Rebekah Jones FCHR Investigation

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FCHR No. 202126286
Rebekah Jones COMPLAINANT

do Richard E Johnson, Esq.
The Law Office of Richard B. Johnson
314 W. Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
4pi, ?o'
Florida Department of Health RESPONDENT
do Dee Dee McGee, Equal Opportunity Manager
Florida Department of Health
Office of the General Counsel
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A-02
NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF INVESTIGATIO
This report is issued pursuant to section 112.31895, Florida Statutes. Complainant filed a whistle -
blower retaliation charge with the Florida Commission on Human Relations (Commission)
alleging Respondent retaliated against Complainant in violation of sections 112.3187-112.31895,
Florida Statutes, the 'Whistle-blower's Act (Act). The Commission's investigation did not
substantiate the allegation that Complainant was retaliated against as defined by the Act.
Complainant did make a protected whistleblower disclosure as defined by the Act by filing a
complaint with the Commission. Complainant did disclose either: a) a violation of law "which
creates and presents a substantial and specific danger to the public's health, safety, or welfare;" or
b) actual or suspected "gross mismanagement" as defined by the Act, or "malfeasance,
misfeasance, gross waste of public funds, suspected or actual Medicaid fraud or abuse, or gross
neglect of duty committed by an employee or agent of an agency or independent contractor." FLA.
STAT. ch. 112.3187(5). Complainant did otherwise engage in a protected activity for the purposes
ofsectionl 12.3187(7), Florida Statutes. However, Complainant did not incur an adverse action,
as defined by the Act, after filing a complaint with the Commission. Respondent also articulated
COMMISSIONERS
Monica Cepero Libby Farmer Mario Garza Dawn Hanson
Fort Lauderdale Tallahassee Lakewood Ranch Tallahassee
Larry Hart Darrick D. McGhee Sr., Chair Kenyetta Mullins Moyé Vivian Myrtetus
Fort Myers Tallahassee Tallahassee Miami
Pamela Payne Jay Pichard Angela Primiano, Vice Chair
Jacksonville Tallahassee Hollywood
legitimate, non-retaliatory reasons for subjecting Complainant to the claimed, non-qualifying
adverse action in question. Accordingly, there is not reasonable cause to believe Respondent
subjected Complainant to unlawful whistleblower retaliation.
Pursuant to section 112.3 1895(3)(f), Florida Statutes, I issue this NOTICE OF TERMiNATION
OF INVESTIGATION on behalf of the Florida Commission on Human Relations.
FOR THE FLORIDA COMMISISON ON HUMAN RELATIONS
Dated: . /2
_______________________
C1nne stilla, Executive Director
CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND OF SERVICE
I HERBY CERTIFY that a copy of the foregoing NOTICE OF TERMiNATION OF

INVESTIGATION was filed at Tallahassee, Florida and mailed to the above-named addressees
this 12th_ day of_September 2022. ,
BY: /ati az-

Clerk of the commission/AM
RIGHT TO PROCEED:
If you disagree with the Commission's decision to terminate this investigation, you may:
a. Within 21 days from the date you receive this notice of termination of investigation, file a
Whistle -blower's Act retaliation complaint with the Public Employees Relations
Commission; or
b. Within 180 days from the date you receive this notice of termination of investigation, file
a civil action.
Authority: §112.3 187(8)(a) and 112.3 1895(4)(a), Florida Statutes

A
5/23/2020
11:03 AM
My supervisor, Stacy Shiver, and packed the personal contents of Ms Jones office whiel making
inventory. We them arranged to bring those contents to her home. While delivering her personal
effects, we gave her a copy of the items inventoried, collected her DOH laptop and phone, completed
the exit/separation checklist items with her and had her sign the document. Mr shiver has possession of
those DOH items
5/18/2020
8:06 AM
Re Help with
submitting HR forms
Against my advice, MS jones began actions to terminate OPS employee Ryan Slapikas. Mr. Slapikas is
funded through Zika funding and assigned to the section lead Dr Danielle Stanek for daily activities and
duties, though in People First is assigned to the GIS Manager. During her tenure as Manager, MS Jones
communicated concerns over ability, performance, and response from Mr. Slapikas. During any follow-
up with Mr. Slapikas on my part I received immediate response. Each time I would also check in with Dr
Stanek on performance and would always get feedback that he is an exceptional resource.
4:41
FW GIS.msg
After approval from management, Ms Hicks and I called Ms Jones, who was teleworking at the time,
informing her that she was being separated from the Department.
5:47 PM
RE Account disable.msg
I instructed various parties to disable Ms Jones access
May 16, 2020
10:07 AM
I received an email from Ms Jones stating that she felt the email she sent was a mistake and that its
purpose was to inform everyone that requests that she had been receiving up to that point were to be
directed elsewhere. She had already begun to receive requests for interview.
I met with Ms Jones again and instructed her to redirect any inquiries to DOH Communications.
uhm... uh oh.msg
May 15, 2020
9:30 AM
Ms Jones and I had a conversation about her future with DOH, plans to ramp up for the upcoming Storm
season, and how to more effectively communicate with leadership. The conversation lasted over an
hour and at that time, I felt that it had a positive outcome and that Management Counseling was the
correct option for previous occurrences. So much so that I immediately informed my supervisor of that
conversation with hopes that the behavior was behind us.
1:46 PM
Ms Jones sent an email to all recipients of GIS groups (which is external individuals), subject “COVID
DATA USERS: FINAL NOTICE” stating that she was no longer assigned to the dashboard that in my
opinion casted doubts on the integrity moving forward as she indicated that she was removed because
she would not manipulate data. This email caused and immediate influx of request from media outlets.
May 11 – May 14
Ms Jones had adjusted to not being point on Dashboard and was performing here normal duties and GIS
manager as expected. I asked Ms Jones to come in on May 15 to discuss moving forward and plans for
the upcoming storm season.
May 11, 2020
Again, per my request Ms. Jones helped the team create new links to the public data access are
published allowing public to again have free access to data within the dashboard. Again, very helpful
and the team worked together to correct these issues
May 10, 2020
All display issues to the GIS dashboard created by the move by Ms Jones are corrected. Work begins to
correct public data access to data that is published.
May 9, 2020
Per my request via email, Ms Jones began helping the GIS team to update layers and objects to correct
data being displayed regarding counties and zip codes. The entire team seemed to be getting along and
moving forward.
May 7, 2020
Re Need technical
help.msg
Without discussion with Ms Joiner, myself. or the rest of the GIS Team; Ms Jones made administrative
changes to the GIS COVID-19 dashboard by creating a new Arc GIS online account to be owner of the
COVID-19 dashboard and moved content for the dashboard into that newly created account. These
moves changed the process to some degree of how data was to be updated to the GIS dashboard and
impacted the process by which the team was familiar with. In turn this lead to data corruption of layers
and unnecessary delays and in updates to the dashboard over the next few days until all content was
appropriately moved and layers properly recreated. This change, without my approval, directly
disobeyed my instruction the previous day.
Because the team was not informed, the team began troubleshooting the issue as if it were a system
issue. We asked for the help of Chris Duclos, a GIS manger and only other member with full
administrative right in our system to help. Mr Duclos began making changes in an attempt to the issues
(unknowing caused by Ms jones changes) by modifying ownership of objects to return the process to the
previous state.
During these changes at approximately 1 PM, Mr Duclos Administrative rights to AGO were removed by
Ms Jones with security concerns as reasoning.
1:35 PM
I emailed Ms Jones telling her to restore any permissions and to stop making changes that might impede
further with the updates.
The following emails demonstrate the issues caused by these changes:
Admin rights in AGO Account Dashboard update FW FW Not authorized RE AGOL

AGO.msg permissions change technical issues.msgFlorida.health.GIS Ac to publish.msg Account.msg
8:08 PM
Ms Jones sent an email stating that she would fully restore Ms Duclos rights. However, we discovered
that she restored him to a lesser level than Admin. This left DOH with only one person with Admin level
right to the AGO system and that was MS Jones. Having a single admin goes against all best practices for
IT and put DOH at risk
7:17 PM
With my approval, Mr Duclos emailed the Arc GIS vendor ESRI and submitted a support ticket to restore
not only Chris Duclos as Admin but to also grant myself the same privileges. I also notified them that
any administrative ticket, requests or efforts being requested by individuals by DOH need to have mine
or Mr Duclos approval and that I should be copied on any request.
8:23 PM
I sent an email to MS Jones and copied Mr. Duclos informing her that rights had been restored and given
to me and that no changes were to be made without my approval
8:28 PM
I received an email from MS Jones stating that she was going to Mississippi to spend some time with her
family
May 6, 2020
10:36 AM
RE Employee Labor
Relation Consulting
I contacted, by email, Tiffany Hick in Labor relations at regarding Ms. Jones continued behavior of
conveying information to the public through various formats asking for guidance on actions to take for
this pattern of behavior.
The two recommendations at that time were separation or Management Counseling. At that time Dr.
Blackmore and I felt that Management Counseling would be the appropriate path to be communicated
and carried out upon her return from leave.
12:40 PM
RE COVID 19 GIS
need.msg
I called Ms Jones from my office (Jessica Joiner was in my office at the time of the call), to notify her that
she was being removed from her duties as primary GIS developer on the department s COVID-19
dashboard and that Ms Joiner was to immediately assume that role. She was informed that she was
maintaining her role as GIS team manager and was to resume normal day to day responsibilities, but she
was to cease any duties and administrative roles associated with the COVID-19 GIS dashboard.
3:22 PM
In email I was asked by Tiffany Hicks to elaborate on the insubordinate behavior demonstrated by Ms
Jones
4:11 PM
I responded, by email, with a detailed accounting of instances from 4/9 – 4/30 of Ms Jones
communicating to outside DOH sources about COVID19
5:04 PM
Ms Hicks responded by email informing me of recommendations of action that could be taken against
Ms Jones, which were immediate separation or Management Counseling. At that time, I felt counseling
Ms Jones was the appropriate path.
5:41 PM
I received an email from Ms Jones asking to use some of the approximate 200 hours of extra time she
had put in building the dashboard. At that time, I suggested a week and would consider more if needed.
May 5, 2020
I was instructed by management to replace Ms. Jones as primary on the COVID Dashboard. At 7:53 PM I
sent an email to Chris Duclos requesting the re-assignment of Jessica Joiner to effectively take over as
primary on the dashboard beginning 5/6
From: Jordan, Melissa Murray
To: Curry, Craig J; Reid, Keshia; Duclos, Chris
Subject: RE: COVID 19 GIS need
Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2020 10:52:22 AM
Attachments: image001.png
image002.png
Absolutely, let’s get Jessi started ASAP. This will be great experience for her. Thanks!

From: Curry, Craig J
Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2020 9:48 AM
To: Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>; Reid, Keshia
<Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

Thank you!

With your permission I would like to call Jessie immediately to get her up to speed.

Craig J Curry
IT Director


Division of Disease Control and Health Protection
(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

From: Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>
To: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig
J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Re: COVID 19 GIS need

Hi all,

This is the first I am hearing of this request. We have other staff assisting the Bureau of Epi on the
response, but Dr. Blackmore has discussed the needs with me in advance to determine which staff
are available and best suited for the job. DOH leadership has previously asked that Chris, as our
longstanding GIS expert, cross train with Rebekah to back her up on the dashboard. I was planning to
ask for Jessi’s assistance with a data issue that came up at the EOC yesterday. But I am happy to loan
Jessi out to work on the GIS products if her skills are a good fit and will identify another staff
member to help with the data QI project.

Thanks,
Melissa

Melissa Jordan, MS, MPH
Interim Director
Division of Community Health Promotion
Office: 850-245-4577
Cell: 850-694-0264
From: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>

Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 11:51 PM
To: Duclos, Chris; Curry, Craig J
Cc: Jordan, Melissa Murray

Hi all,

I think a request to activate Jessi for assistance with the Department’s COVID dashboard needs to go
through our Division’s leadership. I’ve copied Melissa Jordan on this request.

Thanks,
Keshia

Get Outlook for iOS
From: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 8:11:23 PM
To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>

Craig,
I contacted Dr. Keshia Reed (the Director of Public Health Research), and she is still Jessi Joiner’s
supervisor, so there is no need to copy Justine Gunderson. Keshia- please see Craig’s message
below.
- Chris

From: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>

To: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>
Subject: COVID 19 GIS need

Chris,

First, I want to thank you for guidance regarding GIS since Parker departure. Being able to get
feedback your on GIS matter s has been invaluable.

Second, per our conversation today, we are in immediate need of support on the Departments
COVID-19 dashboard published on our Online GIS portal. My management is asking that you loan us
Jessie Joiner beginning 5/6 to help with the addition of critical functionality to the dashboard. Thank
you for clarifying that Jessie does not report to you and please help me relay this to the appropriate
person in your Division.

Again, thank you for your understanding and support.

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To: Hicks, Tiffany A
Subject: RE: Employee Labor Relation Consulting needed
Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2020 4:10:00 PM
image006.png
image007.png
4/9/2020 - I was made aware by that Rebekah posted comments on a Facebook post from the
Tallahassee Democrat on April. In those comments she discussed the logic behind the items
displayed on the dashboard and Identified herself as being the person that maintains it. I spoke with
Rebekah on April 9th to make clear that any public release needs to be approved by communications
(which is something we all have to agree to in employee training). She promptly removed those
comments.

https://www.facebook.com/55529405081/posts/10163244404260082/?d=n

4/21/2020 – I received an email from our GIS vendor ESRI, that ESR published an article on the
working being done in the EOC and on the dashboard with pictures. To the best of my knowledge
she did not obtain permission from DOH for this article. Although she did create the dashboard, she
is not the data owner and should not answer questions on how calculations are made. I asked her
on 4/21/2020 if she had DOH Coms permission and again reminded her that permission is needed to
release any data that belongs to DOH.

https://www.esri.com/about/newsroom/blog/scientist-maps-florida-covid19-cases/

4/30/2020 – Ms. Jones maintains a public website she uses to promote her work and opinions. There
is a detailed post 2020 that speaks from a DOH employee viewpoint but adds charts not approved by
DOH with political commentary. I found this post on 5/1/2020 and spoke with her again about
representing FDOH without consent
https://geojones.org/2020/03/30/more-on-coronavirus/

These have all been verbal communication. They are all related to the current pandemic, so I did not
put anything in writing, however I did inform my supervisor on all three occasions.

Ms Jones is responsible for the Departments COVID-19 dashboard and Florida has received
international acclaim for being transparent directly for her fantastic work. She worked with our
Epidemiology section to get the data. Ms Jones creates routines that ‘cleansed’ the data to remove
any PII or PHI that was not already being released in the daily public line list published by our
Communications department. One graph produced regarding event date may have exposed a date
that is not released on the daily published file. Data published on the dashboard is being reviewed
by Epi and other GIS staff to verify. MS Jones was working with internal staff and being directed as
to what objects and graphs to post, however they may have not been aware that the underlying
data was viewable. Dr Blackmore and Dr Roberson may have more to add on this topic as I am not
an expert in Epidemiology.

From: Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>
Sent: Wednesday, May 6, 2020 3:22 PM
Importance: High

Thank you. Please see my follow up questions below highlighted in yellow.

This employee has made a few personnel posts on website and social media regarding
data and web product owned by the Department that she works on without permission
of management or communications. [Can you provide more detail? Do you have
documentation such as screenshots? If so, please provide.]
I have verbally instructed with each post to not represent Department interest in
personnel posts. [You’ve spoken with the employee regarding their posts? If so, please
provide details of the conversation. Was a follow up e-mail sent to the employee?]
Data to these infographics was exposed through electronic means that should have
been identical to data published by our communication department. Now there is now
some question regarding the level of personnel data that is exposed through the
dashboard. [This exposure is due to the actions of Ms. Jones? Please explain further.]

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog
Tiffany Hicks
Labor Relations Consultant
Bureau of Personnel & Human Resource Management
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #B03
(850) 245-4484
(850) 413-6716 (Confidential fax)
How's my customer service? Take our survey.

To: Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>

Rebekah Jones


Good afternoon Craig,

Could you provide me with the employee’s name your below e-mail is referencing?

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484

Subject: Employee Labor Relation Consulting needed

Ms. Hicks,

At the request of Dr. Blackmore and Dr. Roberson, I am looking for guidance on properly
documenting actions of one of my employees and to get guidance on proper preparation in case
action needs to be taken. This employee has made a few personnel posts on website and social
media regarding data and web product owned by the Department that she works on without
permission of management or communications. I have verbally instructed with each post to not
represent Department interest in personnel posts. This employee is responsible for the COVID-19
dashboard. She has worked with all levels of management and the data owner to build the
dashboard to build infographics per exact request. Data to these infographics was exposed through
electronic means that should have been identical to data published by our communication
department. Now there is now some question regarding the level of personnel data that is exposed
through the dashboard. I will work with the data owner of the data to determine if this in indeed
true.

Based on this information my management has asked me to work with you to properly document
and determine the level of action and path forward.

Thank you

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

From: Duclos, Chris
To: Curry, Craig J
Cc: Joiner, Jessica; Konatham, Surenderreddy
Subject: RE: AGOL Account
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2020 11:58:50 AM
Attachments: image001.jpg
image002.jpg
Craig
We are trying to re-create/find all of the files that Rebekah moved around in ArcGIS Online. Did you call her? Maybe hold off for now.
- Chris

From: Duclos Chris
Sent: Thursday May 7 2020 10 48 AM
To: Curry Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Joiner Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>; Konatham Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>
Subject: RE AGOL Account

Craig
Can you please call Rebekah and ask her to put everything back in the Florida.Health_GIS account? Unfortunately it appears that not everything was moved into the new Epidemiology.GIS account. And please
reiterate that Rebekah does not own any of these AGO accounts. They belong to FDOH.
Thanks
- Chris

From: Konatham Surenderreddy
To: Duclos Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Joiner Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>; Curry Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>

All required main service tables and other supported layers are missed except Deathsbyday table and timeseries table.

From: Duclos Chris
To: Konatham Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>
Subject: FW AGOL Account

Suren
Does this mean that Rebekah removed files from the main account that has been supporting the dashboard for several weeks? And not all of the files that we need are in the new Epidemiology.GIS account that
Rebekah created for Jessi to use. Is that correct?
- Chris

To: Duclos Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Joiner Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>

No files or tables in Florida.Health_GIS Account.


Hi I see only two tables marked in snapshot remaining main tables are missed(Cases_data zipcode_data).

Chris

AGOL Group account password changed?

Thank you

Suren
Phone 813.573.6005

From: Joiner, Jessica
To: Curry, Craig J
Cc: Troelstrup, Thomas; Duclos, Chris; Konatham, Surenderreddy
Subject: Dashboard update technical issues
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2020 12:34:04 PM
Hello,

We have been working on moving the files needed to update the COVID dashboard but have run
into some technical issues with the public facing dashboard not updating, even though the
underlying data files have been updated. We think that Dr. Blackmore should be notified, if she has
not already. Suren believe that this issue stems from the application identifiers being changed when
we were moving the data back into the shared account. Chris has reached out to our ESRI contact
Anthony Puzo to request technical assistance in fixing the application identifier connections to the
web dashboard. We are waiting to hear back, and trying to troubleshoot the issue in the meantine.

Thanks,

Jessi Joiner, MPH
Environmental Epidemiologist
Environmental Public Health Tracking
Public Health Research Unit
4052 Bald Cypress Way, BIN A24
Tallahassee, Florida 32399-1712
E-mail: jessica.joiner@flhealth.gov
PH: 850-558-9662

Mission: To protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, &
community efforts.

Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials
regarding state business are public records available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail
communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

From: Anthony Puzzo
To: Duclos, Chris; Lakeisha Coleman
Cc: Konatham, Surenderreddy; Joiner, Jessica; Curry, Craig J
Subject: Re: Need technical help
Lakeisha, can you please schedule some time with Chris to help??
Anthony J Puzzo
Esri
202-714-2411
Apuzzo@esri.com
@anthonypuzzo

Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2020 12:25:20 PM
To: Anthony Puzzo <APuzzo@esri.com>
Cc: Konatham, Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica
<Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Need technical help

Anthony,
It appears that Rebekah may have moved some things around overnight, without our consent. Is
there any way you can make a technical resource available to us ASAP to be able to update our
dashboard today? Or, I am wondering about restoring some AGO content from yesterday
afternoon, if that is possible.
Thank you,
- Chris

Chris DuClos, MS, GISP, CPM,
Environmental Public Health Tracking Program
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
E-mail: chris.duclos@flhealth.gov
PH: 850-245-4264
Mission: To protect, promote, and improve the health of all people
in Florida through integrated state, county, & community efforts.
Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law.
Most written communications to or from state officials
regarding state business are public records available to the
public and media upon request. Your e-mail communications
may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

From: Duclos Chris
To: Curry Craig J
Cc: Shiver Stacy; Joiner Jessica
Subject: FW: Florida.health.GIS Account access issues
Craig,
See below - Rebekah is using her AGO Admin rights to undermine our efforts to get the dashboard back up.
- Chris

From: Konatham, Surenderreddy
Sent: Thursday, May 7, 2020 12:49 PM
Cc: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Florida.health.GIS Account access issues

It seems I loss access permission for Florida.health.GIS Account.

Thank you

Suren
Phone: 813.573.6005

From: Joiner Jessica
To: Duclos, Chris
Cc: Curry Craig J; Troelstrup Thomas
Subject: AGO Account permissions changed
Attachments: image001 jpg
Just FYI, Rebekah has removed my administrator rights in Arc Online. I’m back to only having Publisher level role access

Publisher—User privileges plus the ability to publish features and map tiles as hosted web layers. Members assigned
the Publisher role can also perform analysis on layers in maps. The Publisher role is compatible with
the Creator, GIS Professional, and Insights Analyst user types.
Administrator—Publisher privileges plus privileges to manage the organization and other users. An organization
must have at least one administrator. However, there is no limit to the number of Administrator roles that can be
assigned within an organization. It is recommended that an organization have at least two administrators, while
restricting this role to those who require the additional privileges associated with it. The Administrator role is
compatible with the Creator, GIS Professional, and Insights Analyst user types

Jessi Joiner, MPH
PH: 850-558-9662

Mission: To protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, & community efforts.

Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are
public records available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure.
To: Curry, Craig J
Subject: FW: Not authorized to publish
FYI for updating dashboard

From: Konatham, Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>
To: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>
Subject: RE: Not authorized to publish

Jessi, We need access to Florida.Health_GIS account to upload case_Line data manually.

To: Konatham, Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>

Hi Suren,

Would you please try to run the scripts for R and Python just to make sure they work? I want to be
sure there are no hiccups in the code itself.

Thank you,
Jessi

To: Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>; Jones, Rebekah D
<Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard, Scott
<Scott.Pritchard@flhealth.gov>; Troelstrup, Thomas <Thomas.Troelstrup@flhealth.gov>; Joiner,
Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>; Roberson, Shamarial
<Shamarial.Roberson@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Re: Not authorized to publish

Great. They will work on it. Restore Chris and Jessie's admin access to AGO.

Sent via the Samsung Galaxy Note10+, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
From: Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>
To: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>;
Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard, Scott <Scott.Pritchard@flhealth.gov>;
Troelstrup, Thomas <Thomas.Troelstrup@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica
<Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>

Got it. Let me discuss with the team. We may need you to help us get those files restored before you
go on a well deserved annual leave

Get Outlook for iOS
From: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>

To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard,
Scott <Scott.Pritchard@flhealth.gov>; Troelstrup, Thomas <Thomas.Troelstrup@flhealth.gov>;
Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>; Jordan, Melissa Murray
<Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>; Roberson, Shamarial <Shamarial.Roberson@flhealth.gov>

Zip code layer is toast. Whatever you guys did, the file is corrupted in both English and Spanish now.
You’ll have to redo the entire script for it and create two new shapefiles, upload them to your
account, and THEN rescript the python for transfer. You can’t overwrite the web layer directly
because it’ll retain the errors in the feature layer. That was by far the most frustrating layer to deal
with and was FINALLY operating smoothly this week. It’ll continue to display (I think) for now, but
you can’t update the data.

The county layers and charts have been updated via python successfully. However I noticed some
irregularities on the dashboard regarding date display. You’ll need to fix those, too. If you switch
from HTML editing to the user-friendly visual design option, you’ll undo the customizations in field
display. Just an FYI.

To: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>;
Pritchard, Scott <Scott.Pritchard@flhealth.gov>; Troelstrup, Thomas
<Thomas.Troelstrup@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>
<Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>
Rebecca, restore privileges to Chris. Those are privileges he has had for as long as I have
been here.

Rebekah,
I see that you removed my Administrative rights in ArcGIS Online. Please restore them ASAP.
Thanks,
- Chris

From: Jones, Rebekah D
Craig,

I have offered my help for the updates. I’ve made it pretty simple – you run the R script, you run the
python script. Done. I even emailed Jessi last night letting her know that she needed to change the
python code key for portal to process updates for the new account. I moved the files she needed
into a single folder for the script to call on. Everything was set up, and I did a test run last night –
even sent you a picture of the results – and it ran fine.

However, unbeknownst to me, someone without authorization began removing/changing files from
multiple accounts, for which they did not have full access to do. By changing ownership of files –
which NO ONE has permission to do with the owner’s consent – they moved the wrong files and I
imagine that’s why you’re having issues. One of the zip code files that was moved is a bad, corrupted
file, but it has the same name as the correct one (was stored in an archived folder in my content).
Two of the draft applications that were used for mockups and previews were also moved. This likely
confused the system and it’s not happy. There were old copies that were made and archived in my
content that were moved out of my content, dumped into a single folder, and marked authoritative
by someone else.

I would advise that if you want to replace someone who knows Python, R, HTML, Java and GIS, as
well as AGO application building, maintenance and portal mapping, you make sure that you have
enough staff to complete that skillset.

Everything is exactly where it should be. The update4.py script has been updated with the correct
account code and needs the password – which I had sent to Jessi last night – updated and the portal
key updated, which I had already done to make sure everything went smoothly.

Rebekah,
Do not make any other account changes and do not impede with the current update. If settings
need to be restored to get this update complete do so now.

We can make changes when we have the time do so.

Chris,

Rebekah asked for leave and I approved it. She GIS manager, but COVID-19 Dashboard is being
updated by Jessie, who currently also work for me.

We all work for DOH which the dashboard represents, so let’s get this update complete.

Thanks,

Craig J Curry
IT Director | Division of Disease Control and Health Protection |
phone: 850-245-4231
mobile: 850-491-0063

To: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard, Scott
Cc: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>;
Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>
Rebekah,
Please restore the organizations my ESRI settings, and log out of ArcGIS Online immediately.
Craig put you on AL.
- Chris

To: Pritchard, Scott <Scott.Pritchard@flhealth.gov>; Troelstrup, Thomas
Cc: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Additionally, you will need to request to mark items as authoritative. I see someone who previously
had access to this account mistakenly began marking archived versions of data that have not been
used in over a month as “authoritative.” This is why we typically do not allow users to enable this
feature.

You also moved files without authorization from my account. You absolutely do not have permission
to move any files from another user’s account without their explicit consent. Period. This is a
warning that this behavior clearly violates the conditions of use for ArcGIS Online accounts, and if
the behavior continues, your access may be suspended or revoked. All layers needed to update the
dashboard were in the epi content folder. Part of the reason we only issue shared accounts in rare
cases is because of unethical behavior like this.

In doing so, you likely caused a cascade of errors, which would explain the delay.

Thank you,
RJ

Subject: Not authorized to publish
Hey there,
Couldn't help but notice from the now 91 emails I've gotten about the dashboard being two
hours behind that someone who is not authorized to use the GIS Office online account has
been reassogning maps and data, and publishing it without permission. This account is under
my management as GIS Manager for DOH. You can request a group account for publishing
layers via the group access request form on our sharepoint. I took the time to assign you one
yesterday, but if you prefer to change the account name or details, you may do so through your
profile page on AGO. Instructions for group accounts are linked to the access request form.
Also, the GIS email account should not be listed on this account. You will need to designate
an account holder email address.
Thanks,
RJ
Rebekah Jones, GISP

GIS Manager
-30-
From: Duclos, Chris
To: Curry, Craig J
Subject: Admin rights in AGO
Craig,
I still don’t have Admin rights in AGO. Unless Rebekah does that in the next few hours, I may need to
have you call ESRI Tech Support with me tomorrow morning. Are you in the office tomorrow?
- Chris

PH: 850-245-4264

To: Curry, Craig J
Subject: uhm... uh oh?
Date: Saturday, May 16, 2020 10:07:38 AM
So I sent an email to data users to tell them I’m off the dashboard, I can’t answer their questions,
(aka please stop emailing me 24/7), gave them the info needed to get their API links fixed, etc., and
now a reporter has called me asking why I’m not on it anymore. I said I’m not allowed to do
interviews with the press. I said they’ve got a team working on it now, and that what I meant when I
said don’t expect the same level of accessibility is that they are busy and can’t answer every single
email they get right away, and that it was ridiculous that I managed to do it in the first place, and
that I was tired and needed a break from working two month straight and am finally taking a
vacation..

Is this one of those stupid things I shouldn’t have said? I sent this yesterday about the time my
vpn/email got glitchy, but it looks like it wasn’t actually sent until my passwords were reset… I have
them the updated info and everything. I really don’t want this to be a story, but this lady has called
me like three times.

Please help me.

Rebekah Jones, GISP
GIS Manager| Division of Disease Control and Health Protection
(850) 245-4389 | Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov
4025 Esplanade Way, Room 125X | Tallahassee, FL 32311
The Florida Department of Health's mission is to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state,
county, and community efforts.
Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are public
records available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail communication may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

To: Stanek, Danielle R; Curry, Craig J; Hicks, Tiffany A
Cc: Dawson, Shelly
Subject: Re: Help with submitting HR forms?
Date: Monday, May 18, 2020 10:24:54 AM
image003.png
image004.png
Regardless of his performance within the Epi office, his continued insubordination, inability to
complete jobs on time or correctly, and continued disrespect for the office that employs him,
and his direct supervisor, which is me, has warranted termination for quite some time. He is
currently occupying a position within the GIS Office, which he refuses to cooperate with or
perform work for. If he has a pending offer from another offer, I have no control or influence
over that. Having friends in other offices has no relevance on his behavior as an employee,
and as I have been overseeing his work as he is one of my direct reports, I am requesting
termination. I have plenty of documentation, and even my supervisor, Craig, met with this
employee as to discuss his poor performance in the past. I am quite surprised to see him say
these things, given how he himself characterized Slapikas as being uncooperative, immature
and insubordinate after those meetings.
After recieving four emails in the last week, one of which directly addressed this very
communication and work issue, he has STILL not replied or started working on his assigned
tasks. I have an employee who refuses to follow directions, complete work, or even respond
to me.
Rebekah Jones, GISP

GIS Manager
-30-
From: Stanek, Danielle R <Danielle.Stanek@flhealth.gov>

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 10:09:36 AM
To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>; Jones,
Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>
Subject: RE: Help with submitting HR forms?

I am happy to answer any questions about Mr. Slapikas’ work. He is an outstanding team member
and I receive regular positive feedback from our team about both the quality of Mr. Slapikas’ work as
well as his strong work ethic.
Sincerely,

Danielle Stanek, DVM, DACVPM
State Public Health Veterinarian
Zoonotic and Vectorborne Disease Program
Office 850-245-4117
Cell 850-294-1087
Fax 850-414-6894

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 10:05 AM
To: Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>; Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>; Stanek, Danielle R
<Danielle.Stanek@flhealth.gov>

Ms. Hicks,

Mr. Slapikas is part of the divisions GIS team funded by a Zika grant and receives his work
assignments from our Zika unit, though his supervisor is Ms. Jones. Due to Ms. Jones concerns about
time, I spoke with individuals within the Zika unit and received confirmation that Mr. Slapikas was
indeed completing assignments, was well-respected by members of Zika team, and in fact they are
interested in extending his grant; which ends in 2020. If you would like confirmation of that
conversation or further comment about Mr. Slapikas work for that team; please contact whom I
have copied on this email.

In light of my discussion with the Zika Team, I feel that termination at this time is not the appropriate
action. I would prefer guidance as to working on communication improvement within the team.

Sincerely,

Craig J Curry
IT Director

(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>
Importance: High

Good morning Ms. Jones,

This e-mail is to follow up to the voicemail I left you this morning. I received your justification
document from Ms. Dawson. Please see the attached document providing HR Notes. Supporting
documentation is being requested for further review of your request for termination.

Once your supporting documentation has been received and reviewed, I will follow up with you on
how to proceed with your employee.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484

From: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Shiver, Stacy <Stacy.Shiver@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Subject: FW: Help with submitting HR forms?

Shelly Dawson
Division of Disease Control and Health Protection | Office Phone (850) 245-4053 Cell (850) 528-0320
Florida Department of Health | 4052 Bald Cypress Way | Tallahassee, FL 32399

Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2020 9:50 PM
To: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Help with submitting HR forms?

Shelly,

How do I submit a write up for Ryan Slapikas for gross insubordination (see attachment), and how
would I initiate the termination process if that’s the direction I decide to go?

Thank you,
RJ

Rebekah Jones, GISP

Subject: FW: GIS
Date: Monday, May 18, 2020 2:21:00 PM
image002.png
Ms. Hicks,

Ms. Jones’ response to my initial request to come back from annual.

Please advise on the most appropriate response.

Craig

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 1:49 PM
Subject: Re: GIS

I'm on vacation this week, but we can talk on the phone, or wait until I get back after memorial day.

Rebekah Jones, GISP
GIS Manager
-30-

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 1:03:09 PM
Subject: GIS

Rebekah,

I would like to talk more but would really prefer to speak in person. Let me know when you can
come in today.

Thanks,

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To: Duclos, Chris; Hinson, Parker; Joiner, Jessica
Cc: Yue, Lin; Hicks, Tiffany A
Subject: RE: Account disable
image005.png
image006.png
image007.jpg
Yes. 10 days ago I asked for any request by her be flagged as well

To: Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth gov>; Joiner, Jessica <Jessica Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Re: Account disable

Craig,
Did you tell ESRI that Rebekah is no longer a contact for FDOH?
Chris

From: Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP.gov>

To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica <Jessica Joiner@flhealth.gov>

All Groups ‘owned’ by Rebekah have been put into Jessi’s account. Jessi, required me to bump you to an administrator (to own the Open Data groups/content).

I’ve left all the content itself alone but her AGO’s password has been reset
Her role has been moved from Administrator to User (lowest lvl 2 Role without deleting content)
The email for her profile was updated to Craig.Curry@flhealth gov (so you’ll receive notifications of any password resets, if at all possible at this point)
Contact link for FDOH AGO is: mailto gis@flhealth.gov
Administrative contacts for FDOH AGO are: Chris Duclos and Jessica Joiner
Her account has been ‘disabled’. I confirmed this doesn’t break any of the content. Keeps it intact until moved to a new owner.

Chris – You will need to login to MyEsri and update the admin contact info there.

I believe that covers most bases for now. Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks,

Parker Hinson
GIS Lead – Office of Technology and Information Services
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
850-245-8773

From: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth gov>
To: Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP gov>; Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth gov>; Duclos, Chris <chris.duclos@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>

Yes, I can take over the group ownerships for now and we can get everything fully sorted later

To: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth gov>; Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth gov>

Password reset for the time being. Her account can’t be disabled because she is the owner of groups with special update abilities. I will need some time to change ownership
of those groups.

Jessi? Can I make you the owner of those groups? Or do you have another account in mind?

Parker Hinson
850-245-8773

From: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>
To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <chris.duclos@flhealth gov>; Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP.gov>

Account has been disabled.

Thanks,
Lin

To: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth gov>; Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP.gov>
Subject: Account disable

Lin,

Immediately disable Rebekah Jones Ad account.

Parker/Chris,

Immediately disable Rebekah Jones access to AGO

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

From: Roberson, Shamarial
To: DeVoe, Lucas T
Cc: St Laurent, Lou se R; McGee, Dee Dee
Subject: RE: External Complaint of D scrimination EO #2007004 / FCHR #202126286_Rebekah Jones
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 12:54:50 PM
Good Afternoon,

Please see the correspondence below as referenced in the affidavit

Sincerely,

Shamarial Roberson, DrPH, MPH
Deputy Secretary for Health
Tallahassee, FL 32399-1721
Phone: 850-245-4391
Email: shamarial.roberson@flhealth.gov
*****************************
Mission To protect, promote & improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, & community efforts. Please note Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding
state business are public records available to the public and media on request. Your e-mail communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

To: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah Jones@flhealth gov>; Blackmore, Carina <Carina Blackmore@flhealth gov>
Subject: RE: Follow-up

Good Evening,

Please note:

All deaths are displayed here Florida and non-Florida residents:
https://www cdc gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/

Florida residents deaths are displayed here*:
https://experience arcgis com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38ddedb9b25e429
https://floridadisaster org/globalassets/covid19/dailies/covid-19-data---daily-report-2020-05-05-0941 pdf (PDF 5/5/202)
*Please note there is a query option on the FDOH Open Data portion of the Florida's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard that includes non-Florida deaths which is
reflected and displayed on the CDC website

Sincerely,

Phone: 850-245-4391
*****************************

From: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah Jones@flhealth gov>
To: Blackmore, Carina <Carina Blackmore@flhealth gov>; Roberson, Shamarial <Shamarial Roberson@flhealth gov>
Subject: Follow-up

So I checked, and EPI DOES report non-Florida residents in the case-line PDF report published by EPI each morning Here s a screenshot of today s report:

I don t particularly care whether we report non-resident cases or not But I think we should be consistent with it either way None of the data schema has changed on my end Leah
explained the difference between the event date in cases, event date in deaths, etc The way I am using it, it is the earliest case associated with a case – either self-reported onset,
diagnosis date, or lab date We went through it over and over to make sure it was correct I have date of death internally for every case, and that date field does not match the event
date field used here The death date used is based on the confirmed/verified date of death, not the death reported date, which is why we don t show death date figures in the
dashboard for the previous two days Again, none of this new, EPI has known the entire time that this data was being published and where I have sent detailed requests asking for
verification and clear definitions of the data being published

Here s a snippet of the case date, event date, and death date I have from the cases data:

We added in the new metrics data, but I don t even process that data – Leah does (I think Sam does the ESSENCE data)

All of the data fields – except testing data and “total cases” – are restricted to dx == confirmed (confirmed positive cases), and jurisdiction != non-fl resident So all of the time-series
charts (new cases and deaths by day), demographic (race, age, gender) data, hospitalizations and death counts are only Florida residents and Florida residents diagnosed/etc outside of
Florida only

Rebekah Jones, GISP
4025 Esplanade Way Room 125X | Tallahassee FL 32311
The Florida Department of Health's mission is to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.
Please note Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regard ng state business are pub ic records available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail communication may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

From: DeVoe, Lucas T <Lucas DeVoe@flhealth gov>
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 9:34 AM
To: Roberson, Shamarial <Shamarial Roberson@flhealth gov>
Cc: St Laurent, Louise R <Louise StLaurent@flhealth gov>; McGee, Dee Dee <DeeDee McGee@flhealth gov>
Subject: External Complaint of Discrimination EO #2007004 / FCHR #202126286_Rebekah Jones
Importance: High

Good morning Dr Roberson,

I have received your affidavit regarding the above referenced matter Upon review, I noticed that you referenced attached correspondence between yourself and Ms Jones However, I
don t believe the correspondence was attached Please send me the correspondence you were referring to in your affidavit (item 31-question about additional information) The
response is due to the external agency on Monday, so please provide the information no later than close of business on August 13, 2020 I appreciate your assistance and continued
cooperation!

Respectfully,

Lucas T DeVoe
Inspector Specialist
Office of General Counsel
Equal Opportunity Section
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #A02
(850) 617-1418

People First - Action History Page 1 of 1
EAP
   
Timesheet Account Submit Log Off
LUCAS TRENT DEVOE

  INSPECTOR SPECIALIST - SES
Manager Employee Department of Health
Manager / My Team / Work Information / Action History

Action
 History
PATRICK
S PRITCHARD - BIOLOGICAL ADMINISTRATOR II -
Action Action Reason Agency Position Position Title Effective Date End Date
Voluntary Sepa… Move to Private… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 07/18/2020 12/31/9999 
Pay Change SMS/SES Discr… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 10/21/2019 07/17/2020
Pay Change Legislative Man… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 10/01/2017 10/20/2019
Employee Sync Employee Sync Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 07/28/2017 09/30/2017
Pay Change Legislative Man… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 10/01/2013 07/27/2017 
07/18/2020 12/31/9999
 Effective Date End Date
Action Voluntary Separation
Action Reason Move to Private Sector
Leave of Abs…
Position 64002375 BIOLOGICAL ADMINIST
Agency Department of Health
 
Contact Settings Links
https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/peoplefirst/index.html?sap-client=230&sap-language=EN... 8/6/2020
People First - Contact Information Page 1 of 1
EAP
   
LUCAS TRENT DEVOE

Manager / My Team / Personal Information / Contact Information

Contact
Information
PATRICK
Address Type Address City State ZIP Effective Date End Date
Home Address 1156 WINTER LN TALLAHASS… FL 32311-1269 07/16/2020 12/31/9999
Mailing Address 1156 WINTER LANE TALLAHASS… FL 32311-0000 04/16/2020 12/31/9999
Notification Em… SCOTT.PRITCHARD@FLHEALT… 04/16/2020 12/31/9999
Your current mailing address will be used for mailed correspondence. If there is no active mailing address, then the home
address will be used.
Effective Date 07/16/2020 End Date 12/31/9999


Address Type Home Address
Address Line 1 1156 WINTER LN Address Line 2
ZIP Code 32311-1269 City TALLAHASSEE
State Florida Country US USA
Home County LEON Work County 037 Leon
Mobile Phone 941 380-6061 Alternate Phone 000
 
https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/peoplefirst/index.html?sap-client=230&sap-language=E... 8/12/2020
image002.png
Ms. Hicks,

true.


Thank you

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

From: Hicks, Tiffany A
To: Curry, Craig J
image002.png
image003.png
Craig,

Thank you for your elaboration. Please see the following recommendations for this situation.

1. Ms. Jones is an SES employee and our department does not practice “formal” discipline on
SES employees. As you previously stated, you have spoken with the employee verbally on
several occasions. With the approval of your management chain, management may move
forward with separation at this time.

2. Issue a “Management Counseling” to address and document the recent incidents. This
document would be informal and would not be placed in the employee’s personnel file, but it
would be drafted by myself. The employee will be asked to sign the document and it will be
placed in an LR Contact file. If similar behavior continues, it is a management’s decision to
move forward with termination.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


comments.







Importance: High



Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


Rebekah Jones




Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


Ms. Hicks,

true.


Thank you

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

5/23/2020
11:03 AM
those DOH items
5/18/2020
8:06 AM
4:41
After approval from management Ms Hicks and I called Ms Jones, who was teleworking at the time,
May 16, 2020
10:07 AM
purpose was to inform everyone that requests that she had been receiving up t that point were to be
May 15, 2020
9:30 AM
1:46 PM
Ms Jones sent am email to all recipients of GIS groups (which is external individuals), subject “COVID
Ms. Jones sent an email to the DOH GIS Users listserv informing them that she was no longer working on
the Dashboard and insinuates that data may be restricted and team will not be transparent.
May 11 – May 14
May 11, 2020
published allowing public to again have free access to data within the dashboard. Again very helpful and
the team worked together to correct these issues
May 10, 2020
May 9, 2020
moving forward.
May 7, 2020
Without discussion with Ms Joiner, myself on the rest of the GIS Team; Ms Jones made administrative
changes to the GIS dashboard by creating a new Arc GIS online account to be owner of the GIS
dashboard and moved content for the dashboard into that newly created account. These moves change
the process to some degree of how data was to be updated to the GIS dashboard and impacted the
process by which the team was familiar with. In turn this created unnecessary delays in updates to the
dashboard over the next few days until all content was appropriately moved and layers properly
recreated. This change, without my approval, directly disobeyed my instruction the previous day.
administrative right in our system to help. Mr Duclos began make changes in an attempt to the issues
previous state.
Ms Jones with secutiy concerns as reasoning.
1:35 PM
8:08 PM
Ms Jones sent an email stating that she would fully restore Ms Duclos rights. However we discovered
7:17 PM
8:23 PM
8:28 PM
family
May 6, 2020
10:36 AM
conveying information to the public though various formats asking for guidance on actions to take for
12:40 PM
3:22 PM
Jones
4:11 PM
5:04 PM
5:41 PM
May 5, 2020
From: Blackmore, Carina
To: Hicks, Tiffany A; Curry, Craig J
Subject: Re: Labor Relations Advice
image004.png
image005.png
Yes
Get Outlook for iOS

Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2020 11:32:09 AM
Cc: Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>
Subject: RE: Labor Relations Advice

Good morning Craig,

My boss, Amy Graham, and I spoke with Dr. Roberson yesterday evening. Please be sure to provide
any additional supporting documentation you may have. Once received, I will update the FLHD-HR
ticket.

Also, Dr. Blackmore, by responding to this e-mail you concur with the recommended action for the
employee.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484

Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 12:41 PM
Subject: Labor Relations Advice

Per my voicemail this morning, I need advice on how to proceed with communicating with an
employee.

Thanks,

Craig J Curry
IT Director

(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To:
Cc: Curry, Craig J
Subject: Separation Documents (Jones, R.)
Attachments: Jones R. - SES Dismissal (using AL).pdf
image001.png
Jones, R. - Cover Memo (Settlement Agreement).pdf
Jones, R. - Resignation Settlement (using leave).pdf
Importance: High
Good afternoon Ms. Jones,

Per our recent conversation, I am attaching the separation documents discussed. Please read the
resignation settlement agreement and contact me with any questions at (850) 245-4484 or via e-
mail. If you choose to resign via the resignation settlement agreement, please return all pages of
the settlement agreement with your initials on the bottom of each page and your signature on the
last page to me by close of business Thursday, May 21, 2020.

Also, as stated during the phone call, if you wish to make a public records request, please contact
Ms. Scarlett Buchanan at (850) 245-4166 and/or Scarlett.Buchanan@flhealth.gov to initiate the
process.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484
Mission: Promote, protect and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.
Vision: To be the Healthiest State in the Nation
Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business
are public records available to the public and media upon request. Your email communications may therefore be subject to public
disclosure.

Ron DeSantis
Mission: Governor
To protect, promote & improve the health
of all people in Florida through integrated
state, county & community efforts. Scott A. Rivkees, MD
State Surgeon General
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
DATE: May 18, 2020
TO: Rebekah Jones
FROM: Tiffany Hicks, Labor Relations Consultant
SUBJECT: Resignation Settlement Agreement
The resignation settlement agreement allows you to resign in lieu of dismissal. Should you wish to
choose this option, your resignation will be effective Monday, May 25, 2020. Please read the
resignation settlement agreement and contact me with any questions at (850) 245-4484. If you choose
to resign via the resignation settlement agreement, please return all pages of the settlement agreement
with your initials on the bottom of each page and your signature on the last page to me by close of
business Thursday, May 21, 2020.
For your convenience, you may either fax the signed settlement agreement to the Human Resources
confidential fax machine at (850) 413-6716 or email it to me at Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov; however,
you must communicate to me before close of business Thursday, May 21, 2020, if you choose to resign
pursuant to the settlement agreement. If I do not hear from you by that time, the dismissal will be final.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (850) 245-4484.

Division of Administration
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin • Tallahassee, FL 32399
PHONE: 850/245-4188 • FAX: 850/413-6716
FloridaHealth.gov
REBEKAH JONES
Employee,
and
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,
Agency.
____________________________/
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
The parties have agreed to settle this matter as follows:
1. The Employee acknowledges that she received a copy of this Settlement
Agreement (“Agreement”) on May 18, 2020.
2. The Employee agrees to resign effective at the close of business Monday,
May 25, 2020. The Agency accepts the resignation in lieu of taking disciplinary action.
This Agreement constitutes the Employee’s resignation and the Agency’s acceptance of
the resignation.
3. The Employee’s last day in the office will be Monday, May 18, 2020. The
employee shall utilize accrued annual leave as necessary after the execution of this
agreement in order to reach a total of an eight (8) hour work day on Monday, May 18,
2020. In addition, the employee shall utilize accrued annual leave beginning Tuesday,
May 19, 2020 through Friday, May 22, 2020. The employee will be paid for the
Memorial Day Holiday. The Employee shall be paid for all unused leave credits
remaining at the effective date of resignation, as provided by law and rule.
4. The Agency agrees to mark the dismissal letter “Void” and place it in the
Voided document type in the Employee’s electronic personnel file.
Employee Initials: _____

REBEKAH JONES
Page 2 of 4
5. The Employee agrees and understands that at no point during her
upcoming period of leave shall she take any action under the apparent authority of the
Florida Department of Health.
6. The Agency agrees to provide the following information to any prospective
employer outside of the Agency inquiring about the Employee:
a. Beginning and ending date of employment.

b. Position held.
c. Rate of pay while employed.
d. Performance appraisals.
7. The Employee understands that information in her personnel file is public
record and, as such, must be provided upon request to anyone desiring copies. The
Employee further understands that it is her responsibility to ensure that prospective
employers contact the appropriate Agency Human Resource Management Office when
inquiring about work history.
8. As of the date of this agreement, the appropriate Human Resource
Management Office is the 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Ms.
Scarlett Buchanan is the current custodian of the Employee’s personnel file and Ms. Tiffany
Hicks is the appropriate Labor Relations Consultant. These individuals or their designees
should be contacted at telephone number (850) 245-4188
9. The Employee may only be rehired by the Agency in accordance with the
Agency’s policy regarding the same.
10. The Agency agrees that it will not contest an application for reemployment
assistance formerly unemployment compensation benefits, filed by the Employee. The
Employee understands that the Agency does not determine eligibility for such benefits.

REBEKAH JONES
Page 3 of 4
11. The Employee, for herself, her attorneys, heirs, executors, administrators,
successors and assigns, does forever release, acquit, and discharge the State of Florida,
Florida Department of Health and its past and present employees and contractors
(collectively referred to as the “Agency”), of and from any and all claims, actions, causes
of action, demands, rights, damages, costs, loss of service, expenses and compensation
whatsoever, including, but not limited to, any and all claims of discrimination, harassment,
or retaliation under any federal, state, county, or other local statute, law, ordinance, or
regulation, claims asserted in any federal, state or administrative action, including the Public
Employees Relations Commission, grievances brought pursuant to any collective bargaining
agreement, or any other claims that were or might have been asserted by or on behalf of the
Employee against the Agency, which the undersigned now has or which may hereafter
accrue on account of or in any way grow out of any and all known and unknown,
foreseen and unforeseen claims and consequences thereof resulting or to result from any
occurrence that happened as a result of her employment with the Florida Department of
Health through the date the Employee signs this Agreement, but excluding any claims that
by law cannot be released in this Agreement.
12. The parties agree that this is the entire agreement between them. This
Settlement Agreement overrides and replaces all prior negotiations and terms proposed or
discussed, whether in writing or orally, about the subject matter of this Agreement. No
modification of this Settlement Agreement will be valid unless it is in writing identified
as an Amendment to the Agreement and is signed by the Employee and an authorized
representative of the Agency. If any provision of this Agreement is construed by a court
of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, that construction does not

REBEKAH JONES
Page 4 of 4
affect the remainder of this agreement, which is to be given full force and effect without
regard to the invalid or unenforceable provision. Any invalid or unenforceable provision
is to be reformed to the maximum scope permitted by applicable law, so as to be valid
and enforceable and adhere as closely as possible to the express intent of the original
provision.
13. The settlement of this matter is not an admission of wrongdoing or guilt
by either party.
14. By signing this Agreement, the Employee acknowledges that she has
carefully reviewed and considered this Agreement, that she understands the terms of the
Agreement, that she has had the opportunity to consult with or obtain representation from
an attorney, and that she freely and voluntarily agrees to the terms of the Agreement.
This Settlement Agreement is dated this ____ day of May, 2020.
___________________________________ ______________________
CARINA BLACKMORE, DCM, PhD, Dipl ACVPM REBEKAH JONES
State Epidemiologist Employee
Director,

Ron DeSantis
Mission: Governor
May 18, 2020
FED EX Overnight - Article #
Ms. Rebekah Jones
Dear Ms. Jones:
This is to officially inform you that you are being dismissed from your position as an Environment
Scientist & Spec, Incl Hlth – L4 (Environmental Hlth Program Consultant), effective close of business
on Monday, May 25, 2020. You may use your available annual leave through the effective date.
This action is being taken pursuant to Section 110.604, Florida Statutes, and Rule 60L-36.005(3),
Florida Administrative Code. Section 110.604, Florida Statutes, provides that employees in the
Selected Exempt Service shall serve at the pleasure of the agency head and shall be subject to
dismissal at the discretion of the agency head. You may, therefore, be dismissed at will. This
personnel action is exempt from the provisions of Chapter 120, Florida Statutes.
Please contact Jawanna Whetsel, at (850) 617-5839 regarding your options for insurance and other
benefits.
Sincerely,
Carina Blackmore, DVM, PhD, Dipl ACVPM

State Epidemiologist
Director
cc: Personnel File

Amy A. Graham, Chief, Personnel & Human Resource Management
Riley Landy, Esquire

4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin A-09 • Tallahassee, FL 32399
PHONE: 850/245-4300 • FAX 850/245-4297
FloridaHealth.gov
Department of Health Office of Communications
Communications Policy
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 1 of 18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION PAGE
I. Policy 2
II. Authority 2
III. Supportive Data 2
IV. Signature Block with Effective Date 2
V. Definitions 3
VI. Protocols 4
A. Outcomes 4
B. Personnel 4
C. Competencies 4
D. Areas of Responsibility 5
VII. Procedures 9
A. Media Relations 9
B. Internal Employee Communications 12
C. Marketing and Social Media 13
D. Internet Web Content Management 15
E. Correspondence Management 15
F. Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Training 12
VIII. Distribution List 15
IX. History Notes 15
X. Appendices 15
A. DOH Photo Release Form 15
B. What is News 15
C. PIO Training Requirements 15
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 2 of 18
I. Policy
The Florida Department Health is authorized by law to protect, promote and improve the
health of all residents and visitors of Florida. This mission is supported through the
provision of communications products and services that meet the needs of the agency
customers, partners and stakeholders.
It is the policy of the Department to provide accessible and actionable information through
a variety of formats that is socially, culturally and linguistically appropriate and advances
the agency mission. The policy further requires:
x Systematic collection and analysis of customer, partner and stakeholder
requirements for communications products and services;
x Documentation, monitoring and improvement of communications processes;
x Evaluation and improvement of communications products and services based on
identified customer requirements.
II. Authority
A. Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 1996
B. Chapter 119, Florida Statute, Government in the Sunshine and Public Records
C. Chapter 381, Florida Statute, Public Health: General Provisions
1. Section 381.0011, Florida Statutes Duties and powers of the Department of
Health
2. Section 381.0031(6), Florida Statutes Epidemiological research; report of
diseases of public health significance to department
D. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
III. Supportive Data
A. DOH Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), Crisis and Emergency Risk
Communications (CERC) Annex
B. DOHP 50-10 Information Security and Privacy Policy
C. DOHP 5-3 Correspondence and Report Policy
D. Florida Department of Health Brand and Communications Style Guide
E. The federal plain language website located at http://www.plainlanguage.gov/
F. DOHP 30-1 Public Records Request
G. DOHP 250-2 Records Management
IV. Signature Block with Effective Date
6LJQDWXUH RQ ILOH

Kim E. Barnhill, MS, MPH Date
Chief of Staff
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 3 of 18
V. Definitions
A. Actionable (action statement): Information that is capable of being acted on.
B. CERC: Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Annex.
C. CHD: County Health Department.

D. CLAS: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services.
E. Communication Liaisons: Designated DOH staff working in their respective division
or office that with the Office of Communications and Subject Matter Experts to
gather and share information.
F. Customer: A person or group who receives services from the Florida Department of
Health.
G. DOH: Florida Department of Health.
H. EOP: Emergency Operations Plan.
I. Executive Management: The State Surgeon General, Chief of Staff, Deputy

Secretaries, Communications Director, General Counsel and Inspector General.
J. General Public: A collective term used to refer to any non-governmental person,
persons, or organized groups of persons in the public or private sectors.
K. Media Inquiry: This is a request from the media for information made through email
or a phone call (media calls), interview requests, and public records requests.
L. Partners: A person or group working with the Florida Department of Health.
M. Public Information: All documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs,
films, sound recordings, data processing software, or other material, regardless of
the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received
pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business
by any agency which is not confidential and has not been exempted from public
disclosure by statute.
N. Public Information Officer (PIO): Designated DOH staff responsible for promoting the
mission and vision of the Department using multiple formats to educate and motivate
the public they serve as well as the news media.
O. Senior Management: The State Surgeon General, Chief of Staff, Deputy Secretaries,
Bureau Chiefs, Division/Office Directors and County Health Department
Directors/Administrators.
P. Shall: Must
Q. Stakeholder: A person or group having a stake or interest in the performance of the
R. Spokesperson: Subject matter or technical expert designated by the Office of
Communications and tasked with providing detailed information for public
distribution, as well as on-camera interviews and phone or sit-down interviews with
the media.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 4 of 18
S. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): DOH staff designated as subject matter or technical
specialists for their area(s) of expertise.
VI. Protocols
A. Outcomes
1. Florida Department of Health is recognized as a credible source of health
information.
2. Public awareness and understanding of the Florida Department of Health, the
role of public health, services provided to communities and resources
available to the public.
3. Informed, engaged, and educated customers, partners and stakeholders.
B. Personnel
1. Executive Management
2. Senior Management
3. Director, Office of Communications
4. Office of Communications Staff
5. Public Information Officers
6. Subject Matter Experts
7. Communication Liaisons
C. Competencies
1. Communicate effectively with individuals, families, groups, communities and
colleagues.
2. Interpret information for professional, non-professional and community
audiences.
3. Use current technology to communicate effectively.
4. Communicate complex information in a manner that is easily understandable
to the non-expert.
5. Appropriately communicate information to scientific and public health
professionals.
6. Write in a clear, logical and grammatically correct manner in formal and
informal written communications.
7. Speak in a clear, logical and grammatically correct manner in formal and
informal public health settings.
8. Know Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards.
9. Train and retain knowledgeable staff who provide information services to the
public.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 5 of 18
D. Areas of Responsibility
1. The demand for communications products and services as well as the
methods for dissemination of these products is continuously changing and
evolving. This policy is organized around four interrelated and interacting
functions. Considered together, these functional areas provide the
foundation for a flexible, adaptive communications infrastructure that is
responsive to the needs of our customers, partners and stakeholders.
a. Function 1: Provision of actionable information that is socially,
culturally and linguistically appropriate and advances the agency
mission. Minimum standards for this function:
(1) Target audience for information clearly identified;
(2) Customer requirements related to information identified;
(3) Information is accessible based on customer requirements;
(4) Information includes action statement;
(5) Information meets social, cultural, linguistic and accessibility
standards;
(6) Information aligns to DOH mission and priorities.
b. Function 2: Systematic collection and analysis of customer, partner
and stakeholder requirements for communications products and
services. The department may use a variety of methods to collect
customer feedback such as surveys, interviews and/or focus groups.
Feedback will be incorporated into the product or service
development, delivery and evaluation processes. The feedback
collection method should be appropriate for the target audience and
intended impact. Statistical analysis of customer feedback will be
conducted using recognized methods.
c. Function 3: Documentation, monitoring and improvement of
communications processes. Key communications processes:
(1) Media Relations
(2) Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications
(3) Internal employee communications
(4) Marketing and Social Media
(5) Web Content Management
(6) Correspondence Management
d. Function 4: Evaluate the impact of communication products and
services based on agency-strategic priorities. The department may
use qualitative and/or quantitative evaluation methodologies to assess
the impact of a communications product or service on health
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 6 of 18
outcomes. Evaluation data will be used WR improve communications
products and services.
2. Roles and Responsibilities:
a. State Surgeon General is responsible to:
(1) Provide strategic direction for communications priorities
during routine business operations and emergency or
disaster situations.
(2) Establish agency communications infrastructure that
supports the implementation of the strategic communications
priorities.
(3) Activate DOH CERC Annex to the EOP as indicated by
public health threat, emergency or disaster.
(4) Serve as a spokesperson for the Florida Department of
Health.
(5) Designate additional agency spokespersons as needed.
b. Chief of Staff is responsible to:
(1) Provide direct supervision of the Director for the Office of
Communications.
(2) Ensure operations meet standards set forth in law, rule,
policy and procedure.
(3) Serve as an agency spokesperson when designated by the
State Surgeon General.
c. Director, Office of Communications is responsible to direct agency
communication operations to:
(1) Ensure DOHP 85-01 Communications Policy is maintained
and implemented.
(2) Ensure DOH Communications Strategy is developed,
implemented and updated at least biennially.
(3) Ensure communications processes are documented,
monitored and improved upon.
(4) Coordinate the evaluation of communications products and
services.
(5) Ensure customer, partner and stakeholder requirement
analyses are used to improve communications products and
services.
(6) Coordinate media training for designated DOH Senior
Management and other communications professionals.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 7 of 18
(7) Serve as the agency liaison to the Executive Office of the
Governor’s Communications Director.
(9) Recommend improvements in communications infrastructure
necessary to implement the Communications Strategy and
Communications Policy to Executive Management.
(10) Designate emergency response roles for Office of
Communications staff.
(11) Designate staff to be responsible for key communications
processes including the following:
(a) Press Secretary is responsible to develop, implement
and improve the media relations process and
procedures outlined in this policy.
(b) Internal Communications Manager is responsible to
develop, implement and improve the internal
communications process.
(c) Integrated Marketing Director is responsible to develop,
implement and improve the marketing process and the
DOH Social Media Policy.
(d) Web Content Manager is responsible to develop,
implement and improve the web content management
process.
(e) Correspondence Manager is responsible to develop,
implement and improve the correspondence
management process and DOH Correspondence
Policy.
(f) Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Director is
responsible to develop implement and improve the
CERC preparedness and training processes, and the
DOH Emergency Operations Plan, CERC Annex.
d. Director, Office of Performance and Quality Improvement is
responsible to systematically collect, analyze and disseminate
customer, partner and stakeholder feedback for communications
products and services. The office may also assist with development
of evaluation plans for communication products and services.
e. DOH Emergency Coordination Officer is responsible to:
(1) Ensure crisis and emergency risk communications
preparedness plans, processes, procedures and resources
are developed, tested and improved.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 8 of 18
(2) Implement crisis and emergency risk communications plans
during a declared emergency or disaster, or when otherwise
directed by the State Surgeon General.
(3) Facilitate requests for communications expertise during a
declared emergency or disaster, or when otherwise directed
by the State Surgeon General.
f. Office of Minority Health is responsible for the CLAS assessment and
providing resources to assist programs with cultural competency.
g. Office of Information Technology is responsible for implementing
information technology and technical expertise services necessary to
maintain websites, Online Newsroom and other information sharing
tools.
h. Division Directors, Bureau Chiefs and Office Directors are responsible
to:
(1) Serve as subject matter experts for communications products
and services.
(2) Designate communications liaisons, correspondence
liaisons, and/or spokespersons as required in DOH policy or
requested by the Director of the Office of Communications.
(3) Ensure staff are aware of and comply with communication
policy and procedures.
(4) Maintain confidentiality of protected health information.
(5) Ensure messages to customers, partners and stakeholders
are consistent with agency position.
(7) Participate in crisis and emergency risk communications
trainings when offered.
i. County Health Department Directors/Administrators are responsible
to:
and services.
(2) Serve as an agency spokesperson within their county
(3) Designate public information officers and spokespersons as
required in DOH policy or requested by the Director of the
Office of Communications.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 9 of 18
(7) Develop and maintain a County Crisis and Emergency Risk
Communications plan.
j. Public Information Officers (PIOs) are responsible to:
(1) Implement media relations procedures.
(2) Prepare information products for the media.
(3) Develop and maintain relationships with media, other public
information officers and other communications professionals.
(4) Facilitate preparation of spokespersons for media interviews
(5) Coordinate with the Office of Communications on media
inquiries.
(6) Complete all required training.
k. Subject Matter Experts (SME) are responsible to:
(1) Provide prompt, accurate, detailed information on specific
public health-related topics as requested by PIOs.
(2) Understand the importance of responding and providing
information to media in a specified timeframe, as deemed
necessary.
(3) If designated as a spokesperson, complete all required
training.
l. Communications Liaisons are responsible to:
(1) Support the Office of Communications staff in maintaining
effective media relations.
(2) Identify and assist SMEs in gathering and sharing prompt,
accurate, detailed information on specific public health-
related topics.
(3) Act as the liaison between their program office and the Office
of Communications.
VII. Procedures
A. Media Relations
The Department of Health will sustain an open, effective and positive relationship
with media organizations and representatives to support the primary mission of
protecting and promoting the health of all residents and visitors of Florida, while
assuring the information provided is accurate, actionable, and consistent; and
complies with the Department’s policies regarding confidentiality and records
management through:
x Media monitoring
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 10 of 18
x Responding to media inquiries
x Providing media access to DOH
x Producing written materials for media
1. Media Monitoring
Media monitoring is done to ensure Department leadership has accurate,
timely knowledge of Department-related media coverage.
a. The Office of Communications conducts the following media
monitoring tasks daily:
(1) Log all media calls/emails
(2) Track media articles and news coverage
(3) Create Google Alerts to monitor media and social media
activity
(4) Compile health-related and agency-specific news clips
b. The Office of Communications disseminates current summaries of
health-related and agency-specific information daily to the identified
distribution lists.
c. The Office of Communications maintains current distribution lists for
disseminating health-related and agency-specific information.
2. Responding to Media Inquires
Media inquiries come in the form of calls, emails, public records requests and
interview requests from members of the press (See Appendix A).
a. The Office of Communications coordinates an agency response to
media inquires and the reporting of news stories.
b. The DOH Press Secretary and Deputy Press Secretary are available
24 hours a day to respond to internal and external issues critical to the
function of DOH staff and programs.
(1) The Deputy Press Secretary coordinates responses to all
Pedia inquiries regarding MQA issues or Eoards regulated
by DOH.
c. Designated agency PIOs and spokespersons serve as the primary
liaisons between the Department and the media.
d. The Office of Communications is responsible to educate DOH Senior
Management on the appropriate procedures for interacting with the
media.
e. Each media inquiry will be addressed within the following timeframes:
(1) PIOs are required to respond to all Department-related
media inquiries and should acknowledge media inquiries
within thirty minutes of receipt, providing the reporter an
estimated timeframe for response.
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DOHP 85-01-13 Page 11 of 18
(2) Media inquiries must be completed within 24 hours.
Extension to the response time may be granted by the
Director of the Office of Communications or County Health
Department Director/Administrator.
(3) If the requested facts are unknown or are otherwise
unavailable, the requesting party shall be notified within 24
hours.
f. The accuracy of media responses will ensure the following:
(1) All appropriate stakeholders will validate information.
(2) Local CHD attorneys or the General Counsel shall be
consulted upon requests for information related to lawsuits,
confidential patient information, inquiries involving legal
interpretations and agency reactions to local, state, or federal
board decisions.
g. PIOs shall ensure that no protected health information is released.
h. The following scenarios require CHD PIOs to coordinate with the
Office of Communications prior to providing requested information to
the media:
(1) News requests with potentially negative impacts regarding
DOH’s credibility or reputation (e.g. rumors, coverage that is
inadequate, incorrect).
(2) News requests are controversial in nature.
(3) News requests that have implications for the Governor, State
Surgeon General, County Health Director/Administrator or
other senior leadership positions.
3. Media Access to DOH Staff and Properties
a. PIOs should verify media credentials and gain a clear understanding
of the media’s expectations for the visit.
b. PIOs are responsible for ensuring media representatives comply with
all safety and security procedures including:
(1) Prominently displaying identification while on DOH
properties.
(2) Obtaining photo release forms from any DOH personnel or
clients before inheriting any photos or identifying information
(See Appendix B).
(3) Property specific security procedures are followed.
4. Producing Written Materials for Media
a. All written materials for media shall:
(1) Be on official letterhead or contain the DOH logo.
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DOHP 85-01-13 Page 12 of 18
(2) Follow the DOH Brand and Communications Style Guide.
(3) Be dated and provide contact information
(4) Contain an action statement.
(5) Provide accessibility information.
(6) Address social, cultural, and linguistic standards for the
target population.
b. Media Advisories— distributed to inform the public of events, public
meetings, and health-related warnings/situations.
(1) PIOs are responsible for creating media advisories.
(2) All media advisories shall include the following information:
who, what, where, when, why regarding the advised event or
situation.
(3) When possible, media partners should receive event
advisories two weeks in advance.
c. Press Releases— inform the public about Department activities or
accomplishments; necessary public health information; promotion of
the Department’s mission; or in response to inaccurate information.
(1) The need for a press release is identified (i.e. What is News,
Appendix %)
(2) The press release is drafted by the PIO in coordination with
program staff.
(3) The press release draft is submitted for approval by
appropriate member of Senior Management.
(4) If the press release is announcing potentially controversial
information, the program shall complete the following before
releasing the information to the press:
(a) Create talking points to accompany the information for
approval by the Office of Communications.
(b) Identify a DOH spokesperson to be available for
potential interviews.
(5) The press release is distributed to the media and/or posted
to the Online Newsroom.
B. PIO and Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Training
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DOHP 85-01-13 Page 13 of 18
1. All spokespersons and PIOs shall complete the courses in Appendix & based
on current or anticipated daily job duties and in consideration of the
suggested timeframes.
2. PIOs are encouraged to seek credentials as a Type I, II, III or IV PIO. Refer
to the DOH PIO Training Standards Guideline (Anticipated approval by
December 2013).
3. Frequency and availability of training will be determined through the annual
training needs assessment.
C. Marketing and Social Media
1. Marketing Requests
a. The Office of Communications coordinates marketing of the
Department, agency programs and initiatives.
b. Divisions, Offices and/or CHDs identify the needs for marketing
services (i.e. media campaigns, posters, brochures, flyers, billboards,
all Public Service Announcements).
c. Programs complete the Request Form located on the DOH
Communications intranet site.
d. The Offices of Communications’ Integrated Marketing Director reviews
requests, determines action, assigns accepted projects to marketing
staff as appropriate and communicates with the requestor.
e. Marketing staff consult with the requestor to gather information and
further assess the project’s needs to develop a plan to successfully
implement the request.
f. Marketing staff provides an integrated marketing plan for approval by
the requestor, Integrated Marketing Director, Office of
Communications Director and Executive Management, as needed.
g. Upon plan approval, the marketing materials are developed
h. The requestor, Integrated Marketing Director, Office of
Communications Director, and Executive Management, as needed
approve the completed marketing products.
i. The final marketing products are distributed based on the approved
plan.
2. Social Media
a. The Office of Communications manages all DOH official social media
accounts to market the Department, agency programs and initiatives.
These include:
(1) Facebook: FL Department of Health
(2) Twitter: @HealthyFla
(3) YouTube: fldoh
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DOHP 85-01-13 Page 14 of 18
(4) Pinterest: FL Dept of Health
b. The Office of Communications approves and tracks those positions
authorized to use DOH official social media accounts as part of their
official job duties.
c. The Office of Communications will maintain on their intranet site the
guidelines for use of the official Social Media accounts.
d. Divisions, Offices, and CHDs should obtain approval from the Office
of Communications for any plans to use social media in the marketing
or delivery of services.
D. Internal Employee Communications
Employee communications shall be timely, open and collaborative in informing and
motivating employees to become ambassadors of health. In order to increase
employee access to sufficient, consistent and timely information regarding internal
priorities, actions, plans and special situations, the Department periodically sends out
DOH Bulletins, posts key messaging on the intranet, and delivers stand-alone email
memos.
1. DOH Bulletins
a. DOH Senior Management identifies information relevant to all DOH
employees.
b. The DOH Senior Manager provides draft content for the DOH Bulletin
to the Office of Communications’ Internal Communications Manager.
Information should contain no graphics.
c. The Office of Communications’ Internal Communication Manager
reviews, revises and formats the information, as needed.
d. The DOH Bulletin is approved by the Director of the Office of
Communications.
e. The Office of Communications disseminates the DOH bulletins.
2. Maintaining DOH Intranet— serves as the venue for providing DOH
employees with agency-specific operating information.
a. The Office of Communications establishes standards for DOH intranet
content.
b. IT identifies and implements tools for sustaining the DOH intranet and
maintains the Departments DOHP 50-16-10 Internet Web Hosting
Policy.
c. Each Division, Office and CHD is responsible for updating their
intranet site to provide accurate and relevant information.
3. Other communication vehicles to specifically target employees
a. The Department may utilize blogs, emails, videos, social media and
other communication vehicles to target employees.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 15 of 18
4. Emergency Information
a. The Department may disseminate emergency preparedness and
response information to employees through the DOH Health Alert
Network, telephone notification procedures and other methods
appropriate to the specific emergency.
b. For information related to an emergency, DOH employees should call
the Information Status Report Hotline at 1-866-804-9169.
E. Internet Web Content Management
As of August 30, 2013, the Department’s internet web page is transitioning to a new
format. Web content management procedures are currently under development and
anticipated to be released by June 2014.
F. Correspondence Management
All Department staff will use the processes and procedures outlined in the DOHP 5-
3-13 Correspondence and Report Policy when drafting and routing Department
correspondence and other specified documents, regardless of the signatory.
VIII. Distribution List
A. Senior Management
B. Office of Communications staff
C. Public Information Officers
D. Subject Matter Experts
E. Communications Liaisons
F. Correspondence Liaisons
IX. History Notes
Not applicable; this is a new policy.
X. Appendices
A. DOH Photo Release Form
B. What is News
C. PIO Training Requirements
Created 9/18/2013
B
C
Ron DeSantis
Mission: Governor
May 18, 2020
Ms. Rebekah Jones
Dear Ms. Jones:
benefits.
Sincerely,

Director
cc: Personnel File


PHONE: 850/245-4300 • FAX 850/245-4297
FloridaHealth.gov
Ron DeSantis
Mission: Governor
of all people in Florida through integrated Scott A. Rivkees, MD
state, county & community efforts. State Surgeon General
HEALTH
October 22, 2020
Alicia Maxwell
Employment Investigator
Florida Commission on Human Relations
4075 Esplanade Way, Room 110
Re: FCHR Charge No. 202126286 Rebekah Jones v. State of Florida, Department of Health,
-
Dear Ms. Maxwell:
This letter and accompanying documents set forth the Florida Department of Health's (FDOH) response
to the Florida Commission on Human Relations' request for additional information, dated October 20,
2020.
Item 1: Provide an affidavit statement from Systems Programming Administrator Craig Curry in response
to Complainant's allegations that he discouraged her from filing a whistleblower complaint and provide
details as to what was discussed between him and Complainant during that meeting on May 15, 2020.
Response: Mr. Curry did not discourage the Complainant from filing a whistleblower complaint. In his
affidavit, Mr. Curry stated that the Complainant asked for his opinion about the possibility of filing a
whistleblower complaint. During that discussion, the Complainant asked Mr. Curry what he would do, and
he responded that he would think about how it might affect his private life and potential job offers. Mr.
Curry suggested that she discuss the topic with her family, but he was clear that it was ultimately her
decision to make and stressed that he would assist her with any decision she made. Mr. Curry ultimately
provided the Complainant with the contact information for Tiffany Hicks, Labor Relations Consultant, in
case she decided to file a complaint. See Exhibit A.
Based on the foregoing information, FDOH respectfully requests FCHR issue a no cause finding.
If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact me at 850-245-4012 or
Inspector Specialist Lead, Lucas DeVoe at 850-617-1418.
Sincerely,
fc
-
Dee Dee McGee

Equal Opportunity Manager
Flcrtda Department of Health

Office of the General Counsel, Equal Opportunity Section
4052 Bald Cypress Way, BIn A-02 . Tallahassee, FL 32399
PHONE; 850/245-4002. FAX 850/407-2168
L oi Accredited Health Department
Public Health Accreditation Board
FlorldaHealth.gov
DM/Id
Enclosures
cc: Janis Rosenthal, Chief Legal Counsel

Shamarial Roberson, DrPH, Deputy Secretary for Health
Carina Blackmore, DVM, PhD, Director of Medical and Health Services
EXHIBIT LISTING
A. Affidavit of Craig Curry, dated October 21, 2020

A
A
B
5/23/2020
11:03 AM
those DOH items
5/18/2020
8:06 AM
Re Help with
submitting HR forms
4:41
FW GIS.msg
After approval from management, Ms Hicks and I called Ms Jones, who was teleworking at the time,
5:47 PM
RE Account disable.msg
I instructed various parties to disable Ms Jones access
May 16, 2020
10:07 AM
purpose was to inform everyone that requests that she had been receiving up to that point were to be
uhm... uh oh.msg
May 15, 2020
9:30 AM
1:46 PM
Ms Jones sent an email to all recipients of GIS groups (which is external individuals), subject “COVID
May 11 – May 14
May 11, 2020
published allowing public to again have free access to data within the dashboard. Again, very helpful
and the team worked together to correct these issues
May 10, 2020
May 9, 2020
moving forward.
May 7, 2020
Re Need technical
help.msg
Without discussion with Ms Joiner, myself. or the rest of the GIS Team; Ms Jones made administrative
changes to the GIS COVID-19 dashboard by creating a new Arc GIS online account to be owner of the
COVID-19 dashboard and moved content for the dashboard into that newly created account. These
moves changed the process to some degree of how data was to be updated to the GIS dashboard and
impacted the process by which the team was familiar with. In turn this lead to data corruption of layers
and unnecessary delays and in updates to the dashboard over the next few days until all content was
appropriately moved and layers properly recreated. This change, without my approval, directly
disobeyed my instruction the previous day.
administrative right in our system to help. Mr Duclos began making changes in an attempt to the issues
previous state.
Ms Jones with security concerns as reasoning.
1:35 PM
The following emails demonstrate the issues caused by these changes:
Admin rights in AGO Account Dashboard update FW FW Not authorized RE AGOL

AGO.msg permissions change technical issues.msgFlorida.health.GIS Ac to publish.msg Account.msg
8:08 PM
Ms Jones sent an email stating that she would fully restore Ms Duclos rights. However, we discovered
7:17 PM
8:23 PM
8:28 PM
family
May 6, 2020
10:36 AM
RE Employee Labor
Relation Consulting
conveying information to the public through various formats asking for guidance on actions to take for
12:40 PM
RE COVID 19 GIS
need.msg
3:22 PM
Jones
4:11 PM
5:04 PM
5:41 PM
May 5, 2020
From: Jordan, Melissa Murray
To: Curry, Craig J; Reid, Keshia; Duclos, Chris
image002.png
Absolutely, let’s get Jessi started ASAP. This will be great experience for her. Thanks!

To: Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>; Reid, Keshia
<Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

Thank you!

With your permission I would like to call Jessie immediately to get her up to speed.

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

From: Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>
To: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig
J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>

Hi all,

This is the first I am hearing of this request. We have other staff assisting the Bureau of Epi on the
response, but Dr. Blackmore has discussed the needs with me in advance to determine which staff
are available and best suited for the job. DOH leadership has previously asked that Chris, as our
longstanding GIS expert, cross train with Rebekah to back her up on the dashboard. I was planning to
ask for Jessi’s assistance with a data issue that came up at the EOC yesterday. But I am happy to loan
Jessi out to work on the GIS products if her skills are a good fit and will identify another staff
member to help with the data QI project.

Thanks,
Melissa

Melissa Jordan, MS, MPH
Interim Director
Office: 850-245-4577
Cell: 850-694-0264
From: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>

To: Duclos, Chris; Curry, Craig J
Cc: Jordan, Melissa Murray

Hi all,

I think a request to activate Jessi for assistance with the Department’s COVID dashboard needs to go
through our Division’s leadership. I’ve copied Melissa Jordan on this request.

Thanks,
Keshia

Get Outlook for iOS

Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 8:11:23 PM
Cc: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>

Craig,
I contacted Dr. Keshia Reed (the Director of Public Health Research), and she is still Jessi Joiner’s
supervisor, so there is no need to copy Justine Gunderson. Keshia- please see Craig’s message
below.
- Chris


Subject: COVID 19 GIS need

Chris,

First, I want to thank you for guidance regarding GIS since Parker departure. Being able to get
feedback your on GIS matter s has been invaluable.

Second, per our conversation today, we are in immediate need of support on the Departments
COVID-19 dashboard published on our Online GIS portal. My management is asking that you loan us
Jessie Joiner beginning 5/6 to help with the addition of critical functionality to the dashboard. Thank
you for clarifying that Jessie does not report to you and please help me relay this to the appropriate
person in your Division.

Again, thank you for your understanding and support.

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

image006.png
image007.png
comments.







Importance: High



Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


Rebekah Jones




Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


Ms. Hicks,

true.


Thank you

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

From: Duclos, Chris
To: Curry, Craig J
Cc: Joiner, Jessica; Konatham, Surenderreddy
Subject: RE: AGOL Account
Date: Thursday, May 7, 2020 11:58:50 AM
image002.jpg
Craig
We are trying to re-create/find all of the files that Rebekah moved around in ArcGIS Online. Did you call her? Maybe hold off for now.
- Chris

From: Duclos Chris
To: Curry Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Joiner Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>; Konatham Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>

Craig
Can you please call Rebekah and ask her to put everything back in the Florida.Health_GIS account? Unfortunately it appears that not everything was moved into the new Epidemiology.GIS account. And please
reiterate that Rebekah does not own any of these AGO accounts. They belong to FDOH.
Thanks
- Chris

To: Duclos Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

All required main service tables and other supported layers are missed except Deathsbyday table and timeseries table.

From: Duclos Chris
To: Konatham Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>
Subject: FW AGOL Account

Suren
Does this mean that Rebekah removed files from the main account that has been supporting the dashboard for several weeks? And not all of the files that we need are in the new Epidemiology.GIS account that
Rebekah created for Jessi to use. Is that correct?
- Chris


No files or tables in Florida.Health_GIS Account.


Hi I see only two tables marked in snapshot remaining main tables are missed(Cases_data zipcode_data).

Chris

AGOL Group account password changed?

Thank you

Suren
Phone 813.573.6005

To: Curry, Craig J
Cc: Troelstrup, Thomas; Duclos, Chris; Konatham, Surenderreddy
Subject: Dashboard update technical issues
Hello,

We have been working on moving the files needed to update the COVID dashboard but have run
into some technical issues with the public facing dashboard not updating, even though the
underlying data files have been updated. We think that Dr. Blackmore should be notified, if she has
not already. Suren believe that this issue stems from the application identifiers being changed when
we were moving the data back into the shared account. Chris has reached out to our ESRI contact
Anthony Puzo to request technical assistance in fixing the application identifier connections to the
web dashboard. We are waiting to hear back, and trying to troubleshoot the issue in the meantine.

Thanks,

Jessi Joiner, MPH
PH: 850-558-9662

Mission: To protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, &
community efforts.


From: Anthony Puzzo
To: Duclos, Chris; Lakeisha Coleman
Cc: Konatham, Surenderreddy; Joiner, Jessica; Curry, Craig J
Subject: Re: Need technical help
Lakeisha, can you please schedule some time with Chris to help??
Anthony J Puzzo
Esri
202-714-2411
Apuzzo@esri.com
@anthonypuzzo

To: Anthony Puzzo <APuzzo@esri.com>
Cc: Konatham, Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica
<Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Need technical help

Anthony,
It appears that Rebekah may have moved some things around overnight, without our consent. Is
there any way you can make a technical resource available to us ASAP to be able to update our
dashboard today? Or, I am wondering about restoring some AGO content from yesterday
afternoon, if that is possible.
Thank you,
- Chris

PH: 850-245-4264

From: Duclos Chris
To: Curry Craig J
Cc: Shiver Stacy; Joiner Jessica
Subject: FW: Florida.health.GIS Account access issues
Craig,
See below - Rebekah is using her AGO Admin rights to undermine our efforts to get the dashboard back up.
- Chris

From: Konatham, Surenderreddy
Cc: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Florida.health.GIS Account access issues

It seems I loss access permission for Florida.health.GIS Account.

Thank you

Suren
Phone: 813.573.6005

From: Joiner Jessica
To: Duclos, Chris
Cc: Curry Craig J; Troelstrup Thomas
Subject: AGO Account permissions changed
Attachments: image001 jpg
Just FYI, Rebekah has removed my administrator rights in Arc Online. I’m back to only having Publisher level role access

Publisher—User privileges plus the ability to publish features and map tiles as hosted web layers. Members assigned
the Publisher role can also perform analysis on layers in maps. The Publisher role is compatible with
the Creator, GIS Professional, and Insights Analyst user types.
Administrator—Publisher privileges plus privileges to manage the organization and other users. An organization
must have at least one administrator. However, there is no limit to the number of Administrator roles that can be
assigned within an organization. It is recommended that an organization have at least two administrators, while
restricting this role to those who require the additional privileges associated with it. The Administrator role is
compatible with the Creator, GIS Professional, and Insights Analyst user types

Jessi Joiner, MPH
PH: 850-558-9662

Mission: To protect, promote, and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, & community efforts.

Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business are
public records available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail communications may therefore be subject to public disclosure.
To: Curry, Craig J
FYI for updating dashboard

From: Konatham, Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>
To: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>

Jessi, We need access to Florida.Health_GIS account to upload case_Line data manually.

To: Konatham, Surenderreddy <Surenderreddy.Konatham@flhealth.gov>

Hi Suren,

Would you please try to run the scripts for R and Python just to make sure they work? I want to be
sure there are no hiccups in the code itself.

Thank you,
Jessi

To: Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>; Jones, Rebekah D
<Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard, Scott

Great. They will work on it. Restore Chris and Jessie's admin access to AGO.

From: Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>
Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard, Scott <Scott.Pritchard@flhealth.gov>;
Troelstrup, Thomas <Thomas.Troelstrup@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica
<Jessica.Joiner@flhealth.gov>

Got it. Let me discuss with the team. We may need you to help us get those files restored before you
go on a well deserved annual leave

Get Outlook for iOS

<Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>; Roberson, Shamarial <Shamarial.Roberson@flhealth.gov>

Zip code layer is toast. Whatever you guys did, the file is corrupted in both English and Spanish now.
You’ll have to redo the entire script for it and create two new shapefiles, upload them to your
account, and THEN rescript the python for transfer. You can’t overwrite the web layer directly
because it’ll retain the errors in the feature layer. That was by far the most frustrating layer to deal
with and was FINALLY operating smoothly this week. It’ll continue to display (I think) for now, but
you can’t update the data.

The county layers and charts have been updated via python successfully. However I noticed some
irregularities on the dashboard regarding date display. You’ll need to fix those, too. If you switch
from HTML editing to the user-friendly visual design option, you’ll undo the customizations in field
display. Just an FYI.

Rebecca, restore privileges to Chris. Those are privileges he has had for as long as I have
been here.

Rebekah,
I see that you removed my Administrative rights in ArcGIS Online. Please restore them ASAP.
Thanks,
- Chris

Craig,

I have offered my help for the updates. I’ve made it pretty simple – you run the R script, you run the
python script. Done. I even emailed Jessi last night letting her know that she needed to change the
python code key for portal to process updates for the new account. I moved the files she needed
into a single folder for the script to call on. Everything was set up, and I did a test run last night –
even sent you a picture of the results – and it ran fine.

However, unbeknownst to me, someone without authorization began removing/changing files from
multiple accounts, for which they did not have full access to do. By changing ownership of files –
which NO ONE has permission to do with the owner’s consent – they moved the wrong files and I
imagine that’s why you’re having issues. One of the zip code files that was moved is a bad, corrupted
file, but it has the same name as the correct one (was stored in an archived folder in my content).
Two of the draft applications that were used for mockups and previews were also moved. This likely
confused the system and it’s not happy. There were old copies that were made and archived in my
content that were moved out of my content, dumped into a single folder, and marked authoritative
by someone else.

I would advise that if you want to replace someone who knows Python, R, HTML, Java and GIS, as
well as AGO application building, maintenance and portal mapping, you make sure that you have
enough staff to complete that skillset.

Everything is exactly where it should be. The update4.py script has been updated with the correct
account code and needs the password – which I had sent to Jessi last night – updated and the portal
key updated, which I had already done to make sure everything went smoothly.

Rebekah,
Do not make any other account changes and do not impede with the current update. If settings
need to be restored to get this update complete do so now.

We can make changes when we have the time do so.

Chris,

Rebekah asked for leave and I approved it. She GIS manager, but COVID-19 Dashboard is being
updated by Jessie, who currently also work for me.

We all work for DOH which the dashboard represents, so let’s get this update complete.

Thanks,

Craig J Curry
IT Director | Division of Disease Control and Health Protection |
phone: 850-245-4231
mobile: 850-491-0063

To: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>; Pritchard, Scott
Cc: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Blackmore, Carina <Carina.Blackmore@flhealth.gov>;
Jordan, Melissa Murray <Melissa.Jordan@flhealth.gov>
Rebekah,
Please restore the organizations my ESRI settings, and log out of ArcGIS Online immediately.
Craig put you on AL.
- Chris

Additionally, you will need to request to mark items as authoritative. I see someone who previously
had access to this account mistakenly began marking archived versions of data that have not been
used in over a month as “authoritative.” This is why we typically do not allow users to enable this
feature.

You also moved files without authorization from my account. You absolutely do not have permission
to move any files from another user’s account without their explicit consent. Period. This is a
warning that this behavior clearly violates the conditions of use for ArcGIS Online accounts, and if
the behavior continues, your access may be suspended or revoked. All layers needed to update the
dashboard were in the epi content folder. Part of the reason we only issue shared accounts in rare
cases is because of unethical behavior like this.

In doing so, you likely caused a cascade of errors, which would explain the delay.

Thank you,
RJ

Subject: Not authorized to publish
Hey there,
Couldn't help but notice from the now 91 emails I've gotten about the dashboard being two
hours behind that someone who is not authorized to use the GIS Office online account has
been reassogning maps and data, and publishing it without permission. This account is under
my management as GIS Manager for DOH. You can request a group account for publishing
layers via the group access request form on our sharepoint. I took the time to assign you one
yesterday, but if you prefer to change the account name or details, you may do so through your
profile page on AGO. Instructions for group accounts are linked to the access request form.
Also, the GIS email account should not be listed on this account. You will need to designate
an account holder email address.
Thanks,
RJ
Rebekah Jones, GISP

GIS Manager
-30-
From: Duclos, Chris
To: Curry, Craig J
Subject: Admin rights in AGO
Craig,
I still don’t have Admin rights in AGO. Unless Rebekah does that in the next few hours, I may need to
have you call ESRI Tech Support with me tomorrow morning. Are you in the office tomorrow?
- Chris

PH: 850-245-4264

To: Curry, Craig J
Subject: uhm... uh oh?
So I sent an email to data users to tell them I’m off the dashboard, I can’t answer their questions,
(aka please stop emailing me 24/7), gave them the info needed to get their API links fixed, etc., and
now a reporter has called me asking why I’m not on it anymore. I said I’m not allowed to do
interviews with the press. I said they’ve got a team working on it now, and that what I meant when I
said don’t expect the same level of accessibility is that they are busy and can’t answer every single
email they get right away, and that it was ridiculous that I managed to do it in the first place, and
that I was tired and needed a break from working two month straight and am finally taking a
vacation..

Is this one of those stupid things I shouldn’t have said? I sent this yesterday about the time my
vpn/email got glitchy, but it looks like it wasn’t actually sent until my passwords were reset… I have
them the updated info and everything. I really don’t want this to be a story, but this lady has called
me like three times.

Please help me.

Rebekah Jones, GISP

To: Stanek, Danielle R; Curry, Craig J; Hicks, Tiffany A
Cc: Dawson, Shelly
Subject: Re: Help with submitting HR forms?
Date: Monday, May 18, 2020 10:24:54 AM
image003.png
image004.png
Regardless of his performance within the Epi office, his continued insubordination, inability to
complete jobs on time or correctly, and continued disrespect for the office that employs him,
and his direct supervisor, which is me, has warranted termination for quite some time. He is
currently occupying a position within the GIS Office, which he refuses to cooperate with or
perform work for. If he has a pending offer from another offer, I have no control or influence
over that. Having friends in other offices has no relevance on his behavior as an employee,
and as I have been overseeing his work as he is one of my direct reports, I am requesting
termination. I have plenty of documentation, and even my supervisor, Craig, met with this
employee as to discuss his poor performance in the past. I am quite surprised to see him say
these things, given how he himself characterized Slapikas as being uncooperative, immature
and insubordinate after those meetings.
After recieving four emails in the last week, one of which directly addressed this very
communication and work issue, he has STILL not replied or started working on his assigned
tasks. I have an employee who refuses to follow directions, complete work, or even respond
to me.
Rebekah Jones, GISP

GIS Manager
-30-
From: Stanek, Danielle R <Danielle.Stanek@flhealth.gov>

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 10:09:36 AM
To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>; Jones,
Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>

I am happy to answer any questions about Mr. Slapikas’ work. He is an outstanding team member
and I receive regular positive feedback from our team about both the quality of Mr. Slapikas’ work as
well as his strong work ethic.
Sincerely,

Danielle Stanek, DVM, DACVPM
State Public Health Veterinarian
Zoonotic and Vectorborne Disease Program
Office 850-245-4117
Cell 850-294-1087
Fax 850-414-6894

To: Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>; Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>; Stanek, Danielle R
<Danielle.Stanek@flhealth.gov>

Ms. Hicks,

Mr. Slapikas is part of the divisions GIS team funded by a Zika grant and receives his work
assignments from our Zika unit, though his supervisor is Ms. Jones. Due to Ms. Jones concerns about
time, I spoke with individuals within the Zika unit and received confirmation that Mr. Slapikas was
indeed completing assignments, was well-respected by members of Zika team, and in fact they are
interested in extending his grant; which ends in 2020. If you would like confirmation of that
conversation or further comment about Mr. Slapikas work for that team; please contact whom I
have copied on this email.

In light of my discussion with the Zika Team, I feel that termination at this time is not the appropriate
action. I would prefer guidance as to working on communication improvement within the team.

Sincerely,

Craig J Curry
IT Director

(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

Importance: High

Good morning Ms. Jones,

This e-mail is to follow up to the voicemail I left you this morning. I received your justification
document from Ms. Dawson. Please see the attached document providing HR Notes. Supporting
documentation is being requested for further review of your request for termination.

Once your supporting documentation has been received and reviewed, I will follow up with you on
how to proceed with your employee.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484

From: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Shiver, Stacy <Stacy.Shiver@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>
Subject: FW: Help with submitting HR forms?

Shelly Dawson
Division of Disease Control and Health Protection | Office Phone (850) 245-4053 Cell (850) 528-0320
Florida Department of Health | 4052 Bald Cypress Way | Tallahassee, FL 32399

Sent: Sunday, May 17, 2020 9:50 PM
To: Dawson, Shelly <Michelle2.Dawson@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Help with submitting HR forms?

Shelly,

How do I submit a write up for Ryan Slapikas for gross insubordination (see attachment), and how
would I initiate the termination process if that’s the direction I decide to go?

Thank you,
RJ

Rebekah Jones, GISP

Subject: FW: GIS
image002.png
Ms. Hicks,

Ms. Jones’ response to my initial request to come back from annual.

Please advise on the most appropriate response.

Craig

Subject: Re: GIS

I'm on vacation this week, but we can talk on the phone, or wait until I get back after memorial day.

Rebekah Jones, GISP
GIS Manager
-30-

Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 1:03:09 PM
Subject: GIS

Rebekah,

I would like to talk more but would really prefer to speak in person. Let me know when you can
come in today.

Thanks,

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To: Duclos, Chris; Hinson, Parker; Joiner, Jessica
Cc: Yue, Lin; Hicks, Tiffany A
image005.png
image006.png
image007.jpg
Yes. 10 days ago I asked for any request by her be flagged as well

To: Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth gov>; Joiner, Jessica <Jessica Joiner@flhealth.gov>
Subject: Re: Account disable

Craig,
Did you tell ESRI that Rebekah is no longer a contact for FDOH?
Chris


To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>; Joiner, Jessica <Jessica Joiner@flhealth.gov>

All Groups ‘owned’ by Rebekah have been put into Jessi’s account. Jessi, required me to bump you to an administrator (to own the Open Data groups/content).

I’ve left all the content itself alone but her AGO’s password has been reset
Her role has been moved from Administrator to User (lowest lvl 2 Role without deleting content)
The email for her profile was updated to Craig.Curry@flhealth gov (so you’ll receive notifications of any password resets, if at all possible at this point)
Contact link for FDOH AGO is: mailto gis@flhealth.gov
Administrative contacts for FDOH AGO are: Chris Duclos and Jessica Joiner
Her account has been ‘disabled’. I confirmed this doesn’t break any of the content. Keeps it intact until moved to a new owner.

Chris – You will need to login to MyEsri and update the admin contact info there.

I believe that covers most bases for now. Let me know if you need anything else.

Thanks,

Parker Hinson
850-245-8773

From: Joiner, Jessica <Jessica.Joiner@flhealth gov>
To: Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP gov>; Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth gov>; Duclos, Chris <chris.duclos@flhealth.gov>
Cc: Hicks, Tiffany A <Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov>

Yes, I can take over the group ownerships for now and we can get everything fully sorted later

To: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

Password reset for the time being. Her account can’t be disabled because she is the owner of groups with special update abilities. I will need some time to change ownership
of those groups.

Jessi? Can I make you the owner of those groups? Or do you have another account in mind?

Parker Hinson
850-245-8773

From: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>
To: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <chris.duclos@flhealth gov>; Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP.gov>

Account has been disabled.

Thanks,
Lin

To: Yue, Lin <Lin.Yue@flhealth.gov>; Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth gov>; Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP.gov>
Subject: Account disable

Lin,

Immediately disable Rebekah Jones Ad account.

Parker/Chris,

Immediately disable Rebekah Jones access to AGO

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

C
To: DeVoe, Lucas T
Cc: St Laurent, Lou se R; McGee, Dee Dee
Subject: RE: External Complaint of D scrimination EO #2007004 / FCHR #202126286_Rebekah Jones
Date: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 12:54:50 PM
Good Afternoon,

Please see the correspondence below as referenced in the affidavit

Sincerely,

Phone: 850-245-4391
*****************************

To: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah Jones@flhealth gov>; Blackmore, Carina <Carina Blackmore@flhealth gov>
Subject: RE: Follow-up

Good Evening,

Please note:

All deaths are displayed here Florida and non-Florida residents:
https://www cdc gov/nchs/nvss/vsrr/COVID19/

Florida residents deaths are displayed here*:
https://experience arcgis com/experience/96dd742462124fa0b38ddedb9b25e429
https://floridadisaster org/globalassets/covid19/dailies/covid-19-data---daily-report-2020-05-05-0941 pdf (PDF 5/5/202)
*Please note there is a query option on the FDOH Open Data portion of the Florida's COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard that includes non-Florida deaths which is
reflected and displayed on the CDC website

Sincerely,

Phone: 850-245-4391
*****************************

From: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah Jones@flhealth gov>
To: Blackmore, Carina <Carina Blackmore@flhealth gov>; Roberson, Shamarial <Shamarial Roberson@flhealth gov>
Subject: Follow-up

So I checked, and EPI DOES report non-Florida residents in the case-line PDF report published by EPI each morning Here s a screenshot of today s report:

I don t particularly care whether we report non-resident cases or not But I think we should be consistent with it either way None of the data schema has changed on my end Leah
explained the difference between the event date in cases, event date in deaths, etc The way I am using it, it is the earliest case associated with a case – either self-reported onset,
diagnosis date, or lab date We went through it over and over to make sure it was correct I have date of death internally for every case, and that date field does not match the event
date field used here The death date used is based on the confirmed/verified date of death, not the death reported date, which is why we don t show death date figures in the
dashboard for the previous two days Again, none of this new, EPI has known the entire time that this data was being published and where I have sent detailed requests asking for
verification and clear definitions of the data being published

Here s a snippet of the case date, event date, and death date I have from the cases data:

We added in the new metrics data, but I don t even process that data – Leah does (I think Sam does the ESSENCE data)

All of the data fields – except testing data and “total cases” – are restricted to dx == confirmed (confirmed positive cases), and jurisdiction != non-fl resident So all of the time-series
charts (new cases and deaths by day), demographic (race, age, gender) data, hospitalizations and death counts are only Florida residents and Florida residents diagnosed/etc outside of
Florida only

Rebekah Jones, GISP
4025 Esplanade Way Room 125X | Tallahassee FL 32311
The Florida Department of Health's mission is to protect, promote and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county, and community efforts.
Please note Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regard ng state business are pub ic records available to the public and media upon request. Your e-mail communication may therefore be subject to public disclosure.

From: DeVoe, Lucas T <Lucas DeVoe@flhealth gov>
Sent: Wednesday, August 12, 2020 9:34 AM
To: Roberson, Shamarial <Shamarial Roberson@flhealth gov>
Cc: St Laurent, Louise R <Louise StLaurent@flhealth gov>; McGee, Dee Dee <DeeDee McGee@flhealth gov>
Subject: External Complaint of Discrimination EO #2007004 / FCHR #202126286_Rebekah Jones
Importance: High

Good morning Dr Roberson,

I have received your affidavit regarding the above referenced matter Upon review, I noticed that you referenced attached correspondence between yourself and Ms Jones However, I
don t believe the correspondence was attached Please send me the correspondence you were referring to in your affidavit (item 31-question about additional information) The
response is due to the external agency on Monday, so please provide the information no later than close of business on August 13, 2020 I appreciate your assistance and continued
cooperation!

Respectfully,

Lucas T DeVoe
Inspector Specialist
Office of General Counsel
Equal Opportunity Section
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin #A02
(850) 617-1418

D
People First - Action History Page 1 of 1
EAP
   
LUCAS TRENT DEVOE

Manager / My Team / Work Information / Action History

Action
 History
PATRICK
Action Action Reason Agency Position Position Title Effective Date End Date
Voluntary Sepa… Move to Private… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 07/18/2020 12/31/9999 
Pay Change SMS/SES Discr… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 10/21/2019 07/17/2020
Pay Change Legislative Man… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 10/01/2017 10/20/2019
Employee Sync Employee Sync Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 07/28/2017 09/30/2017
Pay Change Legislative Man… Department of… 64002375 BIOLOGICAL A… 10/01/2013 07/27/2017 
07/18/2020 12/31/9999
 Effective Date End Date
Action Voluntary Separation
Action Reason Move to Private Sector
Leave of Abs…
Position 64002375 BIOLOGICAL ADMINIST
Agency Department of Health
 
https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/peoplefirst/index.html?sap-client=230&sap-language=EN... 8/6/2020
People First - Contact Information Page 1 of 1
EAP
   
LUCAS TRENT DEVOE

Manager / My Team / Personal Information / Contact Information

Contact
Information
PATRICK
Address Type Address City State ZIP Effective Date End Date
Home Address 1156 WINTER LN TALLAHASS… FL 32311-1269 07/16/2020 12/31/9999
Mailing Address 1156 WINTER LANE TALLAHASS… FL 32311-0000 04/16/2020 12/31/9999
Notification Em… SCOTT.PRITCHARD@FLHEALT… 04/16/2020 12/31/9999
Your current mailing address will be used for mailed correspondence. If there is no active mailing address, then the home
address will be used.
Effective Date 07/16/2020 End Date 12/31/9999


Address Type Home Address
Address Line 1 1156 WINTER LN Address Line 2
ZIP Code 32311-1269 City TALLAHASSEE
State Florida Country US USA
Home County LEON Work County 037 Leon
Mobile Phone 941 380-6061 Alternate Phone 000
 
https://peoplefirst.myflorida.com/peoplefirst/index.html?sap-client=230&sap-language=E... 8/12/2020
E
image002.png
Ms. Hicks,

true.


Thank you

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To: Curry, Craig J
image002.png
image003.png
Craig,

Thank you for your elaboration. Please see the following recommendations for this situation.

1. Ms. Jones is an SES employee and our department does not practice “formal” discipline on
SES employees. As you previously stated, you have spoken with the employee verbally on
several occasions. With the approval of your management chain, management may move
forward with separation at this time.

2. Issue a “Management Counseling” to address and document the recent incidents. This
document would be informal and would not be placed in the employee’s personnel file, but it
would be drafted by myself. The employee will be asked to sign the document and it will be
placed in an LR Contact file. If similar behavior continues, it is a management’s decision to
move forward with termination.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


comments.







Importance: High



Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


Rebekah Jones




Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484


Ms. Hicks,

true.


Thank you

Craig J Curry
IT Director


(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

5/23/2020
11:03 AM
those DOH items
5/18/2020
8:06 AM
4:41
After approval from management Ms Hicks and I called Ms Jones, who was teleworking at the time,
May 16, 2020
10:07 AM
purpose was to inform everyone that requests that she had been receiving up t that point were to be
May 15, 2020
9:30 AM
1:46 PM
Ms Jones sent am email to all recipients of GIS groups (which is external individuals), subject “COVID
Ms. Jones sent an email to the DOH GIS Users listserv informing them that she was no longer working on
the Dashboard and insinuates that data may be restricted and team will not be transparent.
May 11 – May 14
May 11, 2020
published allowing public to again have free access to data within the dashboard. Again very helpful and
the team worked together to correct these issues
May 10, 2020
May 9, 2020
moving forward.
May 7, 2020
Without discussion with Ms Joiner, myself on the rest of the GIS Team; Ms Jones made administrative
changes to the GIS dashboard by creating a new Arc GIS online account to be owner of the GIS
dashboard and moved content for the dashboard into that newly created account. These moves change
the process to some degree of how data was to be updated to the GIS dashboard and impacted the
process by which the team was familiar with. In turn this created unnecessary delays in updates to the
dashboard over the next few days until all content was appropriately moved and layers properly
recreated. This change, without my approval, directly disobeyed my instruction the previous day.
administrative right in our system to help. Mr Duclos began make changes in an attempt to the issues
previous state.
Ms Jones with secutiy concerns as reasoning.
1:35 PM
8:08 PM
Ms Jones sent an email stating that she would fully restore Ms Duclos rights. However we discovered
7:17 PM
8:23 PM
8:28 PM
family
May 6, 2020
10:36 AM
conveying information to the public though various formats asking for guidance on actions to take for
12:40 PM
3:22 PM
Jones
4:11 PM
5:04 PM
5:41 PM
May 5, 2020
From: Blackmore, Carina
To: Hicks, Tiffany A; Curry, Craig J
Subject: Re: Labor Relations Advice
image004.png
image005.png
Yes
Get Outlook for iOS

Sent: Saturday, May 16, 2020 11:32:09 AM
Subject: RE: Labor Relations Advice

Good morning Craig,

My boss, Amy Graham, and I spoke with Dr. Roberson yesterday evening. Please be sure to provide
any additional supporting documentation you may have. Once received, I will update the FLHD-HR
ticket.

Also, Dr. Blackmore, by responding to this e-mail you concur with the recommended action for the
employee.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484

Sent: Friday, May 15, 2020 12:41 PM
Subject: Labor Relations Advice

Per my voicemail this morning, I need advice on how to proceed with communicating with an
employee.

Thanks,

Craig J Curry
IT Director

(850) 245-4231 | (850) 491-0063

To:
Cc: Curry, Craig J
Subject: Separation Documents (Jones, R.)
Attachments: Jones R. - SES Dismissal (using AL).pdf
image001.png
Jones, R. - Cover Memo (Settlement Agreement).pdf
Jones, R. - Resignation Settlement (using leave).pdf
Importance: High
Good afternoon Ms. Jones,

Per our recent conversation, I am attaching the separation documents discussed. Please read the
resignation settlement agreement and contact me with any questions at (850) 245-4484 or via e-
mail. If you choose to resign via the resignation settlement agreement, please return all pages of
the settlement agreement with your initials on the bottom of each page and your signature on the
last page to me by close of business Thursday, May 21, 2020.

Also, as stated during the phone call, if you wish to make a public records request, please contact
Ms. Scarlett Buchanan at (850) 245-4166 and/or Scarlett.Buchanan@flhealth.gov to initiate the
process.

Tiffany Hicks
(850) 245-4484
Mission: Promote, protect and improve the health of all people in Florida through integrated state, county and community efforts.
Please note: Florida has a very broad public records law. Most written communications to or from state officials regarding state business
are public records available to the public and media upon request. Your email communications may therefore be subject to public
disclosure.

Ron DeSantis
Mission: Governor
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
DATE: May 18, 2020
TO: Rebekah Jones
FROM: Tiffany Hicks, Labor Relations Consultant
SUBJECT: Resignation Settlement Agreement
The resignation settlement agreement allows you to resign in lieu of dismissal. Should you wish to
choose this option, your resignation will be effective Monday, May 25, 2020. Please read the
resignation settlement agreement and contact me with any questions at (850) 245-4484. If you choose
to resign via the resignation settlement agreement, please return all pages of the settlement agreement
with your initials on the bottom of each page and your signature on the last page to me by close of
business Thursday, May 21, 2020.
For your convenience, you may either fax the signed settlement agreement to the Human Resources
confidential fax machine at (850) 413-6716 or email it to me at Tiffany.Hicks@flhealth.gov; however,
you must communicate to me before close of business Thursday, May 21, 2020, if you choose to resign
pursuant to the settlement agreement. If I do not hear from you by that time, the dismissal will be final.
If you have any questions, please contact me at (850) 245-4484.

Division of Administration
4052 Bald Cypress Way, Bin • Tallahassee, FL 32399
PHONE: 850/245-4188 • FAX: 850/413-6716
FloridaHealth.gov
REBEKAH JONES
Employee,
and
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH,
Agency.
____________________________/
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
The parties have agreed to settle this matter as follows:
1. The Employee acknowledges that she received a copy of this Settlement
Agreement (“Agreement”) on May 18, 2020.
2. The Employee agrees to resign effective at the close of business Monday,
May 25, 2020. The Agency accepts the resignation in lieu of taking disciplinary action.
This Agreement constitutes the Employee’s resignation and the Agency’s acceptance of
the resignation.
3. The Employee’s last day in the office will be Monday, May 18, 2020. The
employee shall utilize accrued annual leave as necessary after the execution of this
agreement in order to reach a total of an eight (8) hour work day on Monday, May 18,
2020. In addition, the employee shall utilize accrued annual leave beginning Tuesday,
May 19, 2020 through Friday, May 22, 2020. The employee will be paid for the
Memorial Day Holiday. The Employee shall be paid for all unused leave credits
remaining at the effective date of resignation, as provided by law and rule.
4. The Agency agrees to mark the dismissal letter “Void” and place it in the
Voided document type in the Employee’s electronic personnel file.

REBEKAH JONES
Page 2 of 4
5. The Employee agrees and understands that at no point during her
upcoming period of leave shall she take any action under the apparent authority of the
6. The Agency agrees to provide the following information to any prospective
employer outside of the Agency inquiring about the Employee:
a. Beginning and ending date of employment.

b. Position held.
c. Rate of pay while employed.
d. Performance appraisals.
7. The Employee understands that information in her personnel file is public
record and, as such, must be provided upon request to anyone desiring copies. The
Employee further understands that it is her responsibility to ensure that prospective
employers contact the appropriate Agency Human Resource Management Office when
inquiring about work history.
8. As of the date of this agreement, the appropriate Human Resource
Management Office is the 4052 Bald Cypress Way, Tallahassee, Florida 32399. Ms.
Scarlett Buchanan is the current custodian of the Employee’s personnel file and Ms. Tiffany
Hicks is the appropriate Labor Relations Consultant. These individuals or their designees
should be contacted at telephone number (850) 245-4188
9. The Employee may only be rehired by the Agency in accordance with the
Agency’s policy regarding the same.
10. The Agency agrees that it will not contest an application for reemployment
assistance formerly unemployment compensation benefits, filed by the Employee. The
Employee understands that the Agency does not determine eligibility for such benefits.

REBEKAH JONES
Page 3 of 4
11. The Employee, for herself, her attorneys, heirs, executors, administrators,
successors and assigns, does forever release, acquit, and discharge the State of Florida,
Florida Department of Health and its past and present employees and contractors
(collectively referred to as the “Agency”), of and from any and all claims, actions, causes
of action, demands, rights, damages, costs, loss of service, expenses and compensation
whatsoever, including, but not limited to, any and all claims of discrimination, harassment,
or retaliation under any federal, state, county, or other local statute, law, ordinance, or
regulation, claims asserted in any federal, state or administrative action, including the Public
Employees Relations Commission, grievances brought pursuant to any collective bargaining
agreement, or any other claims that were or might have been asserted by or on behalf of the
Employee against the Agency, which the undersigned now has or which may hereafter
accrue on account of or in any way grow out of any and all known and unknown,
foreseen and unforeseen claims and consequences thereof resulting or to result from any
occurrence that happened as a result of her employment with the Florida Department of
Health through the date the Employee signs this Agreement, but excluding any claims that
by law cannot be released in this Agreement.
12. The parties agree that this is the entire agreement between them. This
Settlement Agreement overrides and replaces all prior negotiations and terms proposed or
discussed, whether in writing or orally, about the subject matter of this Agreement. No
modification of this Settlement Agreement will be valid unless it is in writing identified
as an Amendment to the Agreement and is signed by the Employee and an authorized
representative of the Agency. If any provision of this Agreement is construed by a court
of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, void, or unenforceable, that construction does not

REBEKAH JONES
Page 4 of 4
affect the remainder of this agreement, which is to be given full force and effect without
regard to the invalid or unenforceable provision. Any invalid or unenforceable provision
is to be reformed to the maximum scope permitted by applicable law, so as to be valid
and enforceable and adhere as closely as possible to the express intent of the original
provision.
13. The settlement of this matter is not an admission of wrongdoing or guilt
by either party.
14. By signing this Agreement, the Employee acknowledges that she has
carefully reviewed and considered this Agreement, that she understands the terms of the
Agreement, that she has had the opportunity to consult with or obtain representation from
an attorney, and that she freely and voluntarily agrees to the terms of the Agreement.
This Settlement Agreement is dated this ____ day of May, 2020.
___________________________________ ______________________
CARINA BLACKMORE, DCM, PhD, Dipl ACVPM REBEKAH JONES
State Epidemiologist Employee
Director,

Ron DeSantis
Mission: Governor
May 18, 2020
Ms. Rebekah Jones
Dear Ms. Jones:
benefits.
Sincerely,

Director
cc: Personnel File


PHONE: 850/245-4300 • FAX 850/245-4297
FloridaHealth.gov
F
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 1 of 18
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION PAGE
I. Policy 2
II. Authority 2
III. Supportive Data 2
IV. Signature Block with Effective Date 2
V. Definitions 3
VI. Protocols 4
A. Outcomes 4
B. Personnel 4
C. Competencies 4
D. Areas of Responsibility 5
VII. Procedures 9
A. Media Relations 9
B. Internal Employee Communications 12
C. Marketing and Social Media 13
D. Internet Web Content Management 15
E. Correspondence Management 15
F. Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Training 12
VIII. Distribution List 15
IX. History Notes 15
X. Appendices 15
A. DOH Photo Release Form 15
B. What is News 15
C. PIO Training Requirements 15
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 2 of 18
I. Policy
The Florida Department Health is authorized by law to protect, promote and improve the
health of all residents and visitors of Florida. This mission is supported through the
provision of communications products and services that meet the needs of the agency
customers, partners and stakeholders.
It is the policy of the Department to provide accessible and actionable information through
a variety of formats that is socially, culturally and linguistically appropriate and advances
the agency mission. The policy further requires:
x Systematic collection and analysis of customer, partner and stakeholder
requirements for communications products and services;
x Documentation, monitoring and improvement of communications processes;
x Evaluation and improvement of communications products and services based on
identified customer requirements.
II. Authority
A. Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), 1996
B. Chapter 119, Florida Statute, Government in the Sunshine and Public Records
C. Chapter 381, Florida Statute, Public Health: General Provisions
1. Section 381.0011, Florida Statutes Duties and powers of the Department of
Health
2. Section 381.0031(6), Florida Statutes Epidemiological research; report of
diseases of public health significance to department
D. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
III. Supportive Data
A. DOH Emergency Operations Plan (EOP), Crisis and Emergency Risk
Communications (CERC) Annex
B. DOHP 50-10 Information Security and Privacy Policy
C. DOHP 5-3 Correspondence and Report Policy
D. Florida Department of Health Brand and Communications Style Guide
E. The federal plain language website located at http://www.plainlanguage.gov/
F. DOHP 30-1 Public Records Request
G. DOHP 250-2 Records Management
IV. Signature Block with Effective Date
6LJQDWXUH RQ ILOH

Kim E. Barnhill, MS, MPH Date
Chief of Staff
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 3 of 18
V. Definitions
A. Actionable (action statement): Information that is capable of being acted on.
B. CERC: Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Annex.
C. CHD: County Health Department.

D. CLAS: Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services.
E. Communication Liaisons: Designated DOH staff working in their respective division
or office that with the Office of Communications and Subject Matter Experts to
gather and share information.
F. Customer: A person or group who receives services from the Florida Department of
Health.
G. DOH: Florida Department of Health.
H. EOP: Emergency Operations Plan.
I. Executive Management: The State Surgeon General, Chief of Staff, Deputy

Secretaries, Communications Director, General Counsel and Inspector General.
J. General Public: A collective term used to refer to any non-governmental person,
persons, or organized groups of persons in the public or private sectors.
K. Media Inquiry: This is a request from the media for information made through email
or a phone call (media calls), interview requests, and public records requests.
L. Partners: A person or group working with the Florida Department of Health.
M. Public Information: All documents, papers, letters, maps, books, tapes, photographs,
films, sound recordings, data processing software, or other material, regardless of
the physical form, characteristics, or means of transmission, made or received
pursuant to law or ordinance or in connection with the transaction of official business
by any agency which is not confidential and has not been exempted from public
disclosure by statute.
N. Public Information Officer (PIO): Designated DOH staff responsible for promoting the
mission and vision of the Department using multiple formats to educate and motivate
the public they serve as well as the news media.
O. Senior Management: The State Surgeon General, Chief of Staff, Deputy Secretaries,
Bureau Chiefs, Division/Office Directors and County Health Department
Directors/Administrators.
P. Shall: Must
Q. Stakeholder: A person or group having a stake or interest in the performance of the
R. Spokesperson: Subject matter or technical expert designated by the Office of
Communications and tasked with providing detailed information for public
distribution, as well as on-camera interviews and phone or sit-down interviews with
the media.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 4 of 18
S. Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): DOH staff designated as subject matter or technical
specialists for their area(s) of expertise.
VI. Protocols
A. Outcomes
1. Florida Department of Health is recognized as a credible source of health
information.
2. Public awareness and understanding of the Florida Department of Health, the
role of public health, services provided to communities and resources
available to the public.
3. Informed, engaged, and educated customers, partners and stakeholders.
B. Personnel
1. Executive Management
2. Senior Management
3. Director, Office of Communications
4. Office of Communications Staff
5. Public Information Officers
6. Subject Matter Experts
7. Communication Liaisons
C. Competencies
1. Communicate effectively with individuals, families, groups, communities and
colleagues.
2. Interpret information for professional, non-professional and community
audiences.
3. Use current technology to communicate effectively.
4. Communicate complex information in a manner that is easily understandable
to the non-expert.
5. Appropriately communicate information to scientific and public health
professionals.
6. Write in a clear, logical and grammatically correct manner in formal and
informal written communications.
7. Speak in a clear, logical and grammatically correct manner in formal and
informal public health settings.
8. Know Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services (CLAS) standards.
9. Train and retain knowledgeable staff who provide information services to the
public.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 5 of 18
D. Areas of Responsibility
1. The demand for communications products and services as well as the
methods for dissemination of these products is continuously changing and
evolving. This policy is organized around four interrelated and interacting
functions. Considered together, these functional areas provide the
foundation for a flexible, adaptive communications infrastructure that is
responsive to the needs of our customers, partners and stakeholders.
a. Function 1: Provision of actionable information that is socially,
culturally and linguistically appropriate and advances the agency
mission. Minimum standards for this function:
(1) Target audience for information clearly identified;
(2) Customer requirements related to information identified;
(3) Information is accessible based on customer requirements;
(4) Information includes action statement;
(5) Information meets social, cultural, linguistic and accessibility
standards;
(6) Information aligns to DOH mission and priorities.
b. Function 2: Systematic collection and analysis of customer, partner
and stakeholder requirements for communications products and
services. The department may use a variety of methods to collect
customer feedback such as surveys, interviews and/or focus groups.
Feedback will be incorporated into the product or service
development, delivery and evaluation processes. The feedback
collection method should be appropriate for the target audience and
intended impact. Statistical analysis of customer feedback will be
conducted using recognized methods.
c. Function 3: Documentation, monitoring and improvement of
communications processes. Key communications processes:
(1) Media Relations
(2) Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications
(3) Internal employee communications
(4) Marketing and Social Media
(5) Web Content Management
(6) Correspondence Management
d. Function 4: Evaluate the impact of communication products and
services based on agency-strategic priorities. The department may
use qualitative and/or quantitative evaluation methodologies to assess
the impact of a communications product or service on health
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 6 of 18
outcomes. Evaluation data will be used WR improve communications
products and services.
2. Roles and Responsibilities:
a. State Surgeon General is responsible to:
(1) Provide strategic direction for communications priorities
during routine business operations and emergency or
disaster situations.
(2) Establish agency communications infrastructure that
supports the implementation of the strategic communications
priorities.
(3) Activate DOH CERC Annex to the EOP as indicated by
public health threat, emergency or disaster.
(4) Serve as a spokesperson for the Florida Department of
Health.
(5) Designate additional agency spokespersons as needed.
b. Chief of Staff is responsible to:
(1) Provide direct supervision of the Director for the Office of
Communications.
(2) Ensure operations meet standards set forth in law, rule,
policy and procedure.
c. Director, Office of Communications is responsible to direct agency
communication operations to:
(1) Ensure DOHP 85-01 Communications Policy is maintained
and implemented.
(2) Ensure DOH Communications Strategy is developed,
implemented and updated at least biennially.
(3) Ensure communications processes are documented,
monitored and improved upon.
(4) Coordinate the evaluation of communications products and
services.
(5) Ensure customer, partner and stakeholder requirement
analyses are used to improve communications products and
services.
(6) Coordinate media training for designated DOH Senior
Management and other communications professionals.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 7 of 18
(7) Serve as the agency liaison to the Executive Office of the
Governor’s Communications Director.
(9) Recommend improvements in communications infrastructure
necessary to implement the Communications Strategy and
Communications Policy to Executive Management.
(10) Designate emergency response roles for Office of
Communications staff.
(11) Designate staff to be responsible for key communications
processes including the following:
(a) Press Secretary is responsible to develop, implement
and improve the media relations process and
procedures outlined in this policy.
(b) Internal Communications Manager is responsible to
develop, implement and improve the internal
communications process.
(c) Integrated Marketing Director is responsible to develop,
implement and improve the marketing process and the
DOH Social Media Policy.
(d) Web Content Manager is responsible to develop,
implement and improve the web content management
process.
(e) Correspondence Manager is responsible to develop,
implement and improve the correspondence
management process and DOH Correspondence
Policy.
(f) Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Director is
responsible to develop implement and improve the
CERC preparedness and training processes, and the
DOH Emergency Operations Plan, CERC Annex.
d. Director, Office of Performance and Quality Improvement is
responsible to systematically collect, analyze and disseminate
customer, partner and stakeholder feedback for communications
products and services. The office may also assist with development
of evaluation plans for communication products and services.
e. DOH Emergency Coordination Officer is responsible to:
(1) Ensure crisis and emergency risk communications
preparedness plans, processes, procedures and resources
are developed, tested and improved.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 8 of 18
(2) Implement crisis and emergency risk communications plans
during a declared emergency or disaster, or when otherwise
directed by the State Surgeon General.
(3) Facilitate requests for communications expertise during a
declared emergency or disaster, or when otherwise directed
by the State Surgeon General.
f. Office of Minority Health is responsible for the CLAS assessment and
providing resources to assist programs with cultural competency.
g. Office of Information Technology is responsible for implementing
information technology and technical expertise services necessary to
maintain websites, Online Newsroom and other information sharing
tools.
h. Division Directors, Bureau Chiefs and Office Directors are responsible
to:
and services.
(2) Designate communications liaisons, correspondence
liaisons, and/or spokespersons as required in DOH policy or
requested by the Director of the Office of Communications.
(3) Ensure staff are aware of and comply with communication
policy and procedures.
i. County Health Department Directors/Administrators are responsible
to:
and services.
(2) Serve as an agency spokesperson within their county
(3) Designate public information officers and spokespersons as
required in DOH policy or requested by the Director of the
Office of Communications.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 9 of 18
(7) Develop and maintain a County Crisis and Emergency Risk
Communications plan.
j. Public Information Officers (PIOs) are responsible to:
(1) Implement media relations procedures.
(2) Prepare information products for the media.
(3) Develop and maintain relationships with media, other public
information officers and other communications professionals.
(4) Facilitate preparation of spokespersons for media interviews
(5) Coordinate with the Office of Communications on media
inquiries.
(6) Complete all required training.
k. Subject Matter Experts (SME) are responsible to:
(1) Provide prompt, accurate, detailed information on specific
public health-related topics as requested by PIOs.
(2) Understand the importance of responding and providing
information to media in a specified timeframe, as deemed
necessary.
(3) If designated as a spokesperson, complete all required
training.
l. Communications Liaisons are responsible to:
(1) Support the Office of Communications staff in maintaining
effective media relations.
(2) Identify and assist SMEs in gathering and sharing prompt,
accurate, detailed information on specific public health-
related topics.
(3) Act as the liaison between their program office and the Office
of Communications.
VII. Procedures
A. Media Relations
The Department of Health will sustain an open, effective and positive relationship
with media organizations and representatives to support the primary mission of
protecting and promoting the health of all residents and visitors of Florida, while
assuring the information provided is accurate, actionable, and consistent; and
complies with the Department’s policies regarding confidentiality and records
management through:
x Media monitoring
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 10 of 18
x Responding to media inquiries
x Providing media access to DOH
x Producing written materials for media
1. Media Monitoring
Media monitoring is done to ensure Department leadership has accurate,
timely knowledge of Department-related media coverage.
a. The Office of Communications conducts the following media
monitoring tasks daily:
(1) Log all media calls/emails
(2) Track media articles and news coverage
(3) Create Google Alerts to monitor media and social media
activity
(4) Compile health-related and agency-specific news clips
b. The Office of Communications disseminates current summaries of
health-related and agency-specific information daily to the identified
distribution lists.
c. The Office of Communications maintains current distribution lists for
disseminating health-related and agency-specific information.
2. Responding to Media Inquires
Media inquiries come in the form of calls, emails, public records requests and
interview requests from members of the press (See Appendix A).
a. The Office of Communications coordinates an agency response to
media inquires and the reporting of news stories.
b. The DOH Press Secretary and Deputy Press Secretary are available
24 hours a day to respond to internal and external issues critical to the
function of DOH staff and programs.
(1) The Deputy Press Secretary coordinates responses to all
Pedia inquiries regarding MQA issues or Eoards regulated
by DOH.
c. Designated agency PIOs and spokespersons serve as the primary
liaisons between the Department and the media.
d. The Office of Communications is responsible to educate DOH Senior
Management on the appropriate procedures for interacting with the
media.
e. Each media inquiry will be addressed within the following timeframes:
(1) PIOs are required to respond to all Department-related
media inquiries and should acknowledge media inquiries
within thirty minutes of receipt, providing the reporter an
estimated timeframe for response.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 11 of 18
(2) Media inquiries must be completed within 24 hours.
Extension to the response time may be granted by the
Director of the Office of Communications or County Health
Department Director/Administrator.
(3) If the requested facts are unknown or are otherwise
unavailable, the requesting party shall be notified within 24
hours.
f. The accuracy of media responses will ensure the following:
(1) All appropriate stakeholders will validate information.
(2) Local CHD attorneys or the General Counsel shall be
consulted upon requests for information related to lawsuits,
confidential patient information, inquiries involving legal
interpretations and agency reactions to local, state, or federal
board decisions.
g. PIOs shall ensure that no protected health information is released.
h. The following scenarios require CHD PIOs to coordinate with the
Office of Communications prior to providing requested information to
the media:
(1) News requests with potentially negative impacts regarding
DOH’s credibility or reputation (e.g. rumors, coverage that is
inadequate, incorrect).
(2) News requests are controversial in nature.
(3) News requests that have implications for the Governor, State
Surgeon General, County Health Director/Administrator or
other senior leadership positions.
3. Media Access to DOH Staff and Properties
a. PIOs should verify media credentials and gain a clear understanding
of the media’s expectations for the visit.
b. PIOs are responsible for ensuring media representatives comply with
all safety and security procedures including:
(1) Prominently displaying identification while on DOH
properties.
(2) Obtaining photo release forms from any DOH personnel or
clients before inheriting any photos or identifying information
(See Appendix B).
(3) Property specific security procedures are followed.
4. Producing Written Materials for Media
a. All written materials for media shall:
(1) Be on official letterhead or contain the DOH logo.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 12 of 18
(2) Follow the DOH Brand and Communications Style Guide.
(3) Be dated and provide contact information
(4) Contain an action statement.
(5) Provide accessibility information.
(6) Address social, cultural, and linguistic standards for the
target population.
b. Media Advisories— distributed to inform the public of events, public
meetings, and health-related warnings/situations.
(1) PIOs are responsible for creating media advisories.
(2) All media advisories shall include the following information:
who, what, where, when, why regarding the advised event or
situation.
(3) When possible, media partners should receive event
advisories two weeks in advance.
c. Press Releases— inform the public about Department activities or
accomplishments; necessary public health information; promotion of
the Department’s mission; or in response to inaccurate information.
(1) The need for a press release is identified (i.e. What is News,
Appendix %)
(2) The press release is drafted by the PIO in coordination with
program staff.
(3) The press release draft is submitted for approval by
appropriate member of Senior Management.
(4) If the press release is announcing potentially controversial
information, the program shall complete the following before
releasing the information to the press:
(a) Create talking points to accompany the information for
approval by the Office of Communications.
(b) Identify a DOH spokesperson to be available for
potential interviews.
(5) The press release is distributed to the media and/or posted
to the Online Newsroom.
B. PIO and Crisis and Emergency Risk Communications Training
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 13 of 18
1. All spokespersons and PIOs shall complete the courses in Appendix & based
on current or anticipated daily job duties and in consideration of the
suggested timeframes.
2. PIOs are encouraged to seek credentials as a Type I, II, III or IV PIO. Refer
to the DOH PIO Training Standards Guideline (Anticipated approval by
December 2013).
3. Frequency and availability of training will be determined through the annual
training needs assessment.
C. Marketing and Social Media
1. Marketing Requests
a. The Office of Communications coordinates marketing of the
Department, agency programs and initiatives.
b. Divisions, Offices and/or CHDs identify the needs for marketing
services (i.e. media campaigns, posters, brochures, flyers, billboards,
all Public Service Announcements).
c. Programs complete the Request Form located on the DOH
Communications intranet site.
d. The Offices of Communications’ Integrated Marketing Director reviews
requests, determines action, assigns accepted projects to marketing
staff as appropriate and communicates with the requestor.
e. Marketing staff consult with the requestor to gather information and
further assess the project’s needs to develop a plan to successfully
implement the request.
f. Marketing staff provides an integrated marketing plan for approval by
the requestor, Integrated Marketing Director, Office of
Communications Director and Executive Management, as needed.
g. Upon plan approval, the marketing materials are developed
h. The requestor, Integrated Marketing Director, Office of
Communications Director, and Executive Management, as needed
approve the completed marketing products.
i. The final marketing products are distributed based on the approved
plan.
2. Social Media
a. The Office of Communications manages all DOH official social media
accounts to market the Department, agency programs and initiatives.
These include:
(1) Facebook: FL Department of Health
(2) Twitter: @HealthyFla
(3) YouTube: fldoh
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 14 of 18
(4) Pinterest: FL Dept of Health
b. The Office of Communications approves and tracks those positions
authorized to use DOH official social media accounts as part of their
official job duties.
c. The Office of Communications will maintain on their intranet site the
guidelines for use of the official Social Media accounts.
d. Divisions, Offices, and CHDs should obtain approval from the Office
of Communications for any plans to use social media in the marketing
or delivery of services.
D. Internal Employee Communications
Employee communications shall be timely, open and collaborative in informing and
motivating employees to become ambassadors of health. In order to increase
employee access to sufficient, consistent and timely information regarding internal
priorities, actions, plans and special situations, the Department periodically sends out
DOH Bulletins, posts key messaging on the intranet, and delivers stand-alone email
memos.
1. DOH Bulletins
a. DOH Senior Management identifies information relevant to all DOH
employees.
b. The DOH Senior Manager provides draft content for the DOH Bulletin
to the Office of Communications’ Internal Communications Manager.
Information should contain no graphics.
c. The Office of Communications’ Internal Communication Manager
reviews, revises and formats the information, as needed.
d. The DOH Bulletin is approved by the Director of the Office of
Communications.
e. The Office of Communications disseminates the DOH bulletins.
2. Maintaining DOH Intranet— serves as the venue for providing DOH
employees with agency-specific operating information.
a. The Office of Communications establishes standards for DOH intranet
content.
b. IT identifies and implements tools for sustaining the DOH intranet and
maintains the Departments DOHP 50-16-10 Internet Web Hosting
Policy.
c. Each Division, Office and CHD is responsible for updating their
intranet site to provide accurate and relevant information.
3. Other communication vehicles to specifically target employees
a. The Department may utilize blogs, emails, videos, social media and
other communication vehicles to target employees.
Created 9/18/2013
DOHP 85-01-13 Page 15 of 18
4. Emergency Information
a. The Department may disseminate emergency preparedness and
response information to employees through the DOH Health Alert
Network, telephone notification procedures and other methods
appropriate to the specific emergency.
b. For information related to an emergency, DOH employees should call
the Information Status Report Hotline at 1-866-804-9169.
E. Internet Web Content Management
As of August 30, 2013, the Department’s internet web page is transitioning to a new
format. Web content management procedures are currently under development and
anticipated to be released by June 2014.
F. Correspondence Management
All Department staff will use the processes and procedures outlined in the DOHP 5-
3-13 Correspondence and Report Policy when drafting and routing Department
correspondence and other specified documents, regardless of the signatory.
VIII. Distribution List
A. Senior Management
B. Office of Communications staff
C. Public Information Officers
D. Subject Matter Experts
E. Communications Liaisons
F. Correspondence Liaisons
IX. History Notes
Not applicable; this is a new policy.
X. Appendices
A. DOH Photo Release Form
B. What is News
C. PIO Training Requirements
Created 9/18/2013
G

Rebekah Jones FCHR Investigation

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Rebekah Jones FCHR Investigation

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rrri ¯1

: Florida Commission on Human Relations H

FCHR No. 202126286

Rebekah Jones COMPLAINANT

NOTICE OF TERMINATION OF INVESTIGATIO

FOR THE FLORIDA COMMISISON ON HUMAN RELATIONS

CERTIFICATE OF FILING AND OF SERVICE

I HERBY CERTIFY that a copy of the foregoing NOTICE OF TERMiNATION OF

BY: /ati az-

Authority: §112.3 187(8)(a) and 112.3 1895(4)(a), Florida Statutes

I instructed various parties to disable Ms Jones access

May 16, 2020

May 15, 2020

May 11, 2020

May 10, 2020

The following emails demonstrate the issues caused by these changes:

Admin rights in AGO Account Dashboard update FW FW Not authorized RE AGOL

Florida Department of Health

From: Reid, Keshia <Keshia.Reid@flhealth.gov>

From: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

From: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>

Florida Department of Health

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog

How's my customer service? Take our survey.

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog

How's my customer service? Take our survey.

Florida Department of Health

From: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

FYI for updating dashboard

From: Jones, Rebekah D <Rebekah.Jones@flhealth.gov>

From: Duclos, Chris <Chris.Duclos@flhealth.gov>

Rebekah Jones, GISP

Rebekah Jones, GISP

From: Stanek, Danielle R <Danielle.Stanek@flhealth.gov>

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog

How's my customer service? Take our survey.

From: Curry, Craig J <Craig.Curry@flhealth.gov>

Florida Department of Health

From: Hinson, Parker <Parker.Hinson@FloridaDEP.gov>

Florida Department of Health

LUCAS TRENT DEVOE

Manager / My Team / Work Information / Action History

Action Voluntary Separation

Action Reason Move to Private Sector

Position 64002375 BIOLOGICAL ADMINIST

Agency Department of Health

LUCAS TRENT DEVOE

Manager / My Team / Personal Information / Contact Information

Home Address 1156 WINTER LN TALLAHASS… FL 32311-1269 07/16/2020 12/31/9999

Mailing Address 1156 WINTER LANE TALLAHASS… FL 32311-0000 04/16/2020 12/31/9999

Notification Em… SCOTT.PRITCHARD@FLHEALT… 04/16/2020 12/31/9999

Effective Date 07/16/2020 End Date 12/31/9999

Address Type Home Address

Address Line 1 1156 WINTER LN Address Line 2

ZIP Code 32311-1269 City TALLAHASSEE

State Florida Country US USA

Home County LEON Work County 037 Leon

Mobile Phone 941 380-6061 Alternate Phone 000

Florida Department of Health

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog

How's my customer service? Take our survey.

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog

How's my customer service? Take our survey.

Stay in the know! Visit the HR Blog

6LJQDWXUH RQ ILOH