank you for your consideration,
NFFE Local 465
NFFE National President, Randy Erwin
Supporting unions:
UPEC 792
AFGE L1105
AFGE Council 270
NTEU Chapter 296
