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Survivor’ claim irks Douglas officials

By Steven H. Foskett Jr. TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
sfoskett@telegram.com

I cannot believe the black eye this district has been given in front of the world.

Margaret Reed,
CHAIRMAN OF THE SCHOOL COMMITTEE

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» ‘Survivor’ dispute hits the national stage (12/18/2007)

DOUGLAS— School officials watching the finale of the CBS reality show “Survivor: China” may have felt as if they’d had their torches extinguished Sunday night when show contestant and school district employee Denise Martin talked about returning to work.

Mrs. Martin, a married mother of three from Douglas identified on the show as the “lunch lady,” told host Jeff Probst she was transferred to a janitorial position because of her participation on the show. Mr. Probst announced later in the show that producer Mark Burnett would arrange to have Mrs. Martin receive $50,000 for her troubles.

Yesterday, Superintendent Nancy Lane disputed the notion Mrs. Martin’s participation in the show had affected her job status, and in a statement said Mrs. Martin already had changed jobs before leaving for China, and was told she could have her job back upon her return.

During the finale, Mrs. Martin lost to a gravedigger from Louisiana in an online contest for the most popular contestant on the competitive reality show, which was taped over the summer in China. The gravedigger won $100,000.

In a statement released yesterday morning, Ms. Lane wrote that “Mrs. Denise Martin, an employee of the Douglas Public Schools, stated that she was demoted from her position as a cafeteria worker upon her return from taping the show. This statement is false.”

Mrs. Martin held a full-time position as a custodian prior to participating in the show, and returned to that position upon her return from China, Ms. Lane wrote.

“Mrs. Martin was granted — at her request — an unpaid leave of absence so that she could participate in the ‘Survivor’ program,” Ms. Lane wrote. “We were pleased and excited to support Denise, and have enthusiastically cheered her on throughout the duration of the show.”

Ms. Lane wrote that Mrs. Martin was actually promoted to become a full-time custodian in March, and was given additional benefits and a higher salary.

“Regretfully, the Douglas Public School District was inaccurately portrayed as failing to be accommodating to an employee during what the district viewed as a ‘once in a lifetime’ opportunity,” Ms. Lane wrote. “This is far from the case.”

Ms. Lane said yesterday afternoon that the schools had been dealing with a flow of “less than pleasant” e-mails accusing them of being a Scrooge — and worse.

Ms. Lane said the schools and the Douglas community have been supportive of Mrs. Martin’s participation in “Survivor: China,” and that it “certainly takes you aback” to hear misstatements on the program.

Ms. Lane said she felt CBS had a responsibility to set the record straight. She said Mrs. Martin, who finished fourth on the show and was the last member of the jury assembled to decide the winner, is expected to return to Douglas in a couple of days and her job with the schools is waiting for her.

Mrs. Martin was in California for the airing of the finale, which was shown live Sunday night. Messages left at her house were not returned. A CBS spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the network would stand behind the $50,000 given to Mrs. Martin, but in a statement released late yesterday afternoon, CBS said it had been contacted yesterday morning by Douglas school officials, and basically left the ball in Mrs. Martin’s court.

“Early this morning, we were notified by officials from the Douglas Public School District in Massachusetts that Denise Martin allegedly made false comments regarding her employment status on the ‘Survivor: China Reunion’ show, which was broadcast on CBS last night,” the network stated. “The comments made by Ms. Martin on the program were compelling and sympathetic. If these statements were misleading or false, we hope that she will take immediate and public steps to clarify her remarks.”

Margaret Reed, chairman of the School Committee, said she watched the beginning of the finale, but did not catch the part of the show in which Mrs. Martin talked about her job. She said she did not know what Mrs. Martin said until Ms. Lane called her yesterday morning.

“I was absolutely stunned to hear it,” Ms. Reed said. “I cannot believe the black eye this district has been given in front of the world.”

Ms. Reed said she thought it was great that Mrs. Martin had the opportunity to compete, but she said she was puzzled by Mrs. Martin’s version of her employment situation.

“Everyone was cheering her on,” Ms. Reed said. “And then we get this slap in the face.”

She said the district had received more than 300 negative e-mails, and said the Web site had trouble keeping up with the traffic. She said she hopes Mrs. Martin has an explanation.

“I would assume she’s going to be contacting the people who have been affected by this,” Ms. Reed said.

It didn’t take long for the story to take on a life of its own on the Internet. At 12:48 p.m., www.egossip.com posted a report about the school district press release.

“She claimed that her hours didn’t allow her to eat dinner with her family and ultimately made millions of viewers (including Mark Burnett) feel sorry for her,” the site posted. “Well, don’t feel too sorry for her yet.”

In a “Survivor” forum on www.televisionwithoutpity.com, users posted the statement Ms. Lane made. Some posters thought the district should not have released the statement, but most of the posters sided with the district.

“If what they say is true, they have every right to defend themselves against her literally false statements on national television,” wrote one person.

Chris Sinacola of the Telegram & Gazette staff contributed to this report.

http://www.telegram.com/article/20071218/NEWS/712180609