Bullying is Legal: A Survivor's Story by Dominic Richardson - HTML preview

VI: Next Phase of the Harassment

DECEMBER 7TH-19TH, 2009

I brought my Bible to work and spent the first fifteen minutes of my work shift in prayer (PPI has a policy that states that employees can use the first fifteen minutes of their work shift as personal time). In accordance with company rules about internet usage, I went to a website that analyzes Bible passages. After I shut the internet browser, I closed my Bible and left it on my desk. Then Brian Green and a co-worker named Florence ridiculed me for praying at work with an English translation of the Bible. Brian Green shouted “Oh, that’s an English translation of the Bible. Why he’s getting an online translation for something that’s already in English is beyond me.” Florence stated “Looks like somebody’s getting ready for the holiday season with the New American Bible.” “I didn’t know he was studying to be a reverend.” Lynette Williams stated to Francis Dill (next to my cubicle) “I believe that no matter how hard you pray, white devils just won’t go away.” Lauren Steffans said “He’s not working hard, he’s stealing all of the Christmas presents from under our Christmas trees” in reference to my high production numbers.

The days leading up to Christmas I was accused by many employees of buying gifts for my “husband.” When I went to the nearby restroom, other employees would stand next to the door with a cell phone in their hand, and would pretend to hold a phone conversation that was supposed to reflect what I may have been discussing on a cell phone while in the restroom. The company has a policy that workers cannot use cell phones in the restroom and I honored that policy. The employee outside of the restroom door would shout, “Hello? Hey, yes, I’m in the restroom I’ve got your Christmas present for you. You’re the sweetest husband in the world. I’ve got to go back to my desk now. Talk to you next bathroom break. You’re welcome, babe, goodbye!” and other statements. This started happening frequently when I would use the restroom. The employees would assume that I was in the restroom on a cell phone talking about previous sexual encounters with men and arranging times that I would meet up with men to go shopping. Employees would come close to my cubicle and make these statements as well on multiple occasions throughout workdays. The employees would take turns doing this, and it created the most hostile work environment because it became extraordinarily difficult to focus my attention on paperwork. It was a challenge to process every piece of work because there was either a joke, sexual comment, inappropriate characterization, unwelcome physical contact, intimidating looks, or employees following places and then discussing how there was nothing I could do to stop it. As one woman put it during this time, “He’s a punk. He sits there and can’t even defend himself.” During the winter season the woman, an Eligibility Technician, along with her daughter who also works for the organization, followed me to Burger King and made intimidating glances at me before I turned into the parking lot. Ever since this encounter, many employees would follow my car during lunch breaks and would discuss where I went for lunch when I returned. This happened at least twice a week for the remainder of my time at Prescription Plans. During the winter season, I wore a sweater and a black pea coat every day. Heather Bradley, Kim Gates, Christina Damon and other employees would dress identically and tried to imitate the way that I walk to the cabinet to pick up more prescriptions, and how I pack up during lunch breaks and put my coat on before going outside, and make inappropriate statements like “His husband must really like that sweater” or “I wonder if his husband picked that sweater out for him when they went shopping” and other statements. They started dressing like me-particularly boot cut jeans, white tennis shoes and striped polo shirts on dress down Fridays. On days that employees felt they were able to predict what I was going to wear to work, they exhibited even more hostile behavior. As people began to dress like me, they started predicting what I was about to do at work. When I was down to my last prescription, Frankie Dill and Daisy Pry would e-mail Lynette Williams, Kris Goings, Jessica Hall and other staff and inform them that I was about to leave my desk to pick up more paperwork. These employees would intimidate me by cutting me off in the hallway, making inappropriate sexual comments, and trapping me around the copy machine in attempts to throw me out of work rhythm. This behavior took place for the remainder of my time at PPI.

THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2010

Heather Bradley called me to her desk and gave me a report that I would receive a $500 bonus on my next paycheck for having such high production numbers. She told me “Don’t tell anyone that you got a bonus because everybody didn’t get one.” When I went back to my cubicle, within seconds Brian Green and Christina Damon began to make harassing statements about my receiving a bonus. Brian Green said “Some of us were relying on that bonus and he fucked it up.” Christina Damon said “Oh, boy $500 that’s more money than I know what to do with! I think I’ll buy an iPod after work today.” After these higher-ups made statements, other workers like Lynette Williams, Frankie Dill, Daisy Pry and Lynn Mora continuously made statements as well. After I received the bonus, I continued to be over productive at work. I was required to produce 19 prescriptions per hour. According to company policy, data entry technicians receive $0.15 for every application processed after averaging 24 applications an hour. I was processing about 24-26 prescriptions consistently, and sometimes processing over 30. Daisy Pry, Lynn Mora, Kim Gates, Jessica Hall and Francis Dill would sit there and count the number of prescriptions I was processing, and when I would complete number 24, they began to juggle the change in their pockets and made rude comments about how I was only there to steal their money. Even higher ups like Heather Bradley, Jessica Graham, Lauren Steffans and Mike Lee (Operations Manager) would run past my desk and juggle the change in their pockets. Mike Lee would state “Let the good times roll” and “Oh my God, I think he just heard the neighborhood ice cream truck”, both statements were highly racial in nature and made the work environment even more hostile. Mike Lee is everyone’s boss and even he was making crude remarks in close proximity to my cubicle. One day Jessica Hall accused me of using the extra money to “buy Kool-Aid and candy from the gas station” which was another statement that was highly racial in nature, and in referring to herself “I’m only black because that’s my nature. I really have nothing to do with that. All black people are cursed” and Mike Lee replied “Yeah, it’s the curse. Let the good times roll!” This statement was highly racial and was said loud enough for all employees in the area to hear. Mike Lee would frequently make reference to “the curse” when I would produce at a high level.

THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY 2010

The harassing statements continued daily. I noticed that a new hire named Mary (Data Entry Technician), sat in the cubicle next to Jessica Hall, and she was very productive. Jessica Hall and Lauren Steffans started making harassing statements about her. I was walking to a higher-ups desk one day and witnessed Jessica Hall telling Mary I wish I could just slap you upside your head” in the presence of Lauren Steffans (Lead Data Entry Tech). Frankie Dill, in the presence of Daisy Pry and Laura Mora stated “I want to punch him” and “Sometimes I just want to hurt him” while staring at me. During this time Brian Green mentioned to another co-worker “I’m concerned about him too. If he’s not out of here by the end of March, we’re all going to be in trouble.” At the end of March the company was planning on bringing in more new hires, and a couple weeks into April I would reach my one year anniversary with the company and would be eligible for a raise and possible promotion. During this period, the harassing statements escalated to new levels. One of the most offensive statements came from Scott Smiley, who stood next to my cubicle and stated “His typing sounds like the marching of Adolf Hitler.”

THE BEGINNING OF MARCH, 2010

Mike Lee hired a new lead data entry employee who claimed in reference to me that “There wasn’t any pornography at his high school to take his attention away from the books”, “He’s working so hard because he has to pay a lot of back child support”, and many other statements. Jessica Graham and Lauren Steffens claimed that I went to the bathroom so that I could get a glimpse of a new employee who had a “round buttocks”. Lauren Steffans said “Wow, did you see the ass on that thing? I had to go to the water fountain and get a closer look.” Jessica Graham said “Oh my God, how did she fit all that ‘back’ into those jeans and wear those heels at the same time?” Lauren Steffans was clinching her buttocks at me as I was going back to my desk. Jessica Graham was bending over, exposing a dark tattoo she has above her rear. Every time I walked pass Jessica Graham for the remainder of the day, she was bending over exposing her tattoo to me. Lauren Steffans and another employee stood next to my cubicle and claimed in reference to my work production, “When he’s at work he gets really hard. And he has to go to the bathroom a lot to calm it down”, “When he gets up and goes to the bathroom he hopes people don’t see that fat thing between his legs. But we always do” and other inappropriate comments referring to me. One time when Jessica Graham was picking up completed prescriptions, as assigned, she grabbed a bag of work that had a lot of prescriptions in it, and when she tried to pick it up she said, “Wow, Charles, you’re always so large” which was highly sexual in nature. Frankie Dill, Daisy Pry and Laura Mora laughed hysterically and I was humiliated. At one point, Lauren Steffans also exclaimed that when I wear boot cut jeans and polo shirts together that I wished that I could be wearing a “belly shirt” instead. I started using the restroom in other parts of the building, and when I would return to my desk employees began to discuss if I was going “number 1” or “number 2”. This happened so often that I stopped using the restroom in Building “B” and started walking across the street to Building “A”. Brian Green started a rumor that I wanted to use the restroom in Building “A” because they are “air-conditioned” and that the ones in Building “B” weren’t “comfortable enough for him to do his thing.” When they would anticipate that I was close to taking a lunch break or small break, they assumed that I would walk across the street to Building “A”, and they would crank up the air conditioning (my desk is near a large vent) and made inappropriate statements. Lauren Steffans and a co-worker Florence started a rumor that I was going into the Building “A” because I was “going to pick up a date for lunch.” Florence stated “He’s going across the street to pick up a girl this time. He’s dating so many girls these days, I hope he remembers her name”, “The girl he’s going to McDonald’s with isn’t the girl who was in his bed last night” and other statements sexual in nature. Lynette Williams and Lauren Steffans would go out to my parked car, find evidence of what I had for lunch, buy what they thought I had eaten for lunch, and placed the bag of food close to my cubicle and made inappropriate sexual comments while eating like “This cheeseburger is really good, but doesn’t taste as good as my husband.” One time Lauren Steffans stood close to my cubicle, ripped open a bag of fast food, and began to violently eat the food and made loud slurping sounds as she was drinking a soda through a straw. She was supposedly mimicking what I do every lunch break, and all of the surrounding employees laughed hysterically as I was trying to process prescriptions in humiliation. This happened nearly every day after lunch for weeks. To try and change the situation, I started taking my lunch break at different times of the day, but the harassment escalated on days I tried to do things differently. When I would take my lunch break later in the day, Lauren Steffans and Lynette Williams would leave fast food items on the floor next to my cubicle or in Heather Bradley’s old cubicle next to the shared wall (typically McDonald’s and Jack in the Box hamburgers) and would make statements like “Don’t you wish you took your break like normal. I know you want to eat some of this.” The food would smell so strong that it would interfere with my ability to focus on processing and many employees would laugh aloud deliberately to distract me from work.

MARCH 29TH-APRIL 10TH, 2010

Heather Bradley gave me the opportunity to keep track of the “tagged work”, which was a major responsibility of the Lead Data Entry Technicians. In a couple short weeks, I would have reached my one year anniversary with the company, and I was anticipating that my working on “tagged work” was the preface to a possible promotion in coming weeks (particularly since company policy is that each employee receives a Merit review after one year of employment to discuss job performance and promotions). The first day I began working on tagged work, Jessica Graham told Lauren Steffens that I was “showing up to work late because I was having sex” in reference to my beginning my work shift at 7:45am instead of earlier as usual (all employees were on a flex schedule and could begin their workday anytime between 5:30am and 8:00am). Working on tagged work involved standing up in the hallway and sorting through different types of paperwork instead of processing on a computer in a cubicle as usual. After I was cross-trained by Lauren Steffans, I began to carry out the responsibilities at a faster pace. This was something that Lauren Steffans, Jessica Graham and other Leads would spend a lot of time on. Jessica Graham stood close to me and said “Oh, yes baby, I’m coming” and returned a couple minutes later and said “Keep going I’m going to come.” I started looking up the PPI policies on harassment on HRPORTAL (the company’s human resources intranet) and Francis Dill noticed it on my computer screen and e-mailed other co-workers about what I was reading. Jessica Graham walked pass my desk and said “I’m not harassing you” and continued walking. During the same period, a newly hired data entry technician (supervised by Christina Damon) attempted to follow me home after work one day in a light colored Chevrolet Malibu. She drove closely to the rear of my car and gave intimidating stares. I tested her commitment to follow me by switching lanes about three times, and she followed each time. When I noticed that traffic was picking up on highway *CENSORED and *CENSORED, I turned onto the *CENSORED exit to lose her in traffic. When I returned to work the next day, the woman stated next to my cubicle “It’s a damn shame that he’s still sitting here making $10 an hour. What a waste!” The next day, Christina Damon and Kris Goings sat in a brown sedan parked next to the curb of Building “B” and waited for me to exit the building for the day. Kris Goings made intimidating glances and Christina Damon slammed her foot on the gas pedal to drive away. Kris Goings was sticking out her tongue, shaking her fist and yelling at me from the passenger seat of Christina Damon’s car. The following day, Heather Bradley called me to her desk for an impromptu meeting and told me that “I took your access to the mail room away weeks ago and now you’re following people in and stealing refill mailers.” Select data entry technicians have access to the mail room to pick up additional prescriptions when the cabinets were empty. I had not been aware that she had taken access away from me and in response to her stealing allegation I replied “No. I do not follow people into the mail room, and I do not steal anything. I am over production without doing any of that.” Heather replied “Well I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree about stealing.” Even though I told her that the allegation was false, she insisted on it being the truth. I was offended and insulted by the accusation. Later on that day, Heather Bradley and Brian Green stood next to my cubicle and Brian Green stated “April 15th is the last day for him to file taxes” and Heather Bradley replied “He doesn’t care. He’s going to dissolve his business anyway.”

THE WEEK OF APRIL 19TH, 2010

Scott Smiley asked if I would help his data entry team process Medicine “W” prescriptions and I agreed.

THE WEEK OF APRIL 26TH, 2010

Sherry Valle was ridiculing me for “having a terrible personality”, for not being a “people-person” and for “being the one who has to shut and get his work done because everybody hates you.” When Laura Mora and Daisy Pry informed Sherry Valle that I was working on Medicine “W”, the same program that she was working on, and when she noticed that I was producing at a high level, she went over to my cubicle, slapped the back of my chair and walked away.

THE WEEK OF MAY 3RD, 2010

I was producing at an extraordinarily high level for the Medicine “W” program. Even though I was working on Medicine “W”, I did not change to a new cubicle. Therefore, when I needed to pick up additional prescriptions, I had to walk into another section of the building to pick up prescriptions. After about my third trip to pick up new prescriptions, a tall dark-haired woman was staring at me from a nearby copy machine. Less than an hour later, I went to pick up another bag and the woman walked pass me and glared as I was picking up more prescriptions. After lunch, I had so many prescriptions completed that Amy Howard (Lead Data Entry Technician) had to retrieve more from the mail room. I met Amy Howard, who was with Scott Smiley, at the cabinet when she was putting in new prescriptions for Medicine “W”. Amy Howard gave me a bag of new prescriptions and the dark-haired woman, who was standing next to the cabinet also, had thrown a water bottle at me and it hit my right arm. I said “What was that about?” and she started grumbling some words but the only thing I could make out was when she said “I hit you because you were there.” I told the woman never to touch me again, walked away and began processing prescriptions.