Friday, September 2, 2016

Things I Can't Even Part 1

Did I ever tell you guys that I got sued?

You may recall that last year at work I hired an assistant for a picky, cranky old dude.  Nothing and no one was ever good enough for him.  I found him a gem of an employee: smart, sweet, energetic, and capable.  Everyone thought that she was fantastic... except for the cranky old dude, because he was so old and cranky.

This fellow, not a direct supervisor but someone above me in the pecking order, gave us all endless trouble.  He was showing signs of reduced competence, due to his age (he was 80, and suffering from a chronic disease), but he had an excuse for everything.  All of his lapses were someone else's fault.  After an extremely difficult power struggle between him and the business owners, he finally agreed to leave.  (I would have said that he retired - except we found out that he went straight back to work somewhere else.)

Things might not have worked out for him at his new job, because a few months later he found himself in need of cash.  So what did he do?  He sued the business I work for, for wrongful dismissal.  Not only that, he named several individuals in the lawsuit, including me.  Because supposedly I was one of the decision-makers.  Believe me - if I had truly been a decision-maker, he would have been gone months before he finally left!

Without getting into details, it's a frivolous lawsuit.  He hasn't got a case.  I was confident of that from the beginning.  But when I got served the papers with my name on them, it was like getting punched in the stomach.  I've never been sued before.  I turned myself inside out and upside down to try to keep that man happy for all the 10+ years that I worked with him, and this is my reward?  He can earn over a million dollars a year as an accomplished professional, and he wants to put his big hand into my little pocket to steal my modest retirement savings?

The papers were served to me between Christmas and New Year's Eve last winter.  Happy Holidays to me.  I worried about it, because anyone would.  You never know how a court case is going to turn out.  I finally found out last month that my name had been removed from the lawsuit, subsequent to some negotiations... in March!  My boss hadn't bothered to let me know that I was off the hook.  I worried for an extra four months for no reason, until I finally bugged him for an update.  Fantastic.  This is why I have to take Paxil to survive my life.

9 comments:

DarcKnyt said...

If that could suck any more, I don't see how, Spark. I'm glad it worked out, but YIKES! :(

Meanwhile, at work, I seem to be gradually falling victim to something akin to the Peter Principle.. I guess I'll be doing the unemployment shuffle again sooner than later.

Working for a living sucks. If you find a better way, let us know, will ya?

And I'll keep you in my prayers. :)

LL Cool Joe said...

Great so months of unnecessary worry. I'm glad you are off the hook though. So what are you going to do to celebrate?

G. B. Miller said...

I can sympathize with your plight, since I got served earlier this for a tap and stop (aka, hitting a pedestrian) that was performed last year. 1 1/2 years later and still counting. Even the marshal who served the papers said the guy had no case, but the insurance company had to higher a law firm (bad one at that) just the same.

Just like in your case, I had to prod the powers that be for some kind of status update with the case. Very frustrating/irritating to do someone else's job for them.

Father Nature's Corner

Sparkling Red said...

I don't have any celebration plans in mind. It's enough to have one significant worry crossed off my list of significant worries!

Abby said...

"...if I had truly been a decision-maker, he would have been gone months before he finally left!" Ha! Well, it does sound stressful to have been named, frivolous or not. Glad it's behind you.

Snowbrush said...

How sad that he didn't let you know that you were off the suit! I never would have trusted the man again.

Jenny Woolf said...

What a nightmare. I am so sorry to hear that you had months of needless worry through the action of two self centred people, although the cranky old guy sounds worse than the boss who might also be suffering from the stress of dealing with this. My suspicion is that the old guy might be suffering from mental decline, especially as he couldn't really cope with his work. I'm glad you are free of it now. I bet you wake up in the morning and feel a sense of relief first thing.

Lynn said...

Oh my - I'm so glad you are off the hook. That guy sounds crazy!

Friko said...

Yes, that would have felt like a punch in the belly. Glad you’re free of it now but I wouldn’t let the boss off the hook quite as easily.

I love your About Me sentence. It’s the reason I stopped to read.