She’s One Of Congress’s Leading Progressives — Just Not In Her Own Office, Staffers SayFormer staffers who worked for Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a House Democrat who built her reputation on being a champion of workers, say her treatment of her staff was often inconsistent with her public image.Addy Baird BuzzFeed News Reporter
Lissandra Villa BuzzFeed News Reporter
Posted on September 13, 2021, at 9:20 p.m. ET
WASHINGTON — Last May, Rep. Pramila Jayapal introduced the Paycheck Recovery Act, aimed at curbing layoffs during the pandemic by having the federal government pay people’s salaries. Publicly, Jayapal contended that passing the bill was a matter of survival for workers. But privately, former staffers said, the lawmaker acted very differently.
In November 2020, she laid off two staffers without severance, two people familiar with the incident told BuzzFeed News. ...
The incident upset at least four staffers in the office who spoke with BuzzFeed News. It was, they said, one of many instances in which Jayapal’s interactions with her employees have run counter to the public persona she’s built for herself.
Despite the fact that Jayapal is one of the highest-profile progressives in DC and the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, 14 former staffers from throughout her nearly five years in Congress describe a dysfunctional and volatile workplace. There is, they said, a serious disconnect between how she talks about workers’ rights and how she treats her own staff. The conversations with former staff members, all granted anonymity to speak candidly due to the insular nature of Capitol Hill and fears of retaliation, reveal an especially harsh office with a boss whose treatment of workers runs contrary to the public expectations she has set for others.
In interviews with BuzzFeed News, they described Jayapal as a boss who berated staff in front of others, demanded grueling hours, and maintained an office culture marked by constantly changing expectations and little tolerance for error, to the extent that some staffers sought therapy and questioned their careers in public service. Since taking office, Jayapal has had one of the highest staff turnover rates in the House, due in large part, former employees said, to the unrealistic standards she sets. ...
BuzzfeedA little more hypocrisy to go with AOC's "tax the rich" dress, I suppose.
