Fired Belleville PL Supervisor
Vows to Fight for Job
A supervisor at the Belleville (Ill.) Public Library who was fired October 2 says she is working with her union to get her job back because the library board “accused me of something I didn’t do, and I’m not going to let them ruin my reputation.”
Michele Bruss, supervisor of reference and adult services, was dismissed because she revealed confidential information about another employee during a dispute, Board President Cherie Reeser told American Libraries in October. Bruss told the November 27 Belleville News-Democrat the charge was false and that she is “going to do whatever it takes” to get her job back. She said she has not ruled out legal action.
Both Bruss and former Director Mary Agnes Schlather, fired in May, were given 15 minutes to clean out their desks while the locks were being changed on the building. The board has never explained Schlather’s firing, but there appears to be no connection between the two cases.
Reeser said neither position has been filled at the library, which serves about 43,000 people.
Posted December 4, 2000.
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