Then there's veteran guard Mohammad Joiyah. Fifteen years of service, two lawsuits, and still treated like garbage, he says. According to his complaint, when his bosses at the de Young Museum weren't calling him a "terrorist," they were disciplining him for daring to request accommodations for workplace injuries. One supervisor allegedly threatened to shoot him; another, according to records, once faced charges for possessing explosives.
And those aren't the only examples of awful mistreatment at the museum. Since 2016, at least nine guards and a cashier have filed lawsuits alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and hostile treatment. The museum has shelled out more than $1 million in settlements, but the same cast of characters remain in management, running the show like it's their own little abusive fiefdom.
And then there's the incident that should make everyone's blood run cold. When a man collapsed outside the de Young, guards asked a supervisor if they could lend out the museum's defibrillator to save his life. The answer: No, it might get stolen. The man died. But at least the AED stayed safe.
Behind the museum's glittering façade is a security department that, according to one of its own guards, will "work you till you die and then replace you." World-class art, breathtaking exhibitions … and, apparently, a security department straight out of a Dickensian nightmare.
So congratulations, de Young Museum. You've taken an institution devoted to beauty and culture … and turned it into one my nominees for the Worst Employer of 2025.
And those aren't the only examples of awful mistreatment at the museum. Since 2016, at least nine guards and a cashier have filed lawsuits alleging discrimination, harassment, retaliation, and hostile treatment. The museum has shelled out more than $1 million in settlements, but the same cast of characters remain in management, running the show like it's their own little abusive fiefdom.
And then there's the incident that should make everyone's blood run cold. When a man collapsed outside the de Young, guards asked a supervisor if they could lend out the museum's defibrillator to save his life. The answer: No, it might get stolen. The man died. But at least the AED stayed safe.
Behind the museum's glittering façade is a security department that, according to one of its own guards, will "work you till you die and then replace you." World-class art, breathtaking exhibitions … and, apparently, a security department straight out of a Dickensian nightmare.
So congratulations, de Young Museum. You've taken an institution devoted to beauty and culture … and turned it into one my nominees for the Worst Employer of 2025.