Observer-Reporter forum

dazes · Professional Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1422

Hey just a question about how much abuse at work is worth putting up with.Boo had worked for a company for 10 months, it was a small company in Pittsburgh. In that short time, 8 people were hired and all quit within a week. The owner would scream daily at them that they were losers etc. Mine stuck it out because of the student loans and car payment. Secretaries quite because of the same treatment. There were only around 5 employees total, well in Oct. the nutty owner came in and found one of the workers had made a mistake with materials and began screaming you are all f***ing jokes this company is a f***ing joke and tells Boo to punch out and go. He does and assumed he was fired, came home and didn't go back. He signed up for unemployment and the owner said she didn't fire him that he quit, the ue agent said he didn't call her and so he didn't have any regard for her so they denied him. If he believed he was fired why would he call? He has an appeal hearing tomorrow. This woman is a snake she had just started to pay his benefits when all of this happened, we think that maybe the reason for her to fire him. Just curious what would you guys have done, clocked out and called to see if you were fired, not show uo like Boo did or show up like nothing happened?

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

I would have showed up like nothing happened, but that's because I like to make a scene when I feel I've been mistreated. I would have come back under the assumption that chit would have hit the fan. I don't think your son was in the wrong; if he thought he was fired, he had the right to file for unemployment. However, I have to be honest with you, its pretty rare that these kinds of disputes work out in the employee's favor. Speaking from experience (not mine, but my wife's), if the employer decides to make a fuss, the system is heavily stacked in their favor. Basically, her word will be treated like gold and your son will be expected to magically generate some kind of concrete evidence to prove his side, like a document stating he was fired or a voice recording of the argument. All she has to do is show up.
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dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

If he had insurance throught the company and had quit, the employer would have been obligated to offer COBRA. He would've signed a document either accepting or denying COBRA benefits. That might help.

If he didn't have insurance through them, and there is no documentation of an exit interview, then it probably comes down to he said / she said. Which usually comes down to which party can assault the others character more, and ultimately who has better lawyers and more money.
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freethinker · Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:27 pm Post subject:

Dazes, tell Boo to drop it, because he just can't win, and he will waste a lot of time...The employer doesn't pay unemployment benefits, the state does, through PAUC, that the employer pays into...And the state will support a sales tax paying business over a kid named Boo...
Just chalk it up to experience and move on to a better job
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dick · Journeyman Joined: 28 Jan 2009 Posts: 3134

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

I basically agree. I wouldn't drop it outright...see what kind of hell you can give them, keep them on the phone, make their lives miserable for a couple weeks. But don't spend any money on lawyers; theirs will be better.
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dazes · Professional Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1422

He went back to get his final paycheck because he didn't trust her to mail it. When he went in she tried to get him to sign a paper saying he resigned, he refused to sign because he said he didn't quit. We do have that paper, unsigned. If he doesn't win this appeal he will drop it, but to think that he got his degree for this is depressing for him. One bright side, I told him that he has been baptized by fire and any job after will seem like a piece of cake.

freethinker · Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 12:42 pm Post subject:

trust me, dick, it increases a tiny amount to the employer...I've been on both sides of this issue...Filed, and been filed against...and while I agree with Cy that, conditions permitting, it would be fun to raise some he11....the best advice is to let it go
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Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

Yeah, I've worked a crappy job before myself. I did quit that one. It was a job selling cell phones. Basically, I came in to work on the first day, was trained (very poorly) how to sell products to customers, and then my co-workers stopped coming in and pretended like they were because I was there. So they were getting paid for, I don't know, smoking crack and sleeping all day. Then, another at least reasonably competent co-worker came in later and called the boss (who was supposed to be there) to see why she was the only one there. He lied and said I was supposed to be covering his shift and used that as an excuse to try to fire me. I just kept coming in. But it actually got worse when the home office realized what was going down and came to clean house. They fired basically everyone but me and one other person, then hired a new manager that made the last one seem tame (at least the last one didn't steal merchandise every day). Then they basically trained me to do whatever it took to sell plans and phones to people, even when I knew for a fact that they wouldn't have coverage. In their words, "they'll return them if they don't like them." Yeah, and pay the restocking fee. And then the home office guy brings me aside, sits me down, gives me this long spiel about how chit's gonna be different under the new manager and how they needed to know if I was committed to being a winner and working for such a great company as theirs. I looked at the guy and said, "well, frankly, I'm not based on my experience so far." Dude was so taken aback he just blinked, stood up and walked away. I quit two weeks later. No notice either. Just came in and then at the end of the day, told the manager "by the way, I'm not coming back." One of the other co-workers tipped me off that she was going to fire me the next week, so that's why I didn't give notice. Hilariously, said manager got fired and charged with theft a few weeks later. I don't even list that chit job on my resume.
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dazes · Professional Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1422

dazes · Professional Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1422

Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

As long as he isn't spending money, I would see it through to the appeal, but after that's over there isn't much more you can do.
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ellipses · Mod Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 9218 Location: WashPa!

Hey, Dazes... why don't you share the name of the company with us? If things don't work out for boo, perhaps the internet can exact some poetic justice... Smile

My take is that he has nothing to lose in fighting it, but the odds are severely stacked against him. Our company has a subsidiary that employs a couple hundred minimum wage workers. We automatically fight every unemployment claim and win about 95% of them. That is mostly because our employees are idiots. However, the ones we lost were heartbreakers because in some cases they were THE biggest idiots, but for whatever reason the arbiter sided with them.
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Cylinsier · Master Joined: 29 Sep 2008 Posts: 13229 Location: Oh shi-

Well, he should fight it just to teach the company that they can't just act like that and not expect to spend a few weeks cleaning up the mess. Even when they win, they will have spent money and time doing it.
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dazes · Professional Joined: 08 May 2009 Posts: 1422

Big picture is Karma will get this bitch sometime. Her Dad who is in his late 80s would come n and basically scream at everyone that they didn't know how this or that should be done, you know the in my day speech. Well one day he told my son he was going to use a router, Boo was teasing him and said you better not Ang, you'll cut your finger off. Well sure as shit Angelo cut his finger off, Boo took him to the hospital and sat for four hours with the old guy, while the sewed him back together.