Re: An ugly job incident (long)

[Charlene Hirschi <hirschi -at- DIGITALPLA -dot- NET>]

I just have to ask this question.  Was the "ugly jobs" poster's problem with
his new boss that 1.  he was passed over  and 2.  she was female?  Although the
less qualified argument sounds good, past experiences of my own make me wonder
a bit.
    Several years ago I was chosen as general manager over a fellow who
expected to get it--or at least thought it was his right.  He came to me and
told me flat out, "I can't work for a woman."  This was in the construction
business and his macho ego was badly bruised.  At this same company, I had
another employee tell me I reminded him of his sister (who was older and bossy)
and that he had fought against accepting me as manager, but after working for
me he realized that if it were his company I'm the one he would have picked as
manager.  By the way, the fellow who couldn't work for a woman eventually
became one of my strongest supporters.  After having this experience, I think
"ugly" needs to examine his motives to make sure they are pure.  The
destruction of his files seems a little malicious to me, especially if he had
never destroyed files before.  Char

Beth Agnew wrote:

> Get a lawyer immediately. This is character assassination and you =
> cannot
> afford to have it continue. This is truly an ugly situation, =
> demonstrating
> deep problems with this company and its management. I don't think you =
> were
> wrong to throw away old notes and documents, but when a situation goes =
> bad,
> almost anything you do can be misconstrued. You'll need big guns to =
> fight
> this. The cost of a lawyer is worth it. Without a lawyer you could risk
> being a scapegoat for someone else's mistakes.
>
> As a technical communication issue, we must realize that techwriters =
> are
> sometimes involved in ethical or legal dilemmas whether we want to be =
> or
> not. I was called by the prosecution to testify at the trial of a =
> former
> employer who was accused of copyright violation, and the further =
> charges of
> grand theft (of software valued at over $200,000 dollars) and fraud. =
> Since I
> wrote the manual for software he didn't legally own (of course I didn't =
> know
> that at the time), his instructions to me regarding what to put in the
> manual (like the copyright symbol!) were evidence of wilful wrongdoing =
> on
> his part.
>
> We never know when a seemingly innocent situation will turn into an =
> ugly
> incident. All it takes is a wrong decision on someone's part, a change =
> in
> personnel, or being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The only =
> long-term
> defence we have is our professionalism. Once that is being called into
> question, we have to act to ensure we are not unfairly dealt with.
>
> --Beth
>
> Beth Agnew=20
> Senior Technical Writer, InSystems Technologies Inc.=20
> 65 Allstate Parkway, Suite 100=A0 Tel: (905) 513-1400 ext. 280=20
> Markham, Ontario, Canada L3R 9X1=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0 Fax: (905) =
> 513-1419=20
> mailto:bagnew -at- insystems -dot- com=A0=A0=A0 Visit us at: =
> http://www.insystems.com=20
>
> See my friendly face at:=A0
> http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/bute/52/techwr-l/a.htm=20
>
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