Head of DES talks about employee firing after woman found in deporable conditions at Mesa home

MESA, AZ - The former DES worker, now at the center of an investigation into horrible elder neglect in Mesa,  had a series of work-related problems, newly released documents show.

Director Tim Jeffries from the Arizona Department of Economic Security says his agency has been busy, rooting out liars, bullies and bad actors.

New documents show, former employee Carol Brown, had a questionable work ethic at best.

"Did we fire them? No. They fired themselves. You don't perform, you fire yourself," said Jeffries.

Jeffries spoke in general of the more than 250 DES workers that have been left go since he took over in March 2015.

He couldn't get into specifics of Brown's personnel background, but ABC15 filed a public information request and found stunning details.

Brown was a long time employee, with the agency for 25 years.

The records request revealed 14 pages of documented reprimands related to Brown's work.

The problems date back several years, and included problems such as "interviews with clients lasting almost four hours."

One documented case showed Brown was falling asleep on the job.

Documents show Brown would tell clients to come back when it was getting close to the end of her work day.

Paperwork showed she even yelled "my husband satisfies me" within earshot of her colleagues and bosses at work.

She even told one client "that she was probably going to be fired."

Complaints from the public poured in, highlighting rude and hostile behavior.

The final straw came during an ABC15 investigation surrounding deplorable conditions inside Brown's Mesa home where her mother-in-law lived in filth and in her own waste, according to deputies

Brown was "no longer welcomed" as an employee less than 24 hours after the story aired on Friday.

Jeffries sent the story to all 7,500 employees at DES and says work under his leadership is a privilege, not an entitlement.

ABC15 tried, repeatedly, to contact Brown at her home and her listed phone numbers, but there were no responses.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's office says they are still investigating the neglect at Brown's home.

No arrests have been made or charges filed.

Full Article & Source:
Head of DES talks about employee firing after woman found in deporable conditions at Mesa home

Tears and Terror: The Disturbing Final Years of Mickey Rooney

Mickey Rooney shrieks in pain. Is he OK? "No, I'm not," he says, choking back tears. It's July 2010, inside The Grill on the Alley in Thousand Oaks, and in the midst of an interview with one of the authors of this piece, the diminutive 89-year-old has been kicked under the table by his eighth wife, Jan, as confirmed by his stepson, Chris Aber, who also is at the table. "She kicked him real hard," says Chris with a laugh. Rooney's offense? Rambling in his answers.

This meeting took place because the interviewer (who, as a then-freelance writer, was gathering material for a book) agreed to requirements set forth by Jan and Chris and conveyed to him over the phone by Kevin Pawley, Rooney's Kentucky-based manager: Bring a check for $200 and slip it to Chris when Rooney wasn't paying attention (ostensibly because financial transactions make him uncomfortable) and treat the three of them to lunch at the restaurant (Jan later ordered dinners to go for each of them).

A flip cam at the end of the table rolls as Jan, theatrically seeking the source of what caused her husband's pain, peers under the table for a moment and then turns to Chris and scolds him for confirming, in part, what the general public only would learn later: In his final years, Rooney was the victim of ongoing elder abuse.

The alleged wrongdoing and how it went on for so long has been a mystery - until now. Five years after that interview, and more than a year after the star's death, an investigation by The Hollywood Reporter (uncovering legal documents, witness testimony and financial records that never before have been publicized) indicates Rooney's life was more abusive than he let on while he was alive. What's more, the trouble persisted until he died in April 2014 in a Studio City rental, with only $18,000 to his name. (Rooney's body rests at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where many legendary movie stars are buried.)

Just weeks after Chris was served with a restraining order on Valentine's Day in 2011 accusing him of financially exploiting Rooney as his business manager, the actor flew to Washington, D.C. Herb Kohl, chairman of the Senate Special Aging Committee, had read press reports that a conservator for Rooney was pursuing elder-abuse charges, and he invited Rooney to testify about what he'd been through. As a transcript of that hearing reveals, Rooney, without naming names, tearfully explained that he'd himself been a victim of the increasingly common crime, stripped "of the ability to make even the most basic decisions about my life," leading to an "unbearable" and "helpless" daily existence. In a process that began after Rooney confided in a Disney executive during filming of 2011's The Muppets, Rooney's attorneys filed court papers in their petition for a conservator (to protect him and recover his assets) that revealed the extent of the control - he wasn't even allowed to buy food or carry identification.  (Continue Reading)

Full Article & Source:
Tears and Terror: The Disturbing Final Years of Mickey Rooney 

See Also:
Objections to Rooney's will dropped; administrator approved 

Mickey Rooney's widow contests late actor's will

Elder Abuse Lawsuit Filed on Behalf of Mickey Rooney

Court Hears Mickey Rooney's Allegations of Elder Abuse

Judge Extends Mickey Rooney's Restraining Order

Mickey Rooney Conservatorship

Mickey Rooney Reaches Settlement With One of his Stepsons

Mickey Rooney's Estate Goes to His Caregiver Stepson

Wetumpka woman charged with elder abuse following yearlong investigation

A Wetumpka woman was arrested on Friday on charges related to elder abuse, according to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency.

The State Bureau of Investigation major crimes agents executed a search warrant on Friday and arrested Sandra Gayle Humphrey, 52, of Wetumpka .

She is charged with one count of financial exploitation of an elderly person in the first degree, a Class B felony and elder abuse and neglect, a Class A misdemeanor. She is being held in the Elmore County Detention Facility on $16,000 bond.

"The search warrant was the culmination of a yearlong investigation into the financial exploitation of a senior citizen," Secretary of Law Enforcement Spencer Collier stated in a release.  "SBI agents will continue to partner with local partners to investigate those who exploit and abuse our senior citizens."

The District Attorney's Office and Drug Task Force from the 19th Judicial Circuit along with the Elmore County Sheriff's Department, provided valuable assistance in this investigation.

Details on the charges were released. Humphrey's arrest warrant wasn't available for release.

Full Article & Source:
Wetumpka woman charged with elder abuse following yearlong investigation