I quit my job and I end up in the cuckoo's nest!

[bengangmo]

While I’m with Annie-Xmas all the way, giving the benefit of the doubt as a she has obviously built a good reputation here. BUT …am I am the only one that has doubts? People can get arrested on AND sent to the loony bin for a week on the say so of an (ex) employer without any corroboration? Does this, in itself not give anyone pause for thought?

If this is can really happen I hope that not only the boss is sued into oblivion, but also the Police force and the mental institution that allowed this to happen, and also whoever set-up (or maybe circumvented) the rules such that it is even possible.

[Crafter_Man]

@bengangmo

am I am the only one that has doubts? People can get arrested on AND sent to the loony bin for a week on the say so of an (ex) employer without any corroboration? Does this, in itself not give anyone pause for thought?

I’m with you. Something tells me there’s more to the story.

[Ferret_Herder]

@Crafter_Man

I’m with you. Something tells me there’s more to the story.

Shodan picked up on that she seemed to be saying she was feeling better after taking meds there, which may indicate there was an actual reason for the commitment. It’s possible this was misinterpreted (even by me) but she didn’t correct his comment.

[Justin_Bailey]

@casdave

I will also add this, if your passwords are overwritten, and your accounts are accessed without your consent, you also need to put this to your attorney.

There is a huge differance between system access and personal file access such as emails.

But if these passwords go to internal systems, I’m not sure the company needs her permission to look at them. And any sysadmin should be able to just hit “Change Password” and have it done in a few seconds.

Of course, the fact she was arrested on little more than the manager’s say-so is troubling as well. Either there’s some kind of proof she did steal something, or the police need a visit from Mr. Lawsuit.

[Left_Hand_of_Dorkness]

I do wonder about that, and I wonder what story the police would tell. May it have looked something like this?

1. A call came from a business: “We had an employee quit suddenly today. She’s been a problem employee for months, and now we can’t find our bank deposit bag, with over $5,000 in it.”
2. Police go to her house to ask questions.
3. Employee freaks the fuck out, so badly that police fear for her safety.
4. Police call the complainant to ask for some background. Complainant says, “She’s been really unstable lately. Yeah, cops, now that you mention it, she’s seemed really depressed, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was going to hurt herself.”
5. Police, suspicions confirmed, decide that this freaking-out woman is a danger to herself, and they arrest her to take her to a mental hospital for evaluation.
6. At the hospital, they evaluate her and decide that she is a danger.
7. Somewhere along the line, the missing deposit bag turns up: the ditzy accountant, who doesn’t even know how to get a sysadmin to reset a password, put it in her purse in readiness to take it to the bank, and forgot.

or something like that: if the suspicion was sincere, and the police were questioning, and the reaction to the questions was so over-the-top that the police acted sincerely in committing Annie, there may be no basis for a lawsuit.

[Shodan]

ETA: Where I work, there is no expectation of privacy for any use of company systems. If they ask, I am obligated to give them all my passwords.

@Crafter_Man

I’m with you. Something tells me there’s more to the story.

Annie said she freaked out when the police asked her about the $5K, which I am assuming is the reason for the involuntary commitment past the three day statutory limit (if it was more than an administrative mix-up). And I couldn’t tell if she is still married to her second husband - she said it was just to get him a green card, and he is/was gay, so it may have been no more than a marriage of convenience.

But that too is information that may not help her case if the lawyer for her ex-boss gets wind that Annie is posting information on a public messageboard. I am not an immigration lawyer (or any other kind) but a marriage for no other reason than to get a green card is at least questionable. I believe it is against the law to enter into a marriage for no other reason than to obtain an immigration benefit (cite).

There is much to be said for honesty as the best policy, but there is also some merit in not splashing all kinds of personal information all over the Internet.

I would not have started this thread, and if it were me, I would ask the mods to lock it. But it’s not my decision.

I wish Annie all kinds of good in her recovery.

Regards,
Shodan

[Fenris]

@Shodan

ETA: Where I work, there is no expectation of privacy for any use of company systems. If they ask, I am obligated to give them all my passwords.

Yeah, where you work. Annie no longer works there.

I’d be hesitant to just freely hand over passwords as well.

If I did, it would be at the behest of my lawyer, and then in writing delivered to whoever my supervisor was. I wouldn’t give them to a staff accountant or anything. If the supervisor wants the accountant to have them, let him/her distribute the passwords.

[Kalhoun]

@casdave

I will also add this, if your passwords are overwritten, and your accounts are accessed without your consent, you also need to put this to your attorney.

There is a huge differance between system access and personal file access such as emails.

Call me crazy, but an email account provided by your employer is THEIR account and should NEVER be used for personal mail. They own everything on that account. Right?

[Annie-Xmas]

First of all, kudos and thank you for all the kind words. Lord knows I need them now.

The marriages were back in the 1970-1980’s for Chrissakes. The statue of limitation has long run out, and they were not even questioned in the police station.

The sequence of events was:

I quit a job I had had for 27 years.

VB called the cops and said $5K in cash was missing and I took it. AT NO TIME did she even attempt to contact me.

The police took my statement, and expressed surprised at how shitty I had been treated lately.

The police arrested me when I wouldn’t confess and agree to give the money back. I totally freaked out.

The police called VB and asked if I were a danger. VB, who has seen me freak out hundreds of times and knows I’ll be okay if left alone for a while, tells them I am suicidal. Pure vindictiveness.

Police take me to crazy house.

Shrink hears story and recommends overnight stay and release.

A fucking stupid intake counselor recommends three day stay because I live alone and at 5:30 in the morning, after having little food and no sleep over the past t36 hours, could not give him emails or phone numbers for any family or friends, meaning I have no support system.

I stay there for five days, with all the staff and patients wondering WTF I am doing there.

They said I was suicidal. I abhor drugs and physical violence. The only way I can think of to off yourself not involving those two is drowing. I was in a room with a roommate and a semi-private bath. How easy would it have been for me, after the hourly bedcheck at night, to drown myself in the toilet?

[Shirley_Ujest]

Annie, don’t vent here. Do your own diary at home off line. Then, when everything is settled, ressurrect this thread and cut & Paste from the timeline.

Best of luck, sweetie!

[BiblioCat]

@bengangmo

BUT …am I am the only one that has doubts? People can get arrested on AND sent to the loony bin for a week on the say so of an (ex) employer without any corroboration? Does this, in itself not give anyone pause for thought?

@Left_Hand_of_Dorkness

…
5) Police, suspicions confirmed, decide that this freaking-out woman is a danger to herself, and they arrest her to take her to a mental hospital for evaluation.
6) At the hospital, they evaluate her and decide that she is a danger.

This is what I had doubts about. Obviously, protocol varies from state to state, but normally, people who are having a psychiatric crisis are taken to an ER for evaluation first, not taken directly to a mental health facility. Any number of things can cause someone to appear to be mentally unstable, like medication interaction or infection. They’ll be evaluated there, and once they’re cleared medically, and it is determined that they’re in in need of further psych evaluation, are sent to a mental health facility for 72 hours, not a week, unless there is something to warrant a longer stay.

In my state, at least, police will never take someone directly to a psych facility. They’re taken to an ER for evaluation, and then the doctors will find a psych facility for them, if it’s determined that is what’s needed.

(I’m an EMT. Until recently, I was working for a private ambulance company, which did mainly transfers between facilities, and ‘ER to mental health facility’ was something we did on a regular basis.)

[Cicero]

Put me in with Bengemac.

[What_Exit]

Jersey guy here. I had a friend that had his Aunt report him as suicidal. The police came, he freaked and he was off to the mental floor of the hospital. So it would seem to verify Annie’s story in that it could happen the way she described.

I don’t know if he went to the mental floor via the ER or not, but the fact she did not mention the ER means little anyway.

He had some anger issues, which made it hard for him to get back out, but a group of us ensured we visited him daily and spoke to the caregivers and he got out after about 18 days.

A bunch of you are acting like shits in this thread.

Annie, better not to post at all. Your Op will not be good for you if it is traced back to you.

[Annie-Xmas]

Thanks, Jim. I agree with your statement about people acting like shits in this thread.

Yes, I was orginally taken to the ER (where the shrink recommended release) and then sent to a locked ward for dangerous people. If you think “that’s not the way it could happen” you are very very wrong and very very naive. It can and it did.

I’ll be reading this thread every day, but I will not be posting until the issues have been settled. I’m in a living nightmare now, not knowing what VB can and will do to me.

[Zhen_ka]

People are acting like shits? You posted this on a public message board and continued to post * after * several people advised you (quite nicely, actually) to stop.

Go fuck off to MPSIMS or LJ to get huggles. Or better yet, write it down in your My Little Pony Diary.

You fucked up when you freaked out. Your boss had nothing to do with your reaction. They kept you after the mandatory 72-hour hold. You gave them a reason to. Deal with it. Your paranoia is very, very apparent.

[What_Exit]

@Zhen_ka

People are acting like shits? You posted this on a public message board and continued to post *after *several people advised you (quite nicely, actually) to stop.

Go fuck off to MPSIMS or LJ to get huggles. Or better yet, write it down in your My Little Pony Diary.

You fucked up when you freaked out. Your boss had nothing to do with your reaction. They kept you after the mandatory 72-hour hold. You gave them a reason to. Deal with it. Your paranoia is very, very apparent.

Hey moron, the shitty part were all the people doubting the story based on pulling information out of their ass. But thanks for playing.

[Polycarp]

@Kalhoun

Call me crazy, but an email account provided by your employer is THEIR account and should NEVER be used for personal mail. They own everything on that account. Right?

Not quite. Your comments emended: “[del]Call me crazy, but[/del] an email account provided by your employer is THEIR account and should [del]NEVER be used for personal mail[/del] be used for personal mail only if and to the extent that company policy permits. They own everything on that account”* and have the right to access your “personal” e-mail on their machine at any time.*

[tdn]

@Zhen_ka

People are acting like shits?

Yes. I’ll provide a cite:

Go fuck off to MPSIMS or LJ to get huggles. Or better yet, write it down in your My Little Pony Diary.

You fucked up when you freaked out. Your boss had nothing to do with your reaction. They kept you after the mandatory 72-hour hold. You gave them a reason to. Deal with it. Your paranoia is very, very apparent.

[Really_Not_All_That_Bright]

@Polycarp

Not quite. Your comments emended: “[del]Call me crazy, but[/del] an email account provided by your employer is THEIR account and should [del]NEVER be used for personal mail[/del] be used for personal mail only if and to the extent that company policy permits. They own everything on that account”* and have the right to access your “personal” e-mail on their machine at any time.*

This. If you don’t want your employer reading your e-mail, don’t send or receive any.

[Shodan]

@Fenris

@Shodan

ETA: Where I work, there is no expectation of privacy for any use of company systems. If they ask, I am obligated to give them all my passwords.

Yeah, where you work. Annie no longer works there.

Doesn’t make any difference - whether she is still working there or not, it is their e-mail and their systems. I have been part of the process when people are involuntarily terminated, in my present position and for several other companies as well. It’s all work product, and it all belongs to the company. I get a pop-up every time I sign on telling me I have no expectation of privacy using work systems. Which is why I don’t access the Dope from my work PC.

When I terminated someone, getting their passwords was part of the process of dismissal, but it sounds like Annie was too upset for that to be a good idea. In cases like that, I would not have bothered to get passwords - just access the account(s) thru sysadmin and get whatever was needed and then inactivate. Maybe at the real estate office they don’t have anyone who knows how to do that, so they contacted her to see if she would give her passwords so they could see what there was in her account. Which is, AFAIK, their right.

@Polycarp

an email account provided by your employer is THEIR account and [del]should NEVER be used for personal mail[/del] be used for personal mail only if and to the extent that company policy permits. They own everything on that account" and have the right to access your “personal” e-mail on their machine at any time.

This is bang on, in my experience.

@Ferret Herder

Shodan picked up on that she seemed to be saying she was feeling better after taking meds there, which may indicate there was an actual reason for the commitment

I don’t think there is any doubt that there were reasons for the commitment beyond the VB’s accusation of stealing. As was mentioned, this kind of freak-out has happened hundreds of times before, and she was not able to come up with any friends or family to contact. Even the ER shrink agreed that an overnight stay was appropriate. Then she refused to take any meds or eat, and so they held her until she started doing so. Whereupon she began to recover, which is all to the good.

Obviously I wasn’t there and don’t know, but even taking the story at face value, I am not so sure it is a slam-dunk lawsuit.

Regards,
Shodan