which isn’t an easy thing to do to Government employees. I don’t know what’s going on but he’s no longer allowed in any of the agency’s buildings and we’re supposed to call security if we see him try to gain access.
I’m so sorry. Where you close to him?
I work for State government and it practically takes a direct order from God to get fired. Or threatening to shoot a supervisor. That’s happened here a few times over the years. Very nasty scenes. I hope everything calms down at your office soon.
At the last department where I worked, this same thing happened.
Turns out, the guy had pilfered a box of department-addressed envelopes and was using his work day to download pirated software on the internet, burn it onto CDs, and mail them out to people who bought them on E-bay in said envelopes. The department found out because one of his buyers wasn’t happy with the product and looked up the department phone number using the address on the envelope, saying “Do you know your employee is doing this?”
He was a good guy, but man, that was stupid.
Sweet Christ, that was an incredibly moronic thing to do.
Not really, he’s a bit of an odd sort. This is just kinda weird, you know? I can’t help but wonder what’s going on. The conspiracy theorist in me is thinking that not allowing anyone on the next floor up, which we also occupy, prior to 7 o’clock this morning because of x-raying the building was a cover story for something else. Like a sting operation.
Oo! I smell excitement brewing. This could be as interesting as “The Missing Co-worker” thread!.. You’ll keep us informed if there’s anything good, I hope.
As for the “sting” theory… Cool!
I knew a web designer who specialized in Flash. He worked for a firm that did all sorts of computer consultations, including network security. One day a bunch of cops and guys in suits came marching in, straight to the boss’s office.
You could hear a cop bark: “Step away from the computer!” then shortly after, the boss was led away in handcuffs.
Apparently, the genius decided to solicited business by hacking into a major financial institution’s system (insurance or brokerage type company, I don’t remember) and then e-mail them to show them how vulnerable they were with an offer to fix it.
In so doing, he messed up some data, big time. But that wasn’t nearly as big a deal as the fact that he hacked into a major financial institution’s system wihtout thier knowledge or permission. :smack:
My acquaintance, “Robert,” said it was kinda scary. The cops kicked everyone of their computers without telling them why, so they all thought they were all in deep doo-doo for several hours.
Since I’ve never worked in the public sector, I don’t know what you have to do to get fired.
But one of our clients was summoned to his boss’ office, escorted out by an armed security guard, his email and voice mail were immediately blocked, and of course he lost his building pass and all that.
Turns out he had sexually harassed a female employee. And it wasn’t his first offense.
If I hear anything, yes.
<bump>
Update? Please???
Inquiring minds want to know!
Sorry, no new developments so far. At least none that I’m aware of.
You have obviously never been trained in the proper techniques of office espionage.
Guess that’s why the CIA wouldn’t hire me. 
This guy must have taken incompetence to new levels if Uncle Sam canned him.
(Uncle Sam canned me from the census when he found out I was afraid of dogs, though.)
It seems to me that government employees are more often fired for offenses such as falsifying documentation, graft, theft, violence, that sort of thing, than for incompetance. Alas, no cite–just my personal impression. Also, with a charge of sexual harassment, the employer is unlikely to announce the accuser’s identity. So, in the cover-up, they might use it instead of “assassination conspiracy” or “evil plan for world annihilation”, which is what I suspect!
A former coworker was fired for incompetence, but it took a looooooong time. He used to sleep at his desk, skip out on meetings, not do assignments, not return phone calls… Once the boss ran into him in the hall and said “Come with me - I want to talk to you.” The boss kept walking to his office, but the idiot turned and walked away.
He was moved from division to division without a lot of documentation of his worthlessness, so when threatened, he got the union to back him up. Finally, records were kept and even the union couldn’t help him. Last I heard, he was working in retail. Good use of his engineering degree (which I’ve often wondered about…)
So it can be done, but supervisors have to be willing to keep records and deal with unions.
That reminds me, there’s supposedly a headhunter in HR. Not your usual HR headhunter, the type that goes around to other organizations looking for employees. The guy we have has a reputation of going through employees’ records to find reasons for termination. I don’t think he was around when I was hired ten years ago but he returned last year.
Rumor is Mr. Headhunter had been quietly reassigned for the past dozen years or so because one of his victims won a wrongful termination suit.
I also work for the gvt, and I had a co-worker who was just not very capable. (She’s worked in about eight different positions for this organization, and she says she hates every boss she’s had here, and she’s - get this - been banned from ever speaking to our HR department ever again after a little incident last year.) We got a new boss (who she unsurprisingly hated, even more than she hated the old boss), she was seconded somewhere else and someone much more competent took her job.
Now her secondment is coming to a close and her contract may not be renewed and the person who took her job shows no sign of leaving … and she’s LIVID, she insists that she can’t be fired (seems she’s not being fired, she’s being shuffled out of the way), it’s illegal, what’s going on?
I’ve just sat back and laughed through the entire affair. I mean, if this person can’t lose her job because of gross incompetence, utter lack of interpersonal skills, and getting banned from HR, for heaven’s sake, then what the hell kind of public service is this?
What a maroon.
About 6-7 years ago, my IT director was fired for sexual harassment.
His sudden departure was announced to the IT staff, without a reason given, by his victim…
The CFO.
Boy was she pissed.
As you say, cowgirl; What a maroon!
My best friend works for the state and she has one of these in her department. Completely incompetent, chronically late, can only be given the work that other people have time to fix later, sleeps at her desk, constant drama with her personal life spilling into the workplace. Except she’s black and female and was legitimately the victom of racial and sex discrimination (was wrongfully terminated, sued and won, reinstated) so now she’s pretty much bullet-proof. No one will call her out because of the discrimination history.