HALP!
So.... if you can read this... I really really need input...
BIG situation at work:
two posts ago I mentioned my boss seeming to be retaliatory regarding my refusal to work off the clock...
Well, last monday, she pulls me in the office right at the end of the work day and says she wants to pull me into the office full time. That she thinks I'll be a better fit, that I get to stressed out.... She's hiring two people and I'll train them to do what I did and then be in the office full time... Nevermind that being out of the field leads me to lose about $300 a month in income from what I made on my mileage...
This allllll dovetails so nicely into my refusal to participate in some seriously illegal business behavior....
I'm looking at the job... she's hiring two people to do what I do? I think she might be having me train my REPLACEMENTS.... as in, I get them working right and she finds some reason to sack me because I won't work off the clock and have repeatedly refused to forge her signature (forgery + uttering and publishing!?!?!?!?! WTF! CRIMINAL OFFENSES!!!!!!!!!!!) and she has already told the new guy who started TODAY that this was what she wanted done in such a case!
Have been discussing the route to take with my family...
One of three things is happening with my job:
1) my demotion is just her making stupid managerial decisions...
2) my demotion is retaliatory and she is planning to fire me
3) my demotion is retaliatory and she is hoping that I will quit on my own
2/3 of these are really bad things. Well... all 3 are bad... but 2 and 3 are worse for me than 1....
This has me thinking that a preemptive strike may be in my best interest. If I come to the higher ups in the company and inform that this is going on, any demotion/firing would open them up to a HUGE lawsuit under the Sarbanes-Oxley act and other state and federal whistleblower laws....
I am drafting a letter... so far here it is:
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing regarding some concerns I have about the business practices in the Troy, MI office.
I joined the company in June of 2009 as a Field Agent. I represent our clients at and bring their deeds to the sheriff’s sales in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties. This fall, I asked my supervisor, Anita Engasser, if I could become a notary, as she frequently missed signing one or more pages of the deeds, resulting in delays of having the deeds recorded. She told me she would speak to her superior, Wendy Curl, and later told me that she had spoken to Mrs. Curl and that she wanted only Ms. Engasser and another LPS employee to be notaries in our office.
For the past few months, Ms. Engasser has repeatedly, on what I would estimate to be a weekly basis in front of other company employees, told me to sign her name when she missed notarizing one or more places instead of bringing them back to the office for her to fix. I have avoided these situations by telling her that I didn’t have her notary stamp and other excuses because I was worried about the ramifications of accusing my boss of illegal activity. I have NOT done as she requested because I know from the coursework in pursuit of my BBA, as well as my previous experience working for a process server that this would constitute forgery, as well as uttering and publishing. She has also already told our newest employee that he should do this on his very first day in the office. I fear that if this became public, it might bring under scrutiny every single deed that Ms. Engasser has signed in her time as Notary Public for this company. That situation would definitely put in serious jeopardy the reputation and interests of this company, not to mention that of our clients.
Beyond this situation, I was recently was informed that the procedure we follow as far as notarizing the sheriff’s deeds may not be entirely in compliance with the laws of the State of Michigan. It was recently pointed out to me by an employee of our local competitor, the Legal News, that the wording of the sheriff’s deeds do state that the sheriff signed the deeds in front of them, which is not the case as I, not Ms. Engasser, witness the sheriff’s sales. I was not certain whether what I was being told was true, so I did some research on my own, and it revealed that (information on state notary law here). I am concerned that our competitor has noticed this. We recently took a fair amount of one of their client’s business away and I am worried that they could make a bunch of trouble for us if they decided to.
Additionally, on a more personal note, on 1/25/2010, I was asked to work off the clock. I needed to work about an hour of overtime to complete preparation of my deeds for the next day’s sales due to one of our clients not sending their adjournments in on time. At about 4:30 pm, Ms. Engasser suggested that I take home my remaining work and finish it off the clock because she wanted to be out of the office at 5p. This was witnessed by several people in the office. It was pointed out that I would not be getting paid, and she replied with something about being a team player. After that refusal, Ms. Engasser proceeded to constantly find fault with my work when just the previous week she had very high praises for me. I now I find myself being pulled out of my position as Field Agent, a position which I believe myself to have been successful at if our recent increase in business is any indication, and put in the office doing the work that was usually done by a temp. Pulling me off of my field position is also resulting in a net loss of income from my mileage reimbursements. I can’t help but feel that this might have been the result of my refusal to work off the clock and refusal to forge her signature.
I am grateful for and genuinely enjoy my position with LPS. I hope that with this information, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that the interests of our company and the interests of our clients will be looked after.
Sincerely,
Blair Finney
BIG situation at work:
two posts ago I mentioned my boss seeming to be retaliatory regarding my refusal to work off the clock...
Well, last monday, she pulls me in the office right at the end of the work day and says she wants to pull me into the office full time. That she thinks I'll be a better fit, that I get to stressed out.... She's hiring two people and I'll train them to do what I did and then be in the office full time... Nevermind that being out of the field leads me to lose about $300 a month in income from what I made on my mileage...
This allllll dovetails so nicely into my refusal to participate in some seriously illegal business behavior....
I'm looking at the job... she's hiring two people to do what I do? I think she might be having me train my REPLACEMENTS.... as in, I get them working right and she finds some reason to sack me because I won't work off the clock and have repeatedly refused to forge her signature (forgery + uttering and publishing!?!?!?!?! WTF! CRIMINAL OFFENSES!!!!!!!!!!!) and she has already told the new guy who started TODAY that this was what she wanted done in such a case!
Have been discussing the route to take with my family...
One of three things is happening with my job:
1) my demotion is just her making stupid managerial decisions...
2) my demotion is retaliatory and she is planning to fire me
3) my demotion is retaliatory and she is hoping that I will quit on my own
2/3 of these are really bad things. Well... all 3 are bad... but 2 and 3 are worse for me than 1....
This has me thinking that a preemptive strike may be in my best interest. If I come to the higher ups in the company and inform that this is going on, any demotion/firing would open them up to a HUGE lawsuit under the Sarbanes-Oxley act and other state and federal whistleblower laws....
I am drafting a letter... so far here it is:
To Whom It May Concern:
I am writing regarding some concerns I have about the business practices in the Troy, MI office.
I joined the company in June of 2009 as a Field Agent. I represent our clients at and bring their deeds to the sheriff’s sales in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties. This fall, I asked my supervisor, Anita Engasser, if I could become a notary, as she frequently missed signing one or more pages of the deeds, resulting in delays of having the deeds recorded. She told me she would speak to her superior, Wendy Curl, and later told me that she had spoken to Mrs. Curl and that she wanted only Ms. Engasser and another LPS employee to be notaries in our office.
For the past few months, Ms. Engasser has repeatedly, on what I would estimate to be a weekly basis in front of other company employees, told me to sign her name when she missed notarizing one or more places instead of bringing them back to the office for her to fix. I have avoided these situations by telling her that I didn’t have her notary stamp and other excuses because I was worried about the ramifications of accusing my boss of illegal activity. I have NOT done as she requested because I know from the coursework in pursuit of my BBA, as well as my previous experience working for a process server that this would constitute forgery, as well as uttering and publishing. She has also already told our newest employee that he should do this on his very first day in the office. I fear that if this became public, it might bring under scrutiny every single deed that Ms. Engasser has signed in her time as Notary Public for this company. That situation would definitely put in serious jeopardy the reputation and interests of this company, not to mention that of our clients.
Beyond this situation, I was recently was informed that the procedure we follow as far as notarizing the sheriff’s deeds may not be entirely in compliance with the laws of the State of Michigan. It was recently pointed out to me by an employee of our local competitor, the Legal News, that the wording of the sheriff’s deeds do state that the sheriff signed the deeds in front of them, which is not the case as I, not Ms. Engasser, witness the sheriff’s sales. I was not certain whether what I was being told was true, so I did some research on my own, and it revealed that (information on state notary law here). I am concerned that our competitor has noticed this. We recently took a fair amount of one of their client’s business away and I am worried that they could make a bunch of trouble for us if they decided to.
Additionally, on a more personal note, on 1/25/2010, I was asked to work off the clock. I needed to work about an hour of overtime to complete preparation of my deeds for the next day’s sales due to one of our clients not sending their adjournments in on time. At about 4:30 pm, Ms. Engasser suggested that I take home my remaining work and finish it off the clock because she wanted to be out of the office at 5p. This was witnessed by several people in the office. It was pointed out that I would not be getting paid, and she replied with something about being a team player. After that refusal, Ms. Engasser proceeded to constantly find fault with my work when just the previous week she had very high praises for me. I now I find myself being pulled out of my position as Field Agent, a position which I believe myself to have been successful at if our recent increase in business is any indication, and put in the office doing the work that was usually done by a temp. Pulling me off of my field position is also resulting in a net loss of income from my mileage reimbursements. I can’t help but feel that this might have been the result of my refusal to work off the clock and refusal to forge her signature.
I am grateful for and genuinely enjoy my position with LPS. I hope that with this information, appropriate measures will be taken to ensure that the interests of our company and the interests of our clients will be looked after.
Sincerely,
Blair Finney