A popular gay pharmacist in Lakeview was fired the week after the Pride Parade for a sign he carried while riding in the company's
car for the parade.
Jim Schniepp, who had worked with StatScript since 1999, dressed as Phyllis Diller, had a two-sided sign, one side reading
'Scalia eat my Pussycat' ( ok, drop the 'cat' ) , and the other side 'Blow Me Clarence Thomas.' Schniepp said he received strong
applause and support from the crowds along the parade route.
StatScript, which started as a gay urban service company, was bought out by the corporate giant Chronimed in 2001. Schniepp
worked at the 912 W. Belmont location. The company was accused earlier last year of an insensitive pricing policy for people with
HIV/AIDS. And this year, the corporate culture apparently decided that Schniepp's pride signs were not in line with the corporate
image.
Even Schniepp admits that, depending on your perspective, the signs would be offensive. But he was given no corporate
direction this year on what to do for the parade, and he said he would have expected to receive some notice of problems, some chain
of action such as being written up, suspended, or at least be given a severance package.
STATSCRIPT FROM 1
While this year they gave Schniepp no guidelines on how to place the corporate images within a gay community context, in 2002
he said the company told him there would be no parade entry because it would not 'fit their image and the demographic is too
narrow,' Schniepp said they told him.
'I have run up against conflicts where things I have done that positioned us in the gay community were seen as a liability,'
Schniepp said. 'It was not what they were looking for.'
'If you have never been to a pride parade, you do not understand gay culture,' Schniepp added.
Schniepp is not sure who called StatScript to inform on him. But the Monday after pride his boss called and told him that the company
knew and would be dealing with it. On Thursday, July 3, his boss was flown in from the company's Minnesota headquarters to fire
Schniepp.
'All of the good will I built up—they were willing to chuck that so easily,' Schniepp said. While StatScript is not a union company,
Schniepp said there are procedures for employee review. He said his reviews were always 'glowing, including for the week this
happened. I was getting a raise for next year.'
Ken Guenthner, general counsel for Chronimed, confirmed that Schniepp's firing was prompted by 'the nature of the sign and the
fact that he was there representing the company—that combination is what prompted it.'
Guenthner said he could not comment further on a personnel matter, but that the firing 'was not inconsistent with other actions we
have taken on human resources matters. We understand that Jim has been and is a popular individual and we don't take stuff lightly
either. We like the people we work with. Our approach is that every incident stands on its own in terms. ... We're not a union, so we
don't have union contracts that have specific strict disciplinary processes.'
Patients and colleagues of Schniepp's who spoke with Windy City Times were uniformly supportive of the long-time community
pharmacist. Those who can said they will follow him wherever he ends up. As of Monday of this week, he had already landed a post
at a Lakeview-area Walgreens.
'Jim Schniepp is a minor legend in Boys Town,' said Victor Saporta in a letter. 'A Clinical Pharmacist, specializing for nearly 18
years in HIV treatment, Schniepp is a vital resource: extremely bright, committed and caring, he has treated hundreds of people and is
respected throughout the medical community of the North Side. He has anchored the StatScript store ... . StatScript is located in the
gay part of town, advertises in our papers, recruits openly gay employees; not coincidentally, it's considered the 'gay' pharmacy.
Perhaps Jim went too far. Now it's our turn: Would it be 'too far' for customers to switch pharmacies away from StatScript?; For Doctors
to stop referring StatScript to gay patients? Why go to all that? Because firing Jim was wrong.'
'Working with Jim was fantastic,' said 'John,' one HIV-positive client who has used StatScript for five years. 'He is personable,
friendly, knowledgeable, very professional. He goes into details about side effects, medications, is friendly, funny. I went to that store
vs. 10,000 others because of him. These are drugs you can get anywhere but I felt more comfortable going with him because he
would understand. This situation is preposterous. He works specifically with a certain level of clientele, gay and HIV, and he dressed
up in a funny, sweet, fabulous way in a gay-related venue which is the Pride Parade. You would think the company would welcome
such gay-related advertising for gay-related clientele. I was outraged.'
'There is nobody like Jim,' said HIV-positive client Timothy Adams. 'I can not even imagine working with anyone else—the
amount of care I have gotten. ... I will follow Jim wherever he goes, just because of the amount of care he has given to me.'
'The gay and, particularly, the HIV-positive, community has for many years benefited from the support it receives from Jim
Schniepp, not only in obvious and expected ways while performing his duties as pharmacist/manager of StatScript on Belmont but
more importantly, and more substantially, in his quiet gestures as a thoughtful person in that position,' said NorthStar Healthcare
Manager Michael Martino. 'Jim absolutely was the steward to the well-earned reputation StatScript had as being the 'community
pharmacy that cares' and not a cookie-cutter establishment where it is first-come, first-serve and they identify the patient by the name
on the credit/insurance card and not by their face.
'It would be irresponsible of StatScript/Chronimed ( the corporation ) not to realize that their status in Lakeview was a direct
reflection of the man who managed its success—Jim Schniepp; by removing Jim they have removed the very keystone of what has
been a successful and well-respected partner within our HIV-positive and gay community,' Martino continued. 'I am very suspect of
an organization that places a greater value on punishing Jim ( for his political remarks directed as those that do not support issues
relevant to the very community it serves ) vs. recognizing how much that spirit and support of the community has allowed them ( as a
corporation ) to prosper and grow. I expect that StatScript/Chronimed ( the corporation ) is counting on the emotional fallout of their
decision to whither away and soon it will be business as usual—perhaps they did not factor appropriately how strong the spirit of the
community is at this time, given both the Supreme Court decision as well as the cancellation of Savage Nation on MSNBC—perhaps
Chronimed thought that the community would tolerate it removing a strong partner because as one executive of Chronimed told me—
paraphrasing—'television feeds of pride festivities are often broadcast all over the U.S.—what if someone in our Indianapolis market
saw a picture of Jim, his sign and the StatScript logo on the car that he was riding in—we could lose that customer if they find that
scenario offensive.' Somehow I think that that executive should be less concerned about losing customers/clients in Indianapolis and
more concerned about losing them in the Lakeview community.'
StatScript is the business name for parent company Chronimed's retail pharmacies. Chronimed is also the name of the
company's mail-order division.
