Bluey the Abdicator | Factsrfriends

Meet Bluey the Abdicator

Bluey was Eva Diva’s manager. Known as the Abdicator, his research leadership responsibilities took second place to his role as a senior researcher. He left management to his team of four supervisors. He claimed his boss, Son der Guard wanted him to maximize his client interaction and to minimize time spent managing the group. That insulated him from team issues. He didn’t know what was going on. It resulted in uninformed decisions and significant legal problems for Fake News which continue to fester.

EEOC follow up? Not my job

Fake News proposed and signed up to an EEOC-mediated career development plan to upgrade the plaintiff, Tommy Bear. Bluey set the development plan with Eva Diva and HR with and for the plaintiff, one of Eva’s staff.

Apart from a couple of training courses in the early days, no follow up occurred. Eva said it was Bluey’s job to review it - not her’s. True to form, Bluey did nothing. The development plan gathered dust for over two years. No training, no coaching, no feedback, no documentation, no oversight. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium.

The EEOC are dismayed. Fake News shareholders are asking, does Fake News review budgets, metrics, performance and projects? Then why not an EEOC-mediated career plan? Fake News' response is awaited. Watch this space.

Secret disability

HR asked Tommy Bear to produce documentation to confirm his disability. He wasn’t told why, He was surprised. Did others have to produce confirmation that they were legally protected, he wondered? Sexual orientation? Ethnicity? He was pleased his legally blind status was on record though. It was needed later to verify his disability leave.

Strangely also, HR instructed him not to mention his disability to others in the company. Again, no reason given. He was uncertain how others would recognize their obligations to him under the ADA. How was he meant to disguise his condition? He had to hide his white cane in the US but he was allowed to use it in the UK, a reason why he tried to transfer there. To prevent issues, he cancelled his application for a service dog. The Commission for the Blind were dismayed.

Shortly afterwards, emails were flying around Fake News addressed to Bluey, copied to colleagues wishing Bluey well following cardio concerns. Strangely, HR did not instruct Bluey and his well wishers to keep his condition secret. While Tommy was on disability leave, he observed HR’s instruction not to tell others of his disability. He only told Eva and HR. As a result, nobody questioned why he was terminated while on disability leave.

If you’re a VP with cardio at Fake News, tell the world. If you’re a grunt worker at Fake News and legally blind, keep it a secret. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium.

Eva? Just leave her

At the EEOC’s suggestion, Tommy Bear met with HR and Bluey to ask for a change of supervisor from Eva Diva. Her behavior was a liability. She was aware of it but expected forgiveness because she had ADHD.

Not known for informed decision making, Bluey kicked off the meeting with Tommy Bear by stating that changing the supervisor was not an option. But, by the way, why did Tommy want a change? Scared at this point at what would get back to Eva and her inevitable retaliation, Tommy just said weekly meetings were frequently cancelled and she embarrassed him on conference calls. He was too scared to refer to the bullying - constant criticism, tantrums, rants and intrusion into his personal life. He was left to continue working under a now mad Eva.

True to form, Bluey never followed up. No joint meeting with Eva, no clear ground rules, no feedback, no action plans, no documentation - not one review of the situation in over two years. And no oversight.

The outcome was a severe deterioration as Eva learned she could get away with anything including sexual harassment. Tommy Bear was driven to frequent EEOC contact to seek advice to cope with the bullying. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Fake News shareholders are asking why no follow up occurred to prevent bullying and later, sexual harassment. Fake News legal representatives have yet to respond. Watch this space.

The presentation that bombed

Eva asked Tommy to cover her presentation at a client meeting, He got her to agree that he could replace it with one of his own - the agreement constituted an accommodation under the ADA to ensure it fitted his disability needs. A week later, Eva rang him to say she had changed her mind. He must present her original version. Rescinding an accommodation without reasonable cause or alternatives violates the ADA.

Tommy found the presentation was so bereft of content, he couldn’t do it. In desperation, he had to replace the slide presentation with flip charts on the day. The clients gave the last minute session poor reviews.

Next, Eva said her boss Bluey wanted to investigate the incident. Good idea but did he find out that she had illegally rescinded an ADA accommodation? And why didn’t Bluey ask Tommy what happened? Too busy looking the part to actually do the job, Bluey did not complete the investigation or share the findings but decided to take an easy route out and just have Tommy Bear prematurely withdrawn from the next Fake News Symposium. In contravention of the ADA, he made the decision without checking the impact on Tommy, legally blind, of previously having his ADA accommodation withdrawn or if he could present at Symposium with accommodations. Tommy filed complaint against Fake News and Bluey to the EEOC. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Watch this space.

Duck the law - there’s the door

Eva Diva told Tommy Bear, protected by the ADA while on disability leave, that her boss Bluey wanted to review the status of outstanding projects. Tommy was surprised. More preoccupied with his image than his work, Bluey never reviewed anything, ever and had not had a one-on-one with Tommy in over two years.

Eva’s message transpired to be a fraudulent misrepresentation, an illegal act of duress. No thank you to Tommy from Bluey for preparing for and attending the project review meeting while on disability leave. Instead, Bluey announced that the purpose of the meeting was actually to give Tommy notice of termination. No apology for the change of purpose, no thank you for ten years service, no thank you for currently keeping projects going while on disability leave, working over the recent Christmas and New Year at a public library with no help from Eva, no congratulations for recently being invited to represent Research at UK sales meetings after previous successful presentations to them.

Instead, Bluey demonstrated contempt for the ADA which forbids termination of a person with disabilities while on disability leave for their documented disability.

Fake News shareholders are asking for an explanation of why Fake News terminated Tommy without cause and consequently withheld eleven years of disability pay for which he was paying through payroll deductions. Why is Fake News treating a legally blind employee with contempt and duress? Fraud is suspected. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Fake News has yet to respond. Watch this space.

The worst ever
Tommy had been advised not to spend too much time on first draft research reports. Given that he was working seven days a week, he was glad of the advice. He was told that a first daft needed to include just enough for peer review to advise him that he was on track, not detailed feedback.

It seems that Bluey had not read the memo. He reviewed the draft and using the intranet, told Tommy and by default all of Research, that this was the worst report he had ever seen. Well done, Bluey. Nothing like actionable feedback. Tommy’s peers were quick to tell him that they were shocked that Bluey had been so indiscreet.

Say no to help
Tommy Bear presented at a client conference where Bluey was also in attendance. Noticing that Tommy was visually impaired, a client offered to quickly wire Tommy’s laptop to the projector. Tommy accepted. The Commission for the Blind had advised that he should not turn down help when offered. Don’t be proud, they say.

Days later, his supervisor, Eva Diva called Tommy to relay to him that Bluey did not like that he had let a client fix up his computer. The person with disabilities should have done it himself. They don’t tell you that at Fake News Symposium. Maybe Bluey needs to spend a day with a blindfold over his eyes before he critiques people with disabilities.