Nepotism, Cronyism, Wingman-ism: Former FEMA Chief Went Buck Wild

A former FEMA personnel chief has been exposed as the ultimate wingman, but also one of the worst bosses in the history of bosses. Taking equal pages from the Michael Scott, Howard Stern, and Harvey Weinstein books of management, former senior-level Federal Emergency Management Agency employee Corey Coleman has been proven to be a hound dog of epic proportions.

FEMA didn’t need any more bad press, either. They’ve done a more than adequate job mucking up their reputation, from being caught apparently off-guard by Hurricane Katrina to supplying formaldehyde-laced trailers to victims of the storm in the aftermath of the destruction, FEMA’s M.O. has long been one of ineffectuality, at best. At worst, FEMA has served as a false safety net, accepting tens of billions of dollars in federal funding and consistently falling flat on their faces in emergency situations.

Consider their mission:

‘The mission of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that, as a Nation, we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.’

Then consider reality: If the scattershot, disorganized imbroglio that is FEMA had their performance personified by a single employee, ex-personnel chief Corey Coleman would be the man. The walkin’, talkin’, sexually harrassin’, nepotizin’ scallywag of a former personnel director is almost too brazen to be real. But, as sure as a multi-billion-dollar disaster prevention and management agency was caught pants-less in the wake of multiple Category-5 hurricanes, Corey Coleman is very much real.

Coleman’s record, left to speak for itself, would not necessarily be cause for concern. Having served as chief human resources officer for the information technology department of the Secret Service, he was hired at FEMA in 2011 as deputy personnel chief. Diversity being top criteria for advancement under the Obama administration, Coleman – who is African-American – was ‘promoted to the top job’ in short order, being tasked with overseeing hiring and all personnel policies for the 20,000-person agency and its 10 regional offices.

Turns out that was a bad call. A really bad call.

A piece in the Washington Post, of all places, detailed Coleman’s years-long penchant for putting female “prospects” on the FEMA payroll, undoubtedly banking on a tit-for-tit arrangement, if you catch my drift. After hiring women who he’d met on dating apps or at bars – borrowing Sir Mix-a-Lot’s hiring criteria, apparently – Coleman “then transferred some of the women in and out of departments, some to regional offices, so his friends could try to have sexual relationships with them, according to employees’ statements during interviews with investigators.”

Accuse Corey Coleman of poor management, cronyism, even potentially criminal conduct, as the Washington Post has. But do not, under any circumstances, accuse Corey Coleman of being a bad wingman. Perhaps predictably, Coleman’s idea of fun didn’t include him sitting on the sidelines.

‘The preliminary investigation, completed Friday, found that an official described as the former chief component human capital officer had sexual encounters with two subordinates, one in 2015 and the other in 2017 continuing into this year. FEMA officials confirmed this person was Coleman.

Both women accompanied him on work trips, but one had few official duties on the trips. When the first woman ended the relationship, Coleman pressured her for dates — then denied her a promotion and tried to fire her, she told FEMA investigators. She said she kept her job by telling him she might be willing to go on dates with him again, according to the preliminary report.’

Corey’s attempts at female acquisition come off as thirsty, which is cruelly ironic considering that Coleman should have been more focused on helping out water and food deprived disaster victims than shagging his underlings.

‘When the second woman said she wanted to leave FEMA, Coleman created a new position for her for which she admitted to investigators she was unqualified. He also allowed her to sometimes work from his house, the report said.’

As it turns out, Coleman apparently didn’t realize he wouldn’t be able to create a “new position” for himself when several sexual harassment charges came to light, and he was promptly canned once it became clear the extent of his malfeasance, plus the toxic work environment which his sex-first agenda created. Unfortunately, ruins of the incompetence that Corey Coleman instilled as a culture during his time as hiring chief for FEMA remain.

‘Many of the men and women Coleman hired were unqualified yet are still at the agency, officials said.’

The irony is that Corey Coleman represents exactly what most average Americans assume is going on in the highest circles of government, especially agencies where unqualified individuals are appointed based on political favors or “diversity”. While Corey may be gone, will anything at FEMA really change?

Bet not.

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