By Madison Alexander, Escondido, CA
A couple of years ago, at age 19, I worked as a nanny for Rob Myers and his wife. Reading the article where Mr. Myers states that he believes in honesty and integrity in his actions prompted me to share some things about the Rob Myers I knew.
I stayed in the Myers’ home and cared for their three children for several months. Both Jenny and Rob, and other people who knew them, repeatedly said that I was doing an excellent job.
The experience ended badly while on a vacation in California with the Myers family. Rob lost his temper and yelled, cussed and humiliated me over an accident in a public parking lot (a grocery bag fell out of a vehicle when I opened the door and a beer bottle broke). When I later tried to stand up for myself, telling Rob that his aggression and abusive language was not appropriate, he fired me on the spot, with several more “f” words and a threat that I “better not text Jenny” (his wife). The trip ended with me hiding in a bedroom all night at Rob’s in-laws’ house, crying and anxiety-ridden, before I was sent home on a plane by myself and being told by Rob’s wife that I would never work as a nanny again, which is an occupation that I love and have always done very well.
When my dad took me to the Myers’ house to pick up my personal belongings, Rob had two of his friends (one was Jan Wisniewski who ran for County Commissioner) standing on the porch waiting for me with a video camera rolling. They made me dig through the bag of my personal products and state that everything was there, as if I were a criminal.
Before the awful ending of my employment with the Myers, there were some incidents that made me very uncomfortable. I was allowed to use the hot tub at Jenny’s parents’ house and on a couple of occasions, Rob also got into the hot tub after Jenny had gone to bed. He gave me wine and shared information with me that was none of my business and totally unsolicited. Besides sharing confidential information from cases that he was working on, he told me details about his sex life. He told me how many women he had slept with in the past. He told me about sex acts he performed on a female hairdresser he had, specific acts that he and his friends asked strippers to perform on one another and how it was “the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.” On one occasion, Rob asked me to show him a picture of my boyfriend. I showed him a picture on my phone of me and my boyfriend together. Rob remarked, “You look good in that picture. TOO good,” then asked if my boyfriend, who was in a wheelchair, was able to perform sexually.
As an employee of Rob Myers, and only 19 years old, I was not prepared to handle those unexpected remarks and they made me very uncomfortable. I began the process of filing a lawsuit for wrongful termination and sexual harassment, but decided that I couldn’t handle any more interaction with Rob. Several months after being fired I received an out of the blue text message from him late one night and I opted to change my phone number.
I’m writing about all of this now because I believe that Rob Myers is the last person who should ever serve as a judge in any county.
The happy ending to all of this for me is that I am living in California, working at the profession I love. I am the nanny for three beautiful children who consider me family. The parents treat me with the respect, kindness and appreciation that I deserve.
By Stacy Coulter, Hamilton
My daughter was Rob Myers’ nanny back in 2014. I’ve read her letter to the editor that she submitted to the Bitterroot Star and I am very proud of her for standing up for herself, just as I was when she stood up for herself back then, which led to her termination and further abusive behavior from Rob.
As Madison’s mother, it was an awful feeling to get a late night phone call from her while she was far away and there was nothing I could do to help. She relayed the story of Rob yelling at her and firing her, the painfully awkward drive in the car with him and his kids afterward and how she was afraid to leave the bedroom she was staying in. My husband and I assured her that everything would be ok and I attempted to call Rob several times the next morning. He did not answer. Jenny, the wife, was gone to a retreat so Madison was staying at Jenny’s parents’ house with Rob and the kids. I left a very conciliatory message for Rob on his cell phone, explaining that whatever happens with Maddie’s job didn’t matter, but could he please assure her that she could come out, eat something (she hadn’t eaten since breakfast the previous day), and join the family. He ignored my message. Hours later, I sent an email to Jenny (the mom), asking her to PLEASE put my daughter at ease. I explained what had happened with Rob and asked, mom to mom, that she please let Maddie know that everything was ok – job or no job – that the adults in the house weren’t angry with her and she was welcome to eat something and join the other adults in the house. I felt confident that she would understand my concerns and help my child. She did not respond to my email, and instead scolded Madison because I had sent it. Rob and his wife sent Maddie to a hotel to stay by herself and fly home alone. I received another anxiety-ridden call from Maddie that night, as she had never flown alone, was not sure how or when to get her shuttle to the airport or what to do when she got there.
Upon Maddie’s return home, we asked her if there had been red flags with Rob regarding his temper and what we saw as very bizarre behavior with the way the trip ended and the unwillingness of both parents to return my calls and messages. That is when Maddie told us all of the inappropriate stories Rob had told her about his sex life and we reported all of it to our attorney. Madison’s accounts of all of this has never changed or wavered. I still have the emails that I sent to Jenny. Her attorney has accounts of all of this on file.
I agree with my daughter, Rob Myers should not be a judge in any county. For the good of the community, I have asked the Bitterroot Star to post both my letter and the one my daughter sent to them just as written. Nobody at the Bitterroot Star is responsible for the content of either letter.