D
dobiegal
Guest
Houston, TX...Previously wrote in and have obtained highly-recommended counsel. Here's the situation...9/00 I was recruited by a Scottish company (at the suggestion of their largest customer) to be a Program Coordinator at the new plant they were putting in Houston (1 other in the States [NC]). I negotiated that I would only report to the GM (I'd left a staff position) until such time the company grew and had an Engineering Manager and I was told I would move into a Program Manager role. Company was to be American-run and the North America HQ. Note that the Scotland facility has no women managers other than the Director's daughter and the only females in the Engineering Department were clerks only. In November, we were advised we could not hire American supervisors for the plant, that they would be sent from Scotland. Ok, we welcomed them with open arms. I did an outstanding job, constantly received praise and the customer made note in the Q1 business review that I was an asset to the company. I got along great with everyone except the Materials Manager, who was unable to do her job and the customer was constantly making complaints. They did so to me and the GM wouldn't take care of it, so they went to the Operations Manager and the GM still wouldn't take care of it. This is because she had engaged in a sexual affair (she's married w/2 small kids) with the Director's son while we were in Scotland for a month. She was very close with the HR Manager and the HR Manager began to exclude me from company gatherings and celebrations (6 documented). I mentioned it to the GM who said he was not happy about it. After the 5th time, I put it to him in writing and he said it was an oversight. I then mentioned it to one of the Scottish Board Members and he said he would take care of it. Around the same time, a Scottish supervisor was sent over who had a tattoo of a woman spread-eagled on his forearm, detailing her genitalia, with a heart tattooed in the center and the verbiage, "eat your heart out." I said it needed to be covered (for obvious reasons) and the HR Manager told him who made the complaint and did not make him cover it. Within a week, I was told I did a fantastic job, but had to be let go because I was not part of the team. Two months earlier, they'd run off the Tooling Engineer and sent over a Scottish replacement within the week. One month earlier, they'd fired the Operations Manager and had a Scottish replacement on-site in 2 days. The Controller had quit and was replaced with a Scotsman. I was replaced by both an American male (Planning) and a Scotsman (Project Manager). The Project Manager that replaced me was a terror to work with during my time with the company, using "f" as every other word, telling me he wasn't used to working with women at my capacity, and telling me (as did several Scotsmen) that American workers are lazy and not capable of doing the jobs. I was even "promoted" to Program Manager of the specific project, because the customer had made complaints about him. I filed for unemployment and am drawing it, but have had difficulty finding employment due to negative recommendations made by the HR Manager. She advised the Texas Work Force Commission that I was terminated because I didn't "mesh" with the team; the caseworker contacted me to ask if there had ever been any discussions about this; there had not. Yet they advised the EEOC that I was terminated because I was not performing my job to the satisfaction of my customer! This same customer is attempting to hire me as a Commodity Analyst and several of the Commodity Managers and Engineers have stated they will testify on my behalf when/if this goes to trial. My attorney had better be good, because I gave him the only $10,000 I had for a retainer, plus I'll be liable for expenses. Anyone hear of a case like this and what the outcome was? I do not believe in frivilous lawsuits and it was a tough decision to do this, but the company has continued with this type of behavior.