C
calpauly
Guest
North Hollywood, California
Professional Engineer from North carolina
I was temping when I first came to Los Angeles and was assigned to a company in North Hollywood. After one month I was extended a permanent offer from a different company in San francisco- which I accepted. I was at the end of my temporary assignment anyway, so the timing was perfect. The president there however, decided that he wanted to hire me. I told him that I already had accepted a position with the other company, but he persisted... asking where could he find someone like me. I asked him to give me a couple of months with the other company and we would stay in touch... but he still said, "No, I've decided I want you now".
During a series of meetings that followed, he explained that when he hires someone he hires them for life (word for word from his mouth). He pointed out how he was attracted to my honest character and liked how I tested high on the IQ exams. I mentioned a concern about the recession and he said his phoilosophy was to pump money in during a recession while others cut back. Everything sounded great, we had great rapport, and his desire was so strong I decided to back out of the SF position and accepted with him. (The position in SF was with a Top 20, Fortune 500 company wanting me to eventually open an office in Los Angeles).
To skip to the end of the story... after 1.5 mos, I was let go. Basically, the president realized too late that he failed to properly introduce me to company personnel, and as a result, made alot of people nervous with there roles. The paranoia got ridiculous, and my easy-going friendly manner just made everyone more uneasy. The president accepted responsibility for the poor handling of the situation but said the situation was beyond his control. He had to let me go. No two weeks notice, no severance, no nothing. The reason for termination being explained as financial and that my position was being discontinued.
During this short period of time I performed above and beyond the position responsibilities and made MAJOR contributions to the company... one, notably being a patentable idea. I was commended over and over, and very likely, these contributions just escalated the paranoia. The worst case was an elder employee there who was disgruntled with me being hired above him and accused me of going through his desk! (saying that he actually saw it, but did not say anything until later). Basically, an outright lie- which to this day I am still not sure if he imagined this in his mind from the paranoia, or he purposely lied. Either way, that was the blow that brought everything tumbling down. My integrity and honesty was then brought into question.
To make matters worse, at the time of the termination I was in escrow on a house... with one week left until closing. My employer was aware of this and explained he was doing me a favor by letting me go so I would not be "stuck" with the house. Whereas, if he gave me 2-weeks notice I would have the house... but no job. I let escrow know about the termination, was disqualified, and was told that the $9000 I put into escrow might be lost. I just found out today that I will get it back, bascially because the house just resold for $20,000 above my accepted offer. So the owner is happy and is not going to contest the money.
I wish that was everything, but there is one final point. I am pretty sure that the company never paid the "finders fee" to the temporary company I was working for. This fee is around $24,000. A thought went through my head the other day that possibly the temporary company found out about this and my company did not want to pay, so they let me go instead. Only hypothetical, I'm just guessing. It's just that I have never experienced anything like this before!
I also found out from the HR department that a couple of employees put negative notes in my file. I am certain that my positive contributions are not mentioned, therefore I am currently preparing a chronological account of events and attaching my contributions to be included in my file. Just for posterities sake, if anything.
So should I just move on from this and not look back... or do I have something worth pursuing here? The flopped house deal has completely drained my finances... so its job first right now.
The only documentation I have are the offer letters from both companies describing my position title and salary.
Professional Engineer from North carolina
I was temping when I first came to Los Angeles and was assigned to a company in North Hollywood. After one month I was extended a permanent offer from a different company in San francisco- which I accepted. I was at the end of my temporary assignment anyway, so the timing was perfect. The president there however, decided that he wanted to hire me. I told him that I already had accepted a position with the other company, but he persisted... asking where could he find someone like me. I asked him to give me a couple of months with the other company and we would stay in touch... but he still said, "No, I've decided I want you now".
During a series of meetings that followed, he explained that when he hires someone he hires them for life (word for word from his mouth). He pointed out how he was attracted to my honest character and liked how I tested high on the IQ exams. I mentioned a concern about the recession and he said his phoilosophy was to pump money in during a recession while others cut back. Everything sounded great, we had great rapport, and his desire was so strong I decided to back out of the SF position and accepted with him. (The position in SF was with a Top 20, Fortune 500 company wanting me to eventually open an office in Los Angeles).
To skip to the end of the story... after 1.5 mos, I was let go. Basically, the president realized too late that he failed to properly introduce me to company personnel, and as a result, made alot of people nervous with there roles. The paranoia got ridiculous, and my easy-going friendly manner just made everyone more uneasy. The president accepted responsibility for the poor handling of the situation but said the situation was beyond his control. He had to let me go. No two weeks notice, no severance, no nothing. The reason for termination being explained as financial and that my position was being discontinued.
During this short period of time I performed above and beyond the position responsibilities and made MAJOR contributions to the company... one, notably being a patentable idea. I was commended over and over, and very likely, these contributions just escalated the paranoia. The worst case was an elder employee there who was disgruntled with me being hired above him and accused me of going through his desk! (saying that he actually saw it, but did not say anything until later). Basically, an outright lie- which to this day I am still not sure if he imagined this in his mind from the paranoia, or he purposely lied. Either way, that was the blow that brought everything tumbling down. My integrity and honesty was then brought into question.
To make matters worse, at the time of the termination I was in escrow on a house... with one week left until closing. My employer was aware of this and explained he was doing me a favor by letting me go so I would not be "stuck" with the house. Whereas, if he gave me 2-weeks notice I would have the house... but no job. I let escrow know about the termination, was disqualified, and was told that the $9000 I put into escrow might be lost. I just found out today that I will get it back, bascially because the house just resold for $20,000 above my accepted offer. So the owner is happy and is not going to contest the money.
I wish that was everything, but there is one final point. I am pretty sure that the company never paid the "finders fee" to the temporary company I was working for. This fee is around $24,000. A thought went through my head the other day that possibly the temporary company found out about this and my company did not want to pay, so they let me go instead. Only hypothetical, I'm just guessing. It's just that I have never experienced anything like this before!
I also found out from the HR department that a couple of employees put negative notes in my file. I am certain that my positive contributions are not mentioned, therefore I am currently preparing a chronological account of events and attaching my contributions to be included in my file. Just for posterities sake, if anything.
So should I just move on from this and not look back... or do I have something worth pursuing here? The flopped house deal has completely drained my finances... so its job first right now.
The only documentation I have are the offer letters from both companies describing my position title and salary.