Survivor Update: School District Says Denise Lied About Losing her Job!

Posted on Dec 17 2007 - 1:48pm by Angela | 31 comments

Fans of Survivor China will be disappointed to hear that Denise Martin, the contestant who was granted $50,000 on last night's finale, had lied about losing her job upon returning from the show.

Let's rewind for a minute.

Denise Martin: Photo Credit: CBSDenise, the 40-year-old lunch lady form Douglas, MA, was granted $50,000 at the end of last night's finale because Mark Burnett and CBS felt bad that she had lost her job for going on the show.

Denise claimed that she lost her job working in the cafeteria and is working as a janitor at the school where she worked before going on the show. She claimed that her hours didn't allow her to eat dinner with her family and ultimately made millions of viewers (including Mark Burnett) feel sorry for her.

Well, don't feel too sorry for her just yet.

Douglas Public School District in Massachusetts has released an extensive statement on their website (http://www.douglas.k12.ma.us/ - the site seems to shut down after a lot of traffic so just keep trying) stating that Denise's statement was completely false.

The statement, written by Nancy T. Lane, Superintendent of Schools, reads:

"On the 'Survivor China' television program that aired on December 16, 2007, Mrs. Denise Martin, an employee of the Douglas Public Schools, stated that she was demoted from her position as a cafeteria worker upon her return from taping the show. This statement is false.

"In fact, Mrs. Martin held a full-time position as a custodian prior to her participation in the series, and she returned to this same position upon her return from China. Mrs. Martin was granted - at her request - an unpaid leave of absence so that she could participate in the 'Survivor' program. We were pleased and excited to support Denise, and have enthusiastically cheered her on throughout the duration of the show."

Wonder if Denise will have to give back the $50,000 now?

To read the full press release, go to http://www.douglas.k12.ma.us/ - again, the link does work, the site just shuts down if too many people try to access it at once. Keep trying, it will work.

UPDATE: Denise and the superintendent of schools, Nancy Lane, both appeared on The Early Show this Morning. Read what they had to say about the Survivor Scandal.

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Comments

Quartzeye (not verified)

Hold up there a minute buddy. The "lunch lady" job is considered a custodian as is the "toilet washer". She leaves a day job making minimum wage and when returns to work is placed in a night shift position in the same job class and pay. I would bet you would think it is a demotion even though technically it isn't. She lost her day job. The school can paint it anyway they want but I am positive any one in her position would feel that they were demoted. At the very least the school acted in bad taste.

Anonymous (not verified)

Denise is a big fat LIAR!!! She had the custodian job starting March 30, and Survivor filmed in July...at least 3 months worth of a promotion! And her job was waiting for her on her return. I thought the lying and manipulating ended when the show ended..apparently Denise wanted to carry it through the Reunion show also. Whine, whine, whine...when will it end?

Joe (not verified)

Actually in mass a lunch lady and custodian are in a seperate bracket. The custodian position she held is aFULL-TIME position were the lunch lady WAS NOT, also she is now making better wages and better benefits, the hours are the only thing that have changed, what did she expect the school department to bump a senior custodian to a crappier shift? She is looking for speacial treatment, I say good for the school department for defending themselves.

Anonymous (not verified)

Read the press release. She asked for and got the (higher paying) custodian job before ever going on Survivor. I cannot blame her for hating the new hours tho. Maybe it was a strategic play for some cash, and she won... At least at my school which isn't far the cafeteria workers and janitors work in completely different departments.

Blynken6 (not verified)

Everything I saw on survivor about Denise showed her to be an honest person who actually agonized over doing the "right thing" all the time. I find it hard to believe that she would then blatantly lie on national television about what was waiting for her upon her return. The way I see it, it is probably true that she saw her position on return as a demotion based on a change in hours of work. I would think it would have nothing to do with rate of pay, rather a lack of quality in her personal life. I actually think the School Board is being a little bit sleazy in their presentation and in their attempt to make Denise look bad.

Anonymous (not verified)

This is a portion of the statement released by Douglas County School District..(it clearly states that there is a difference between cafeteria worker and custodian and that Denise herself requested the job change. In March!!)
"Although Mrs. Martin was a cafeteria employee prior to her selection as a contestant, she asked to be considered for a promotion to full-time custodian, and was promoted to this position on March 30, 2007. This promotion came with additional benefits and a higher salary. Following her leave, she then returned to this same position."

Jen (not verified)

But I think that there is probably a night and a day custodian. maybe she only wants a day custodian job. You'd still think that Mark Burnett would check/have someone check with her employer before just giving her the cash. Except that now we're all talking about it.

SparksLohi (not verified)

RIGHT ON Blynken6! If anyone thought differently I have to ask "Did you WATCH Survivor China?" We were rooting for her at our house big time. And anyone who's ever worked for a school system will tell you they'll do ANYTHING to save their bacon. Yeah, she lost to Todd but she didn't get to the final four being nasty or manipulative either. Perhaps good guys don't finish first in Survivor but she's still a million dollar lady at our house!

Anonymous (not verified)

Who cares if there is a night and day custodian? That has nothing to do with it, she PREVIOUSLY ACCEPTED THE POSITION. She could not have worked that position from March 30th untill now and not known it was a night position. She lied!!

XXWildcat (not verified)

The whole press release isn't shown here........ she was part time lunch room. asked and received promotion to full time janitor. had that position for short period of time then left for survivor, came back and resumed the position.

Dan (not verified)

I don't think Denise went out of her way to lie. She probably spun the situation to make herself look sympathetic. I'm sure we all do it one time or another. I do think Denise should apologize for making the school look bad, though, and offer to give Mr. Burnett his money back.

kalimba (not verified)

I bet James makes less as a gravedigger in LA, but he never played the sympathy card.

Anonymous (not verified)

FACT : Denise has always said she is a lunch lady. Before Survivor when the contestants were announced, during Survivor play and after Survivor. Never once did she say she was a janitor. Why would have she covered that up? C'mon...she's not that strategic or brilliant to think, "Oh yeah...at the reunion, I'm going to say I lost my job...and hopefully I'll get $50K from Mark Burnett" LOL FACT : Denise, throughout the game played with heart. Never once giving to the temptation of other player's sides even when it was to her advantage. She had LOYALTY & Honesty throughout the game. I'm hard pressed to believe she was lying on the reunion show. I do not believe it for a second. I could believe she applied for the Janitor's position at one point, thinking it was a day job (as opposed to night) and when she got back, she was given the night position and that was not what she had originally wanted when putting in for the job itself. IMHO, the school board is trying to cover their tracks and make them seem like they are not the 'bad guy'. It's an obvious act to do, as I'm sure they are inandated with emails, phone calls and threats. They can't stand up and just say, they were wrong.

Isabelle (not verified)

Does anyone remember how she screwed over James? She was supposed to be his friend and then she voted him off! Then, does anyone remember how nice Pheigh Gee was to her to give her that reward, and then Denise won and didn't give her anything anytime she won. She is a schemer and a kniver and she's disrespectful. It would not surprise me if she did this. The sympathy card is getting real old!

Yoon Eun Hye (not verified)

You are right. She has shown her character this entire season , her lying now dosen't surprise me in the least bit.

Ives (not verified)

I'm not so sure about all this. I'd have to go back to listen to what Denise said but I got the impression they told her she couldn't be a lunch lady again. If she was already working as a custodian and wanted to go back to being a lunch lady, then she didn't necessarily lie.

The thing about the third graders rang as the truth.

It sounds like, when she got back, they gave the her crap job of all custodians and that is to work the night shift where you sweep floors, empty wastebaskets, lock doors, and clean up after evening events. Occasionally, you see a human being, but not often.

Denise is now known as the lunch lady. The benefits of that recognition could outweigh salary and insurance, at least for now. I bet it had to be embarrassing for her to be asked about the last few months about her job, only to have to say that she's a custodian.

Also, as someone who has worked as a teacher since I was 21, it would seem reasonable to me that the district lawyer wrote the release and worded in a way to make the district sound as if they'd made no mistakes. Then, they settle something out of court. It's all about power and perception.

Mary (not verified)

If she works nights, then why did she say at the reunion show that the kids constantly go up to her and say Hi Hi Hi a hundred times a day?

Anonymous (not verified)

The night janitor usually comes in right around 2 pm and works till 10 pm. At least that's how it works in our school. Denise did say that as the kids were leaving, they all say Hi to her. She's probably getting there right before the kids are let off from school.

Hmmmmm (not verified)

Interesting point...maybe she works the swing shift?

Jim (not verified)

She works 2:00 to 10:00 the students are all in the hallway at this time going to there lockers and getting ready to go home. Denise did not make this statement up because they treated her so great like the district says they did. BEWARE of wolfs in sheeps clothing. Nice people allways finish last.

Anonymous (not verified)

It's all about power and perception. Amen to that!

Anonymous (not verified)

Obviously the game doesn't end when the survivors leave the island. If she played the sympathy card or whatever, it worked. It's part of the game. I say "go Denise"

Danny J (not verified)

I believe that Denise played the game well all the way to the tale she told at the end. I know there were other contestants in the past who had rougher lives than Denise and her family seem to have. I hate that she gives the impression that she is stuck in her low paying job. She is just 40, she can still do better, even go back to school and become anything she wants. I know, i am currently taking classes and I am 53 and on disability, but trying to better myself for my family. Also, my brother-in-law is a grave digger and my 17 year old son helped him some over this past summer. It is a very hard, back breaking job. My brother-in-law gets 350.00 per grave. But he digs by hand and it can take anywhere from 2 hours to 4 days to do a grave, depending on the hardness of the ground. James played the game more honorably than anyone else, but should without a doubt have used the immunity idols, both of them.

Anonymous (not verified)

My brother-in-law gets 350.00 per grave. But he digs by hand and it can take anywhere from 2 hours to 4 days to do a grave, depending on the hardness of the ground.....................HAS HE HEARD OF A BACKHOE ??

Barbara (not verified)

You could totally tell she was lying as she stumbled over her explanation about being a distraction as the lunch lady and yet kids yell hi to her all day as the custodian. It appeared she was totally scheming for a handout and milking the pity card by stating she never gets to go see her kid's events.

Wade (not verified)

Denise is a classic low-income social leach who would rather milk hard-working decent people out of money than earn it herself. She was lazy and unmotivated in Survivor and she's the same in real life.

Anonymous (not verified)

EXCUSE ME !!!Denise happens to be a hard working woman,who in my opinion is an inspiration to all women.As for her being lazy,man have you got it all wrong..She happens to have her own Karate school which whom my son is a student..Don't say things when you don't have the real facts..Go DENISE..I am with you all the way.!!!

Wade (not verified)

Why do hard workers need to lie to get ahead? If they truly have a good work ethic, they would not need to resort to lying - they'd be successful on their own. PS-Did she lie to the bank so she could get the loan for the karate school?.....most likely

Anonymous (not verified)

Please be easy and gentle on Denise, Mark Burnette can read people super well and he knows Denise really well, betterthan most peopel as Denise was on his show 36 days!!! IF ANYONE WOULD KNOW, HE would know if she was lying or a selazy person. Him doing this is unprecedented, he did this becaus ehe knows she is an honest, genuine, hard working humble person!!! I think the school district is feeding peopel a story becasue they didn't think Denise would air their dirty laundry!!! Hope ethey learn a lesson from this!! Please post a variety fo stories covering this, I think you will, your site typically does! I think the school is covering for themselves!! The details Denise gave about the kids sayign hi to her, my gut tells me she is telling the truth, I REALLY do not want to see her get walloped over this!!! Susan Nelson

Anonymous (not verified)

I live in Denise's town and SAW her working as a custodian in the spring, months before she went to China. Therefore, my family and I were very surprised to see her occupation listed as "lunch lady" on "Survivor." We figured that the show had old information listed for her, and that "lunch lady" sounds more interesting than "custodian." We, and everyone in our town, supported Denise the whole time and thought it was great to have someone from Douglas on the show!!! You can imagine, then, how disappointed we were to find out that she lied about her job situation. It's a real bummer.

sara (not verified)

While Denise was on Survivor all she did was whine about how bad she had it. We all make choices. If you don't like your life you do something about it. Not her. She would rather whine. And this time her whining paid off and she picked up $50,000 for not only whining but lying too. Its pretty obvious when the school district points out with exact dates that Denise worked as a cafeteria worker prior to March 30, 2007. And then she requested and was awarded a PROMOTION to janitor. Its too easy to confirm this with a "Freedom of Information Act" request. Because she is a public service employee all this information is a matter of public record. So yes this "honest, trustworthy" person LIED!!!!!