WATCH ABOVE: Jeff Marks, WDBJ7’s general manager, described Vester Flanagan’s employment with the news station and the events leading up to his termination two-and-a-half years ago.
Warning: The following post contains graphic language that may be offensive to some users. Discretion is advised.
Twenty-three pages of memos sent between managers at Virginia news station WDBJ-7 outline plenty of red flags involving Vester Flanagan, aka Bryce Williams, who killed two of his former co-workers during a live broadcast Wednesday.
Williams was fired from his job as a reporter at the station Feb. 1, 2013, about a year after getting hired. His problems there started much sooner, though, with his bosses even asking him to seek medical help at one point. The station’s general manager told reporters on Thursday that Williams did comply with that request.
READ MORE: Father of slain journalist calls for tighter laws so ‘crazy people can’t get guns’
A lot of his interpersonal conflicts appear to have been with photographers, whose work he often seemed to have a problem with. One incident recounted how he argued with the photographer in front of an interview subject, telling the interviewee that the footage the photographer just shot “is completely unusable.”
VIDEO GALLERY:
In correspondence from May 31, 2012, the news director warned Williams that any future instances of such behaviour “will lead to more serious disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.”
But for months, the bad behaviour and warnings continued. The next warning came on July 30, 2012 and chronicled a series of other altercations with staff. “Management is not taking sides,” the news director again wrote, but “you have been the common denominator in these and other incidents outlined previously.”
READ MORE: The psychology of a disgruntled employee who kills
On Nov. 1, 2012, Williams was reprimanded for wearing a President Obama sticker while preparing to vote.
“While this is the first incident of this nature, and we trust the last, you need to quickly and diligently move from the category of an employee who commits misstep after misstep to the kind of problem-free employee we hope you can become.”
In a Dec. 24, 2012 message to colleagues, the news director said he tried to be “supportive and encouraging” to Williams but was “not entirely sure where his head is at.” The next message describes, in detail, five examples of Williams’ poor news judgement and performance. Williams is given specific areas to improve on within two weeks or face, once again, “more serious disciplinary action up to and including termination of employment.”
READ MORE: Boyfriend of slain Virginia reporter Alison Parker speaks out in grief
Despite another incident reported by a photographer in mid-January 2013, it was felt that Williams’ performance had improved and he was allowed to stay on. However a week later, a meeting had to be held again following yet another issue that had come up over the weekend.
In a separate conversation that day, Williams reportedly expressed concern over what he felt were racist statements once made by “Alison Bailey” (Alison Bailey Parker), one of the victims of Wednesday’s shooting.
“He talked about two incidents with a former intern Alison Bailey. One was something about ‘swinging’ by some place; the other was out in the ‘field.'”
READ MORE: What we know about Alison Parker and Adam Ward, the two journalists killed in Virginia
On Wednesday, it appeared Williams referenced this situation in a series of posts he made on Twitter, published at the time police were searching for the gunman.
Adam Ward, a photographer and other victim of Wednesday’s shooting, appears to be mentioned only once in the 23 pages of memos — and that’s on Feb 1, 2013: the day Williams was finally fired following a confrontation with an anchor.
Needless to say, Williams did not take the termination well. He said the severance of two weeks he was being given was “bull—t.”
“I’m not leaving, you’re going to have to call the f—ing police…I’m going to make a stink and it’s going to be in the headlines,” Williams was quoted as saying.
That same day, it looks like employees were told to “call 911 immediately” if they saw Williams on company property, and that an off-duty officer would be posted on the premises overnight and on weekends.
READ MORE: What employers can do to prevent workplace violence after a firing
Just over a year later, Williams filed a civil lawsuit against the station, alleging racial and sexual discrimination. The case was dismissed later that year, according to The Guardian.
As part of the racial discrimination Williams claimed he encountered, he cited a watermelon in the newsroom which he believed was deliberately placed in his view.
Comments