As a supervisor, I had an employee for a very short time who was molly-coddled. I will call her "S" during this short essay.
"S" was immersed in drama. In the two days I was her supervisor, she reported that her vehicle had been slammed into by another vehicle in the parking lot and that she needed to go to "medical", the in-plant nurse.
I informed my management. They said "send her". Apparently "S" was a frequently flier...like at least once a week.
I walked the parking lot where she said the event happened looking for broken glass, plastic from grills or tail-lamps. Nothing.
She declined to give me any details about what kind of car she drove so I was not able to identify it and look for damage.
Management told me to write-it-up-and-email the report but not to contact the police. It happened on private property.
Live moved on.
A short while later, the nurse in medical deduced why she was losing so many syringe bodies and needles. It was "S". The nurse suspected. She counted the syringe bodies in the top drawer when she saw "S" in the waiting room. The nurse also took a picture. Then counted counted again immediately after "S" had been in the room. "S" had pocketed half the syringe bodies.
"S" was terminated.
"S" came back but was put in a different building "in case it was environment that caused her to commit crimes".
"S" tested the error-proofing on the tools, putting left-side parts on the right-side of the assembly to see if the machine would run. it did. The error-proofing was looking for "present", not correct part.
The last I knew, "S" was still employed by the company. For all I know, she might be dead, now.
Why was management so unwilling to address the issue?
So why did management tolerate "S" non-stop lying to the company?
A few factors came into play. "S"'s parents both worked for the company.
Also, somebody in management, HR maybe, decided that addictions were a "disability" and under the ADA we had to make accommodations.
There was plenty of language in the contract to dismiss her. Write up the medical pass outlining her cock-and-bull accident-in-parking-lot story and have her initial it. The contract clearly specifies that submitting false documentations is a first-time, termination-justified offense.
The parking lot has 24 hour, high resolution coverage. We terminated a worker who vandalized another (contract represented) employee's vehicle based on the surveillance video.
The Ce'Diffs of the world exploit the enabling language in various Federal laws to create a universe where they receive preferential treatment.
ERJ, same song different verse.
ReplyDeleteAn added factor is the fact that we are incredibly litigious, and I suspect it is often easier to maintain the troubled employee than to go through the process of firing them as the assumption is that "everyone else" will just work to make up the difference. Such people are incredibly corrosive to the work environment and ruin almost every place they are.
I am incredibly grateful I no longer have to supervise anyone, and there is no way I am ever going to a position where I have to.
I would say you are closest to the truth. It is the fear factor. Fear of confrontation (w/ "S" directly, as well as all that would ensue), fear of having to explain to management, and an opposing lawyer, fear of losing your own job or being sued in civil court....
DeleteCorrect, the laws are being weaponized, but while I'm not a legal scholar, I would wager there is a very generous 'interpretation' being applied in many of these instances.
Its why there will be a race-war/tribal component to the upcoming sp0rkiness. When its no longer fair, theres no point in playing by the rules. Theres those that would argue its been germinated and fertilized on purpose, but I digress...
Folks like that was why I gratefully surrendered my middle manager hat to be a worker again. I'm responsible to my own work and I do it well.
ReplyDeleteThey always have and always WILL ‘work the system’ to benefit themselves… sigh
ReplyDeleteI once worked for a company who’s accounts supervisor (one of three) embezzled $36,000. The company then paid her an additional $50,000 before she signed her termination agreement. After she had been caught she had claimed being harassed had been the reason and threatened to sue. Lawyers claimed the company saved money (potentially) by fixing the problem of one thief at $86,000. The $86,000 was taken out of the company bonus pool over the next five years, including interest. No one was told but the management group. More than one voiced opposing yet ultimately naive viewpoints. On the side though it seemed many of her friends and neighbors heard an interesting story of why she quit and how they afforded that new car. If justice fails, there is always shaming.
ReplyDeleteMF
The price of a cartel hit is $2k.
Delete1k for the trigger man and another k for the guy filming proof it was dine.
My view is slightly different. We had an embezzler accountant that was discovered by internal audit by the home office. He had set up shell companies and was supervising payment of their invoices, small money by comparison so he hoped it would stay under the radar. The company put their best on it, the scheme was tracked and documented in real time and they confronted him with the prospect of criminal prosecution, to be followed by civil prosecution. Some, not all, of the money was reimbursed and he was fired, no prosecutions.
ReplyDeleteI think it comes down to how much effort the company is willing to focus. Most management people are cowards, to be honest, or at least have a strong inclination to be non-confrontational. They see a problem like this as ultimately reflecting on them (which is accurate), and they have the authority to gloss it over.
Scammers like CeDiff know this and exploit it, and usually cultivate someone on the inside as a support function. Scammers like my criminal accountant often are able to keep their secrets and just keep a careful eye on the company culture to see what they can get away with. It's much harder to fight a criminal mentality than it is a venal, self-interested one. The latter are usually pretty lazy.
^^^^^ This
DeleteNice name; after your explanation it fits with the other C.diff, Clostridioides difficile. Good one.
ReplyDeleteWe had a real clown during my time in aerospace. Al lied during the hiring process and was brought on two pay levels higher than he was qualified for and was negative EP (His errors required work by other people to fix) to boot. On his 89th day of 90 day probation he 'fell backwards out of his chair and wrenched his back' so he filed a Workman's Comp claim. Rather than deal with the perception of retaliation if they released Al on day 90 he was reduce in pay to the lowest grade and rate and left to rot at a desk. The week before Christmas he was caught on camera going to his car an hour before his timecard stated he ended his work day.
ReplyDeleteTimecard fraud was (is) a firing offence when you are on a Federal contract, he was walked out the last day before Christmas shutdown.
It took over a year to be rid of the slug.
I have made $17,900 this month working online from home. I am a full time college student and work for only 6 hours a day. Everybody can do this work from home w2 and earn in part time 0nline.
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