This climate of crisis is embodied by the soiling of the bathrooms. In the first incident, in the men’s bathroom, it took 24 hours for the feces to be removed from the floor. A reporter had to send out an electronic message warning employees about the situation. In the second incident, in the women’s bathroom, management quickly responded to have the feces removed and the area sanitized. Still, some employees believe the incidents were meant as a symbol of the mounting frustration they face on a daily basis.

“Two months back, it was discovered that someone defecated on the floor of the editorial men’s restroom. It went 13 hours before being cleaned up, I might add. 13 hours. The ‘evidence’ was nowhere near any of the toilets, so one of the operations folks designated it an act of vandalism… The event was christened ‘Poopgate.’ Fast forward to today when the same thing happened in the editorial women’s restroom.”