Wage Theft in Saskatchewan

Check out this story over at my main site.

Sick mom won't quit

The article below is reproduced from a posting on cnews.canoe.ca

"Sick mom won't quit

Woman expected support when she got breast cancer. Instead, she's unemployed

By MICHELE MANDEL (Canoe Network - CNEWS)

Elsa Torrejon in Toronto, Wednesday, Feb. 18, 2009. Diagnosed with breast cancer, Torrejon showed up for work as usual after informing her employer of her condition. Her boss told her to hand in her keys and leave the building; they had accepted her resignation. (Sun Media/Stan Behal)

TORONTO -- It was just a few weeks ago when ElsaTorrejon received the most devastating news of her life.

"It's breast cancer," the surgeon said. "We have to operate."

When she arrived back at work a few hours later to tell her boss the grim results, the 50-year-old single mother of two was still reeling from the diagnosis. "You never want to hear that word,"

Torrejon says, wiping away the tears that still slip down her face.

She couldn't imagine her world could crumble any further. But a few days later, it did.

In her darkest moment of need, her heartless employers decided to yank away her job as well. A native of Lima, Peru, Torrejon has worked as an English and Spanish-speaking leasing agent for Weston Property Management since May. Her bosses, Geri and Doug McDonald, knew she was being examined for a suspicious lump in her right breast in December and adjusted her hours so that she could go through a battery of tests.

On Jan. 30, she told them the crushing results and that her mastectomy had been scheduled for Feb. 13 at William Osler Health Centre. Her intent was to work right up until the day before the operation and then take off time for surgery and chemotherapy.

They extended their sympathies, Torrejon says, but pressed for her plans in writing. On Feb. 2, she hand-wrote a letter repeating her intention to work until Feb. 12.

The next day, though, her ex-husband convinced her to seek a second opinion at Princess Margaret Hospital. On Feb. 4, Torrejon informed the McDonalds of her change in plans and wrote a letter saying that she would now continue working until she had a new surgery date from PMH.

Their reply was almost as shocking as her cancer diagnosis.

"I would remind you that on Jan. 30/09 you indicated that you would be terminating your position as leasing agent," Doug McDonald wrote. "I indicated to you at that time that you must provide me with a signed letter indicating your final decision. On Monday Feb. 2/09 you provided me with this letter indicating your last day to work would be Feb 12/09. I accepted this letter in good faith. On Feb. 4/09 you provided me with another letter indicating that you changed your mind and that you would continue working until further notice."

McDonald then went on to say that he had checked with the ministry of labour and that once an employee resigns in writing, it can't be withdrawn. "Your last day," he concluded, "will be Feb. 12/09 as originally indicated."

Torrejon couldn't believe what she was reading. Nowhere in her letter or her conversations with the McDonalds had she ever suggested quitting her job. As an ill single mom, resigning is the last thing she could afford to do right now.

In Canada since 1986, she understands the meaning of "resigning" and it's a word she never used.

Instead, it looked very much like they were firing her for having cancer -- and expecting her not to raise a fuss.

"I'm not quitting, I'm not resigning. They don't seem to understand," Torrejon says angrily. "I have two kids at home. I have to go through surgery and chemotherapy, I don't have family here and now they want to fire me from my job?"

She expected a pat on the shoulder, a promise to stand by her, a pledge to hold her job until she was well enough to return. What she didn't expect was a boot out the door.

"They are very mean and cold," she says, her eyes dark from these recent sleepless nights. "They don't have feelings. How can you act like that to someone who's sick?"

How indeed.

At their management office, a flustered Geri McDonald repeated their contention that Torrejon had submitted a letter of resignation. When told that we had seen a copy of the letter and it appeared to be nothing of the kind, McDonald pursed her lips and said, "I have nothing else to say."

Torrejon refused to believe they could be so uncaring. But when she tried to return to work on Feb. 13, she was told to hand in her keys and leave the premises.

As an immigrant, they may have expected her to simply give up. But they have badly misjudged her. "I am a citizen," Torrejon says. "I'm supposed to stay quiet? No."

A lawyer from the Human Rights Legal Support Centre drafted a letter on her behalf reminding the McDonalds that under the code, employers must accommodate their employees with disabilities and Torrejon's medical condition falls within the definition of disability.

She says they refused to even accept her letter.

So now Torrejon remains at home, sickened not only by the news of her cancer but by the unconscionable cruelty of her bosses.

"It's not fair what they're doing to me," she says, shaking her head in disbelief. "What kind of heart do these people have?"

No heart at all."

_________________________________________

In a follow-up article:

"February 20, 2009

Cancer patient to file lawsuit over job loss

By TAMARA CHERRY

TORONTO -- A breast cancer patient who says she was laid off after her diagnosis will file an application to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, her lawyer said yesterday.

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"Immediate reinstatement, lost wages, damages because she's experienced iscrimination, and public interest remedies" will be included in the application, said Michelle Mulgrave, of the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.
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After her diagnosis a few weeks ago, Elsa Torrejon, a leasing agent with Weston roperty Management, told her employers she had been scheduled for surgery on Feb. 13. Pressed for plans in writing, Torrejon gave bosses Geri and Doug McDonald a letter indicating she would work until Feb. 12, then take time off for surgery and chemotherapy. She wrote another letter the next day saying she would work until a new surgery date was picked.

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Doug McDonald replied by saying Torrejon was resigning from her position, which Torrejon says she never did.

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Asked whether the company would reconsider, Geri McDonald said yesterday: "I don't even want to discuss that."
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"No response, no comment," she said.

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"What they're doing for me is very unfair," said Torrejon, a single mother of two teens.

.

Virginia Yule, a breast cancer survivor and executive director of Willow Breast ancer Support Canada, which publishes a free online booklet about coping with financial concerns, was sympathetic.

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"Imagine having to deal with the emotional roller coaster and then also worrying about not being able to support or contribute to your family, not being able to afford the medication ..." she said.
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"I have to pretend everything's okay because I don't want to make more problems for them," a tearful Torrejon said of her teens."

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IBM responds to overtime lawsuits with 15% salary cuts

The following was posted on EETimes.com (January 23, 2008):

"IBM responds to overtime lawsuits with 15% salary cuts
Paul McDougall
InformationWeek (01/23/2008 12:39 PM EST)

IBM in recent months has been hit with lawsuits filed on behalf of thousands of U.S. employees who claim the company illegally classified them as exempt from federal and state overtime statutes in order to avoid paying them extra whenever they worked more than 40 hours per week.

The good news for those workers is that IBM now plans to grant them so-called "non-exempt" status so they can collect overtime pay. The bad news: IBM will cut their base salaries by 15% to make up the difference, InformationWeek has learned." (read more....)

Saskatchewan's Two Universities are Worst Saskatchewan Employers of the Year for 2007

The University of Saskatchewan and the University of Regina have earned the designation of Worst Saskatchewan Employers for 2007.

Check out the University Employee Union Web-Sites.

Saskatoon: CUPE 1975

Regina: CUPE 1975-01

Exploitation of young workers in Saskatchewan

Another Saskatchewan restaurant ripping off workers.

Check it out over at my main blog site:

Exploitation of young workers in Saskatchewan

Larry

It's not slander if it's true

The following posting was received on August 16, 2007 at 5:39 p.m.
_________________________________________________

I want to share this only because you could be the next victim.


Jerry S--------- was a CFO/IT boss in Phoenix AZ and apparently had real issues. He passed judgment on people at first site. Making comments like “I don’t like people who talk fast”. One week after starting his new job he called each employee in to his office and deliberately started arguments with each one. Making passive aggressive demeaning comments about the person and then if called on it covered it up with comments like “Help me understand how you feel”, “its ok you can express yourself around me”, “That’s not what I was trying to say”, and the big one, “I’m just trying to help the company”.


On an almost daily bases he would passive aggressively torture the female employees under his rule until they would breakdown and cry. Many quit in the first 6 months. Others were fired. Bottom line is if you ever run to this person you can expect passive aggressive demeaning comments covered up by politically correct phrases meant to smooth things over and avoid lawsuits. You will be singled out by a pathetic old man who never grew out of his college frat boy stage and is still trying to get the nerds out of the dorm room. And just for the record I was not the only one, many agreed with these statements.

What ever happened to the days where you were judged by your skills and not how you look, talked, or what sex you are? The world would be better off without people like Jerry S-------- and I hope you never encounter him. I feel sorry for those who have.

(Anonymous)
5:39 PM

Regina Restaurant Rips Off Workers

Check out this posting over at my main blog site:

Regina Restaurant Rips Off Workers

Larry

Boss allegedly killed workers who asked for raises

This is intense. Talk about a bad boss!

"ATLANTA (AP) - The owner of a car dealership killed two employees because they kept asking for pay raises, police said Tuesday." Full Story

Parents of teen suing business owner

Here's a situation (Parents of teen suing business owner) that many would argue fits the description of "Bad Boss".

This is a horrid situation. I have personally met with the parents of this boy who was killed through the alleged negligence of the owner of the Home Hardware in Regina Beach.

What they told me would rip your heart out.

Former RCMP Commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli

As reported:

by CTV - click here.

"Brown said a combination of inadequate corporate governance and Zaccardelli's leadership led to many of the issues the RCMP has faced of late.

"It is this very culture, this very structure, exacerbated by the leadership style of former commissioner Zaccardelli, that allowed this insurance and pension plan debacle to unfold as it has," Brown told reporters on Friday.

He went further in his report to Day: "Commissioner Zaccardelli expressed himself in ways that showed little regard or apparent respect for those with whom he was dealing.""

by CBC - click here.

"In releasing his report on Friday, Brown strongly criticized the management style of former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli, saying officers who brought the pension and insurance problems to his attention "faced career damage.""

by CanWest - click here.

"Former RCMP commissioner Giuliano Zaccardelli was an "autocratic" leader who set a "tone at the top" that showed little respect for his employees, discouraged them from challenging authority, and exacerbated what should have been a minor problem, according to a report on the RCMP that recommended an "urgent review" of the organization."

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