Around3 p.m. that day, my supervisor called me and asked me to meet him in theconference room. My heart started pounding, and I thought, "Here it comes." Hetold me to look around and see that he was the only one in the room and noticethat "they" were making him do this. He handed me a letter and told me to read it all the way through to the end. He told me thathe would have thought that he and I would have had a conversation prior tocoming to this point and also noted that the man standing outside the door wasa sheriff deputy. Iread the letter stating that it was alleged that I had made threatening remarksin the workplace.

As a result, I was being placed on paid leave pending aninvestigation. I was asked to leave my ID, badge, work cell phone,and computer and leave the premises. Itold my supervisor I had no way to get home because my husband had the car, andit would take him about forty minutes to get there since he was at work on theother side of the island. He chuckled uncomfortably, then suggested he couldhave someone take me home. I told him I didn't have my keys, so I wouldn't beable to get into my house. He shook his head and then handed me a phone so Icould call my husband to come pick me up. Then, I gathered my things and leftthe building. I decided I would rather wait outside in the heat than be in thattoxic building for another minute.

The sheriff said I had to leave the premises,so I walked off the property and waited on the sidewalk behind the building onMiller Street. I'dknown when I started down this road that this was where I would end up.It was obvious that this was retaliation for me having come forward.