More thoughts of Rockhopper Imaging and ImageMedia Solutions
Well, as some may or may not have known, in January of 2003 my former employer announced to his 15+ employees that he could no longer continue his work. We were all to go to the unemployment offices that afternoon and apply. Most people left right then and there, but I was one of the people pulled aside by Amy, our supervisor.
She pulled three people aside and asked us how we would feel about continuing our work. Andy's company dealt with different aspects of electronic publishing but not everyone did the same work as the three of us. She had already spoken to Andy about getting a small group of people together to form a new company and continue to do the only work that made him any money. He called his investors and they agreed since 20% of every invoice would go to Andy and he could pay his investors whatever money he owed to them.
Well, one guy backed out. He would have had to gone about two months without a paycheck and he said he couldn't afford to do it. That was too bad because he was very intelligent. He was our VB programmer, had decent knowledge about networking and knew almost all of the software we used like the back of his hand.
Well, we did it. After a year, I was really itching for things to change. We got 80% of all invoices that came in which I felt was a little low considering what we were paying for. I began to see that we were being taken advantage of. We were paying 80% of the bills that would come in from the DSL service to the office rent while only using about 30% of the office space. Andy continued to bring in new work instead of closing the doors like he said he was going to. I'd even overheard him talking about hiring more employees. I took the liberty of buying "my" company a new server, three new production machines and new printers. For some reason, we were still supposed to pay 20% to him. His reasoning was that while we may have new machines, we're still using his "technology" meaning that the programs we used to complete our work were mostly written by his employees. I began to feel over the course of the year that we were severely being taken advantage of. I proposed on more than one occasion that we move our operations to another office. Amy tore the idea apart looking for more and more reasons why it would be a bad idea. We visited our accountant in December and even he suggested that we get out of that office, but continue to do the work. Amy mumbled something about not wanting to bite the hand that feeds.
Well, more and more Andy and Amy's antics were getting on my nerves. One of Andy's employees would be in the office talking like a drunken sailor and I complained about it to Andy. He brought it up with Amy and she made excuses for him. He continued his behavior, although from that point it was a bit more discreet. He'd make sure Andy was nowhere around but when I'd bring his behavior up with Amy I got "Well, he's really toned down since you said something to Andy." or "I think he has ADD or something, but he's not as bad as he used to be". But on top of that, he would go out of his way to antagonize me. He would complain about where I would throw out my lunch garbage (by the bathroom), spew his communist propoganda loudly when Andy wasn't around, and leave the bathroom light on. See, I worked behind where the bathroom is and the light's connected to the fan and the fan is loud and it's like chinese water torture. I would get up, shut it off and fifteen minutes later he would run in there and turn it off again. I even put up a sign to shut it off, which he ignored. So either he had a coke problem, or he was in there every quarter of an hour to annoy me. One day I came in and it was an obstacle course to get to my desk. Leo, the tech guy, was in the room where I worked taking apart computers, Mike the sales guy was on the phone yakking it up with someone, Leo gets on the phone and starts yakking, they both get off the phone and start yakkin' with each other and then I hear the damn fan kick on. I couldn't even hear myself think, so I picked up and went home. Amy called me later and I explained it all to her. She said she'd take care of it that afternoon and asked me to come in the next day. So I did. Not too much later, I hear that damn fan going. So I snapped. I went in and disconnected the switch in the bathroom. Five minutes after that Amy comes into the back room yelling at me. I yelled back at her and finally said "F**K this. I can't take it anymore." and I left. I worked at home for the next couple of days until suddenly I was disconnected from the server.
I e-mailed the tech guy and explained the problem and he told me that Amy wanted me to come in on Monday to have a chat with her and Andy. Fine. I went in on Monday a little late (it was the day after the Superbowl ) and Amy wasn't there. Andy had a rather one sided conversation with me telling me that what I'd done was illegal and that my name and Amy's name are not on the lease and that it's his office and he didn't want me working there. I told him that I'd been trying to get us out of the office but I'm the only one that wanted to be more independent from him. He goes on to say that if that's what I do when the fan noise bothers me, who knows what I'm capable of doing if someone upsets me. I told him I thought he was blowing things a bit out of proportion, that I was only trying to make a point, but he wasn't listening. Well, a few hours later, I took some supplies and the printer and went home. I know where I'm not wanted and I'm capable of doing my work from home.
It seems that Amy did not see it that way. One week and three days after the superbowl, I got a letter from Andy's attorney who told me he was representing Andy as well as Amy and that they want to terminate my shareholder relationship with them. I am not to set foot on 45 North Gaston Avenue or I will be deemed a tresspasser, I am not to contact any clients because they have a contract to get their work done by Andy (but that's a load of crap and they know it) and there is no need for me to protract the dispute.
I contacted my lawyer and explained the whole thing to him. Well, he tells me, they can terminate you as an employee, but you don't have to sell your shares at all although they really aren't going to do you any good. I told him I wanted to continue my work, but I was not welcome there. He was going to contact their attorney and see what happens. Well, it's been a week and I've not heard anything from anyone. Even the tech guy Leo, who I thought was still my friend, will not return my e-mails. Someone that still works there informed me that they even changed the lock on the place. You know how many people were shit canned from that place that had keys? A lot. I mean, they think I was blowing something out of proportion by screwing with the light switch? Look at this reaction.
|
