MEMO

TO: Congressman Tim Murphy 

FR: Susan Mosychuk, Chief 0W

DT: June 81?, 2017

RE: Of?ce Conduct and Behavior: Harassment/Legal Compliance

There has been an ongoing and ever more pronounced pattern of sustained inappropriate behavxor

and engagement from the Congressman to and with staff impacting of?ce operations in many ways:
ale; overwhelming amount of

inability to hire and retain competent staff; abysmal of?ce mor

redundant work products which you constantly reject, to name just a few. I have both witnessed and
been exposed to hostile, erratic, unstable, angry, aggressive and abusive behavior from the .
Congressman. The events leading up to, and through, Monday June 5, 2017 has prompted this
document in which I am formally informing you of one particular event as a demonstration of the .
Of?ce?s vulnerability to yet more legal action as a result of your behavior. I write this memo seeking
corrective action. Having been prevented last evening from either speaking to you personally or
communicating over the phone, this memo is being written to detail the growing problem and to
request a complete cessation of such behavior, effective immediately. Should there not be cessation,
I am obligated as Chief of Staff and as your immediate subordinate, to pursue further steps for

recourse both for me and for Of?ce staff.

EVENTS June 2 June 2017

You have been repeatedly and angrily demanding that I and other Washington DC staff go to the
district to prep you for district meetings, train the constant in?ux of new staff, and to attend district
meetings. Knowing how much work goes into preparing you, and the lack of attention you pay to the
work products that are labored over by staff, I have sought to not expose brand new staff to what

routinely results in a very stressful and angry prep time with you.

On Friday, June 2nd, 2017 you angrily demanded that I have been blocking your new LD from
going to the district and that you wanted him there to assist you. Given the fact that he has only been
onboard for a mere 3 weeks, against my better judgement I relented and arranged the travel
arrangements to include myself, knowing without a doubt that it would result in a fallout without me

there.

Staff were panicked because you sent an overwhelming amount of emails demanding a mountain of
information. The emails and texts were incessant. Staff worked over the weekend and around the
clock. Come Monday, your anger was evident ?rst thing through a litany of emails, texts and phone
calls (many of which you would criticize me and hang up). With the ?ight delayed, your anger grew.
With the rental car pick up delayed you were enraged by the time we entered the district of?ce in
Mt. Lebanon. You were storming around as we walked in, and as we sat down for prep having just
arrived literally moments ago - you started in on the LD and verbally abused him harassed him
chastised him and criticized all his work products. You called many of the work products that h;

literally gave up his weekend to produce as ?useless.? You pushed other documents off the table

onto the ?oor because they weren?t what you wanted. Then you got angry and demanded we find the
documents that you had just thrown on the ground. All the staff were scared of you. I was scared of
you and I knew the damage had been done because everyone in the office was in a state of terror
trying to respond to all you demands for documents, articles, informatlon etc. And no matter what 
was given to you. your response was anger and before we could even get a word out of our mouths,

you started speaking over us.

As we proceeded to the town hall meeting, you continued to complain. A staff member came to .me
and voiced his concerns about the treatment he was receiving. I said that in no way was dlsappomted
by his work performance and that he had produced very good materials. I also said he shouldn?t
worry about the Congressman?s behavior because I don?t measure staff performance by the .
Congressman?s criticisms, especially when I know ?rsthand the good work that he produced. H1s
valid response to me was that the behavior demonstrated by the Congressman was unacceptable and

unfair. I agreed with him.

As the town hall meeting began, the Congressman?s incessant demands continued over text
messages. The hostility and insults were frightening; with a frequent demand for information to be
delivered which was a complete impossibility due to the fact he doesn?t have years of
institutional knowledge. You also criticized his information as ?incorrect? when in fact it was not.

As we drove to the next events, your driving was dangerous and erratic, reading your iPad, playing
YouTube videos and all during a torrential downpour. I frequently asked you to keep your eyes on
the road and to st0p texting and using your iPad, particularly after you went out of the driving lanes
onto the road grids. I feared for my life. I was very shaken up over your lack of attention to driving
on a highway through a torrential rainstorm and your staff had the same reaction. I repeatedly, at
least 15 times, asked you to stop texting and you not only dismissed my request for safety but you
further told me to go into the back seat because you didn?t want me up front complaining. I will
never get into a vehicle with you behind the wheel without an explicit agreement that you will not
text or use your iPad.

OUTCOMES

Over the course of my tenure with the Of?ce, I have sought to minimize your exposure to staff
because of your inability to communicate without expressions of rage, criticisms or insults. I
constantly intercede and take the criticisms on myself to minimize staff exposure. I have been
exposed personally to this behavior and it has impacted me emotionally to the point of my being
physically unwell. Your expectations are unreasonable, particularly with brand new staff. As soon as
they get exposed to this behavior, they move on. Furthermore, the lack of decision making and last
minute decision making has brought this operation to a complete meltdown. Without making
declsions ahead of time, staff waste time setting up and preparing meetings that you cancel. You get
angry at everything they attempt to do. Compounding the problem is your ongoing out of state or

overseas trips at the last minute that require staff to scramble on putting together events across the
country. It has been exhausting and rendered our of?ce to a near standstill on the things that need to
be done: mail, calls, press.

MPACT CONSEQUENCE OF BEHAVIOR

We've had near 100 percent turnover within one years? time, which is almost unprecedented. We?ve
lost over a HUNDRED staff since I ?rst began with your of?ce. The reason is because of strong
dissatisfaction with their engagement with you, Congressman, the unreasonable expectations and
ongoing criticisms you deliver, and overall dysfunction of the office. We reached a place where I'm
doing every task and training new staff who I know are going to leave because of the way they are
treated. Meanwhile I'm being overruled on decisions and unable to do anything with planning
because it is always at the whims of your desires in the moment, which change minute to minute. It
is unsustainable and cannot continue. Staff are unwilling to work with you directly and when they
do, they receive harassing hostility and soon seek employment elsewhere. Because of the reputation
of your dif?cult behavior, I can?t recruit staff. But most importantly, it is all in violation of our own
Of?ce Manual, the Congressional Accountability Act and the EEOC de?nition of harassment.

The Staff Manual for the Of?ce of Congressman Tim Murphy contains explicit language regarding
harassment (see below). As Chief of Staff, I am directly responsible for enforcing policies regarding
harassment and intimidation in the workplace. Most recently, a staff member informed me of the
volatile engagements which ?t the de?nition of harassment under the Congressional Accountability

Act: Harassment: Insults, jokes, slurs, or other verbal or physical conduct or activity that create an
intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment or that unreasonably interfere with an individual?s
work performance.

When staff repeatedly come to me regarding their engagements with you, conduct which is
frequently been observed by other staff, I am obliged to take action. As I continually try to discuss
this persistent problem, you instead get angry at me and yell at me, slam doors, walk out of the of?ce
and blocked me on your cellphone. You have blamed me, blamed other staff and not examined your
own behavior which have legal consequences. When a staff member tells me they felt physically
threatened by you, I have to take action to remedy the situation. (See below Staff Manual citations).

Should there not be immediate remedial action taken within the of?ce to correct your behavior and
engagement with staff, I am obliged to move to the next level of review which will be outside the
of?ce. You have inaccurately stated that I am blackmailing you. That is incorrect and another form
of intimidation. What I am informing you of is your legal obligation to change your pattern of
behavior. Staff, including myself, have a right to work in a workplace that is free from threats
hostility, anger and harassment. 

Antimarassment and Anti-discrimination Policy

As an equal opportunity employer, the Office of Congressman Murphy is firmly committed to providing a work
environment free from discrimination, harassment or intimidation on the basis of race, sex, age, religion,
disability, color, national origin, military status, or any other basis prohibited by law. This commitment

applies to all hiring discharge, promotion, pay benefits, reassignments and other personnel actions affecting
the terms, conditions, and privileges of employment. This commitment extends to making reasonable
accommodations that enable qualified disabled individuals to perform the essential functions of their jobs.

All employees will be treated, and are to treat each other, fairly and with respect.

Employees will not be subjected to, and will not subject each other to discrimination or harassment of any
kind.

The Office will not tolerate any of the following actions:

Making any employment decision or taking any employment action that is based on race, sex,
age, religion, disability, color, national origin, military status or any other basis prohibited by the
Congressional Accountability Act.

Acting in a way that may create a hostile, offensive, intimidating or demeaning environment on
the basis of an employee's race, sex, age, religion, disability, color, national origin, veteran status,

or any other basis prohibited by the Congressional Accountability Act.

Other Kinds of Harassment

 

In addition to the sexual harassment discussed above, harassment on the basis of race, color, sex, disability,
religion or nation origin can constitute unlawful employment discrimination. Insults, jokes, slurs, or other
verbal or physical conduct or activity relating to race, color, sex, religion or national origin are unlawful if they

create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment; or if they unreasonably interfere with an
individual's work performance.

ee' es onsibili

Personal behavior and language that are acceptable to one individual may be offensive to another. All
employees must recognize that the focus of this prohibition is on the effect of one's action, not the intent
Even an employee who believes he or she is "just kidding around" or "didn't mean any harm" may act in I
ways that have the effect of intimidating or demeaning another employee, and thereby violating this policy

39599?;

It is the intention of the Office to stop harassment before it rises to the level of a violation of the law. As part
of this effort, any employee who believes that they have been subjected to or has witnessed actions that
violate this DONCY make a report to the Chief of Staff in order for management to
immediately investigate and take corrective action where appropriate. The employee should not wait until the
actions become severe or pervasive but should report such activity immediately.

The employee may advise their direct supervisor, the next level superior, or any other management official
with whom the employee feels comfortable discussing such issues. The office will protect the confidentiality
of harassment allegations to the extent possible. The conduct of an effective investigation requires sharing
information with those who have a "need to know". Any documents created or obtained concerning the
harassment investigation will be treated with the same degree of confidentiality. Anyone who in good faith
brings such a matter forward is assured that they will not suffer any retaliation, discrimination, harassment or
reprisal for having done so.

The Of?ce strictly prohibits retaliation against anyone who reports an incident in violation of the anti?
harassment/anti?discrimination policy or anyone who participates or aids in an investigation of a complaint.

Any employee who violates any aspect of this policy, including the prohibition against retaliation, will face
appropriate discipline, up to and including termination.

Professional Behavior, Employee Conduct and Discipline

Out of respect for the Of?ce, staff will refer to the Member as Congressman at all times. Calling the
Congressman by his ?rst name is not acceptable at any time.

To ensure that all employees are working in a safe, productive and harmonious environment and that the
Of?ce is able to operate at optimum efficiency, certain general standards of personal conduct and job
performance have been established.

Your actions are a direct re?ection on the Member, the Of?ce and the House of Representatives. Actions that
re?ect poorly on the Member, Of?ce or House are grounds for disciplinary action, up to and including
termination.

Standards of job performance are determined by the employee's position. Standards of personal conduct
however, are uniform throughout the of?ce. Employees are expected to be courteous and respectful and to
conduct themselves at all times in manner, which shall re?ect credibility on the House of Representatives
Argumentative or disruptive employees will be subject employee conduct and discipline. 

  
  
  
 
  
  
 
 

. on communlcation with management reflect a zero tolerance for disputing, challenging or
over and direction from supervisors. While it is anticipated that most problems will be
. through the C00peration of employees, there are times when inappropriate conduct or inadequate
.rmance may result in disciplinary action. While this of?ce does not employ mandatory progressive

?pline, appropriate disciplinary action may, at the Of?ce's sole discretion, include probation, suspension
up to and including termination. It is within

each

(with or without a pay reduction), demotion, or other actions,
management's sole discretion to determine appropriate measures based upon the circumstances of

individual disciplinary matter.