FAYETTEVILLE — One termination document for an employee of the Fayetteville Animal Shelter was released Tuesday by the city, based on an Arkansas attorney general's opinion issued the same day.
The document shows Animal Services Coordinator Mitzi O'Dell was terminated from herjob last week for nonperformance of duties - specifically spending hours of personal time on the Internet during work hours.
Employees at the shelter said O'Dell spent a lot of time in her office but they didn't know what she did there. A random sampling from a forensic report of O'Dell'scomputer usage showed the majority of three days were spent on personal Internet use, up to seven hours and 48 minutes on one of those days.
O'Dell, who worked more than 20 years for the shelter, received regular merit pay increases, including as recently as June this year.
Her supervisor, Superintendent Jill Hatfield, was also terminated last week for nonperformance of duties. The attorney general's office also said Hatfield's record should be released, but she was considering late Tuesday whether to seek judicial review of that opinion. Her decision is expected today.
Hatfield was offered a different position with the city but declined. Shetold the Northwest Arkansas Times last week that her personal situation shouldn't be a focus.
"The most important thing is that animals are in need at the shelter. Five thousand come in each year. People need to remember to adopt pets, rather than buy them. And to spay and neuter their pets," Hatfield said.
Community Services Director Yolanda Fields, who is department head over the shelter, said a weeklong investigation into shelter procedures in September led to the terminations. The investigation stemmed from complaints about euthanasia procedures, but the terminations weren't directly related to those complaints, Fields said.
Human Resources Director Missy Leflar said no animals were harmed by any of the actions that led to the terminations.
"This had nothing to do with mistreatment of animals or euthanasia. These were employee behaviors that could occur anywhere," Leflar said.
An animal caregiver, Jerry Lennox, was also terminated two weeks ago, based on reports of threats he made to other shelter employees, which were discovered during the investigation. Lennox's attorney, George Oleson, wrote a letter to thecity Friday objecting to any release of employee records or investigative material.
Lennox's case was investigated by Fayetteville police, and the file turned over to Casey Jones, city prosecutor. Jones may decide whether to file charges this week, Leflar said.
In the meantime, Dr. Rob Jones, staff veterinarian at the shelter, will supervise all medical aspects of operations.
News, Pages 1, 5 on 09/30/2009