Hawaii Missile Alert Worker Fired, Will Sue State for Defamation (khon2.com)

This week Hawaii finally fired the employee who issued a false missile alert warning to the entire state, while the head of the state's emergency management agency resigned, another official quit, and a fourth was suspended over the incident. But new details also emerged about the incident:

• After alerting workers on the wrong shift, the night supervisor "had started the drill by calling the day shift warning officers, who had not been told there was to be an exercise, and pretending to be U.S. Pacific Command," reports the Guardian, citing the FCC's investigation. The investigation confirmed that his script for the drill included the phrase "this is not a drill" (though it also began and ended with the words "exercise, exercise, exercise.")

• The New York Daily News reports that the warning officer missed those words "because someone in the office picked up the receiver instead of hitting the speaker." And he insists that "I'm really not to blame in this. It was a system failure. And I did what I was trained to do. I can't say that I would do anything differently based on what I saw and heard." His lawyer adds that "The place was a circus and they got their scapegoat... All that was missing were clowns and balloons."

• The fired worker now plans to sue the state of Hawaii for defamation, and possibly also for libel and slander, according to his lawyer, "because they lied about what happened." He also says that his client has already received numerous death threats.

• Washington Post audience editor says the incident happened "because Hawaii rewards incompetence," noting the employee behind the missile alert "had a history of performance problems and had been 'a source of concern,'" adding that the FCC reported that previously the employee "has confused real life events and drills on at least two separate occasions."

Comments

Not a drill, not his fault

[Anonymous Coward]

If it said not a drill, it's not his fault. Fire the person who added "not a drill" to a drill.

Characterization of Service

[CRB9000]

To avoid issues, government HR briefs supervisors that when commenting on the dismissal of an employee, or providing a reference or confirmation of employment that is is important NOT to provide a characterization of service. In other words you say:

• Yes, he/she worked here for the time period specified.
• He/she has been released from service.
• We are prevented from providing a characterization of service positive or negative.

The fact they provided, to the press, a characterization of his service, include details about his past issues, the State of Hawaii should probably settle and then brief their Emergency Management folks to keep their &^%*ing mouths shut next time.

Re:First

[Fly Swatter]

Some jobs like public safety shouldn't get a second chance. They had ONE job, and failed on multiple levels - the whole department should be replaced and internal policies evaluated.

Re:First

[Dutch Gun]

I'd be more apt to fire the person who put "This is not a drill" in the message when it was clearly a drill.

Dear... everyone.

[Hallux-F-Sinister]

You do NOT. PUT. THE. WORDS. this is not a drill IN. A. FUCKING. DRILL.

To the person or persons responsible for firing the guy, if, that is, I had the power to fire them, I would ask the following question: Yes means no, and no means yes. Would you like me to fire you?

Then I would totally fire them no matter what they said.

I myself have had to deal with incompetent morons in leadership positions who literally did not know the literal meanings of words they were using, including, yes, literally.