Have you ever gotten somebody fired?- Page 2

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 1:11pm

Part of my job is hiring and firing, interviewing and recommending, so it comes up on that level quite a bit. I have not fired any of my core team members, and most of them have been around for several years, so it's a good group. Usually, it's freelancers on specific projects that I just "let go," so that's not the same thing.

As far as outside... no. But the closest I've come is a former client of ours who tried to get ME fired on a very big project. She was the worst client we've ever had. She tried to pin all of her "fumbles" on us, and they were BIG ones. She ended up calling my boss and refusing to work with me. It's the only time that's ever happened. My boss (who knew I was valuable) simply pulled me off that particular project, and let somebody else internally finish the job with this client. Less than a year later, this client and her VP boss were both fired from their studio. I had nothing to do with that, but her incompetency caught up with her, and I was glad to see that, I must confess.

Then about a year after that, my favorite client in the world (at a different movie studio) called to ask me what I thought of her! He was considering hiring her to be a part of his staff, and she actually wrote our company down as a reference (the dope!), so he wanted feedback from me. Apparently, he was impressed with her at the interview. I told him the truth... she was the worst client I've ever worked with, she was back-stabbing, she lied to cover her actions, and she tried to get me fired. He was horrified, and told me he had no intention of hiring her, based on my candid feedback. And he thanked me for "saving" him from a potentially disastrous hire.

So... while I didn't "get her fired," I did prevent her from being hired by another film studio.

It was Karma biting her in the ass. She didn't get the job, and she'll never know why.

The moral of this tale? Be careful who you step on... on any level, at any time. It may come back to haunt you in the future, in ways you never even imagined. And in ways you'll never know about.

[lildogs]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:10pm

Never have--hope I never do. To me, that's a whole lotta bad kharma coming at you.

Even if the person is doing a sh!tty job, let some other disgruntled customer speak up--I just walk out.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:15pm

Turn a blind eye, lildogs
Turn a blind eye

[YouWantitWhen????]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:20pm

I don't know if letting go of long-term contractors counts as firing, but if so, I have had to do it many times, usually due to performance issues or taking advantage of situtations.

[Calvin]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:24pm

Well, in my case, it was always some pretty nasty people -- i.e., the justice of the peace who was caught on tape yelling racial slurs at inmates.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:30pm

That's not sufficient grounds for firing someone, Calvin.*



*according to Ciaron McCarthy

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 02:30 PM

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:31pm

I've noticed that a lot of people who are particularly vulnerable of suffering the consequences of displeasing a "customer" are people in lower paying jobs that are often miserable to do. It's ever so much easier for people who feel superior to them to draw and quarter them for not doing the crappy job the way the 'customer" thinks it should be done.

And a lot of the time, it turns out that someone was giving them a hard time about doing exactly what it was they were supposed to do in the first place. But so many people think that the rules can possibly apply to *them* because they are s-p-e-c-i-a-l. Or KNOW someone.

I run into this all the time...and I have a good job that I love doing. It drives me crazy, so I can only imagine the number it does on the head of someone who is just suffering through his or her eight hours.

[WalkOn]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:33pm

iflitifloat, How very sad and how very true.

Ever notice how the least desirable jobs have the lowest pay. Shouldn't the work that NOBODY wants to do have the the highest pay?

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 02:33 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:44pm

But... then... everybody would want to do them.

[WalkOn]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:48pm

Let me rephrase that.. .some of the hardest jobs are the lowest paid.

[Stagedoor2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:49pm

I don't know that I was directly responsible for getting someone fired, but when I left my last job for my current one, I had an exit interview. HR wanted to know why I was leaving, etc. I explained that my supervisor's supervisor was the main reason. She was a very lazy woman who didn't seem to possess much knowledge about her field and was generally unpleasant. It became very hard to work in her department. I decided to write a quick memo to HR and the department head summing up what I had said in the exit interview. I thanked them for the opportunity to work at the company but wanted to put my concerns in writing.

A few months later this woman was laid-off. Because of me? Who knows. It was advertising agency and that can can be a volatile enviroment with lots of lay-offs.

I'm now in a position of hiring and was recently sent her resume. I do admit to feeling some guilt because it doesn't look like she'd had much success since leaving that company -- and it was several years ago.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:54pm

I find that unskilled labor gets the lowest pay.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:58pm

That's just it. They're unskilled.

If a job takes many years of training and experience to master, I would say it's "harder" than a job that only takes a few hours or even 1-2 weeks to learn.

It may not be as "fun" or profitable or "cushy." But it's definitely easier to do than a higher paying job.

I think you're talking about "toleration." It's harder to tolerate the lower-paying jobs, perhaps?

I would argue that with higher pay and bigger titles comes more responsibility, accountability and more stress.

Or at least just as much!

Let's face it, all work SUCKS.

Let's quit our jobs and go to the beach!

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 02:58 PM

[WalkOn]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:58pm

Unskilled labor doesn't mean that the work isn't hard. The back breaking work of picking lettuce all day for .10 cents an hour is one of the hardest jobs imaginable... even if they paid $10.00 an hour they would be short of willing Americans to do it.

Actually things are getting so tight for the middle class in this country... that might be true for much longer.

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 02:58 PM

[StageManager2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 2:59pm

Only if it's a nude beach, b12b.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 3:07pm

With unskilled labor, you are dispensible to the employer. There's not much respect there and if you don't like it, leave. They can fill your job in a minute. I'm in a job like that right now.

[WalkOn]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 3:09pm

Well best12 and I have fundemental differences of the value of some labor versus other.

I sit behind a desk and shuffle paper all day. With plenty of time to post message on this board. I don't work a tenth of what a someone in the field does. Yet I get paid considerably more.

Mind you, I'm not changing positions with them anytime soon.

Some of the most important work that needs to be done to keep our society functioning IS unskilled work. And if there aren't enuogh people - I'm speaking legally- to do the work then they should be paid a fair and decent wage.

Yes with some positions of authority compensation is determined by the amount of responsiblity. But I believe that amount is often overcommensation...

I respect labor. I'll goes as far as to say that you should own your own labor instead of having to rent yourself out to people.

But I understand how the system works right now. It saddens me. If things were truly fair those who do the hardest jobs with with the least desirable social appeal would be fairly compensated.

...

Yes, Jane2, that is called wage-slavery. It is that capitalist mentality...you don't like it, tough. I'm the owner, I set the rules. You are not human ... just an expendable tool. And we find ourselves right back to child labor, 12-hour days, lower and lower wages...

I think those who do the work should make the decisions. I think those who work should vote for their bosses.

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 03:09 PM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 3:17pm

We're all just ho's workin' for The Man... renting out our bodies or our minds just to hang on!


* strums guitar *

[SweetQintheLights]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 5:21pm

My dad is a dentist and had to fire someone because she was stealing needles.

Also, not quite the same but...someone from my old high school- her mom was the manager/owner of a cemetery. The grandmother of another kid in my school passed away and was buried in the cemetery that the women owned. I'm not sure the total outcome but supposedly the women who owned the cemetery was 'illegally burying the bodies too close to one another because the grounds were being taken up too quickly.' She was being sued by the the family of the kid in school whose grandmother died.

Weird.

Updated On: 1/26/07 at 05:21 PM

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 5:38pm

i agree, those who don't like it can quit. or take up a collection and go to ireland to go on the dole.

Posted: 1/26/07 at 8:21pm

With unskilled labor, you are dispensible to the employer. There's not much respect there and if you don't like it, leave. They can fill your job in a minute. I'm in a job like that right now.

i feel that my job requires a bit of skill, but thats their attitude there as well.
it really gets me down.

[Yawper]

Posted: 1/26/07 at 8:33pm

Right now I feel like I'm doing a pretty good job of getting myself fired.

[Perfectly Marvelous]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 12:30am

Well, I helped out with getting someone booted out of a play, if that counts for anything.

The girl who got the boot was incredibly deserving of such an action, so really she had it coming either way. Bascially, she made rehearsals and the first week of shows a living hell. She was rude, almost caused one of our leads an injury [because she insisted on running into him], ran into someone else backstage and didn't apologize for nearly knocking the person over, caused disruptive behavior from some of the other castmates, and the list goes on.

One night, some of us girls [myself included] were in the dressing room getting ready for the next scene. The little demon is also there, and starts spraying hair spray all around the room, making it impossible to breathe. We asked her to knock it off, and she wouldn't. Since we all were a witness to the this act, we let the director know and she talked with the girl. Of course, she had to put on an act and become the victim, as if we were all plotting this gang-up on her. Luckily, the director didn't buy it and let her go. When we came back for a brush up rehearsal before the second run, we were informed that this girl was no longer a part of the cast. And there was much rejoicing.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 12:35am

I am from the old school that you are fired if you are a liability to the firm. We have fired many employees over the years, but our current staff has MANY PROBLEMS but overall they get the job done!

[neddyfrank2]

Posted: 1/27/07 at 12:40am

Not only fired, but arrested!