Seed Savers, Executive Director, Kent Whealy fired!

Crew Leader. Matt Barthel brought Angie into the office for a meeting, gave her a Letter of Reprimand for “inappropriate behavior” and offered her a month’s salary if she would quit right then. Angie refused, feeling that she hadn’t done anything wrong. (Angie grew up on a cattle farm near Decorah and had the good sense to caution Matt Barthel about the dangerous situations his inexperience with these cattle could create.) The next day, Matt Barthel called Angie in for another meeting and (with Diane Ott Whealy sitting in as a witness) he fired her. They wouldn’t give her any reason for her termination (or the Letter of Termination required within five business days by SSE’s Employee Manual).

Most degrading of all, right about then the board mistakenly thought someone had helped me take my personal rolodex from my office, so each employee with an office key was brought in and questioned. Well, if the board’s intent was intimidation (scaring and silencing SSE’s employees), it certainly worked. SSE’s staff was devastated and depressed – if the board could do that to me (after 33 years of service) and also fire Angie without reason (the hardest working employee on the place), what security do any of them have in their jobs? I have no idea if the other board members (Deborah Madison, Rob Johnston and Cary Fowler) have been given complete information by Amy Goldman and Neil Hamilton. Rob and Cary have been friends of mine for 25 and 30 years, and it’s hard for me to believe they would be part of this cold misguided scheme, especially if they had known how it was going to be carried out.

The 13-page Separation (and Confidentiality) Agreement that I have been asked to sign is truly offensive. The agreement offered me more than $240,000 (one year’s salary, a huge bonus, medical insurance, 401K match, etc.), but there is an awful price to pay. Essentially I would have to walk away and never come back, not have access to anything, and never say a word to anyone about SSE. Well, this board has no business using nearly a quarter of a million dollars of SSE’s funds in that way! And I would never have been able to live with myself, if I took even a penny of that money.

I was given 21 days to agree to: not sue Seed Savers or any board members; sign a Confidentiality Agreement that would keep me from saying anything to anybody about SSE; agree to have virtually no access or usage of anything that I’ve ever produced during my 33 years at Seed Savers (all of my writings, photos, research, travel notes and correspondence are now referred to as “SSE’s confidential or proprietary information”); and to never come back. Most outrageous and disturbing of all, I was asked to agree to never again be on SSE’s board.

Twice I tried to amend the Separation Agreement, but my requests were almost entirely refused by “the board.” (Again, I’m not sure how much decision making or reporting is getting beyond Amy and Neil to other board members). For example, I’ve never kept an office at home, so I asked for access to my rolodex and e-mail address book (Denied, except for “purely personal contact information.”). I asked for access and usage of documents and photos I created while at SSE for my “research, publishing and lecturing” (Denied). Prior to purging any paper files that reasonably have any research value, I asked SSE to give me 30 days written notice so I could review such materials (Denied). Unrestricted access to SSE’s library (Denied). Unrestricted access to SSE’s property, including non-public areas (Denied). Guest usage of the log cabin in the North Valley that my Amish friends and I restored in 1993 (Denied).

All of those are simple requests that would have let me continue my life (my research, publishing and lecturing), but my primary concern has been for SSE’s two herds of Ancient White Park cattle. I asked the board for “Adequate assurances that SSE intends to continue its commitment to maintain Twin Valleys as a permanent sanctuary for the Ancient White Park cattle, and to provide necessary care to the cattle through properly trained staff.” The board’s response is deeply disturbing – “We do not believe SSE has any current legal or contractual commitment to maintain Twin Valleys as a permanent sanctuary for the Ancient White Park Cattle. SSE will not make such a commitment to Mr. Whealy.'”

I’ve worked for 21 years to build up two impressively beautiful herds of Ancient White Park cattle, the rarest cattle in the English-speaking world. (These are the sacred cattle described exactly in ancient

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