Half-mast glory ... or half-assed story?

The N&O and the Dome are all a twitter today with the story of L.F. Eason, a career state employee who decided he didn't want to lower the flag to honor Jesse Helms at his lab in Raleigh, as directed by the Governor. Here's the story as it ran in the newspaper, and as written by Ryan Beckwith.

L.F. Eason III gave up the only job he'd ever had rather than lower a flag to honor former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Eason, a 29-year veteran of the state Department of Agriculture, instructed his staff at a small Raleigh lab not to fly the U.S. or North Carolina flags at half-staff Monday, as called for in a directive to all state agencies by Gov. Mike Easley.

When a superior ordered the lab to follow the directive, Eason decided to retire rather than pay tribute to Helms. After several hours' delay, one of Eason's employees hung the flags at half-staff.

The brouhaha began late Sunday night, when Eason e-mailed eight of his employees in the state standards lab, which calibrates measuring equipment used on things as widely varied as gasoline and hamburgers.

"Regardless of any executive proclamation, I do not want the flags at the North Carolina Standards Laboratory flown at half staff to honor Jesse Helms any time this week," Eason wrote just after midnight, according to e-mail messages released in response to a public records request.

The story then goes on and on and on and on with a litany of he-said-she-said stuff, including this:

No one in the Governor's Office was aware of any time in recent memory when a state employee refused to lower a flag. Brian Long, a spokesman for the Agriculture Department, said Eason's refusal was unexpected. "We've never had any conversations like that," he said.

An ultimatum

In a string of e-mail messages with his superiors, Eason was told he could either lower the flags or retire effective immediately.

Really? An ultimatum? A shoot-out at the OK Corral? That's not what I took away from reading the same email thread that Eason sent to his staff, Agriculture Secretary Steve Troxler, and Governor Easley at 3:28 PM on Monday, July 7, 2008. Barry Saunders at the N&O was also on the distribution list.

From: LF Eason

Subject: RE: Flags at the lab this week are either to be at full staff or not flown

Steve, Howard, David, Commissioner Troxler, Governor Easley

I made a decision to refuse to lower our flags at the NC Standards Laboratory to half mast in honor of Jesse Helms as soon as I heard of his death. I cannot in good conscience honor such a man who fought so hard against Civil and Human Rights throughout his life. Even to his death bed, he refused to apologize for the damage he caused. Now, I stand by this decision. It is a personal decision, but obviously affects my job at the lab. It has been over ruled by Division and Departmental Management and as I look out my window, I’m ashamed to see the flags lowered.

Honestly, I was hoping for rain. Yes, it would have been an evasion of principles, but I would not have had to make this decision and could have still enjoyed the rich future ahead of the NC Standards Laboratory. Thanks to legislative and management support, we have many opportunities to move even further ahead in our ability to serve the citizens of the State of North Carolina and the United States. I was really anxious to see the new robotics and plan a new laboratory in the wake of area development. Hopefully, I will at least be allowed to visit after installation of the CCR-10-1000. I is exciting to know this will be the second unit in production, the first in the US and the first robotic comparator in the NIST State Laboratory Program.

I also understand that my decision is not acceptable. You cannot ignore that fact. There is the law, but there is also a higher law I must follow as a matter of conscience. Fortunately I also have (when including accumulated sick leave and vacation leave) the luxury of having enough years of service to be eligible for retirement, thus limiting the impact my decision will have on my family. Therefore, I request this option of being allowed to retire, effective today July 7, 2008. I do appreciate the option of retirement remaining available to me. Please let me know what I need to do to complete the process.

I have had a really wonderful career both in Motor Fuels and the Standards Laboratory. It has been a real thrill to ride the wave of support provided by David and Steve over these 29.5 years as we moved the laboratory from a facility that was a totally inadequate façade to a State of the Art facility. It continues to be one of the premiere metrology laboratories in the NIST State Laboratory Program and National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation Program. I hope you will choose my replacement wisely so that history of service can continue. And again, I will miss being a participant in the future of the laboratory.

I don't know why the N&O failed to report the text of this email. Maybe it's just sloppy journalism, or maybe Beckwith saw this as another way to take a shot at Governor Easley with the implication of some high-drama ultimatum. Whatever the reason, it's an egregious omission that gives readers a false impression of what really happened. This story has nothing whatsoever to do with the Governor's office. Eason works for Steve Troxler, the Republican Secretary of Agriculture. Eason knew exactly what he was doing and what the likely consequences would be. Looks to me like the guy was more than ready for retirement. I just wish the same were true of the political reporting staff at the News and Observer.

UPDATE: I found a portion of the email online, which was appended to the story in a separate post. It wasn't the whole email ... and the part left out would have helped make this story a lot clearer ... but I want to give them the benefit of the doubt.