Allied Security hired me under false pretenses set me up for failure terminated no vacation pay blackballed me ripoff business from hell Austin Texas
I worked for Allied Security after leaving another creepy Austin, Texas -based private security services provider contractor! There are so many people here looking for work, lots of University students ( this campus is the largest in the US at present --lots of cheap labor not needing a LIVIING wage) and lots of high-techies out of work also most employers think they can treat you like scum anyway, especially ALL private security service contractor providers.
They prefer to hire retired military personnel because these guys aren't quite up on OSHA rules and regulations and Wage and Hour regulations as it applies to civilian life. They also prefer to hire WHITE males --the kind of looks that HITLER would have loved --under 25 years of age with boyish - looks, etc.not only are they considered eye candy for clients of all sexual proclivities but they are usually too dumb to ask for a living wage when they are signed up.
Allied Security promised me vacation after a year and that they would provide sharp-looking uniforms to wear. That was a necessity since they write you up for looking lousy...I then proceeded to knock myself out to make sure that the client, a high-tech corporation that publically was very big on Equal Employment Opportunity had the very best I could give them.
I should have noticed when the site supervisor, an Air Force retiree told me tha the had women offiers here before but "they just didn't work out." This translates to "We have to hir YOU PEOPLE but we don't have to KEEP YOU PEOPLE!" This lets you know that if anybody is going to get backstabbed, it is going to be YOU PEOPLE representative. But because I needed a job badly, I had to take it.
I discovered that another security officer was alleged to be stealing soft drinks because of the lousy pay. He was also using thecomputer at the guard desk for unauthorized purposes and when he knew that I knew, the HELL began for me. He would program the computer to "crash" on me, etc. I didn't know at the time that the computer over at the other building could shut my terminal down and keep me locked out.
The officer on the morning shift was some of the under 25 white male "eye candy" and here I am a female of over 40. Of course I worked nights because I am NOT eye candy. The young guy didn't like me because he must have had mother issues and the guy on the middle shift who didn't care was afraid I was there to bust him so he spread rumors, etc. Apparently, some might have been believed.
I still came to work on time, did not misppropiate anything from the company, didn't report in sick on holidays and was too afraid of being fired to insist on my Jewish holidays off. In a word, I was the perfect officer. A little TOO perfect.
I was also curious as to why the client refused to renew the security services provider contract with Allied Security and it was just on a month to month basis. That instability should have meant more money for the security officers in such a tenuous situation but it didn't. We should have got new uniforms, but what I got was old and filthy and I had to use great care lest it fall apart in the laundry.
A Black guy on the morning shift, the assistant supervisor took an intesnse dislike to me. He did not like working with female officers. A Hispanic guy who worked the same shift with me in the other building ( Lead officers worked in the other builoding) took a dislike to me. He made threatening calls and tried to break into my car. I interpreted it as harrassment and reported it to the site supervisor who told me "boys will be boys" (ha ha, nudge-nudge, wink-wink)
When I refused to resign, the young man came over in person with a pair of handcuffs and a large knife. I had seen him on the surveillance camera and was waiting in the dark at the head of the stairs in my building. I told him he had better get out of my building or I would call the cops. The guy whom I relived had passed him the handcuffs. What homeboy didn't know is that I had a peace officer license and had the training to take him out. Well, the Hispanic guy with the handcuffs was later fired because of a DEATH THREAT he had put in writing to a cleaning lady. Theincident with me DID NOT SEEM TO MATTER! That was just more "boys will be boys" fun.
Another young Hispanic guy was hired for that building and we both worked the night shift in sepearate buildings. He came into my building into a prohibited area and got in. I saw it on the printout and reported him. Nothing was done. After that, I learned that he kept his surveillance camera trained on my desk all night trying to catch me doing something against policy. This could also constitute "timing" someone when they go to the restroom and when they return which is ILLEGAL under OSHA and wage and hour regularions. Nothing was done. Someone else tried to bbreak into my car again, cut up the rubber lining around the door and kicked hell out of the side of my car. THAT I reported to the police but nothing was ever done about it.
The client then hired their own in-house security chief, a former employee of APS, a really hated, highly discriminatory, anti-woman company which had been bought by Securitas--a SWEDISH based security services providing megaconglomerate. Securitas had had the good sense to not want this looney-tune. APS had worked closely with Burns and Pinkerton to try and put the hurt on other security companies when it came to bid for contracts and none of them were above whatever it took to screw other companies out of the contract, even if it meant screwing over the client as well. That the employees would get screwed was a given. Securitas booted out a lot of the garbage but we got one as the in-house security guy.
He immediately put out bids and Pinkerton had come around promising the site supervisor and the Black guy who was his assistant lots of money to get Allied out of there. high-turnover of employees was teh way they decided to go.
I went to the Allied Security office to tell them what I had learned and what was going on. I was told to stay in my place and mind my own business. Also, that the client was VERYhappy with me.
(I had reported the other things that had happened to me, but they didn't care. You are supposed to have a person in each branch office to whom you can report EEOC concerns but nobody cared in this one. There were no women I( could talk to who worked there. They had all been fired, I guess or they were in sales and we security guys were all SCUM. )
Since i knew the dirty tricks that Burns/Pinkerton had played on a previous company I had worked for and put me and a few hundred other folks out of work, I sw teh end coming that these idiots refused to see. Or maybe THEY were taking money not to see. I started looking for a job. The Austin .com economy was starting its meltdown and other jobs were getting hard to find. I found out that we lost the account, as I had predicted, to Pinkerton. When I called the office to tell them, I asked about my vacaction pay. I was told that I was fired.
There was no other place to put me and to bring in my uniforms. Fired...or laid off?
They were right. They specialized in guarding the type of places where no women were wanted...So I brought in my uniforms. I had about a year and a few months so I filed for unemployment.
You can bet I was surprised when the Workforce Commission told me that I had been FIRED and not laid off and they gave a c**k and bull story about me not calling the in-house security guy when my computer crashed. I hadn't called him because it never happened. I requested an investigation and was found eligible for the unemployment insurance because they LIED about me to avoid having to pay the unemployment. I found out that all raises, benefits, etc. we could have got, Allied would not let us have. Even though the client wanted us to have the benefits like medical, dental, health, etc. Allied would not permit them to provide them for us even though it would have cost them NOTHING!
Maybe all the pennies they saved by screwing us out of our wages went to the manager of the branch office or maybe it went to corporate but I never saw it. It would have been cheaper for them to have given me my vacation pay than what they are going to have to pay in unemployment insurance premium increases.
Iaslo found out I was set up for failure because they gave me a raise --It was 25 cents, I think but for them it was TOO MUCH!
I worked for another two-bit place called IPS, International that does all of the security for Simon De Bartolo's Malls which lasted from September through December and that was another security rip-off place. How the officers were supplementing their income had to be believed and I wouldn't do it because I figured they would eventually get arrested and I didn't want to go to jail. Suffice it to say, the client and tenants were ripped off here too by alll of the efficiency focused on the scams and hustles instead of wher ethey needed to be.
Everytime I have tried to get a good job --Allied continues to blackball me. I need to write a book about the scams security companies are pulling. Anybody know a publisher?
Then I learned that they were giving references from HELL about me that weren't true and they had set up another Jewish employee for failure and fired him. Only Jewish employees were being abruptly terminated and singled out for special mistreatement I found out later. I don't know how they found out I was Jewish!
Helene
Austin, Texas
11 Updates & Rebuttals
Joe
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
Allied Security Was A Bad Place for Hispanic Guys Too
#12UPDATE EX-employee responds
Sat, October 28, 2006
I once worked for Allied Security ONCE in AUSTIN, TEXAS.
Now I am driving a truck and actually able to afford a place to live that has hot, running water, pay my utility bills on time, pay my property tadxes, afford my liability insurance, afford groceries and put some money into a Roth account.
And not have to worry about police wanna-bees, neo-Nazis, greedy and stupid security company owners and managers shorting my paycheck and cheating me every way they could cheat me. Not to mention clients who think I should be on my hands and knees scrubbing floors or workikng on their cars or mowing their lawns.
ONCE is all it takes to learn NOT to work for Allied Security in Austin, Texas.
I was to work nights because they really did want "young white boys in hot, police looking uniforms" to work the morning and afternoon shifts.
This was actually the high-tech corporate clients' directive that I saw with my own two eyes and if I had been able to get the original, I would be owning an entire high tech corporation AND an entire security company for agreeing to such discriminatory nonsense!
The "Hot" and "Boys" was underlines. ALSO underlined and written in all caps: NO WOMEN, BLACKS, ORIENTALS or MEXICANS! NO ARABS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! The one banning women from the job site was underlined with such force the pen had gone through the paper and it was that expensive note paper that people use to show who is boss!
Does this violate the EEOC?? You better believe it. Is this enforced in Texas? Get real. If you have money there are many,many ways you can circumvent the alleged justice system.
I did notice how nice the target white shirts set of my nice dark BROWN complection! Hey, shine a light on me at night or I am supposed to be guarding something at night, the white shirt will give away my location and if the bad guys really want me, they can shoot me and the white shirt will certainly show up the red or purple blood depending on where the round hits me...
"The client might make allowances for you on the night shift because you're a man..." the hiring officer said. " I hope so because we don't have anybody else.
So I reported for duty and the young white guy looks at me and says:" How did YOU get sent HERE?!" Like he is expecting the Village People and they sent him Juan the gardener.
I told him that I was his relief officer and I could always go home and he could stay there and get sine overtime if he needed it. He decided that he had better be thankful that anybody had showed up at all considering how many people DO NOT WANT TO WORK IN SECURITY ( I guess even fewer now since the TRUTH about the sorry industry has appeared in the RIP OFF REPORT!) so he called off-duty, sarcasm dripping from hsis voice. " So and SO is going off-suty and there is A MEX-EE-CAN here to relieve me."
Most of the yuppie techies and everyone else left in the building --but the cleaning people ----looked at me like a pile of garbage had been dumped in their midst. The cleaning people consisted of an all-Mexican crew, mostly from Jalisco and Veracruz. They were singing songs about how much they hated being there with the expletives and smiling all the time... Good thing those guys were all too lazy to learn Spanish.
Smiling on the outside and crying on the inside. I wished I had had some hot extra spicy menudo to eat. Maybe next time I would wear a mariachi treje or Pancho Villa style with two cross bandilleros. Or a turban or something around my head for "Religious reasons."
I couldn't help but notice that several of their engineers were the same color as me. I guess they were imported because they would work cheap. Just like the security officers who sat at the reception desk.
There were other security people in the other building but nobody talked to me. I imagine they monitored me on the surveillance cameras because "THOSE PEOPLE STEAL." Meaning me and the cleaning crew. I missed them when they left. They were the only ones who acknowledged my presence at all. They also told me "Good night" --in English.
For some reason, the company decided that the security didn't need any heat in the lobby and the heater went off. Ice started to form inside the windows and Artic air began to gust through the doors at near-Jet Stream speed. No wonder that they had toruble finding anyone to cover this post!
Ice started forming on the floors too but company policy said that officers could not wear their field jackets in the lobby. What jacket, I wanted a colorful serape --with loud, solid colors of read, orange, green, yellow and blue, colors that SCREAMED " YO SOY UN MEXICANO!"
The longer I sat staring into space --since we weren't allowed to read a book, talk to anyone on the phone, use the computer, listen to music or do anything but sit and stare, the longer I thought that maybe Pancho Villa, no, make that Che Guenvara the tee shirt guy, had been right.
I went to make my rounds, making sure the surveillance cameras could see my hands at all times. I didn't want some yuppie accusing me of stealing the Rollex Oyster watch he or she never had... or something else, a Mont Blanc pen, or Crital champagne...
A lot of the guys were playing computer games, and a couple were sleeping. I noticed that one guy had amassed a pile of uncashed checks on top of his desk and was apparently making $1,500 a week --maybe every two weeks! I didn't make that much in two months!
The vending machine were all jammed up and a cleaning crew guy was lying before them, fishing out change with yardstick. He looked more desparate than I did and there wasn't room for two. There was no other way to get something to eat.
With heavy heart, I expedited three pizza deliveries to the guys upstairs but nobody invited me to have a slice or two. And there were NO leftovers. When I escorted the pizza delivery person to the work area, the smell of hot, melted cheese and yeasty crust and spicy Italian sausage was almost too much for me. A couple of the guys make it a point of eating pizza con gusto, reminding me that lousy Mexicans didn't deserve to eat with "the white folk..."
Why didn't I bring a sad little sack lunch of bologne on bread? I didn't even have no money for bread, much less bologne! And I am working in a place where a guy has several months of uncashed paychecks of over $1,000 each sitting out on his desk while he works on a project that could detonate a computerized device that might wipe out half the known universe?!
Whenever I made my appointed rounds, it would get extremely quiet and sullen, silent stares were my only accompaniment. I guess they had never seen a Mexican security officer before...
I returned to my desk which now was in an ice-cold lobby and I began to hear myself wheeze. I put on my jacket. Some surveillance camera zoomed in on me and the next thing, A white field supervisor who looked like he came straight fromt the "Deliverance" film set is coming by to "isnpect" me. That red pen of his did a dance writing me up.
" Don't think you are ever going to get anywhere with this company, BOY!" he sneered.
At that time, the only place I wanted to be was OUT OF THERE but I decided I would see how long I could last.... I made it there one month.
"I am sorry that you don't want to stay with us," the hiring officer said, poker-faced, as I returned my uniforms. "You know, we hire quite a FEW of YOU PEOPLE" but NONE of YOU ALL EVER work out!"
Welcome to the wonderful world of private security contractors!
P. D.
Houston,Texas,
U.S.A.
Private Contract Security Companies
#12Consumer Comment
Sat, February 05, 2005
I have read many of the comments, not just directed against the company in question, but others listed here as well. Yes, the practices mentioned do, sadly, occur in the contract security business with far too regularity.
The big shock is, in most of the cases I've seen over the years, not only do the people that run the company know what is going on in the field (and may or may not condone them) but so do the people that hire such services.
Many property managers and insurance companies do not feel that there really is anything wrong with the contract security industry; it works as it is supposed to. It provides, for minimal cost, an expendible component of property owners and management; a scapegoat...as such, it is not a career...merely a stop gap between jobs...even "in-house" security operations feel this way.
No client is going to pay "top dollar" for someone that will leave in a few weeks or that they "will drop in the grease" at the first opprotunity. Although managers, insurance companies, and security company owners deny this in the open, they will say so behind closed doors.
The industry is out to make a quick buck, and it is high profit high liability...it is sad, but the way it works. Most companies hire for look, as security officers, with few exceptions, have no real authority...it is someone to be sued when the time comes and look good, nothing more.
For the most part, regulatory agencies, even the labor boards, are mere slaps on the wrists for violators...it is a high risk industry and people should know this when they go into it and since many such complaints are filed against these types of personnel agencies (which is really what they are)you will ultimately get told "Hey, it's just security...they are a dime a dozen...just go and get another (security job) if you don't like it (at your particular company).
Sad, but I don't see it changing, even in this day and age.
Helene
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
BARTON PROTECTIVE EMPLOYEES, THIS CONCERNS YOU!
#12Author of original report
Sat, September 04, 2004
Allied Security which merged with Spectra-guard recently has bought out Barton Protective Services.
Barton Protective Services for YEARS was the ONLY private security company EVER listed in the Fortune 500's list of Great Companies to work for.
They treated women fairly too,FOR A SECURITY COMPANY, the only catch was that you had to be UNDER 30 or not LOOK your age!
WELL, NOW THAT ALLIED HAS BOUGHT Barton, I am expecting massive lay-offs, especially of WOMEN and AFRICAN AMERICANS! The manager at the Austin office was reluctant to hire them at all and no sanctions were ever made against him.
They will set you up for failure, create HELL for a working environment, change your duty hours without telling you and then fire you for a "no call, no show" which is actionable and you will get cheated out of your unemployment... There are millions of things that security companies can do to set you up and move you on outta there.
If you guys get retirement, file now because Allied doesn't offer ANY benefits. At least, they didnt in Texas. I worked for their Dallas-area office which was bsed in Irving, TX and I worked for their Austin-based office.
J
Austin,Texas,
U.S.A.
Circus of Security
#12Consumer Comment
Wed, September 01, 2004
I have worked for many different security companies both in Houston and in Austin. From HUD housing projects to multi-million dollar corporate headquarters, from foot patrol to company management, from trainee to teacher. I worked at Enron and Chevron-Texaco right after 9-11 providing supervision and corporate officer protection.
I also worked for Houston Police Dept and was a Harris County Deputy, and presently employed as a Police Officer. In both Police and Security employment there is high turn over. One question asked of the original commentor was "why don't you find another line of work". Security employment normally pays one to three dollars an hour more than a check out clerk or the drive-thru person at McD's.
Once I reached the level of Manager of a security company I tried to treat the employees fairly and pay them a fair wage. Some employees, of all different races, sex, & beliefs, stole, slept, failed to come to work. The problem is that you have to manage people and take the time and hire good workers, and since this takes time and effort, you have to hire good management.
The base of the security problem is taking that time to find good people. Like one comment stated, there is so many people needing a job that no one takes the time anymore, in any type of job, to find good people to hire. They simply hire the first ten people and if they don't work out...the next ten are waiting for the phone call. So, the employee is now expected to just show up, not expected to do anything else.
Even the contractors of the security service have stopped expecting more, and that is a problem. Maybe you do not understand the cost of security? One place I had three officers on 24/7. When all was said and done in the meeting room between myself and the contractor representative we signed an agreement for a one year contract for $91,000 to provide security service. If I was paying out 90k I would expect good service, wouldn't you?
Anon
Seattle,Washington,
U.S.A.
Allied is a lie
#12UPDATE EX-employee responds
Wed, May 12, 2004
Allied did me the same way after four years of being a model employee
Allied is a poor company to work for if your a Women or minority
MARTHA
DECATUR,Georgia,
U.S.A.
THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY LIES
#12UPDATE EX-employee responds
Thu, April 01, 2004
NORRED AND ASSOCIATES SECURITY ARE A BAD COMPANY TO WORK FOR. I WORKED FOR NORRED AND ASSOCIATES FOR ALMOST A YEAR. WHEN I CAME ABORD TO WORK FOR THIS COMPANY I WAS TOLD THAT I WILL BE A ACCOUNT MANAGER.
I ACCEPTED THE JOB,AS I GO THROUGH TRAINING AND ALMOST FINISHED THE HIRING MANAGER CAME TO ME STATING THAT THE JOB POSITION HE HAD FOR ME ARE NO LONGER AVALIABLE COULD I TAKE ON A SUPERVISOR POSITION AT THIS AUTION IN WHICH I WILL BE GETTING 12DOLLARS AN HOUR I ACCEPT.
WHEN I RECEIVED MY PAY CHECK IT WAS FOR 9 DOLLAR AN HOUR,AS I CONTINUED WORKING FOR THEM THEY KEPT TELLING ME THAT WHEN AN MANAGER POSITION COME OPEN THAT I WILL BE THE NEXT PERSON FOR THAT POSITION.
FOR ALMOST A YEAR THEY LIED TO ME,I NEVER RECEIVED ANY MANAGEMENT POSITION I WAS BOOTED OUT OF THE COMPANY WRONGFULY TERMINATED LIED ON AND SLANDER. WORK HAD GOTTEN SO BAD I WORKED WHERE AND WHENEVER THEY WANTED ME TO WORKED.
I NEVER CALLED OFF I WAS NEVER LATE FOR WORK.
AS I CONTINUES TO WORK I DIDNT KNOW THAT THE MANAGERS WAS PLOTTING TO FIRE ME I DIDNT HAVE A RECORD OF CALLING OFF WHY ME I ASK I DIDNT DO ANYTHING WRONG ON APRIL 2003 I WAS TERMINATED FROM MY JOB FOR NO CALL NO SHOW.
I WAS A UTILITY SECURITY OFFICER I WORKED WHERE MY SUPERVISOR INSTRUCTED ME TO WORK.IN APRIL THATS WHEN MY WORLD CAME TUMBERLING DOWN I WAS SET UP TO BE FIRED.
MY ASSIGNMENT WAS TO WORK AT A TRUCK COMPANY FROM 7PM TO 7AM.ABOUT 4PM MY SUPERVISOR CHANGED MY ASSIGNMENT.INSTRUCTED ME TO TAKE ANOTHER ASSIGNMENT,TO MAKE A LONG STORY SHORT ON FRIDAY I WAS TOLD TO COME TO THE OFFICE BECAUSE ONE OF THE MANAGERS WANTED TO TAKE ME DOWN TOWN TO TRAINE ME FOR A SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT FOR THE DOGWOOD FEST IN WHICH I DID REPORT AND WORKED.
THIS WSE ON A FRIDAY HE ALSO GIVING ME MY ASSIGNMENT FOR THE WK END IN WHICH I DID WORK ON MONDAY I RECEIVED A VOICE MESSAGE FROM MY SUPERVISOR THAT I WAS TERMINATED FOR NO CALL NO SHOW MY SUPERVISOR AND OTHER MANAGERS LIED CAUSING ME TO LOOSE JOB.
ONE OTHER SUPERVISOR WENT TO THEM AND SPOKE THE TRUTH THEY MADE HIM RESIGN OR GO ALONE WITH THEIR LIES.I WAS TOLD BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE COMPANY THAT WHEN I GO FOR MY HERING FOR MY UNEMPLOYMENT HE WILL NOT SEND ANYONE DOWN TO STOP IT IN WHICH HE DID.
HE LIED TO ME SO THAT I WOULDNT BRING IN MY WITTNESS THE MANAGERG LIED,AND FALSIFIED INFOMATION I DIDNT HAVE A CHANCE TO WIN I LOST MY VEHICLE AND COULDN'T FIND A JOB DUE TO THE LIES THAT WAS TOLD TO OTHER EMPLOYERS THIS COMPANY NEED TO BE STOPPED.I WITTNESED GOOD PEOPLE WRONGFUL TERMINATED.
EMPLOYEES ARE AFRAID OF LOOSING THEIR JOB,IF YOU DONT STUP,BEND,OR BAT YOUR EYES,YOU WONT BE AROUND LONG.THEY NEEDES TO BE INVESTIGATED BY THE LAW.I NEVER RECEIED MY UNEMPLOYMENT BENIFIT I WAS DENIED 3TIMES DUE TO THEIR GOOD,THE BAD AND THE UGLY LIES.
Dan
Rochester,New York,
U.S.A.
Had to cut my losses and seek other employment
#12UPDATE EX-employee responds
Fri, January 16, 2004
Helen,
Here in NY State we must first complain to
the appropriate chain of command so that an
investigation can occur.
If ur not satisfied with the results go to ur
state department of labor and seek advice.
I worked for Pinkerton / Securitas for nearly
five years and did not enjoy the experience.
Had to cut my losses and seek other employment.
Trouble is some big companies black ball former
employees to cover their own inept business practices.
It's unfortunate that some bad apples chase away
good people. Some clients committ crimes and the
contractor looks the other way. Hard to say, but
thats the way life is some times.
Good luck in finding justice. I'll keep you in
my prayers. What should occur is a former Pinkerton / Securitas employee support group...
I'd be the first to join.
Sincerely,
Anon
Seattle,Washington,
U.S.A.
Been There Done That
#12UPDATE Employee
Tue, May 06, 2003
This must be almost "Company Policy". My guess is, so far as I can tell, they also space these incidents far enough apart to avoid detection. i.e. gross violations of Civil Liberties Law. They also are separated by distance. They adore separating groups who also might otherwise band together to take them to court for those violations. I believe everything you say.
Although I can see the former Site Manager's perspective regarding the financial concerns, is there any reason for the blatant bigotry and discrimination? From what I saw there was almost constant pressure being placed on all employee's of all ranks that lead to hostilities between minority groups, sexual harassment, age, gender and religious discrimination. It worked. Those employees who discussed such issues, exhibited knowledge of the illegality of such, contacted any member or refused to participate in such were immediately "transferred" to another site.
Paychecks were withheld, even from the "eye-candy", and ONLY happily made good when the "eye-candy" had been "trained". Generally I was told after about 6 months. (The "eye-candy" who told me this had capitulated and was now fully indoctrinated to practice this kind of vileness and other more common criminal activity. I still cringe every time I hear the word "training". Won't share the details over so public a forum.) I am now in the same fix as you Helene.
One last thing for Mr. North Bend, Indiana
As for me I am Christian, and I believe that certain groups have used the Bible and many other "Good Books" to serve their own (sometimes evil) agendas. I have three things to say:
Christ was Jewish.
Can an "Atheist" say "Holocaust"?
Remember?
Adolph
South Bend,Indiana,
Don't overlook this angle, Helene..........
#12Consumer Comment
Tue, November 05, 2002
One more discriminatory issue to contemplate, 'Helene': You state you're Jewish. Don't forget many members of the Protestant religion, particularly Catholics, have never forgotton what the Jews allegedly did to their beloved savoir. You rememder; the old nailed-to-
the-cross thing.
**sigh** ...We all can't be Athiests, it's just not socially acceptable.
Christine
Chicago,Illinois,
Allied Security-Discriminatory Practices??
#12UPDATE Employee
Tue, November 05, 2002
I am a former employee (Manager) who was employed with Allied Security for almost 4 years. I read this complaint with interest. Unfortunately, a lot of what was conveyed is probably true, based on a variety of factors.
For example: What type of relationship Allied Security had with the client, and what stage they were in for contract renewal; What the client requested, either directly or indirectly, to the Account Manager/Site Supervisor as to what type of "image" (read specific gender, race, background) the client wanted the outside public, and their internal employees to see; and, the level of support the Account Manager/Site Supervisor has from the District Office, the District Manager and the support staff.
I have directly witnessed, and heard through third-parties (other Account Managers) of good, decent employees fired for cause before an account was to be terminated due to the client not wanting to renew for service deficiency reasons so the branch/corporate would not have to pay unemployment insurance.
We had this happen at least once that I knew of where I was based out of, when we lost a large account, and did not gain any new business to be able to place all the employees (over 30) in other positions. Employees that were considered "problems" were fired for cause for minor reasons--but enough reason to negate receiving unemployment compensation. In the District Office that I worked in, winning a claim for unemployment & harassment was a source of pride between the managers.
Additionally, if a client requests that an employee be removed from an account for reasons ranging from the client not approving of an employee's personal appearance to their gender (and yes, I know of one account where the client requested that the employees be white males, preferably retired military/police officers), most Account Managers/Site Supervisors will honor that request for the long-term financial interest of the account, and to keep their own jobs.
Allied Security makes it clear--those supervisors and managers that don't look out primarily for the "financial" interest of the account, and in turn become "problems" due to their speaking up to higher management regarding illegal, questionable hiring and business practices eventually will join the employees that once worked for them in the unemployment line, without any unemployment compensation. Since the buck is the bottom line with Allied Security, the managers will ensure that all their ducks are in a row before they terminate an employee for cause, and risk lawsuits, federal complaints and paying unemployment compensation.
sara
livonia,Michigan,
You do seem to have a problem...
#12Consumer Comment
Wed, October 02, 2002
I'm not going to dispute what you say about what happened there. I have a couple of questions though. If you saw what was happening with the contract month to month, why didn't you take your vacation time right away to make sure that you got it? If you hate security work so much why don't you get a different type of job.
I'm sure there has to be some grocery store jobs or something of that nature that runs about the same pay wise, at least according to the employment ads anyway.
I find it hard to believe that they singled you out because you're a jew when YOU'RE the one that seems to have a problem with people of different ethnic orgin. At least tthat's what anyone could gather by your notation of what the races are of the people you work with. Are you sure you were able to keep that poor attitude to yourself at work?