Complaint Review: Anita Turnbull

There has been a major discrimination and unfair treatment that has been going on between the Union employees at the Lady Lake office and the Contractors for Century Link. Anita Turnbull, the head supervisor of this region and fully responsible. There have been about 10 contractors that have been fired within the last month and only two Century Link employees within the last year.  Their employees get fired for smashing equipment, messing around in their vans and sleeping on the job. Contractors bust their butts for 60+ hours a week without any medical insurance and days off and get dumped aside because they forget to cross their t's and dot their i's one time.  Why are Century Link employees only fired for large things and contractors for so little? Why are we treated so expendable? I was fired last week for what Anita called "low production." I was only warned four days prior to my termination that I was the lowest productivity in the whole section. She said she compared me to every individual guy.

What she refused to acknowledge is that the other guys, Century Link employees, were pairing up together in twos and threes and were knocking out jobs left and right, whereas I stood alone and was only able to get done a job and a half or two a day, if I was lucky. I tried to argue this fact, and told her I felt I was being treated unfairly. She responded with, "at this point, I don't care how you feel." When I was done trying to defend myself, I felt beat down and just said "Okay, Anita, I will try harder." Apparently I must have set her off anyways because she was the main person responsible for getting me terminated four day later.  I never saw it coming. One minute was told to improve and the next I was gone. I was never given a real shot to improve if that was the case.  I called her up and pleaded for my job that day. After all, we are in a weak economy and it's senseless for fire someone with two kids if there wasn't a real justified reason. I said that I really needed this job and would do whatever I could to fix this.  She said "Well, good, because we don't want to lose you." Then told me to talk to Patty Schiefer, the regional manager about the situation. I called her and explained my case. She told me she would try to get together with me and Anita and meet face to face on Monday and she would call me on Tuesday for the final decision. I thought this was good, considering they have never seen me before in my life. I only talked to them on the phone. If they could see me as a hard working human being, then that would be wonderful.

I called several people over the weekend, including my father-in-law who also works for Century Link to put in a good work for me. Twenty people who knew me and knew that I did good work called in and talked to the two women for me. But Monday morning comes around. But Monday morning my contracting supervisor, called me and told me that said not to keep me. And then Patty Schiefer went on vacation. Wow! My supervisor was completely against this, but he has no say. He is told by women all day to fire his contractors ever other week and he can't do a thing about it. I found out it was Anita who convinced Patty not to keep me.  And her only response was "low production."  So here I had twenty people saying i'm an excellent employee who does good work and two women, who have never seen me before in my life, say I'm no good, yet lie to me and don't have the nerve to even call me and tell me. Such snakes! That was it. If I would have been kept on for another three months or more I could have gotten on with the company and gotten benefits and higher pay like everyone else. What more can someone ask for their family? But now I am out of work and looking for employment. Never given a fair chance.

I have found out from inside employees that every time a contractor was fired, another woman was being promoted. At the point of my termination, Harriet, the main dispatcher was also responsible for my termination and complained that I did NOT call  her at 2pm everyday like I should have. Why are these women protecting their employees and allowing the women to climb the ranks, while the contracting men stand no chance? I believe this is not only discrimination, but an act of sexism in the work place as well.

Anita Turnbull is the main person responsible for this. She is the one who has been convincing the big boss lady to fire all the contractors. I was fired because I had called her out on her mistakes. She had set me up to fail from the beginning and enjoys putting men in their place. I found out the same week she yelled at me was the same week she was an angry single mom with two boys. Why should a man suffer the wraith of a woman's scorn in the workplace? This is a very unprofessional attitude. If Anita is not dropped down from her pedestal, other hard working contractors will also suffer her mistreatment.  I have already sent an email to Corporate about this mistreatment and called and wrote a letter to Human Resources Department. It's sad that it is rarely proven that men are victims of such abuse when it is more common in women. I feel I was treated like crap and set up to fail by not being protected nor getting help on my jobs.  There was no real justification and now I am paying the price of it. This issue needs to be brought to the attention of all contractors and people in the Lake County area. Women in power, who like to see men fail, should not be holding these positions to take everything personal because they will ruin more lives.