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I Got Fired Today
09-02-2009, 11:01 PM
...and it was basically my own stupid fault. I wrote a joke memo satirizing in another memo, and sent it to a friend. It got sent around and offended
someone. And I got canned. (And the friend got canned, too.)
So here I am, half numb, half sure I'm about to collapse in tears.
I have some ideas what to do next, but... dear god. It would have been 19 years on Friday.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Jeeze. That's really harsh. Is there anything you can do?
Is there anything we can do?
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Holy shit... Man I don't know what to say.
No, no I DO know what to say.
That shit is NOT RIGHT. That is NO REASON to fire someone!!! That's a "Ok, Bob, you know better than that, here, let me rap your knuckles a bit"
situation. Not a reason to fire someone who's been there 19 years! FUCK!!
That's a wrongful firing offense if ever I heard one!
SUE THE FUCKING BASTARDS.
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Jeebus, Bob. Ow.
Very sorry to hear it.... and yeah. You should protest.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
HoagieOfDoom
Unregistered
That is a load of bullhonky. Like Jinx said, is there anything that can be done? An appeal or something?
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Oh man
09-02-2009, 11:37 PM
Oh geez Bob that sucks.
I am so sorry to hear that. I am not sure it is a legally actionable firing; it doesn't sound like it. It may not be justified and it sounds like it was
someone being petty; but unless it break a contract or union agreement, it is likely not actionable.
I hate the idea of someone in the business of writing getting punished for being creative, especially in the face of what was likely a very cathartic and
deserved response to a poor document.
You have mad skills and a catalog of published work to demonstrate it - your will get through this.
We're thinking of you.
Shayne Dark
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Thanks for all the sympathy.
Let me explain something a little further on the "not right"/"not legal" thing. AM Best is a rating agency. That means in the United States
that it comes under very special scrutiny from the SEC, including things like an audit they did last week. I basically satirized a measure taken in the wake of
and at the suggestion of that audit, and did it by mimicking the form of the official memo announcing that measure, right down to invoking certain regulations
and bodies as the reason for some outrageously over-the-top "policy changes". If the SEC or other regulatory body saw the joke memo, and I were still
employed there, they could draw the conclusion that Best was not serious about its regulatory compliance, regardless of the comedic intent of the memo, and
basically shut down the company. These are the Feds, remember. No sense of humor on the job, everything must be assumed to be absolutely serious. In the
opinion of management and HR, in order to prevent a possible problem with the Feds, I (and my friend) had to go. Technically, I am told, I am discharged
because of a violation of SEC regulations. I could possibly even be denied unemployment benefits for this. The HR VP admitted that it was at least in part
because upper management was still oversensitized from the audit, but it was necessary for the company to prove that it was serious about keeping its status as
a rating agency.
That I understand and to a certain degree agree with why they canned me does not mean I am happy. I am anything but.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Ouch. Not much I can add to this aside from my sympathies and offer to help in any way I can
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
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Echoing sweno's post.
Now for the important questions:
1) How much do you have saved for a rainy day? (Don't answer this one here - it's none of our business - but it's something you need to know.)
2) Can your household survive on the income you have left?
2a) If "yes", can you afford any luxuries or are you at the bare survival line?
3) What are your job prospects? (I know you aren't in the right frame of mind to start looking now, but again it's something you need to know. "Contract terminated for violation of SEC regulations" pretty much closes the door to you at any other ratings agency; are your skills transferable to other fields?)
And one that we can easily help with:
4) How can we help pay to keep these forums running the way they run now?
--
Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Well FUCK.
*Sigh*
Well to quote John Cleese in one of the Python skits "Adopt, adapt and improve!"
Look on the bright side:
You've been having problems with the NO. SENSE. OF. HUMOR. EVERYTHING. MUST. BE. DEAD. SERIOUS assholery of this company and the feds for years now.
(STUPID net restrictions, etc.) I'm not surprised your creativity and sense of humor would eventually cause problems in an environment that encourages the
exact opposite. That you lasted THAT FUCKING LONG makes you a FAR FAR better, more patient man then I could ever hope to be.
Maybe getting involved with a new company that doesn't have the pole so far up their ass that they're fellating it might be a GOOD thing for you.
(I still think you should sue the bastards for all their worth anyway. You're not going to get your job back, but you might get some satisfaction. But
then, that's just my vengeful streak talking.)
Jeanne Hedge
Unregistered
Quote: robkelk wrote:
And one that we can easily help with:
4) How can we help pay to keep these forums running the way they run now?
This one I can answer. Go to the Drunkard's Walk Forums main page. Near the top on the left side is a link related to making monetary contributions toward
running this forum. You can even make it anonymous if you want.
![[Image: 6bf36ddc1d2c96930d75576c361a9b3f8152885f.gif]](http://www.accessdenied-rms.net/forums/forumimportfiles/6bf36ddc1d2c96930d75576c361a9b3f8152885f.gif) Jeanne Hedge
www.jhedge.com
"Believe me, if I have to go the rest of my life without companionship, knowing myself won't be a problem."
-- Gabrielle of Potadeia
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Thanks, Jeanne. (goes off, comes back) That should keep us going for a few days, and give Bob one less thing to worry about...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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I dont suppose you have any manuscripts sitting on the 'to finish' pile you could brush off and send in to anyone?
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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Quote: I dont suppose you have any manuscripts sitting on the 'to finish' pile you could brush off and send in to anyone?
Bob might not be in the best of moods to write, just now.
That said, I know there's almost always a call for IST for GURPS 4e on the SJGames Forums. (A quiet call, not much louder than the call for new In Nomine supplements, but a call nonetheless.) And GURPS has a budget line and two full-time staff at SJGames. OTOH, game writing doesn't pay very much...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Quote: robkelk wrote:
Bob might not be in the best of moods to write, just now.
Very good point... though I've also found that writing can take my mind off of things; in this case I'd meant something he could finish
up with minimal effort and shop around. Doesnt even have to be game related, just something he could sell with minimum time investment.
Hear that thunder rolling till it seems to split the sky?
That's every ship in Grayson's Navy taking up the cry-
NO QUARTER!!!
-- "No Quarter", by Echo's Children
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on the topic of litigation: Be very very careful how strongly you tread in that area.
Firstly, because it can easily be more expensive (not just in money, but in time and frustration) to try and get compensation than it is to just cut your
losses and move on.
Secondly, litigation against a former employer is not something prospective employers like to see (it certainly isn't going to put your resume on the short
list).
-Terry
-----
"so listen up boy, or pornography starring your mother will be the second worst thing to happen to you today"
TF2: Spy
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Ouch.
Best of luck pulling something together, for the duration and beyond.
Damn. That is a really really bad piece of news. And a really lousy reason to be fired over.  Best of luck overcoming this hurdle Bob. 
_________________________________
Take Your Candle, Go Light Your World.
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That looks like a wrongful dismissal suit in the making, but I'm no authority.
Nonetheless, If you need any help, let us know.
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On the subject of keeping the forums running -- that's the last thing I need to worry about. The last time I threw money at them, which was July 2008 (yes, 2008), it bought something like 750,000 pageviews, and I think we were down to around 200K as of this morning. As far as bang for the buck is concerned, Yuku is a far better deal than ezBoard ever was.
I will note that Rob and Jeanne's generous contributions will keep the boards going for at least another year, if not longer; they've brought the pageview count back up very close to 750K again. Thank you, guys.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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Addressing other points: Rob, even if I don't get unemployment because of whatever reason, Peggy and I have enough savings to live for the best part of a year on her salary alone without cutting anything. So for the moment we're going to stay on the Net -- I doubt Peggy will want to sacrifice that now that she can get on at will via the laptop.
Job prospects... hard to say. My skill set doesn't seem to be in demand (Delphi, Visual Basic, a little VB.NET, some SQL -- basically I have a patchwork of whatever was needed to get my former job done, rather than a selection of skills that will carry me stylishly into a new job). Monster.com didn't turn up much at all when I searched on "programmer delphi", and I can only call myself a VB.NET programmer with great effort. Still, I'm not giving up this early in the game. Jeanne sent me some good advice in email -- and thank you for that, Jeanne -- and point one of it was to take a few days to get my head together. I'm going to be doing that while taking care of some family and household business, and then I'm going to jump onto the job hunt train.
Logan, I'm not ruling out a wrongful termination lawsuit. But I'm not sure where to start investigating. I'll probably call our lawyer to see if he or someone he can recommend would be able to look into it. And yeah, Terry, I know the drawbacks of even starting one. That's why I'm saying "looking into" at this point.
As for things people can do, hard to say. One thing I am in need of -- all my headhunter/recruiter contacts are 20 years out of date. If anyone knows a corporate recruiter in the NJ/NYC area, I'd be very grateful for a recommendation.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Sonofa.... :(
09-03-2009, 05:06 AM
Hi Bob!
That sucks on so many levels I can't even begin to classify it.
If there's anything I can do to help, let me know and I'll try.
Best wishes,
Bert V.V.
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The stuff your HR department said to you sounds suspiciously like they were trying to intimidate you.
Even if you don't end up sueing, I would highly suggest speaking with a lawyer. Such a consultation would be
completely confidential and thus need never show up on your record anywhere and it very well may save you a lot of trouble.
---------------
Epsilon
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Well damn. I wish I had some contacts to pass on. Afraid I wouldn't be able to offer anything even very-iffy unless you were interested in moving across
the country.
I'll just repeat the advice to take at least a day or two to get over the shock. Whether it's simply reading, CoH, or grabbing a few books and playing
around with VB.net, C#, or some other skill builder (or heck, a mix of all of that).
Glad however to hear your savings are in better shape than mine.
-----
Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.
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Holy crow... Bob, I don't know what to say, except that I sympathize with you.
I don't know of any sort of contact right that could be useful to you. Off the top of my head, I'd say my Dad, but he's a circuit board designer
currently on contract with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab. I honestly don't know what use that might be to you.
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