Re: FWD: An ugly job incident (long)

[Stephen Arrants <stephena -at- COMPBEAR -dot- COM>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Eric J. Ray <ejray -at- RAYCOMM -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Tuesday, October 20, 1998 4:11 AM
Subject: FWD: An ugly job incident (long)


>History:
>
>I've been in technical writing for seven years and I have project
management
>and supervisory experience.
>
>Until last week, I worked for a small startup company with about fifty
>employees. Last April, we hired an instruction designer to take over
>training. However, I didn't realize that this instructional designer was
>actually not one. She had changed careers and only had four year's
>instructor-led training experience.

Four years' experience is often more than enough to manage, design, and
deliver training. And changing careers is common in this industry.

>Then about a month ago, she became my
>manager during a reorganization in spite of the fact I was told by a vice
>president that I would be the manager of documentation and training. I was
>told by another VP that she was in her late forties and appeared as an
>authority figure in a company run by twenty-somethings.


So...it seems that you've angry that she was promoted ahead of you and was
put in a position of authority over you.

>I had several run-ins with her that I will not go into, but it was obvious
>to me that she was not qualified as an instructional designer. We also had
a
>huge personality conflict. I did not want her to be my manager because I
did
>not want her to have salary and fire power over me. I went through proper
>channels and told the right managers and HR people I was not comfortable
>with her as my boss. I even had a meeting with her and told her directly
how
>I felt. She told me to look at the half-full glass and shut up.


It sounds to me that there's a lot your're not telling or a lot you don't
know that went on long before her promotion. Promotion and retention involve
a lot more than meeting deliverables.  Rightly or wrongly, people skills and
the relationships we build up at the workplace often affect promotions and
retention. She knew how to play the game of people (nothing wrong with this
at all) to her advantage.  More importantly, the higher-ups in the company
were pleased with her performance and work style, and that went into her
promotion.  If someone I didn't get along with got promoted into a
managerial position, and I'd have to report to this person, I'd take that as
a SIGN. If I couldn't work with this person effectively,  I'd start looking
for other work.  It is obvious right here that you and this woman don't get
along, and any prospect of getting along and working productively together
is a long shot.


>Two weeks after the reorganization, layoff rumors started. I immediately
>went to one of the company's vice presidents who confirmed the rumors as
>true. I figured if they'd pick her for management over me, they would let
me
>go before her. I have a wife and baby at home and I knew I had to begin
>looking for other jobs just in case.
>
>The next day after the rumors began flying, I went through my file cabinet
>and threw away old hand-written notes, which were on the file server in
>electronic form. I also deleted all of my personal files from the file
>server. If I was to be laid off, then I didn't want somebody standing there
>while I sorted through personal things.


Wrong, wrong, wrong.  Given that you had confirmation that layoffs were
coming, you shouldn't have deleted anything.  At most, you should've just
(quietly) started reorganizing files and materials into "WORK" piles and
"MISC" piles.
Personal files are a bit problematic.  Everyone has them, though really,
we're not supposed to.  In any case, I've never experienced, nor heard of
anyone gatting any heat during a layoff situation about "personal files"
being present.  I've never cared about it when I've had to "reduce staffing"
(lovely euphamism...). If I was going to be laid off, I'd try to make the
best of it.  Annotate any files. Leave instructions for folks who were
taking over for me as to what I was working on, where I was, etc.

>Last Wednesday night, I got a call from a friend of mine who worked there
>and told me that she had the IT manager in my office looking through my
>network drive and my local hard drives. She had later searched my office
>with somebody from HR. I called the same VP who had confirmed the rumors.
He
>told me that he was told I maliciously deleted my hard drive. I couldn't
>believe it.


Probably legal, but still bad behavior on their part.  Searching someone's
office without real evidence of criminal intent isn't a smart business
practice.  How do they think other workers at the company feel?  I'm sure
there were lots of folks who decided to surruptitiously clean things up afte
rthey heard about this!


>The next day I went into work and asked somebody from HR to sit in while I
>met with my manager. The manager accused me of walking off with company
>documents and stealing several items that I did not (like software and
>books). I was told that I can't throw anything away without permission; I
>answered by saying that they shouldn't put trash cans and white paper
>recycling bins everywhere then. Each individual accusation was clearly
>answered and proven wrong. But I was let go anyway under the excuse of
>corporate restructuring. Eleven of my coworkers were let go a couple of
>hours later.


HR is never the employee's friend.  Never.  Under any circumstances.

>They told me my severance pay depends on my manager determining that I
>didn't steal anything. I won't know if I get my severance pay until the end
>of this month when it will be deposited in my account.


May or may not depending on the contract you signed when you started.  Also,
your state law may offer protections.

>Questions:
>Do you think I was wrong to throw away notes and old edited documents?

Yes, I do.  See above.  Remember, that legally everything at work belongs to
the employer. Old, edited documents are still company property.  If you
wanted to move them out of your ofice or filespace on a server, you
should've gone to your manager and asked what the company policy was.


>Have any of you had something similar happen, like being accused of
>stealing?

No.

>Do you think I have legal recourse if I don't receive my severance?
>Is this a clear case of defamation of character?
In California, an employer cannot withhold payroll for any reason unless
there is a court judgement against the employee.  For example, unless my
company can prove I charged $1000 of book at amazon.com without their
permission (implicit or explicit), they cannot charge that against my
paycheck.  Severance is often not seen as 'payroll' however.
Were you "FIRED" instead of "LAID-OFF"?  The legal implications are slightly
different in each case.
Did your employer inform you of your COBRA rights to benefits after you
left?  If not, they violated the law.

Defamation of character is tough to prove.  YOU have to prove actual,
itemized losses.  For example if you interviewed for a job, but lost it
because the employer reported your situation (stealing) to the prospective
new employer, you have a case.  In California, an employer can only give the
following information as a reference: when you started, when you left.  Job
title.  Starting/ending salary. Whether you are eligible for rehire.
Anything else and they can be sued.

I'd advise you to do the following:
Talk to an employment lawyer to get the correct legal perspective for YOUR
situation in YOUR jurisdiction.
Don't obsess, move on.  Karma, though slow as molasses, DOES eventually take
care of everything.
Don't talk your former company down.  Be professional.  It was a "layoff
across the company" or "A change in focus -- I was hired to do online
documentation, but it became clear that our audience wasn't ready for that.
I decided to try and find a position more along those lines." (Then
elaborate why you think online docs are better'n sliced bread.).  IN NO WAY
talk about your problems with management.

If you do decide to take the company to court or use legal means, here's
some more advice
Wait until the end of the month for your severance.  If you don't get the
severance, get the lawyer to send a letter.
File for unemployment. If the company doesn't dispute it, they've tacitly
agreed that there were no legal grounds to dismiss you. In California, an
employer can only dispute an unemployment claim if the employee has
performed an illegal act (theft, harassment, etc.).
If you are having trouble getting interviews, or if interviews go great but
you later hear that "we went with someone else" "we liked your skills but
didn't feel you'd be a fit for our group", you might be getting a bad
reference.  There are companies you can hire to do reference checks on you,
and report back word for word what was said.

good luck....

steve arrants
http://www.compbear.com

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