Not having heard any response from Ms. Pavao or Ms. Hall, and therefore feeling disrespected and erased, I forwarded the evaluation of Ms. Keogh to Jose Afonso and Rebecca Hall. I do not believe I ever met Dr. Afonso. I probably met Ms. Hall, but can’t attach a face to the name. It turns out that Ms. Hall had left Corrigan for greener pastures; this email to her bounced back.

After I sent this to Afonso, and didn’t hear back from him, I sent it again to him, with a still more plaintive request for a reply. He has never replied.

It occurred to me that, given the militaristic hierarchy at Corrigan, it may be that Afonso, Pavao, and Crespi did not reply to this because they were affronted that an underlying would write an evaluation of a superior. If so, it is cultural. I once worked at a firm which implemented 360 degree evaluations. That meant that you were evaluated on all four sides:

(1) your boss (the person or people who supervise you)

(2) your staff (the people you supervise)

(3) your clients (the people external to the firm who pay you) and

(4) your vendors (the people external to the firm who you pay).

Of the four directions, an “upward evaluation” (like my evaluation of Danielle) was pretty standard. The most difficult of the four directions was #3. It was difficult to get evaluations from people outside the firm.

From: August Baker <august@philosophypodcasts.org>
Date: Fri, Jan 3, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Subject: Re: internship supervised by Danielle Keogh
To: <rebecca.hall@mass.gov>, <jose.afonso@mass.gov>

Dear Rebecca and Jose,

I had a negative experience as a social work intern at Corrigan due to Danielle Keogh. I feel she didn't treat me with the proper respect, didn't communicate directly with me, didn't hold the required 1 hour supervisions with me, communicated with Simmons about me and lied to me about those communications, and talked liberally about me with the other social workers in the department.  It essentially was not a respectful work environment. 

I wrote the email below to Ms. Pavao and Crespi, but neither acknowledged receipt of the email.  I am concerned that my heartfelt and honest concerns ended up in a junk folder or otherwise aren't being taken seriously.

Could one of you please acknowledge receipt of this email?  If I were in administration at Corrigan, I would want to know about this issue.  I worked many hours for free there (many more than I logged, but Ms. Keogh only allowed some), and I was very devoted to the patients and the institution. It was disappointing and at times heartbreaking to be disrespected by someone (Ms. Keogh) whom I initially admired and then realized did not have the integrity I had assumed.

I am 60 years old, been in the labor force for 40 years.  I can tell you with clarity that Ms. Keogh's views of how to treat an intern are antiquated and demeaning.  Her talking about an intern openly in front of other employees is highly unprofessional.  I had to leave the internship anyway due to a medical event suffered by my wife, but I would *not* have continued there due to the disrespect despite my devotion to the patients and staff.  If I were a director at Corrigan, I would certainly want to know about this.

Sincerely,

August Baker, PhD

On Fri, Dec 27, 2024 at 6:41 PM August Baker <august@philosophypodcasts.org> wrote:

[Here was the text of the letter to Ms. Crespi and Ms. Pavao.]