-----Original Message----- From: S. Sharrieff Ali [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 7:06 PM To: 'Anthony West'; 'UnivCity@list.purple.com' Subject: RE: [UC] John Fenton Postscript [Was: A UCD world record] WTF TONY! "Myself, I have fired and I have been fired. Both are part of the great circle of life. The primary goal for both parties, most of the time, is to move on in a way that is least injurious to both parties. Blame-placing in job terminations is like blame-placing in divorces: sometimes necessary, but seldom desirable. Those who feed the fires of blame are unlikely to be true friends of either employer or employee; they turn out to be third parties who are exploiting the situation for motives of their own" -- Tony West S. Ali: I really don't think it is a fair assessment to say "Those who feed the fires of blame are unlikely to be true friends of either employer or employee; they turn out to be third parties who are exploiting the situation for motives of their own". This is the precise bullshit folks have been saying to me off-list suggesting by defending John's wrongful termination I personally wanted Lewis Wendell's job! The fact I could do it better never was a motivation! ;-) Fighting injustice is a noble pursuit. In this case, it is not just about John Fenton, it is about the UCD service delivery to our community, our civil rights as residents, and much more.
Tony writes: "Blame-placing in job terminations is like blame-placing in divorces: sometimes necessary, but seldom desirable." There are human resource departments in companies all over America who represent the rights of employees in wrongful terminations, there are unions and hearings set up for fact-finding. Did you notice, there was never a mention of a "human resource department" review of John's case? Just where was John's recourse? Who represented John against management? Hell, I wasn't joking when I asked Lewis Wendell "Would you suspend other employees based on allegations in the press?" I wasn't joking when I said "Who would want to work for the UCD?". Their running the UCD like it is just another corrupt family business! Based on the way I have seen folks leave the organization in the past, Greg Montanaro, Paul Steinke, DL-Wormley to name just a few, I have been more than suspect of the UCD management and Board. To stand by and condone injustice is giving an invitation for it to visit you at your door. I simply believe it is wrong to suggest lawyers, courts, and individuals who protest injustice are exploiting the situation for purely selfish reasons. I truly believe those who died in the civil rights struggle in America did so for the benefit of future generations. S -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Anthony West Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 5:49 PM To: UnivCity@list.purple.com Subject: Re: [UC] John Fenton Postscript [Was: A UCD world record] Amen, brother. Surprising how, in this neighborhood of know-it-alls (to which company both Al and I surely belong), how few people are prepared to say simply, "I wasn't there. I don't have access to the primary facts at this time and, since it is a personnel matter, I probably never will." Personally, I don't expect we ever will know the inner workings of this personnel issue. Across America, a worker is fired every 8.6 seconds. All right, I'm making that statistic up. But some indeterminate number "X" is true. 95% of the time, "procedures were followed". Does that mean "justice was done"? Hah; if you think that, you have never been in the labor market. Myself, I have fired and I have been fired. Both are part of the great circle of life. The primary goal for both parties, most of the time, is to move on in a way that is least injurious to both parties. Blame-placing in job terminations is like blame-placing in divorces: sometimes necessary, but seldom desirable. Those who feed the fires of blame are unlikely to be true friends of either employer or employee; they turn out to be third parties who are exploiting the situation for motives of their own. -- Tony West [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: In a message dated 7/16/2007 12:42:25 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Everyone treats as gospel the spin that John Fenton was a loose cannon employee that was solely respnsible for wrongdoing. I beg to disagree with the word "everyone." Many of us reserved judgement on whether there was any wrongdoing at all, let alone who was responsible. There was supposed to be an "internal investigation" -- of which neither the methodology nor the conclusions have been released. Al Krigman