Thread regarding Centene Corp. layoffs

@p5 Corp comms is good at their job

@kk I’m honestly surprised no media sources have reported on this yet.

@op I have a feeling they all knew a public scandal is about to happen. CFO announcing his retirement at 58,Chris Koster magically stock dumping,rushed involuntarily layoffs,her being fired.Not mak8ng accusations but maybe the SEC should look into things.

@k1 Probably just a rumor but I heard she grew a conscience then the C-suite execs all through her an impromptu party. After that, probably coincidentally, she has not been heard from again.

@k1 I think she resigned

CLEARLY there’s a story here. What the he-l happened?! What is CK investigating? Why was Knuckey tossed so abruptly? Someone spill.

@j9 Well said!

It was about time. We needed her gone a while back. Now, if Sabrina, Christa, and other VPs are also removed or otherwise held accountable, I believe that could be beneficial to Centene’s Compliance organization.

But removing individuals alone will not fix the problem. If we truly want to clean up Compliance and Ethics, we need to take a serious and individual look at the leadership itself and ask a much bigger question: Is Compliance leadership actually contributing to a strong, effective, ethical, and credible compliance organization?

A significant amount of work has been completed with the approval or direction of leadership despite concerns about the lack of clear instructions, established processes, supporting policies, reference guides, and consistent written communication. In some situations I personally witnessed, decisions appeared to be made on the fly, with little or no documentation explaining the rationale behind them.

There are also serious concerns about whether senior leadership is always being presented with the complete facts. When concerns are raised, there can be a perception that they are dismissed, minimized, or addressed only when doing so serves the interests of those involved.

I have personally witnessed situations where decisions made by Compliance leadership appeared to conflict with the ethical principles we are supposed to uphold. That raises an important question: Are decisions being made because they are truly in the best interest of the company, or because they are simply the most convenient decisions for those making them?

If Compliance is going to hold the rest of the company accountable, then we first need to hold ourselves accountable. We need to examine our own decision-making, policies and procedures, documentation, communication, leadership behavior, and overall compliance practices before we can credibly enforce those same standards on everyone else.

Otherwise, we are essentially policing everyone else without first policing ourselves.

And then there is the issue of favoritism and nepotism. Leadership should take an objective look at every individual within Compliance, including leadership itself. Not because someone has been there for years. Not because “we like them.” Not because they have relationships or connections.

Look at the individual objectively.

Do they have the appropriate credentials, education, experience, knowledge, judgment, and ability to actually perform the work?

On paper, many individuals, including members of leadership, may appear highly qualified. But titles and résumés do not necessarily tell the whole story. Actual compliance experience, knowledge, decision-making ability, and leadership effectiveness matter.

Compliance cannot operate on a “who you know,” “who you like,” or “who is friends with whom” mentality. It should be about hiring the right people, developing the right people, retaining the right people, and holding everyone to the same standards.

Ultimately, if Centene wants to strengthen its Compliance and Ethics organization, the first place leadership should look is in the mirror.

Evaluate the people making the decisions. Evaluate the people approving the decisions. Evaluate the processes they are creating. Evaluate whether policies actually exist and are consistently followed. Evaluate whether employees are being treated fairly and consistently.

And most importantly, evaluate leadership based on what they actually do, not simply their titles, tenure, relationships, or who supports them.

Because if the foundation is not strong, you cannot expect the rest of the organization to be strong.

If we want Compliance to be taken seriously across Centene, accountability has to start at the top. No VIPs. No protected favorites. No double standards. Just accountability.

@hh I definitely think there are both pros and cons to speaking up during these listening sessions. The first one is today with Chris Koster and about 50 people.

The pros: This is an opportunity to speak directly to General Counsel about what employees are actually experiencing in SIU/CIU. If multiple people independently raise the same concerns—fear of retaliation, intimidation, leadership behavior, morale, turnover, workload, or compliance concerns—it becomes much harder to characterize everything as isolated incidents or individual disagreements. It also creates another opportunity for concerns to be raised directly with senior leadership, especially for employees who feel previous reporting hasn’t resulted in meaningful change.

The cons: I completely understand why people are hesitant. There is already a fear among employees that speaking up could put a target on their backs. People may understandably question confidentiality, who will know what was said, how the information will be used, and whether there could be subtle retaliation afterward. Those concerns shouldn’t be dismissed.

Personally, if I participated, I would stick to things I personally experienced or directly witnessed and provide specific examples rather than rumors or speculation. Dates, meetings, statements, witnesses, previous reports, and what happened afterward are much stronger than general accusations.

There are multiple sessions being held over the next couple of weeks, so everyone doesn’t necessarily have to jump into the first one. It may be helpful to see how the initial session is handled and whether employees genuinely feel they were given a safe opportunity to speak openly.

Ultimately, everyone has to decide what they’re comfortable with. But if nobody speaks because they’re afraid of retaliation, leadership may never understand the full extent of the concerns. If people do speak, I think the most powerful approach is to be factual, professional, consistent, and focused on what employees have actually experienced.

HR/ER are there to protect the company. Not you. Remember that.

If you have firsthand experiences, document them. Keep the receipts. Speak up on platforms where employees can share what they've experienced without the conversation being conveniently buried or controlled.

When enough outside people start looking into employee experiences, leadership practices, and the growing number of negative accounts, eventually those concerns can reach the people who have a financial stake in the company.
Stockholders deserve to know when leadership, culture, employee treatment, and organizational decisions may be creating reputational and business risk. If investor confidence starts taking a hit, leadership can't simply delete the comments, silence the employees, or pretend the problem doesn't exist.
Money talks. Investor confidence matters. The bottom line matters.

@ee what did the email from Chris Koster say?

What does that mean, please?

With the email that just came from Chris K. I hope people feel they can be candid and not fear repercussion. Otherwise, this is a waste of time. It’s evident things are terrible and people are miserable.

@bb Why would anyone use the Ethics hotline if it's being monitored by them? I think the request Chris made of going to him directly was merited.

@dq I spoke up then my position was "eliminated". Turns out it was a blessing in disguise.

@dq who is going to do that with them in the meeting or sitting on the fringe? People who need their jobs are fearful to speak up to anyone in upper management in this department.

AK's dismissal is long overdue. She treated everyone under her like cr-p (I've witnessed and seen the emails) , went through multiple EAs, and had multiple ppl report her to HR and absolutely nothing was done. Aka - HR and other execs were fully aware. Chris K. will do nothing or the bear minimum to get to retirement.

@b5 it’s not done yet. Roster said he will be meeting with all the compliance teams….its terrifying to speak up but if we do not seize this moment to truly speak of all the things going on, we may miss the chance to right this ship. We need to be courageous and come with specific examples. Simply saying you are not happy with leadership is not enough. We need moments, situations and clear examples of how Christa and Sabrina are anything but examples of what behaviors Centene stands for.

@cw glad attorneys are involved. Action takes a little bit of time but gosh if this was us we would be marched out in an instant.

I’m glad you have the courage to speak up. There are so many people reading this going through the same thing “right now” in other departments.

Many of us were interviewed by the attorneys investigating what has been happening within SIU. We spoke up. We told the truth. We shared specific examples of the threats, intimidation, retaliation, favoritism, and toxic leadership we have experienced. Yet here we are, still waiting to see meaningful accountability. You cannot remove one person and leave the rest of the problem untouched. The damage has spread too far, and now many of the people who cooperated with the investigation feel like we have targets on our backs simply because we told the truth.

I was personally told by Sabrina, “If you ever speak up or against me in a meeting again, it will be your last time and you can find a new job.” Think about that. Employees are asked for feedback and opinions, but when someone actually speaks up or respectfully disagrees, their livelihood can be threatened. That creates a culture where people are afraid to ask questions, challenge decisions, or say anything leadership doesn’t want to hear.

The damage Christa and Sabrina have done goes far beyond morale or employee engagement scores. This has affected people’s mental health, families, careers, and sense of security. I am personally in therapy because of what this workplace has done to me. After more than 15 years with this company, I have been desperately trying to leave, but the job market is difficult. I truly believed this would be the company I retired from. Instead, I wake up wondering whether tomorrow will be the day I lose my job because I spoke up.

That kind of fear follows you home. It affects your family. It affects your sleep. It affects your entire life. Being threatened, micromanaged, and treated like a child after dedicating years of your career to this company takes a tremendous toll. No employee should have to live with constant anxiety about whether respectfully expressing an opinion will cost them their livelihood.

If the company truly wants to repair SIU, it cannot stop with one personnel change or one investigation. It has to address the culture that allowed this behavior to continue and protect the employees who had the courage to speak honestly to investigators. Otherwise, what message does that send to everyone who was told to trust the process and tell the truth?

@bj remember when they got rid of the nevada senior position, and then hired their friend, who then got promoted to manager but had 0 qualifications, but then all of the sudden was no longer with the company? That's a fun one.

@aw theres so many made up positions and random new leadership that's hardly interacted with workers where I don't even know who does what anymore. Never once have talked to Laura but she's somehow involved with SIU? Never once talked to Sabrina but she's supposed to be my VP? Christa promoted herself and then hired these people? What? Who are these people and like what are they even supposed to do. Jim handled all of these positions just fine when he was in charge. Where is all this money coming from when they say there's no money to fill contractually required positions? Nothing. Makes. Sense.

@bb I raised a concern about Christa on the Ethics Point website in May. HR did nothing. I think there was an investigation because I was interviewed but apparently nothing happened to Christa because she’s still here and as awful as ever. The only thing that has changed between then and now is that I have a target on my back for saying anything at all.

@bb I found the HR person lol theres been hundreds of complaints about them and for MONTHS now, they are aware and so far this is the only thing they've done. Why tf would we share with him when he literally only invited divisional leaders? So we can be retaliated against further? Grow up dude, hr is there to protect centenes as--s, that's the only reason Ashlee is even gone.

As Chris said on the call, share your concerns about Christa and Sabrina directly with him. Trashing them on this forum will not help or report them via the Ethics Helpline.

@as The major f-ck up was hiring Sabrina and Christa.

@az And don’t dare question any policy or process they implement. Nothing in SIU is completely black and white due to contractual obligations with the individual states, yet they want it to be. Let’s create more work for everyone involved to appease their need for control.

@aw this is why all the vetern people took the VSP and they have 10 SIU roles open. Noone wants to work for them! Im sure SIU will turn AI soon like they are doing quality.

@aw You nailed it!! 100% Truth-told!!!

I have been with the SIU almost 15 years and I've seen some crazy things, but Christa and Sabrina have almost destroyed it!

They were ran out of the Blues companies, and they've brought their minions here! Seriously unreal how they have changed everything...for the worst! They've dumped so many responsibilities on the Senior Directors, Directors and Managers, most have no work-life balance at all!!

CHRIS KOSTER, PLEASE DO SOMETHING NOW!!!

@aw sadly everything stated here is TRUE! Hiring friends not qualified individuals. Complete BS.

@aw brilliant post! Bravo!

Over the past several months, multiple concerns have been raised regarding the leadership practices and workplace culture within SIU, particularly involving executive leadership under Christa Marshall Jewsbury and Sabrina Vera. The concerns describe a significant decline in employee morale, increased micromanagement, unrealistic workload expectations, and a leadership approach perceived as dismissive or threatening toward employees and middle management. Managers are reportedly being assigned responsibilities traditionally performed by senior investigators and leads, including reviewing preliminary reports, education letters, and cases, without corresponding changes to staffing, job descriptions, resources, or compensation. Employees have also reported statements suggesting that those unwilling or unable to comply can leave or risk losing their jobs. Additional concerns have included restrictions surrounding PTO, pressure related to medical leave and scheduling, excessive workload, performance and bonus decisions, and an overall reluctance among employees to raise concerns because of fear of retaliation.

Collectively, the reports raise broader concerns about governance, leadership accountability, employee relations, and potential compliance risk. There is a perception that significant operational and policy decisions are being made at the executive level with Christa and Sabrina without adequate consultation with managers and employees who are responsible for implementing them. There are also raised concerns regarding favoritism, inconsistent application of expectations, possible retaliation, inappropriate comments or conduct, and whether employees who challenge leadership decisions are being marginalized or pushed out. The cumulative effect appears to be deteriorating trust in leadership, declining morale, increased turnover risk, and concern that staffing and workload pressures could ultimately affect SIU’s ability to meet contractual, regulatory, and compliance obligations. This all started when Ashley hired Christa and Sabrina. It went down hill after that by Christa and Sabrina hiring all their friends (minions) in executive roles such as directors and VP’s (Laura Wilford). It’s gotten so out of hand with this executive leadership group in play.

@as who is running the meetings? Koster? This is juicy.

@ap Yet they want to meet with the team and have those 2 in the meetings. At what point do they realize the problem is with the Knuckey buddy system?

All of compliance was pulled into a meeting and told the news. FWA was mentioned as an important aspect and that there will be meetings with each department, SIU going first. Have to imagine there was a major fu-k up and they want answers.

@ag agree! This is so nerve wrecking

Christa Jewsbury and Sabrina Vera are in over their heads. Terrible leaders, not a day has gone by since both of them joined that SIU folks haven't had issues. I'm not sure what leaders in the organization see in them. All Christa and Sabrina have done is create a mess. Tanya McNally, please get rid of them!

@a5 And her minions especially rt

Feels like the end of Goodfellas when everyone gets whacked when the s*#t hits the fan.