As thousands of Floridians fled beach communities before Hurricane Helene, Michael Slattery rushed toward them.
In the final hours before Tampa Bays worst storm in a century, Slattery was on Madeira Beach drilling pressure sensors deep into the sand.
The data collected from these devices helped local governments, first responders and the public better understand how hurricane storm surge threatens low-lying coastal cities, including in Pinellas County.
The U.S. Geological Surveys team of scientists, including Slattery, helped accurately predict that Pinellas beaches would be over washed by surge, sending thousands of pounds of sand into homes and businesses.
Slattery, who has 20 years of scientific research experience and was a University of Tampa professor for nearly a decade, was fired Feb. 14 amid the expansive push by President Donald Trumps administrationto cut the federal workforce.
He joins the growing list of fired park rangers, scientists and wildlife refuge workers within the U.S.Interior Department whose careers were dedicated to Floridas natural spaces and humans place within them. More than 2,000 department workers have been fired in recent weeks.
I loved the job, I loved the team I was working with, and I felt like we were actually making a difference and making progress, said Slattery, 44. Any time you can get science to people who can then act on it, youre doing the right thing.
Slattery was in the middle of working with several county officials, state experts and condo associations to improve the agencys forecasting tool that gives emergency officials a six-day head start on predicting how an impending hurricane could damage beach communities.
He was also conducting coastal surveys to better understand how Sand Key beach and Madeira Beach change over time and working with partners in the Florida Keys to better predict how coral reefs affect storm surge.
Slattery said that he was approached by a supervisor on Feb. 14.
Youre going to be terminated, he remembers her telling him. I dont know why this is happening. I dont know why youre being fired.
The agency had been asked to provide a list of employees in their probationary period who were recently hired, and Slatterys name was on it with a caveat that he was essential to the team of scientists. He had left his nearly decade-long tenure as a marine science professor in August to take the U.S. Geological Survey job because he wanted to connect the public to the latest coastal science.
To make matters more confusing, Slatterys four-year position was funded by Congress in response to Hurricane Ians landfall in Southwest Florida, according to 2022 congressional appropriations records. Slattery said the money had been distributed into an account earmarked for his employment. The funds for his $67,000 annual salary couldnt be clawed back or reallocated, Slattery said.
I dont think anybody would argue that the government shouldnt be as efficient as possible. But theres a difference between just firing people arbitrarily and actually going through the process of determining where the inefficiencies lie, Slattery said.
A few days after he was fired, Slattery was scheduled tosurveya monthly beach erosion assessment at Madeira Beach, which usually takes a team of two scientists. Hes unsure if the survey got done.
In Slatterys termination letter, the Interior Departments director of operations wrote that he was fired based on performance because he failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment. But the performance reviews from his direct supervisors, shared with the Tampa Bay Times, tell a different story.
Michaels performance in supporting the science center this fiscal year has been outstanding, his boss wrote in a review. Slattery took extra initiative and was a natural leader who exceeded expectations. Other Interior Department employees, including park rangers at Floridas only wildlife refuge dedicated to manatees, were also fired despite glowing performance evaluations.
After Slattery was fired, his supervisor sent over documents to his personal email to prove he wasnt let go for his performance.
I realized what an outstanding job you were doing for us, and it made me incredibly sad and frustrated to lose you as a valuable part of our team, his supervisor wrote in a Feb. 20 email. A spokesperson for the department said it wouldnt comment on personnel matters.
Slattery worries that language in his termination letter could prevent him from becoming eligible for unemployment funding from the state or landing another job. He plans to appeal the agencys decision. After a judge paused federal terminations last week, the White House said that firing probationary employees would ultimately be up to each government agency.
Advocacy groups are calling on the Trump administration to reinstate fired employees.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, who represents Tampa Bay, said that the mass firings of employees like Slattery is wasteful and could cost lives.
Neighbors are trying to rebuild from back-to-back hurricanes, and it is not easy, Castor said in a statement to the Times. Indiscriminately firing workers responsible for protecting our coastal communities is shortsighted, makes us less safe, and will cost lives.
Slattery has already submitted a handful of applications for engineering, geology and data jobs. But he says hell miss being a bridge between the scientific community and the public.
Two weeks after he was fired, Slattery drove to Madeira Beach, where he was meant to be carrying out the beach survey he had planned.
In the back seat of his car were remnants of a dream job: computer stands, an old calendar and a book on coastal dynamics.
I feel for the feds getting fired for "performance." on the one hand it could make getting rehired with back pay easier, but on the other it can completely fuck up unemployment and make it harder to get a new job.
Being fired for performance when your performance was not bad affects your ability to get unemployment, and likely affects future employment. Who wants to hire someone that was fired for poor performance?
Will floridians realize that they need to vote out republicans?Theyve been running it here for 30 years so Im guessing no
Being fired for performance when your performance was not bad affects your ability to get unemployment, and likely affects future employment. Who wants to hire someone that was fired for poor performance?I know. I said that. It also makes it easier to appeal their firing if they want to take that route since it's obviously a lie. It's a double edged sword.
Will floridians realize that they need to vote out republicans?
Will floridians realize that they need to vote out republicans?
Why would they? No one is reading these articles highlighting all of the fuck ups this situation is causing. It is literally just left wing internet bubbles spreading this stuff around their peers.
People need to wake up to this if they haven't already. Nobody is realising shit. If you're on the right end of the spectrum your twitter feed is just telling you how many billions Elon is saving you. The right things they are winning.