130314 RANCH WHISTLEBLOWER

A WHISTLEBLOWER ..WHO ONCE WORKED FOR THE SOUTHERN NEVADA WATER AUTHORITY ON ITS RANCHES IN WHITE PINE COUNTY.. SAYS THE AGENCY IS WOEFULLY INEPT WHEN IT COMES TO OVERSEEING THE PROPERTIES.
S-N-W-A SPENT 80 MILLION DOLLARS TO ACQUIRE THE RANCHES BUT WORKING THERE WAS A TERRIFYING EXPERIENCE FOR A LONGTIME WATER EMPLOYEE WHO HAS NOW FILED A SCATHING COMPLAINT WITH FEDERAL AUTHORITIES.
GEORGE KNAPP OF THE I-TEAM IS HERE WITH THE STORY.
IT ISN'T OFTEN THAT WE HEAR ALLEGATIONS THIS SEVERE INVOLVING A PUBLIC AGENCY BUT FORMER SNWA EMPLOYEE DEBRA RIVERO SAYS SHE AND OTHER EMPLOYEES AT THE SNWA RANCHES WERE ABUSED AND TERRORIZED BY THEIR MANAGER ON A REGULAR BASIS. RIVERO NEARLY DIED ON THE JOB, WHICH HAPPENED AFTER HER BOSS THREATENED HER WITH AN ELECTRONIC CATTLE PROD.
THE SORDID ALLEGATIONS HAVE NOW BEEN BROUGHT TO FEDERAL AUTHORITIES.
Debra Rivero: 3420 I could get no one to listen to me, no one to help me. I was up there, completely alone with this person I considered a lunatic....
THE FINAL YEAR OF DEBRA RIVERO'S LONG CAREER WITH NEVADA WATER AGENCIES WAS A TIME OF HUMILIATION AND FEAR, SHE SAYS. FOR 17 YEARS, HER EVALUATIONS SHOW, SHE WAS AN EXEMPLARY EMPLOYEE AT THE WATER DISTRICT'S MAIN OFFICE IN LAS VEGAS. ALL THAT CHANGED WHEN SHE LEFT TO WORK FOR THE WATER AUTHORITY AS OFFICE MANAGER FOR SNWA'S STRING OF RANCHES IN WHITE PINE COUNTY. THE AGENCY PLOWS MORE THAN 800,000 DOLLARS PER YEAR INTO RUNNING THE RANCHES. PROBLEMS SURFACED, RIVERO SAYS, WHEN FORMER RANCH MANAGER BRANDON HUMPRHIES WAS REPLACED BY BERNARD PETERSON.
DB: 1945 I heard a lot of talk from the manager who told me himself that there was a lot of inappropriate things that happened out at the ranch. A lot of materials and equipment that ended up missing.
RIVERO TRIED TO LET THE BOSSES IN LAS VEGAS KNOW THERE WERE SERIOUS PROBLEMS WITH THE RANCHES ...
DB: 4652 I kept bringing up, hey, there is unethical stuff going on up here and the Vegas office didn't seem to want to hear it. They didn't want to talk to me about it.
IN PARTICULAR, SHE SAYS, SNWA DIDN'T WANT DEROGATORY INFORMATION ABOUT THE RANCHES TO BE LEAKED TO THE I-TEAM.
GK: To me? 2028
DR: Yes, to you.
RIVERO SAYS THE LACK OF OVERSIGHT BY SNWA MEANT THE RANCHES OPERATED AS A WORLD UNTO THEMSELVES. THE RESULT--FOR HER--WAS HORRIFIC. IN A BLISTERING COMPLAINT FILED WITH THE FEDERAL EEOC, SHE DESCRIBES AN EXTREMELY HOSTILE WORK ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH SHE WAS HARASSED, HUMILIATED, AND DEMEANED. AN EARLIER LETTER TO SNWA BOSS PAT MULROY COMPLAINED THAT PETERSON WAS OPPRESSIVE, MALICIOUS, AND ABUSIVE TO EMPLOYEES, THAT HE OFTEN BOASTED HE WOULD KILL ANYONE WHO MESSED WITH HIM OR HIS FAMILY.
Deb Rivero: 2855 he came and stood toe to toe with me and asked if I was afraid of him. I mean, his nose almost touching mine...
GK: does he yell?
DR: a lot.
Obscenities?
DR quite a bit.
ONE INCIDENT WAS A TURNING POINT. SHE ALLEGES THAT PETERSON TRIED TO INTIMIDATE HER WITH AN ELECTRONIC CATTLE PROD.
2255 It was a live cattle prod, a live cattle prod,and he held it within inches of my face. When I didn't jump out of the way, I just froze out of fear, he shocked the light bar above me and sparks went flying all over. He just chuckled and laughed and walked away.
SHE SAYS SHE REPORTED THE INCIDENT TO SNWA HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR PAT MAXWELL
3325 and she did nothing.her answer to me was, well, you need to sit down and figure out what you did to make him so mean to you.
DISHEARTENED AND FEARFUL EVERY DAY AT WORK, RIVERO SUFFERED A STROKE LAST JUNE. THE RANCH IS A 30 MINUTE DRIVE OUTSIDE OF ELY. A DOCTOR TOLD HER BY PHONE TO GET HELP RIGHT AWAY. SHE COULDN'T DRIVE, SO SHE CALLED PETERSON.
DR: 2950 so I finally contacted Bernard, said I needed to go to the hospital. The doctor thought I was having a stroke. He said okay, then finished cleaning out his truck, and then he took me. When we got to the hospital, he dropped me at the curb and left.
DOCTORS IN ELY HAD HER AIRLIFTED TO A LAS VEGAS HOSPITAL. SHE SURVIVED, BUT DIDN'T GET MUCH SYMPATHY WHEN SHE ASKED FOR TIME OFF TO RECUPERATE.
DR: 3303 It says on my paperwork, if I don't go back to work by this date, I will be terminated. And it was like, a week and a half after the stroke
RIVERO DECIDED THERE WAS NO WAY SHE COULD GO BACK TO WORK FOR THE SAME BOSS SO SHE RESIGNED, AND IT COST HER PLENTY. INSTEAD OF RETIRING WITH FULL BENEFITS AFTER 20 YEARS, HER MEDICAL COVERAGE AND RETIREMENT PAY ARE ONLY A FRACTION OF WHAT THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN
SNWA AGREED TO PAY HER 30,000 DOLLARS TO SETTLE HER CLAIMS BUT SHE SAYS SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO MAKE SUCH A BIG SACRIFICE BECAUSE OF SOMEONE ELSE'S BAD BEHAVIOR.
SNWA WOULD NOT COMMENT ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC CASE BUT TOLD US IT FOLLOWS STRICT POLICIES TO PROTECT WORKERS FROM HARASSMENT AND ABUSE.

[@1romancatholic]

Sorry, but sounds mobster protected. Anyone else could easily be shut down by FBI.