Posted on 05/10/2010 2:21:26 PM PDT by LowOiL
Today I was fired because "I wasn't a team player" and "didn't fit in". I worked for an eccentric "Christian" man in his 70's, I myself am Christian also. I will call the owner "Old Mac" for simplicity.
The place I worked as an mechanic was in a fabric mill (no more detail is needed, you know how hard the textile industry has been hit lately). The majority of the mill is illegals and some legals (from Mexico and Guatemala), with about a 30% other population of mostly white fixers and managers.
I worked a second shift and had only met "old Mac" casually before. Stories of his strange behavior ran deep but I never believed them before. Stories of how "old Mac" once saw a fellow on the loading docks lounging around and didn't like it, so he walked up to him and asked him how much he made and was answered XXX per week. Mac calculated the amount in his head, paid the fellow cash and said he was fired. The fellow took the money and left and Mac later found out he didn't even work there, he was just a delivery man.
Anyhoo... my story is one night "old Mac" came in at lunch time (we work 8 and 1/2 hours a day, 30 minutes are suppose to be lunch time and he does not pay us for it). I used to go to my truck and eat lunch in the cab in the parking lot. I would "allow" the "illegals" to go outside too since it was their lunch time too. I didn't see there was any problem, since he wasn't paying them. Old Mac came in and was furious, he did not want "little Mexico" outside his doors and that they were in the mill and he could be fined XXX amount of dollars. They were not in the mill, but they could be he reasoned. I was flabbergassed, I couldn't believe he was doing this. He often ran the air system so the illegals could run their machines during their "lunchtime" but any work they did was not time and a half pay like the law requires. Also us fixers (me and another fellow) were expected to repair the machines during our "lunchtime" and not being paid for it.
I asked "old Mac" if he owned us during the time that he was not paying us, he slowly looked at me and said I was "not being a team player" and that "it set a bad example for the Mexicans" at lunchtime and that they were NOT allowed to go outside whatsoever.
I told "Old Mac" that it was not right to keep me his "slave" during the time he was not paying me. He grumbled off and today I was told I was fired. I was handed my paycheck for the last week and told to leave. I argued that he was not "Christian" what he was doing and that I would bring up the subject to his church on Sunday.
I went to get my supplies and tools and booklets and say bye to everyone and as I left the back door I smelled tire smoke. A police officer had just tore into the parking lot and was waiting close to where I was parked. I guess "old Mac" had called the police on me. I never said a curse word, I never even called him anything more than "Sir". I was Christian about the whole affair, but I was not ran over by him like he wanted me to be.
My question fellow Christian Freepers is this... What is the precedence (protocol) for presenting my case to his church. I do not belong to his church (Baptist) but I am a fellow Baptist of a neighboring church. I have read before somewhere that I am allowed to address their church elders and then I am allowed to address the church next if that fails. I have talked to their pastor (nice fellow) and he said actually I had no Biblical right to talk to their church in that manner since I was not a member.
I seek godly knowledge from fellow freepers.
Please.
Mr. Rowdy,
Now you are being sane, rational, legal and practical in your comments. Where’s the fun in that?
interesting you can make such a blanket statement - are you a lawyer?
That’s it! Thank you.
>>interesting you can make such a blanket statement - are you a lawyer?<<
I have worked in many states and have seen how it is applied. I am sure there are exceptions, but I have yet to hear of it...
Thank you once again.
NP, FRiend. I hope it goes well for you. I will pray.
Do you know if he copied software illegally? If so, see this web site. You might get some extra “severance pay”.
http://www.bsa.org/country.aspx?sc_lang=en
Needless to say, I was devastated. I was angry, but kept my cool. It took about three months and I had another job in the same field with nearly twice the salary.
So, just set your face forward and proceed on.
Good advice in this post. People forget the church. This old man is evil. My guess is teh pastor is getting $10,000 a year from “Mac” and if you think the pastor will cross Mac then you are dreaming.
I know some Baptists who own a big company like this. They treat their office staff well and are decent people. I heard them talk about how they will hire recent immigrants and possibly illegals for their factory because “Americans never show up etc etc.”
I have heard this excuse before and it is a code word that “we want cheap labor” that we can bully.
Good advice.
There are an abundance of people who identify themselves as Christians (and other religions for that matter) who use religion (pick any) in their feeble attempt to justify wrongdoing or bad behavior. There are also an abundance who DO the right thing. Just do the right things (personally and legally) and it will all work out for you. You're not the only one treated badly by an employer in this economy.
You are lucky!
Lucky to be rid of that place. ‘Old Mac’ doesn’t deserve your labor or experience. He has, in fact, given you a chance to go out, discover opportunities, and I would run like Hell with it!
Be positive - there are jobs out there for experienced people with your skills.
The worst thing you could do, even though you may feel justified, is to call ICE. Don’t do that. ‘Old Mac’ is so arrogant he will be found out soon enough and have no one to blame but himself.
God bless you and good luck!
That would be Ms. Rowdy Ma’am (Gawd, Boxer made me say it! I swear!)
Sometimes my humor gets a little warped, but believe me, God sends Mom right back down here and I get this STOP IT! STOP IT! thang going on in my head. ROFL!
Sorry for the gender mistake. My first mental image of Rowdy is Clint Eastwood as Rowdy Yeats in the old Rawhide TV show.
In regards to messages from Mom, my Mom was the most fun loving, joke playing imp that ever was. She’s been gone for years, but the messages I get from her are “Do it, but don’t get caught.”
Thank you everyone for your advice. I have some praying to do, but please continue to share your thoughts, pro or con.
Anything you'd do would just end up coming back and hurting yourself worse in the end. That's always been my experience, that how the world works. I wouldn't call the ICE either, unless you have personally seen the documentation that proves he knows that they are illegal.Let his situation work out by itself- it will, in God's own time. You don't need to get involved.
I'd just chalk it up to a bad day, give it to God; all of it, the pain, the humiliation,the injustice, the desire for revenge, the fear. Just lay it at His feet.
Then go on and get another job. The same situation is likely to come up again ( that's your second chance, God is very good at providing them in my experience) and when it does,try to work on your own behavior with the idea that your behavior is between you and God.It really dosen't have anything to do with the other person.
Repeat until you are satisfied that you did it right in the eyes of God.You'll know because you'll have a peaceful feeling about it, even if the other person treated you badly. Then you're done with that one. It's kind of fun to do this, it's like your secret game with God. I enjoy it immensely. This may seem crazy, but I am convinced it's really the way we are supposed to approach life.
I pray you now do better. Some outfits are simply not worth spending your time and efforts toward meeting their objectives.
This one sounds like it is only a matter of time anyway before it goes under. When an organization is run like this—and relies on illegals, it is not one that is growing and expanding—so your future would probably be suffocating.
Except for your Christian values, I bet he would be a good target for an AFL-CIO blitz, a visit or three from OSHA, a visit from ICE and maybe even a visit from EPA.
Whole lot of government and other entities out there who are vested in doing all the damage they can you know.
And it would cost him lots and lots. Heh.
LOL. Good answer
Get a lawyer. If you call your local bar association and ask for an “employment lawyer,” they’ll have a couple names and numbers. Most lawyers have to agree to a free initial consult to get referrals that way, and many others do so anyway.
You may have all kinds of interesting claims. Don’t know, I’m not an employment lawyer.
Getting his church involved seems inappropriate and could just make matters worse. In a small town, some of the prominent business men - like Old Mac? - might be part of the elders. That said, if you really want to do so, just call his church during normal business hours and inquire how.
You should never have been allowing yourself to participate in the unlawful employment of illegal aliens. You should have called in immigration a long time ago.
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