Friday March 10th Deborah was terminated from SRI based on behavior that was termed "damaging to the department and SRIs buisness partners", which we believe is unjust as well as unfounded based on our interactions with her over the past 5 years. She has always been friendly, helpful, reliable , dependable and accommodating across multiple departments and study related issues. She is the employee we rely on because her supervisor is largely absent and unreliable. We have not experienced anything to suggest her behavior and attitude is anything but professional and in accordance with SRIs policies.

Neither her supervisor nor HR conducted any interviews or asked for feedback to substantiate her claim on Deborah's behavior over the past year, making it suspicious and clear it was a personal attack to which the director of LAMD turned a blind eye on , which is not the first show of favoritism between the two that has been noticed.

Deborah is an irreplaceable asset to SRIs animal colony who has worked above and beyond to create and efficiency and harmony between departments and across studies over the past 5 years. In addition to making the lives better for the animals who provide necessary research , her personality created a fun working environment ( again, contrary to what her supervisor claims ) .While it is not unlawful to terminate at will, there should be an investigation into the radical claims on her behavior from a supervisor with a suspicious personal vendetta.

Bring Deborah back to SRI , the vivarium and research will be much better off with her on board.