Elisabeth Wilkinson went back to her job Monday. After firing her for talking to the media, parking officials rehired her as an appeals officer.
She was fired in early December following a dispute with the son of prominent U donors. She said she was fired for reporting the event to The Chronicle.
“I got my story out, I got my job back, it’s all good,” said Wilkinson, a senior studying psychology. “I don’t regret any of it, I’ve learned a lot from it.”
In early December, the son of prominent U donors came into parking services “threatening” his family would withdraw funds if a boot wasn’t taken off his girlfriend’s car and her fines nullified, said Wilkinson after the event happened.
Parking services complied with his demands. Wilkinson then called The Chronicle to report the incident.
“This is the grossest thing I’ve seen in a long time. People shouldn’t get away with thinking they’re above the law,” she said in December.
Parking Services Director Alma Allred said he found the event “hard to believe” and “very inappropriate” shortly after it happened. The day after Wilkinson’s reported to The Chronicle, Allred fired her. Last week, he called Wilkinson and offered her the job back.
Wilkinson said Allred told her it was a mistake to fire her when he rehired her. She thinks his motives for rehiring her were to avoid bad publicity created by the event.
“I will show my appreciation for giving me my job back regardless of [Allred’s] motivation,” Wilkinson said. “It confirmed what they did to me was wrong.”
Allred refused to comment on the matter.
Leon Bills, the lead supervisor over parking appeals, was on vacation when Wilkinson was fired and out sick when she was hired back. From a managerial perspective, both were “way over my head,” he said.
“I don’t have a problem with her,” Bills said. “I’m glad she’s back. She does a good job for me.”
If Wilkinson saw something else that didn’t sit well with her, she wouldn’t hesitate to talk to the media about it, she said.
“I wouldn’t let something like that happen twice, I wouldn’t let it happen once,” she said. “I’m satisfied with it. I don’t feel like I did anything wrong?I didn’t think it’s nice when people get away with what the normal average person can’t.”