Residents may voice their opinions about the alleged activity taking place at the RiverCenter by contacting their city council members.
The RiverCenter for the Performing Arts has been the center of many scandals in recent months, including a federal investigation by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
More than a half-dozen RiverCenter employees have already chosen to walk off the job in recent months, with all of them citing a hostile work environment fostered by executive director Norman S. Easterbrook.
Now, another former employee has decided to come forward with shocking details — and we aren’t using that word lightly — in an exclusive long-form interview with the Muckraker.
The former box office manager at the RiverCenter, who we will refer to as “Jane” throughout this article, has given the Muckraker full permission to publish our several-months-long investigatory correspondence and all of its exclusive content.
The content of our correspondence with Jane revealed the following alleged activity currently taking place at the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts:
Jane decided to come forward after she was allegedly retaliated against and wrongfully terminated from her employment at the RiverCenter back in September.
The day after Jane’s suspicious termination, we at the Muckraker quickly received an anonymous tip from a separate confidential source at the RiverCenter on September 21, 2022.
That original anonymous tip read as follows:
“Jane worked in the RC (RiverCenter) box office as the Box Office Manager. She was working this past Saturday night for the CSO (Columbus Symphony Orchestra) opener. A group of about 40 people came in to get tickets for the symphony concert. No one from CSO had sent any communications about any group that needed special treatment or alternate rates. So, Jane charged them the standard group rate, which is discounted from full price. Heather Grover, the Finance Director for CSO, was like, ‘No big deal, it’s our fault, and we didn’t communicate with you. We’ll just refund them, and it’ll be fine.’ Norm fired Jane anyway on Tuesday, Sept 20, presumably for that ‘mistake’ of following policy and charging the group rate as she should have.”
That anonymous tip prompted us at the Muckraker to reach out to Jane, which precipitated a long-form interview and its rather revealing content.
The following long-form interview was conducted between the Muckraker and a former RiverCenter employee, via email, between September and November of 2022. It has only been edited for grammar and clarity and has not been edited for content. The source’s name has been redacted and replaced with ‘Jane’ to protect her privacy.
MUCKRAKER: Hey Jane, we heard that someone by your name was allegedly wrongfully terminated by the RiverCenter. If this was you, we would really love to talk with you about it. You can of course remain completely anonymous if you’d like. You aren’t the first this has happened to, and the public deserves to know what really goes on inside that building. Would you like to help us understand your story? Thanks.
(The Muckraker had already independently confirmed Jane was the employee in question by cross-referencing several sources.)
JANE: I would love to talk to you as long as I remain anonymous and if you give it a little time so I'm not immediately singled out as the one who spoke with you. Norm is spiteful and vindictive. He has already sabotaged a former employee's ability to find a new job by giving a bad reference out of spite and that employee left relatively amicably by choice.
MUCKRAKER: Thank you for your reply. You are the sixth employee of similar circumstances to our knowledge. You are not alone. Your anonymity is of course as important to us as it is to you. If you’re willing, let’s start an email thread. Thanks for having the courage to tell your story and help make a difference.
JANE: I don't even know where to start. There are so many unprofessional, abusive, and vindictive things going on at RiverCenter that it's hard to know how to explain it all.
First off, there is no HR at RiverCenter. There is no official person for employees to speak with to get normal work information like vacation or sick time. The responsibility has been given to a staff member who does not specialize in HR and who already has so much on their plate that they cannot dedicate time to it. But worse than that, there is no one to speak to about the abuses you suffer from those up the chain of command.
Norm is "technically" who we were supposed to talk to about grievances, but there was no one you could talk to to report his abuses. All HR matters were handled completely incorrectly and unprofessionally. The proper steps for discipline (would have been) a verbal warning, followed much later by a written warning if things didn’t change, followed by probation, and finally termination if it continued. These steps were not followed for me or my assistant box office manager — who was fired over two “bad-faith complaints” from patrons. I've been told that the lack of HR was the result of Matt Barkley and Norm deciding that since Matt (the head of RiverCenter's board) was the head of HR at W.C. Bradley, that RiverCenter did not need a dedicated HR rep. This has resulted in many complaints being ignored or grossly mishandled. To my knowledge, previous employees tried to contact Matt Barkley when they resigned to inform him of Norm's inability to run a healthy work environment. Matt Barkley not only did not do anything about this, he personally told Norm verbatim what the complaints were rather than have them investigated.
Secondly, there is an environment of bullying and verbal abuse at RiverCenter. Myself and many other former and current employees all have a story of when Norm decided to target and unprofessionally snap at one of us. He has a temper that instills fear in his staff. It's hard to get your job done when any small mistakes can get you yelled at or fired. He snapped at me when I would mention that I believed my independent contractor staff was misclassified. He yelled at me in a meeting with two other directors present, and nothing was ever done. He also aggressively spoke to me when I was brought into a meeting to discuss the box office. He made condescending mocking remarks to me, like a child, everytime I said something. Norm brought up my personal Instagram, asking me if my private unrelated Instagram post was “a test or something” (which had nothing to do with the RiverCenter and shows how paranoid and overreaching Norm is). My supervisor at the time (another director) sat there and said nothing during this exchange. Other directors have also stepped over the line in this way as well. One of my close friends who resigned from RiverCenter was constantly snapped at by the director over them. They were yelled at to come into the director's office and berated for “not being perfect.” The director shouted at them and wagged a finger in their face like they were a child. I personally told Norm that working in an environment where you could get fired for any small mistake was lowering the morale of my staff and that they were afraid to do anything in fear of termination — and Norm replied by saying, "GOOD! They should be!”
Lastly but definitely the most important, there is rampant discrimination at RiverCenter in all kinds of ways: sexism, racism, and singling people out because of their personal tastes runs deep at RiverCenter. Our female lead security was brought in by her fiance. The technical director and his staff would regularly ignore her instruction until they were told to do it by a male security staff member (instead of by her as a female). The technical director was heard saying that he “doesn't know if she is like that (meaning bossy and hysterical) because she is short or if it is because she is f**king the lead of security.” A former coworker of mine was written-up for coming in on their day off wearing their normal clothes. They like to wear dark makeup and clothing and Norm regularly berated her for it. She overheard him telling her supervisor that he was "sick of her." He did this knowing that the walls between their offices are artificial and that she could hear everything he said.
I personally felt discrimination from a few directors due to the color of my skin. I could not be direct with my words or decisions because I was treated like an "angry black woman." I was told to “calm down” even though I was not exhibiting any anger; just professional directness. I had to choose my words very carefully and soften my tone in every correspondence in fear of being labeled as “difficult” (because of my skin color and gender). I know this was experienced by many other black women who eventually resigned from RiverCenter as well.
One of my good friends ended up quitting their lighting position at RiverCenter due to nearly daily racist remarks from the production staff.
During a local rapper's performance, the crew and talent were referred to as "these kind of people" and "thugs." One staff member openly said the “N word” when recounting a story to my friend. The production staff openly mocked the accent of the Schwob School of Music’s concert and facilities manager, saying “you can't understand a thing he says.” My friend didn't initially want to address their discomfort, but confided in other staff for advice.
When my friend was ultimately forced to come forward with their story to Norm, they were reprimanded for "gossiping" and were basically told to ignore it. The situation was not properly investigated, no one was interviewed, nor spoken to separately. Instead, Norm called the employee and the director into his office TOGETHER to discuss the situation (apparently not caring if retaliation was a possibility). The Director and production staff were supposed to go through sensitivity training, but since my friend quit, I do not believe that ever happened.
I know that's a lot. I have countless stories of misconduct at RiverCenter, including the possibility of embezzlement happening there. If you would like me to elaborate on anything, I am willing to answer any of your questions. Thank you for reaching out to me.
(Several weeks went by before we reached back out to Jane to allow some time to pass as she settled into her new professional atmosphere with her new employer.)
MUCKRAKER: We wanted to follow up and see if you have anything else you'd like to contribute regarding your experiences with the RiverCenter. We look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. Thank you again for your time, insights, and courage.
JANE: I am doing well. I don't really have much more to contribute except for things I've heard from friends and colleagues that still work for RiverCenter. I know that my replacement — whom I'm told had a personal relationship with Norm Easterbrook — has already been let go due to coming into work drunk and nearly fighting her supervisor. I also know that a friend of mine who was targeted for her personal way of dressing in her private life during her off-time was let go as well. If you'd like me to elaborate on anything I've written about, I can but I don't have any new information. I try to avoid RiverCenter now. I refuse to support them with the current leadership in place. Thank you!
MUCKRAKER: We’re very glad to hear that you are doing well. Is it safe to assume that you have found new employment? As for us helping to tell your story: there are many key pieces of information that you’ve shared with us. Those key pieces of information are vital to helping readers understand the true levels of travesty taking place at the RiverCenter. For us to paint the truest picture for the public to understand, we would have to divulge those pieces of information. For us to divulge that information, it likely would allow the RiverCenter to know that you are the source. While the RiverCenter has no way of harming you (what are they going to do? Fire you again?), we wanted to clarify that you are okay with us publishing the information to help the public really see the light on this one. What do you think? We look forward to your reply.
JANE: I have found a new position with a trustworthy employer that knows exactly what RiverCenter did to me and is on my side. Now that I don’t have to worry about them bad-mouthing me and keeping me out of a job, there is no way that they could retaliate against me. I give you full permission to publish what I've told you. The public and the arts community in Columbus deserve to know how the staff at RiverCenter are mistreated. Thank you!
END OF INTERVIEW
We at the Muckraker would again like to thank Jane for her courage to come forward. Jane is but one of over a half-dozen employees who have all independently shared similar experiences at the RiverCenter. We are honored to be able to give a voice to those who may feel they have none.
Residents may voice their opinions about the alleged activity taking place at the RiverCenter by contacting their city council members.
Facts are stubborn things — and we’ll keep publishing them, whether members of the “good-old-boy club” and city officials like them or not.
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