GenericCitizen
Junior Member
Part 1 of 3
******************************************
What is the name of your state?
I live in the state of Ohio.
I apologise at this time if this post is too long or unnecessarily
detailed; I figure that the best advice can be provided if
all relevant issues are given in some detail, so I have
attempted to do just that. It is divided into multiple
sequential posts in order to avoid the length of post
limitation for this forum.
Any and all advice is appreciated. Since the matter involves
a felony, and therefore possibly imprisonment, I am extremely
interested in what folk here think about this situation.
If any more information is needed, please inquire here
and I shall provide any answers I can legally give.
Essentially, I am curious as to whether there is a legal basis
for the threat of charging me with 'theft by deception' here
in the state of Ohio. I have nearly no money left because
of this situation, and thus this post and a public defender
seem to be my only available possibilities for advice
and/or legal counsel.
****************************
My employment began with <contract security company> around the end of the year 2003.
I submitted my application at the local office of the company. I was contacted by
their Human Resources department and they arranged for an interview not long after
I applied. My interview was done in two parts - one part conducted by <HR assistant>,
and the second part by <accounts manager>, the person who was then primarily in
charge of the company's local contract security accounts.
<accounts manager> examined my application and asked if I would be interested in being
hired as a 'Trainer', meaning I would be trained for the position of 'Training Officer',
which would in turn mean extensive education at a few selected account
sites, and then be the official training officer for any future employees that would be assigned
to those sites. In addition, I would gather the then-current paperwork, training materials,
and other site-specific details from each of my assigned site accounts, update the materials
as needed, and convert as much as possible into digital documents so as to make
future updates much more simple whilst also allowing for easier expansion of available
training materials
The assignments began with two site accounts and two scheduled for the future when the
first two were completed. First assignment comprised
<insurance company>, which is a site account encompassing three different buildings and approximately six full-time security
officers with some shifts picked up by part-timers; second was <local shopping mall>,
a small middle-class oriented business in the north-central part of this city that has
at least three full-time officers and odd shifts picked up by part-timers.
During the course of January through February of 2004, and then sporadically after that time,
I visited my first two assigned sites, met with the officers and client liasons, had myself
assigned to be trained in our company duties at those sites, and then gathered as much
site-specific data as possible, which I took home to get to work on the word-processing
and graphic design elements of my job.
My interaction with <accounts manager>, now my direct chain-of-command boss, was
infrequent but productive. He and I worked rather well together, and we made progress
on developing rough drafts of the aforementioned two accounts in regard to forming
training materials and site instructional materials in general. During those first few months of 2004,
the Officer-In-Charge at <insurance company> had to be fired
for various reasons, so I filled in for that position until a new
officer was found to be trained in the OIC role. I was also
assigned to do extra training at more of our client account
sites so that I would gain an excellent background in how our
policies and procedures were implemented across a wide range
of accounts. This included some of the state government office
buildings here in this city, another shopping mall, and a few
lesser accounts.
Around this same time (January/February of 2004), <accounts manager> told me that I
was being considered for a better position in the company. He said that this would
essentially be the same position he held (Accounts Manager), but on a smaller scale, in
that I would be responsible for just a few accounts. Basically, it would be an enlargement
of the duties I already held, with more responsibility so that <accounts manager> could
focus more on his other accounts as the company expanded local operations.
I was invited to be tested at our local office for the proposed promotion, and this was done
over the course of one morning shortly after <accounts manager> and I initially discussed
the possibility. Apparently the test results were quite acceptable, and <accounts manager>
informed me that I was to have a meeting with his superior <local corp. boss>.
I had the meeting, and it seemed to work out well enough.
This is the point where matters start to get a bid odd.
I never heard again about the 'offered position', and since I did not, I figured it had been
denied. Seemed to me that talking about it might bring about negative comments since
it *had* been denied for whatever reason, so I left the subject alone and kept on with the
work I already was doing at that time.
Over the course of the next year, my ability to communicate with <accounts manager>
became lessened. My e-mails to him were rarely returned, and when they were, they
mostly had a formulaic 'good work, keep it up' sort of feel to them, and were very short.
All requests for guidance on current and future assignments were ignored, or at least
the responses never came to my e-mail nor given via voicemail. My attempts to set up
meetings with <accounts manager> did not work. I did not start getting worried until
the beginning of autumn in 2004, when most of the work on my assignments was
completed and I needed immediate advice on what to do next. Communication
essentially ceased with <accounts manager> around December; I was unable to pin
him down anywhere in the course of his duties since those duties involved a great deal
of out-of-town work and visiting sites all around this city. Telephone calls and messages
left with our office secretary also proved fruitless. By November, I had mentioned to
<HR assistant manager> that my communications with <accounts manager> had ceased
to exist, and that in particular my e-mails were being ignored. She told me that the
e-mail addresses via our corporate server had changed, and that the old addresses
were *supposed* to forward mail to the new ones. I figured this was the root of the
problem, that my e-mails were getting lost along the way, so I tried calling more
often instead. Nothing resulted. <accounts manager> never answered, and messages for
him to call me resulted in nothing.
A week or so after discussing this with <HR assistant Manager>, I was asked by <HR manager> to come to the office. Since we had mandatory classes on 'sexual harassment in the workplace' scheduled for all of our local employees to attend during January and February (currently 2005), I assumed I was being brought in for a class. However, when I arrived at her office, she brought in a man I had never met before who was introduced as <unknown corporate employee> an older gentleman whom I assumed was from a different corporate office. <HR manager> then began to question me, with my full co-operation, regarding the nature of my work, the job description which had been given me by <accounts manager>, the nature and frequency of my communications with <accounts manager>, and other related matters. It was then revealed that <accounts manager> had been fired for gross incompentance and negligence' concerning his duties and assignments with our company. Further, the nature of my own employment was under scrutiny. According to what <HR manager>, told me, my position within our company had not been approved in its details by anyone other than <accounts manager>, that the position was unique within our company, that it was deemed to have never been something that would have been approved if it had been revealed in full to the rest of the office staff, including <local corp. boss>, and that my services were useless in the duties and assignments which I had been given by <accounts manager>. I was, in sum, told indirectly that my work was and is useless in practical application according to the judgement of the company now that the extent and nature of the duties was fully established and understood by the rest of the local office managers, and that my role within the company would be reviewed by <local corp. boss>. This occurred around Thursday, 27.January.2004.
******************************************
What is the name of your state?
I live in the state of Ohio.
I apologise at this time if this post is too long or unnecessarily
detailed; I figure that the best advice can be provided if
all relevant issues are given in some detail, so I have
attempted to do just that. It is divided into multiple
sequential posts in order to avoid the length of post
limitation for this forum.
Any and all advice is appreciated. Since the matter involves
a felony, and therefore possibly imprisonment, I am extremely
interested in what folk here think about this situation.
If any more information is needed, please inquire here
and I shall provide any answers I can legally give.
Essentially, I am curious as to whether there is a legal basis
for the threat of charging me with 'theft by deception' here
in the state of Ohio. I have nearly no money left because
of this situation, and thus this post and a public defender
seem to be my only available possibilities for advice
and/or legal counsel.
****************************
My employment began with <contract security company> around the end of the year 2003.
I submitted my application at the local office of the company. I was contacted by
their Human Resources department and they arranged for an interview not long after
I applied. My interview was done in two parts - one part conducted by <HR assistant>,
and the second part by <accounts manager>, the person who was then primarily in
charge of the company's local contract security accounts.
<accounts manager> examined my application and asked if I would be interested in being
hired as a 'Trainer', meaning I would be trained for the position of 'Training Officer',
which would in turn mean extensive education at a few selected account
sites, and then be the official training officer for any future employees that would be assigned
to those sites. In addition, I would gather the then-current paperwork, training materials,
and other site-specific details from each of my assigned site accounts, update the materials
as needed, and convert as much as possible into digital documents so as to make
future updates much more simple whilst also allowing for easier expansion of available
training materials
The assignments began with two site accounts and two scheduled for the future when the
first two were completed. First assignment comprised
<insurance company>, which is a site account encompassing three different buildings and approximately six full-time security
officers with some shifts picked up by part-timers; second was <local shopping mall>,
a small middle-class oriented business in the north-central part of this city that has
at least three full-time officers and odd shifts picked up by part-timers.
During the course of January through February of 2004, and then sporadically after that time,
I visited my first two assigned sites, met with the officers and client liasons, had myself
assigned to be trained in our company duties at those sites, and then gathered as much
site-specific data as possible, which I took home to get to work on the word-processing
and graphic design elements of my job.
My interaction with <accounts manager>, now my direct chain-of-command boss, was
infrequent but productive. He and I worked rather well together, and we made progress
on developing rough drafts of the aforementioned two accounts in regard to forming
training materials and site instructional materials in general. During those first few months of 2004,
the Officer-In-Charge at <insurance company> had to be fired
for various reasons, so I filled in for that position until a new
officer was found to be trained in the OIC role. I was also
assigned to do extra training at more of our client account
sites so that I would gain an excellent background in how our
policies and procedures were implemented across a wide range
of accounts. This included some of the state government office
buildings here in this city, another shopping mall, and a few
lesser accounts.
Around this same time (January/February of 2004), <accounts manager> told me that I
was being considered for a better position in the company. He said that this would
essentially be the same position he held (Accounts Manager), but on a smaller scale, in
that I would be responsible for just a few accounts. Basically, it would be an enlargement
of the duties I already held, with more responsibility so that <accounts manager> could
focus more on his other accounts as the company expanded local operations.
I was invited to be tested at our local office for the proposed promotion, and this was done
over the course of one morning shortly after <accounts manager> and I initially discussed
the possibility. Apparently the test results were quite acceptable, and <accounts manager>
informed me that I was to have a meeting with his superior <local corp. boss>.
I had the meeting, and it seemed to work out well enough.
This is the point where matters start to get a bid odd.
I never heard again about the 'offered position', and since I did not, I figured it had been
denied. Seemed to me that talking about it might bring about negative comments since
it *had* been denied for whatever reason, so I left the subject alone and kept on with the
work I already was doing at that time.
Over the course of the next year, my ability to communicate with <accounts manager>
became lessened. My e-mails to him were rarely returned, and when they were, they
mostly had a formulaic 'good work, keep it up' sort of feel to them, and were very short.
All requests for guidance on current and future assignments were ignored, or at least
the responses never came to my e-mail nor given via voicemail. My attempts to set up
meetings with <accounts manager> did not work. I did not start getting worried until
the beginning of autumn in 2004, when most of the work on my assignments was
completed and I needed immediate advice on what to do next. Communication
essentially ceased with <accounts manager> around December; I was unable to pin
him down anywhere in the course of his duties since those duties involved a great deal
of out-of-town work and visiting sites all around this city. Telephone calls and messages
left with our office secretary also proved fruitless. By November, I had mentioned to
<HR assistant manager> that my communications with <accounts manager> had ceased
to exist, and that in particular my e-mails were being ignored. She told me that the
e-mail addresses via our corporate server had changed, and that the old addresses
were *supposed* to forward mail to the new ones. I figured this was the root of the
problem, that my e-mails were getting lost along the way, so I tried calling more
often instead. Nothing resulted. <accounts manager> never answered, and messages for
him to call me resulted in nothing.
A week or so after discussing this with <HR assistant Manager>, I was asked by <HR manager> to come to the office. Since we had mandatory classes on 'sexual harassment in the workplace' scheduled for all of our local employees to attend during January and February (currently 2005), I assumed I was being brought in for a class. However, when I arrived at her office, she brought in a man I had never met before who was introduced as <unknown corporate employee> an older gentleman whom I assumed was from a different corporate office. <HR manager> then began to question me, with my full co-operation, regarding the nature of my work, the job description which had been given me by <accounts manager>, the nature and frequency of my communications with <accounts manager>, and other related matters. It was then revealed that <accounts manager> had been fired for gross incompentance and negligence' concerning his duties and assignments with our company. Further, the nature of my own employment was under scrutiny. According to what <HR manager>, told me, my position within our company had not been approved in its details by anyone other than <accounts manager>, that the position was unique within our company, that it was deemed to have never been something that would have been approved if it had been revealed in full to the rest of the office staff, including <local corp. boss>, and that my services were useless in the duties and assignments which I had been given by <accounts manager>. I was, in sum, told indirectly that my work was and is useless in practical application according to the judgement of the company now that the extent and nature of the duties was fully established and understood by the rest of the local office managers, and that my role within the company would be reviewed by <local corp. boss>. This occurred around Thursday, 27.January.2004.
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