The Great Neck Library fired two employees from their teens program, drawing opposition from students and parents who expressed strong support for the pair. The employees claim they were fired in retaliation and are seeking to get their jobs back.
Michael Meehan and Sam, who asked to only be identified by her first name, worked in the library’s teen program called Levels. Sam served as the Levels assistant manager and the Junior Levels coordinator, and Meehan was the Levels program coordinator.
“Employees like [Sam] do not come along often,” said Maria Lopez, whose special-needs granddaughter attends the teen program.
While Meehan and Sam’s roles were to create and teach the program’s offerings, both said a significant part of their job was also serving as a mentor to the teenagers.
“That was the stuff that you can’t measure,” Meehan said. “And that was mainly the important thing.”
Meehan and Sam said they were fired for staying after library hours to play a video game together. Video game playing is a common activity in the Levels program, and the two said they would play them to learn more about the program offerings and be a point of relation with the teens.
Sam’s employment was terminated on March 3 and Meehan’s was terminated on March 19.
Meehan was employed at the library for nearly 30 years, starting in 1996. Sam, born and raised in Great Neck, said she attended the library’s Level program as a teen and grew up with Meehan as a mentor. Sam worked at the library for 2 1/2 years.
“You create such a strong bond with these kids because you are hanging out with them. That’s a big part of this; they come there to hang out,” Sam said.
They said many teens often confided in them about their problems or issues. They’d advise them through common teenager woes like a breakup or academic struggles, but Meehan and Sam said they would also be sought out for more serious issues as well.
“I was someone there that was there to be relatable to them, someone that they felt they could talk to about things that maybe they couldn’t talk with anyone else about, and if it got serious enough, those conversations would be shared with those above me,” Meehan said.
Meehan and Sam said the incident they were fired for was like many other nights they had spent at the library after hours, a practice they said was common for other employees to do as well and was permitted by their supervisor.
They said that while they got permission from their supervisor, they were informed at the meeting on their termination that their supervisor had told library administrators he had not permitted them.
Library Board of Trustees President Aliza Reicher read a prepared statement at a Great Neck Library Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, March 18. She said the library would not release details of Sam’s termination, who was the only employee fired at that time.
“It was a decision made for the sake of the safety and security of the library’s child and teen patrons, as well as for the staff, and in order to protect the library and the taxpayers,” Reicher read from the statement.
Meehan and Sam both denounced the claims that their actions were endangering teens, patrons and staff, saying no students or patrons were ever present during their after-hours stays and they were usually accompanied by the overnight cleaning staff.
Both said they had been fired without warning and this was the first time they had been told that staying after hours was not permitted.
They called the action retaliatory due to a history of being targeted by their supervisor and administration.
Both Meehan and Sam described a toxic work environment at the library, including allegations of sexual harassment, discrimination, disputes with supervisors and administrators, the dismissal of other employees’ offensive actions, neglect by supervisors to file incident reports and favoritism for certain employees. Last year, the library’s Director Denise Corcoran was investigated after allegations of her fostering a toxic work environment were made in an anonymous employee letter. The investigation found she had not violated and library policies.
Reicher said the library had made the decision in consultation with its legal counsel. Corcoran made the decision to terminate Sam, the only employee fired at the time of the statement, but Reicher said the Board of Trustees fully supported it.
Efforts to solicit further comment from the library director were unavailing.
At the library’s Board of Trustees meeting, nine students spoke in support of the two fired employees.
“Sam and Mike have made an immeasurable impact,” David Dallal, a senior at Great Neck High School, said. “[Sam] made me a more confident person and has been a true role model to me, and Mike wrote my college letter of recommendation. He always supported my creativity.”
Talia Laha Elyaho, a junior at Great Neck High School, said she was absolutely “dumbfounded” by the news of Sam and Meehan’s terminations. She recalled Meehan being one of the first staff members to greet her at the library, and she described Sama as an “incredible human being.”
“Sam is the reason I am confident enough to stand before you today,” Elyaho said. “And probably the reason why I am alive.”
They asked that Sam’s and Meehan’s employments be reinstated.
“The kids deserve a say,” Dallal said. “We make the Levels community, and if we want Sam and Mike back, we have a say.”
The teenagers presented a written letter signed Teens4SamandMike to the library board highlighting the thoughts they shared during the meeting. Students also requested another meeting to discuss the terminations.
“We shouldn’t bear the cost of a small indiscretion that may have been made,” the students wrote. “People like Mike and Sam come around once in a lifetime. We, and many other young people, cannot afford to not have Sam in our lives.”
Despite the problems the two described at the library, both said it is the work they do with the teens that makes them want their jobs back.
“It’s all about the students,” Meehan said. “I can put aside, and I have put aside for a long time, all the petty nonsense that goes on with management because I have such an affinity for the kids, for teaching them, for them teaching me.”
