THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2024 17 SPEAKING OUT Rachel Schneller is a Foreign Service officer who joined the State Department in 2001. In 2008 she received the William R. Rivkin Award for Constructive Dissent for her efforts to raise awareness of PTSD and improve services for those suffering following service in conflict zones. In May 2019, I was medically evacuated from post and spent a week in a mental hospital in Northern Virginia, diagnosed with retriggered posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe depression. I spent another month in outpatient treatment before receiving a medical curtailment. What led to this unfortunate outcome? I had toughed out the previous two years in a toxic work environment under hostile leadership, trying to manage my worsening PTSD symptoms through frequent trips to my post’s health unit for medication and self-care regimens like meditation and yoga—treatments that had helped me recover from my initial bout of PTSD following a tour in Iraq in 2005-2006. Weeks before the medevac, with no warning or preparation, my supervisor emailed me a career-ending statement for my employee evaluation report (EER) that bore no resemblance to my understanding of my performance and included fabricated material. Bewildered, I reached out to trusted colleagues for advice and tried to negotiate with my supervisor, but to no avail. That individual refused to change a word. My reviewing officer avoided me and several days later—again with no discussion or preparation—emailed me an EER review statement that validated my rater’s negative assessment of my performance. This triggered my mental and emotional collapse. The following day, I sought treatment from the regional medical psychiatrist, who authorized an immediate evacuation from post. I flew out that same night. A few hours before my flight, my reviewing officer called me at home as I lay miserable in bed, my husband and young son attempting to comfort me. Word had finally reached our D.C.-based office director of my plight, and he had apparently intervened. The reviewer apologized to me over the phone and pledged to revise their draft assessment. The reviewer offered a confusing explanation of how they had handled my EER—something about not knowing how to deal with the professional risk associated with social media—which made no sense to me at the time. I burst into tears. I was so demoralized and traumatized by this point I knew I required medical intervention. e In September 2021, after two agonizing and expensive years of the equal employment opportunity (EEO) process, I reached a legal settlement with the State Department. My medical evacuation alone cost about $20,000, and my medical curtailment from post likely incurred another $20,000 in forfeited school fees when my son suddenly had to depart post in July. I had retained professional legal representation, fronting more than $40,000 in fees that, ultimately, I recouped. Then there were the costs not so easily calculated: the number of hours State Department lawyers spent working on my case over the 2019-2021 period. In addition, my medical curtailment left a yearlong gap at post in a managerial position, undoubtedly taxing those who had to stretch themselves to cover my workload, to the detriment of our foreign policy interests. Further, I had spent a year in language training in preparation for a three-year position, but the department got only two years’ return on its investment. This estimated $100,000 price tag— ultimately footed by U.S. taxpayers— would have been even higher if my final settlement had included compensatory My $100,000 EER BY RACHEL SCHNELLER In retrospect, there were a number of missed opportunities to correct course and avoid a lawsuit, which would have been to the benefit of all involved, including the American people.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy ODIyMDU=