After a six-year evaluation, a task force at Houston’s Falco Financial has conditionally recommended that CEO Marianne Willikin participate in the GDS Sludge Bath – where participants spend ten minutes fully clothed in a tub full of sludge to raise awareness for Gatson-Drake Syndrome.
“We consider it an extremely worthy cause,” the task force wrote. “So we have concluded that participation by our CEO is in alignment with the core mission of Falco.” Final recommendation is expected following a three-month final review process.
The challenge was first issued on August 22, 2019 by Janice McSpillane, an accounts payable clerk, via a video on YouTube.
Within 20 minutes of its posting, all vice presidents and HR Director, Sylvia Talmadge were meeting in the CEO’s office to discuss a response. Talmadge, along with six representatives from finance and operations, were asked to convene a task force to analyze the pros and cons and make a recommendation.
“Over a period of 36 months we surveyed 2300 companies whose CEOs had participated in the challenge,” says Talmadge. “We wanted to look at how it impacted the bottom line, employee retention and other factors.”
The task force also reviewed over 150 options pertaining to where the bath should take place, what the CEO should wear, etc. Also, Ms. McSpillane was interviewed on 12 occasions to ensure there weren’t any ulterior motives to her issuing the challenge.
After another three years spent compiling the data – involving 88 employees and over 10,000 hours – the task force issued its conditional recommendation. Pending a positive Review Process, the actual dumping has been tentatively scheduled for May 7.
“If red flags come up during the review,” says Talmadge, “we will reschedule for sometime in 2026.”
