Pinkie Pie
08-20-2006, 12:24 PM
I am in such an enormously rotten mood right now that I needed to get this out somewhere.
Basically yesterday I learned that after 15 years of service with an absolutely clean record, my dad is likely getting forced to quit with the alternative of sitting around on administrative leave for an undisclosed amount of time, and the only reason that makes any sense is that it's because the City Manager wants to "get back at him".
Basically, here's what happened.
One of the choreographers for the school musical my brother had been in last year had invited all the people that were in the play to come to her dance studio for free lessons, and the chance to be in a big (read : 6 hour long) recital at the end of the class. My mom had agreed to help out with various things, including making buttons to sell at the show (she was told that she'd be reimbursed for the material, and she hasn't gotten a fucking dime yet).
During the dress rehersal, she noticed that they had literally jammed as many chairs into the aisles as they could to get extra seats in (it was already a theater with full seating). It was obviously a major fire hazard, as there was literally no way to exit if something happened. My mom came home, and let my dad know about it, since he'd be going to the play and would most likely not be comfortable with the (illegal) situation. He told her that he could either go down there himself and try to work with them on it at the risk of embaressing my brother, or he could call one of his coworkers to go, who he knew wouldn't work with them at all on it and just tell them to get rid of all the chairs. He wanted to try to help out and compromise with them, so he went down himself to try to talk to them about it.
When he got there and tried to negotiate with the woman who heads the studio, she got hysterical, screaming at my dad that my brother would never perform in her studio or at his school again unless my dad turned around and ignored the problem. He refused to do that, and told her that he was willing to compromise and figure out some way to get extra seating in without it being an illegal hazard. She eventually did calm down and agree to it, and on his own time, my dad drew up plans to arrange the extra seating so that it did not violate fire code. There were 200 extra chairs to start with, and my dad wound up only taking out 20 of them after all was said and done.
In addition to that, he offered to act as firewatch as a favor, so that she wouldn't have to go through the city to get one, which would be a pain in the butt as well as expensive. So he pretty much stood in the back of the theatre for a good 18 hours in total for all of the performances. He never went backstage at any time. (sounds odd for me to say that, but you'll see why I did soon.)
After the play, the woman thanked him for working with her on it and doing her that favor.
So, yeah, my brother was put in a slightly awkward position, but other than that, it came out well, right?
About two or three days passed with nothing out of the ordinary, but the day after, my dad got to work to find his boss waiting for him at the back door. He told him to come to his office, and when they got there, he told my dad that he was on administrative leave, and had to hand over his badge. My dad asked what the charges were, and his boss told him that he wasn't allowed to say, only that the order came from the "seventh floor" (the city manager's office), and that he'd get paperwork regarding the investigation soon. For the moment, he handed over a restraining order that was filed against my dad by, guess who, the woman who ran the dance studio and her husband.
Because, you know, my dad goes around with a gun threatening people. Does it all the time. A regular "beat the fuck out of you for no reason" thug.[/blatent fucking sarcasm for those of you who can't detect it]
So my dad has to go home, and only knows that he'll get a phone call eventually telling him whether or not he still has a job, and that these people filed a restraining order against him.
Eventually he got a copy of a summary of the complaint filed (no actual charges yet, just a complaint), which basically said that he abused the two people when he was there, and that he overstepped his authority by telling them what to do. (He didn't, of course, it's his fucking job to regulate these kinds of things, he does it all the time. Only difference here was that he wasn't getting paid to do it.)
Later he was called in for questioning, and was asked why he went into the girl's dressing room when told he couldn't. Yes. That's right. These two (though without charges there's no proof they said it, but it's pretty obvious) claimed that my dad forced his way into the girl's dressing room, where there were girls from very young to teen-age getting changed. As I said before, absolute bull, since not only would he never, ever do such a thing, but he never even went backstage, and has witnesses to prove it.
So then. Why the jab at politicians? Had this complaint gone anywhere else, they would have most likely not even blinked twice before dismissing the complaint as rubbish, if only because they've known my dad forever, and know that he'd never do something like that. Besides, it's not like it's the first completely bogus complaint they've ever gotten from people who were angry about their workers regulating them.
But, it just so happens that this went to the City Manager. He hasn't had the job too long, but he had replaced the former City Manager, who was fired for being "too employee friendly". This new guy was the opposite in the extreme. Immediately after getting his position, he did his best to try to slash benifits, cancel all raises, and even to cut pay (though he gave himself a nice raise). My dad, being a member of the bargaining committee of the union there, had been one of the lead people trying to stand up to the guy to keep him from completely screwing them over. He'd given an amazing speech (I've yet to see it myself, though my mom's trying to get me a copy of it) against him at one of the meetings.
So, though this is somewhat speculative, it seems that the CM grabbed the complaint as an opportunity to get back at my dad for speaking out against him.
He's put out a gag order on the investigation (A fucking gag order? On a rediculous complaint that amounts to high-school gossip?), meaning that my dad can't talk to anyone from the city about it. He can't call work to see if he still has a job, he can't tell any of his coworkers anything, he pretty much can't do anything but sit there waiting for a phone call.
Meanwhile, this woman has become the head choreographer for the drama department at my brother's school. Meaning that my brother (who's in the musical theatre class, which means he's in the musical by default, but good luck even being considered for a lead role now), and my mom (who's involved with the school club that helps out with stuff like the musicals) both have to work with this woman. My mom could just quit, but at the same time she can't go to head of the drama department to explain the situation, for fear that the woman will hear about her talking about it, and go to the CM to tell him that my dad told my mom to do it. (Which wouldn't be true, but it's not like the person hasn't lied already)
Oh, and this "investigation"? It's been going on for 8 weeks, with no sign that they're ever going to do anything. Speculation again, but my mom and I both think that they're just going to leave it under investigation indefinately until my dad is forced to quit.
And so, my dad's screwed no matter what. If he quits, he's inelligible for unemployment, not to mention that him quitting makes it appear that the accusations are true. Which then means good luck with him getting another city-level job, even in a different city, with a would-be pedophilia-ish charge under investigation that he resigned under.
At the same time, if he doesn't quit, then he's sitting at home, unable to work, unable to even leave the house waiting for a call that I'm not sure is ever going to come.
My parents can't even bring slander charges against these two people. Since charges haven't been filed, my dad has no proof that they even said anything in the first place.
So now my dad's sitting at home, not working, hardly sleeping or eating anything, his reputation possibly ruined, his career effectively ended, and all because some lady was pissed because she couldn't sell an extra 20 tickets per performance, and because a power-hungry City Manager wants to make an example of what happens to someone who crosses him.
I was up all night wondering how in the hell something like this could happen. It makes me sick thinking about it.
I wonder how these people fucking sleep at night, knowing they're ruining a man's career and reputation, all for political gain or for some stupid fucking reason like "he told us what to do so now we get back at him".
I've probably used the word fuck more in this post than I ever have in all the forums combined.
Basically yesterday I learned that after 15 years of service with an absolutely clean record, my dad is likely getting forced to quit with the alternative of sitting around on administrative leave for an undisclosed amount of time, and the only reason that makes any sense is that it's because the City Manager wants to "get back at him".
Basically, here's what happened.
One of the choreographers for the school musical my brother had been in last year had invited all the people that were in the play to come to her dance studio for free lessons, and the chance to be in a big (read : 6 hour long) recital at the end of the class. My mom had agreed to help out with various things, including making buttons to sell at the show (she was told that she'd be reimbursed for the material, and she hasn't gotten a fucking dime yet).
During the dress rehersal, she noticed that they had literally jammed as many chairs into the aisles as they could to get extra seats in (it was already a theater with full seating). It was obviously a major fire hazard, as there was literally no way to exit if something happened. My mom came home, and let my dad know about it, since he'd be going to the play and would most likely not be comfortable with the (illegal) situation. He told her that he could either go down there himself and try to work with them on it at the risk of embaressing my brother, or he could call one of his coworkers to go, who he knew wouldn't work with them at all on it and just tell them to get rid of all the chairs. He wanted to try to help out and compromise with them, so he went down himself to try to talk to them about it.
When he got there and tried to negotiate with the woman who heads the studio, she got hysterical, screaming at my dad that my brother would never perform in her studio or at his school again unless my dad turned around and ignored the problem. He refused to do that, and told her that he was willing to compromise and figure out some way to get extra seating in without it being an illegal hazard. She eventually did calm down and agree to it, and on his own time, my dad drew up plans to arrange the extra seating so that it did not violate fire code. There were 200 extra chairs to start with, and my dad wound up only taking out 20 of them after all was said and done.
In addition to that, he offered to act as firewatch as a favor, so that she wouldn't have to go through the city to get one, which would be a pain in the butt as well as expensive. So he pretty much stood in the back of the theatre for a good 18 hours in total for all of the performances. He never went backstage at any time. (sounds odd for me to say that, but you'll see why I did soon.)
After the play, the woman thanked him for working with her on it and doing her that favor.
So, yeah, my brother was put in a slightly awkward position, but other than that, it came out well, right?
About two or three days passed with nothing out of the ordinary, but the day after, my dad got to work to find his boss waiting for him at the back door. He told him to come to his office, and when they got there, he told my dad that he was on administrative leave, and had to hand over his badge. My dad asked what the charges were, and his boss told him that he wasn't allowed to say, only that the order came from the "seventh floor" (the city manager's office), and that he'd get paperwork regarding the investigation soon. For the moment, he handed over a restraining order that was filed against my dad by, guess who, the woman who ran the dance studio and her husband.
Because, you know, my dad goes around with a gun threatening people. Does it all the time. A regular "beat the fuck out of you for no reason" thug.[/blatent fucking sarcasm for those of you who can't detect it]
So my dad has to go home, and only knows that he'll get a phone call eventually telling him whether or not he still has a job, and that these people filed a restraining order against him.
Eventually he got a copy of a summary of the complaint filed (no actual charges yet, just a complaint), which basically said that he abused the two people when he was there, and that he overstepped his authority by telling them what to do. (He didn't, of course, it's his fucking job to regulate these kinds of things, he does it all the time. Only difference here was that he wasn't getting paid to do it.)
Later he was called in for questioning, and was asked why he went into the girl's dressing room when told he couldn't. Yes. That's right. These two (though without charges there's no proof they said it, but it's pretty obvious) claimed that my dad forced his way into the girl's dressing room, where there were girls from very young to teen-age getting changed. As I said before, absolute bull, since not only would he never, ever do such a thing, but he never even went backstage, and has witnesses to prove it.
So then. Why the jab at politicians? Had this complaint gone anywhere else, they would have most likely not even blinked twice before dismissing the complaint as rubbish, if only because they've known my dad forever, and know that he'd never do something like that. Besides, it's not like it's the first completely bogus complaint they've ever gotten from people who were angry about their workers regulating them.
But, it just so happens that this went to the City Manager. He hasn't had the job too long, but he had replaced the former City Manager, who was fired for being "too employee friendly". This new guy was the opposite in the extreme. Immediately after getting his position, he did his best to try to slash benifits, cancel all raises, and even to cut pay (though he gave himself a nice raise). My dad, being a member of the bargaining committee of the union there, had been one of the lead people trying to stand up to the guy to keep him from completely screwing them over. He'd given an amazing speech (I've yet to see it myself, though my mom's trying to get me a copy of it) against him at one of the meetings.
So, though this is somewhat speculative, it seems that the CM grabbed the complaint as an opportunity to get back at my dad for speaking out against him.
He's put out a gag order on the investigation (A fucking gag order? On a rediculous complaint that amounts to high-school gossip?), meaning that my dad can't talk to anyone from the city about it. He can't call work to see if he still has a job, he can't tell any of his coworkers anything, he pretty much can't do anything but sit there waiting for a phone call.
Meanwhile, this woman has become the head choreographer for the drama department at my brother's school. Meaning that my brother (who's in the musical theatre class, which means he's in the musical by default, but good luck even being considered for a lead role now), and my mom (who's involved with the school club that helps out with stuff like the musicals) both have to work with this woman. My mom could just quit, but at the same time she can't go to head of the drama department to explain the situation, for fear that the woman will hear about her talking about it, and go to the CM to tell him that my dad told my mom to do it. (Which wouldn't be true, but it's not like the person hasn't lied already)
Oh, and this "investigation"? It's been going on for 8 weeks, with no sign that they're ever going to do anything. Speculation again, but my mom and I both think that they're just going to leave it under investigation indefinately until my dad is forced to quit.
And so, my dad's screwed no matter what. If he quits, he's inelligible for unemployment, not to mention that him quitting makes it appear that the accusations are true. Which then means good luck with him getting another city-level job, even in a different city, with a would-be pedophilia-ish charge under investigation that he resigned under.
At the same time, if he doesn't quit, then he's sitting at home, unable to work, unable to even leave the house waiting for a call that I'm not sure is ever going to come.
My parents can't even bring slander charges against these two people. Since charges haven't been filed, my dad has no proof that they even said anything in the first place.
So now my dad's sitting at home, not working, hardly sleeping or eating anything, his reputation possibly ruined, his career effectively ended, and all because some lady was pissed because she couldn't sell an extra 20 tickets per performance, and because a power-hungry City Manager wants to make an example of what happens to someone who crosses him.
I was up all night wondering how in the hell something like this could happen. It makes me sick thinking about it.
I wonder how these people fucking sleep at night, knowing they're ruining a man's career and reputation, all for political gain or for some stupid fucking reason like "he told us what to do so now we get back at him".
I've probably used the word fuck more in this post than I ever have in all the forums combined.