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I WON! I WON!

lauram

By lauram

17 comments


I know this has nothing at all to do with gardening, but I am happier today than I’ve been in months. Well, I suppose it does have to do with gardening, because if things had not worked in my favor I would have lost my house and my garden.
As some of you know, I worked at an animal shelter. In November, on the day after Thanksgiving, I slipped on cat litter and injured my back. I filed a worker’s comp claim. Little did I know that if an employee files for worker’s comp in the state of Georgia, chances are that person will be fired. And it’s legal.
A week after my injury, I was fired. My employer made up a whole bunch of reasons why I should lose my job. I was not allowed to speak in my own defense at any time. Naturally, unemployment benefits were denied.
I was upset, very upset. The economy is bad all over the country, but Georgia has a higher unemployment rate than average; in fact, the state ranks dead last in terms of its residents’ financial security. Last out of 50. Fabulous.
And then I got angry. WHY should I lose my house because somebody lied? And the person who fired me was himself fired 6 weeks later. So I borrowed $750 from my parents and hired a good attorney. My appeal hearing in front of the Department of Labor was last Tuesday. My attorney wasn’t worried – he said I’d done very well, the information the county representatives provided was 3rd hand by that point, and they had no witnesses. The hearing officer told us we’d get the decision by mail within a week, and it came today.
I sat on my front porch for 2 hours with a book, anxiously awaiting the mail truck. It came and I was literally hyperventilating as I walked to the mailbox. When I saw the sentence, “The decision made by the department on January 12, 2012 to deny unemployment benefits has been reversed,” I nearly cried. This means I will have at least some money coming in while I look for more work. It means my pets won’t have to face certain death at an animal shelter. And it means my garden will bloom for another year (and it won’t have a single weed since I’ll have more time to care for it!).
I have been so stressed out over this for the past few weeks, I haven’t been able to do anything. I haven’t even been on GoY at all, and we all know this website is a stress-reliever. It’s going to be warm this weekend and I’m going to begin digging my vegetable garden. Thanks for reading!!

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Comments

 

We all have memories of the unkindness of others in our lives Penny. Its happened to me, and thousands of others, particularly concerning jobs. I once knew of a Chief Accountant who was called into the boss's office and sacked. He sat down and refused to move until he was reinstated. He sat there all afternoon. In the end they agreed to continue his employment as a Consultant, so he kept his job. They were just trying to put one of their mates into the job.

You did the right thing getting the QC who is trained to deal with people like them. Good to hear of your parents' financial support.

Try to keep quiet, dont discuss the nastiness with anyone or it may get back to the people who caused it.
Am so sorry to hear of the working conditions in Georgia.
Even if its poorly paid, a secure job is worth looking for.
I send my love and good wishes across the 'Pond' and as I always say " Theres a lot to be said for allotment gardening" nobody can chuck you off !

23 Feb, 2012

 

well done for sticking to your guns as they say,ive been unemployed and so stressed wondering where the next bill is comeing and would I lose my home,so pleased for you

23 Feb, 2012

 

So pleased to hear that justice has won the day! Good luck to you in finding another job and enjoy gardening in the meantine! Lots of Good Wishes. :o)))))

23 Feb, 2012

 

Well done Laura ... I'm glad your pets and garden now have a more secure future :o)

23 Feb, 2012

bjs
Bjs
 

Laura
Pleased things are on the up for you.
Our laws in the UK are very different,in many cases they pay people more to sit on there backside who are fully capable of working,I can only speak first hand of the Bristol area but there are so many things our council can not afford to do, thoes capable could be assigned to carry out, many of these tasks in exchange for benefit.I could make a list as long as my arm of things that require attention but wont bore you,the biggest draw back is our stupid laws,I worked for 50 years without them it just required useing common sense.

23 Feb, 2012

 

So pleased to hear that you won your case, what a relief for you, good luck in your search for a new job :-))

23 Feb, 2012

 

Well done, and I wish you well in whatever you do now that it has finally been sorted.

23 Feb, 2012

 

well done lauram, a small victory is always welcome, they shouldn't have fired you in the first place so you still have a huge unfair loss. Its the same over here, in reality there is really little or no protection against unfair dismissal and our governmental systems are thoroughly corrupt and bias. You only have a chance of justice if you have the money, thats it.

23 Feb, 2012

 

So pleased to hear that Lauram..it's a triumph for you,but a shame it had to happen in the first place..I agree with all the above comments..you really have to fight your corner....so well done for making a stand,and winning your case..and so glad your parents were able to help you do it..:o)x

23 Feb, 2012

 

CONGRATULATIONS! WELL DONE! I TAKE MY HAT OFF TO YOU! I AM THE SAME - I WOULD PUT UP A FIGHT WHEN I HAVE BEEN WRONGED - HAVE A GREAT DAY AND BEST WISHES FOR THE FUTURE AHEAD! :)))))))

23 Feb, 2012

 

so pleased for you, such a relief, you can look forwards now with a light heart xxx

23 Feb, 2012

 

Lauram...Im delighted for you....I love it when justice has been done.....Good on ya for taking it all the way!!!...:>)

23 Feb, 2012

 

Thanks everyone. And what goes around comes around. My former manager may be charged with animal cruelty; it may happen any day now. If you or I had a dog with a broken leg, and didn't get the dog to the vets, it would be considered not only a violation of county ordinances but would also fall under the state's definition of animal cruelty. But dogs and cats would come into the shelter with broken legs, broken backs, eaten up with maggots, exploded eyeballs, etc. and sit in their cages for DAYS with NO vet care whatsoever!!! They would sometimes suffer for a WEEK before they were euthanized since the shelter only euthanized once a week! I have paid to take animals to the vet myself just to relieve their suffering!

So I may have lost my job.....but what's going to happen to the guy who fired me will be much, much worse. Even if he's not sentenced, how embarrassing will that be???!!! It'll be all over the news. And in reality, I needed to get out of there. It was making me sick; I was having panic attacks because of the stress. My boss had hired 2 of his best friends and made them supervisors and they stated that they wanted to fire every single one of us! 5 long-term employees (out of 12 in the office) lost their jobs within 8 months! We had all been there for over 5 years! I have a contact there who says the situation has deteriorated terribly; people are having screaming fights and she says the remaining employees are like a pack of wild dogs....they are going to claw each other to death. They will self-destruct.

23 Feb, 2012

 

I'm pleased you won your case.

23 Feb, 2012

 

Very well done you for sticking to your gun's a good result, i am so please your animals will be ok now , best of luck in finding a new job :)

24 Feb, 2012

 

What is terribly wrong is that you did the right thing putting your details into the Accident Book. Every organisation has some kind of insurance to cover employees accidents. Obviously he sacked you because he did not want to pay your legitimate Claim. Maybe this
was a % of any Claim, to get cheaper fees.
Its amazing that these Victorian conditions exist in USA.
Dont you have the R.S.P.C.A. in America ?
The local Inspector should be monitoring this establishment, every week, to make sure no animals are suffering.

24 Feb, 2012

 

it'll happen, Diane, there's been investigating going on for a long time. Everything just has to go through the proper channels so it's slow.

25 Feb, 2012

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