Urge OSHA to fire investigator Lara Padgett

Petition to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to terminate the employment of investigator Lara Padgett based on her proven bias and conflict of interest in the investigation against SeaWorld.

We, the Undersigned, are strongly petitioning the Occupational Health and Safety Administration to terminate the employment of their investigator Lara Padgett, based on clear evidence that she is biased and prejudiced against SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, and our belief that this bias and prejudice prevents her from conducting herself and the investigation that she is in charge of in a manner consistent with the neutrality and decorum expected of a federal investigator.

We believe that Lara Padgett has violated the rules set forth by her own employer (OSHA) as indicated:

• An executive branch employee’s position, title, or authority may offer the opportunity to further the employee’s own private interests or the interests of friends, relatives, or persons with whom the employee is affiliated in a nongovernmental capacity. An employee may have access to nonpublic Government information that could benefit those interests, and will have access to Government property. The public may lose confidence in the integrity of Government if it perceives that an employee is using public office to serve a private interest, and it expects that Government information, property, and time (including the time of a subordinate) will be used to serve the public’s interests.

• Executive branch employees may not use their Government positions to suggest that the agency or any part of the executive branch endorses organizations (including nonprofit organizations, products or people.

Note in the above photo that Lara Padgett appears wearing a BLACKFISH t-shirt.

We believe that by appearing in public wearing a BLACKFISH t-shirt, Lara Padgett has clearly given us cause to question her bias and lack of impartiality. She has also given the public the impression that OSHA endorses and supports this anti-SeaWorld film and its message.

Additionally, Lara Padgett has appeared in a number of publicly available photographs with cast and crew members of BLACKFISH. We believe that this is highly inappropriate, and gives the impression that she supports and endorses the beliefs and activities of these individuals. The following photos give us cause to question her impartiality and ability to perform her task as an investigator in OSHA's SeaWorld case.

We believe that this is enough evidence to prove that Lara Padgett has not only conducted herself in violation of OSHA's standards of conduct, but that she has also conducted herself improperly by publicly associating herself with individuals who are in a position to influence her decision-making and investigative responsibilites. By associating herself with individuals who clearly have an anti-SeaWorld agenda, we believe that she has allowed them to sway her personal views and beliefs to taint the investigation that she herself is in charge of.

We therefore ask OSHA to do the following:

• Fire Lara Padgett. Knowing what we now know of her questionable activities, we cannot in good faith or conscience trust any aspect of the investigation that she is in charge of. Her activities cast major doubt as to her level of bias and impartiality. Additionally, we do not feel that her behavior is indicative of what is expected of a government employee who is expected to remain neutral and impartial during the investigative process. Her personal activities give the impression that she is neither unbiased or impartial, nor can we determine if she is able to be trusted or believed. We therefore ask that her employment be terminated.

• We question the findings of the investigation in its entirety, and we cannot be certain that her personal views have not tainted the findings of the SeaWorld investigation. We ask that the results of the entire SeaWorld investigation be dismissed as well as any related fines and citations. We ask that a new investigation take place with a new investigator who is unbiased and who can remain professional and impartial.

We thank the Occupational Health and Safety Administration for considering and acting upon our petition to remove Lara Padgett from their employment and for their consideration in throwing out the findings of the current SeaWorld investigation based on Lara Padgett's bias, lack of impartiality, and questionable behavior as we have proven here.