The Man Who Asked for Help
Matt was asleep. It was early October, 8 p.m. in Yosemite employee housing. He was intoxicated, but quiet and sleeping. His roommate came in yelling — loud, erratic, disruptive. Matt woke up disoriented and afraid. He didn’t retaliate. He didn’t escalate. He left his tent and asked the housing manager for help.
He wanted temporary relocation. He wanted to feel safe. Just a place to sleep without screaming.
Housing agreed. But while Matt was loading his belongings into a company truck, the employee housing manager claimed Matt made a verbal threat about his roommate. No witnesses. No corroboration. Employee Housing staff called the rangers. Matt was arrested — not for the threat, but for public intoxication. Matt was trying to seek help, he ran from a volatile situation.
Housing placed him in a new unit. During the first meeting housing wasn’t able to show witnesses or prove Matt made a threat. He kept his housing and kept working. Two weeks passed. Then came the second follow up meeting. Codi — a high-ranking H.R. official with a felony record — fired Matt.
Matt doesn’t remember making a threat. He was drunk. He was trying to escape a volatile situation. He asked for help. And for that, he was terminated.
The hypocrisy is stark: a man convicted of a felony for theft to support his substance abuse and then skips bail retains authority to fire others for lesser infractions. Matt’s vulnerability was treated as danger but yet they allowed him to stay in housing and to keep working. His request for safety became grounds for removal and after they fired him, they allowed him to stay in housing for 3 more days.
This is Yosemite. This is how reputational shielding works.
Who else did Codi Smith fire?