Complaint / Review
Walker Arts: Teri Walker
Abusive employe

I was employed with Walker Arts for less than a year. I was hired, then brought in on a temporary contract, the terms of which were changed without my consent, but being happy to have the job I kept my mouth shut. Teri Walker seems like a nice person when you first meet her, but she is a histrionic control freak. She lives vicariously through her students, and she and her husband yell and scream at the students as well. Sure, they put on cute productions, but this is far more because of the talent of the students than any teaching ability on the part of Mrs. Walker. After being employed to do a service worked hard and really enjoyed doing the work. The reaction to my work was very positive. Except when it came to my employer. Her toxic and passive aggressive approach to leadership is such that you are not sure why you feel deflated, you just do, and you feel you need to walk on eggshells. I tried to bend over backwards to make things work, but after a while I just stopped trying. Their storage is a true nightmare, and I was told I would be brought in to "clean up the mess" but then I would ask for a truck to get it cleared and they would promise this, then I would wait for weeks. My paychecks came at inconsistent times, and weren't always correct. The passive aggressiveness would continue at meetings, and several things occured I won't get into. The other employees felt the same way, and the owner would use us against each other because she knew nobody liked her. After a while I had had enough and quit. I kept my own hours and submitted my paperwork only to be told that I wasn't keeping my hours correctly, and there was a "discrepency". After several attempts to get my final two paychecks, I finally gave up after being screamed at over an email and called "talentless" and "unprofessional", an ironic statement if I have ever heard one.

This company is run by a very demoralizing person, and I would never bring my child to it if I were a parent. I very strongly feel like I went through emotional hell at this company. I would advise never taking a job here if you have any kind of expectations of working with professional people, or if you have any sense of self and talent because the owner will try hard to humiliate you and then act like she is doing you a favor.