Complaint Review: Excel Maintenance USA

When we started work in the warehouse in March 2011, they staffed the warehouse by promising raises. Gus Torres (Superintendent) told people that if we  moved we would get a pay raise. That was the reason I and the other warehouse people agreed to transfer over. But, we never got raises and we were all unhappy about it. 

In July 2011, shortly after we moved to the warehouse, Julio Rodriguez told  another clerk that he was reducing our work hours from 12.5 a shift to 12 a shift and that he was reducing the pay hours from 12.5 to 11.5. He also said that we would be required to just take lunch whenever we could work through lunch. I discovered the plan to reduce hour hours from, Kathryn Woodard, when she sent an email to me, Leah Lowery (now Leah Rogers), and to July describing what he told her. She was not happy about. On July 16, I wrote an email to Gus Torres (Superintendent) complaining about the reduction and also about the pay raises. Kathryn also emailed  Gus and complained. Gus replied that they could change their plan to keep our hours the same, but only pay 12 hours of time. 

Shortly after that, still in July, my supervisor at the time (Billy Vagara) was written up because they said we had not cleaned up the office after our shift. Billy was mad about it, so he verbally warned us about cleaning the office. I sent an email to Gus
complaining about the matter because we did not have time to clean more than we did. Gus responded by email dated August 1, and he was not happy about my email. He said that out of the 25 clerks, I seemed to be the only one that
had problems. He also said in that ern ail that it was reported that I had. taped the acknowledgement button and that Shintech was requesting action be taken. 

When I reported to work on about August 12, 2011, Julio walked up to me and showed me a disciplinary notice for taping
the acknowledgement button. He told me to sign it and I did. I had taped the button on August I, 2011. So, what Gus
accused me of was true, although I believe that was probably not the motive for the write up. I also typed up a memo which I gave to Julio and he attached it to my written discipline notice. 

After that, I thought they were failing to pay me for lunch, which we were normally paid for. I had been working the
full, without lunch, and Billy Vergara signed off on it. But, when I received my checks they had deducted that time. On  about September 26, 2011, we were really busy and needed to work through lunch. So, I called supervisor Lenard Peck and asked if I would be paid if I work through lunch. He argued with me and said I had plenty of time for lunch. That day I took a full 30 minutes lunch, things backed up, and Peck was upset. Peck told me that I could not just stop working regardless of lunch and that I would have to answer to Julio. He called Julio down and when he arrived I explained what happened. Julio told me that we could not have work to stop, so if we had twenty or more load in a shift, then they would pay me to work through lunch. I was then off for seven days. 

My next day at work was October 7, 2011 and when I arrived Julio greeted me with a disciplinary notice. He said it was
for unexcused absences. He asked me to sign it and I refused unless he gave me a copy. He told me I could not copy it because it was a controlled document. He kept asking that I sign and telling me that I had no choice, so I signed under protest. The absences noted in this warning were mostly fabricated. It looked like they had gone back through my time cards for the purpose of giving me a warning. 

On October 9, the same thing happened. This time, supervisor Matt Lee, aka "Slug," met me in the warehouse office and gave me a notice for unexcused absences (occurrences). Again, it looked as if they were continuing to review my time cards. I signed the refusal side again and tried making a copy but he would not let me. I argued with him and he told me to talk to Paul Jack (Site Manager). I told him if he would not let me have a copy then I would not sign, so I took the pen and marked  out my name where I had just signed it. He told me that refusing to sign is insubordination and automatic termination. 

I was out sick on October 10, 2011. On October 14, I reported to work and Julio met me in the warehouse office and gave me another written notice for unexcused absence and told me I was suspended until further notice. The notice did not say what day I had missed that was unexcused, only that I had excessive occurrences. Then I was escorted out. Later that day, got a call from Julio and he said that my discipline went through Paul Jack and Louisiana and I was terminated. 

The following Tuesday, I went to their Lake Jackson office and asked to talk to Steve Gutreaux(he is above Paul Jack). Steve was not in, so I left a message with the secretary. I explained to her what the issue was and gave her summary of the fact. When I went to the parking lot and got in my car, and I received a call from Paul Jack on my mobile phone. Paul told me that I could come back to work. I told  him I thought I was fired. He told me no, that I was suspended until further notice  and that he wants me to come back to work. I told him that Julio told me I was fired. He suggested that I misunderstood. I told him I wanted to return. I tried to talk about the problems that led to the discharge, but he did not want to talk about it. He said that Gus has no animosity toward me and that I should discuss all my problems with him. 

October 19, 2011 was my first day back since I had been fired. When I walked in, Julio met me outside the office and gave me anther disciplinary notice. This warning was for unexcused absence on October 10. However, I had brought in a receipt from my doctor for having missed that day and I told him so. He told me that they no longer accepted those types of excuses. He told me to sign it and I signed it under protest since he would not give me a copy. 

After the October 19, I was talking with the other clerks and we realized that I as the only one being paid for working during our lunch break. They were not happy about it because they were working through lunch too. I had these conversations with Kathryn Woodard, Leah Lowery Rogers, and Art Izquierdo . These were some one-on-one conversation and some were bigger group conversations. These conversations would be during down time at work or between shifts. Supervisors Brandon Lyons and Billy Vagara were also part of some of these conversations. Safety Technician Marshall Lee was also present for these
conversations.

I decided to send Gus an email raising various issues. I did so on November 16, 2011. I raised the issue of my not receiving copies of my discipline a well as the unfairness of the discipline. I also pointed out that the problems seem to start when I
raised concerns about the pay and work hours for the warehouse employees. I told him that other employees had similar concerns and were worried about retaliation if they complained. I told him that I just wanted him to understand what was happening so he could resolve the matter. 

In late November, John Debraal talked to Gus Torres on the telephone about not receiving a raised when he moved ot the
new warehouse. We were all promised raises for agreeing to move to the new warehouse. John told me that he asked Gus about it. Then on December 2, John received three separate written disciplinary notices for occurrences. 

Gus never responded to my email. So on December 3, 2011 I forwarded the email to Paul Jack. I told him that I tried taking these matters to Gus, but he did not respond. Then I went through all the same issues. I actually named several of my
coworkers who were promised raises but were not given raises. 

On December 5, 2011 a coworker, named Art Izquierdo, who works in the yard came to the warehouse office where I
worked. He wanted to know what I had been telling the supervisors. I did not know what he was talking about. He said that he had just been called into Julio's office along with Supervisors Burrell, Matt Lee, and Will Smith. He said that they interrogated him about why he had been talking to me. They told him that he should not be talking to me and that he should keep
his mouth shut. I told him I did not know what was going on. But, we suspected that  someone saw us talking. But, it was clear that they did not want him talking to me. 

Shortly after that, Art told me that he felt they were making his job harder in order to get rid of him. He said that
his supervisor told him he had to pick it up or that he would walk him to the gate before Christmas. On December 13, 2011 Greg Lewis informed me of a new work schedule. He said from that point forward it would be from 6:30 to
6:30 with paid lunch. He told everyone in the warehouse. HE also informed me that they had a revised absenteeism policy which allowed for more occurrences. It also contained an acknowledgement form. These changes looked to be responsive to my email to Paul Jack on December 3. 

Sometime before the holidays, Appx. December 21, 2011, Paul Jack comes to the warehouse and calls me into the break
room and closes the door. Only he and I are present. He told me that he was there to talk about the issues I raised in my email. He said that I should not worry about my occurrences because under the new policy they would drop off at the need of the year and start over. 

I reminded Paul that he said Gus had not animosity toward me, but that he did not want to talk to me or respond to
my email. Paul said, just between you and me, he was afraid that I might slap him with a sexual harassment case. Then Paul said that he had people that informed him of the things I had been saying. I said, well good that I hoped it
got his attention. I told him that I purposely told everyone about my issues hoping that he or Gus would come talk to me about it. I told him that everything I said was the truth and that I did not say it in a bad way. I told him that other people experience the same thing and that we all had the same issue.

Paul said that he was neither interested or here to discuss other people's problems. He said that there was no need for me
to try to get all these people together and that their problems were none of my business. I explained that their problems were relevant to mine because they were similar. I asked if he were sure there was no form of retaliation here because it seems that way, that I think it and so do others. He said that Gus and Julio are not retaliating. I said that if
people felt that they were, it was still a problem whether or not they were actually doing it. Paul agreed and said that they might need training. So, it seemed like it ended well. 

Shortly after that meeting, that same day,Greg Lewis came to me in the office. Only Greg and I were present.
According to Greg, Paul told him not to worry because he would not be having problems out of me anymore. According to Greg, he told Paul that he never had any trouble with me to begin with. 

So, I felt like I had cleared the air with Paul, so I decided to raise the issues that Art was having. On December 31,2011 I emailed Paul Jack to intervene on Art's behalf. I have a raised all the problems Art was having and how he was being retaliated against for talking to me. He simply responded that he had received my email. In January, Art quit because of the pressure he was under. 

On January 6, 2012, I appeared at work and Greg Lewis met me at the office. He gave me a disciplinary notice that he said was from Julio. The notice said that I was on probation for all the occurrences I had. Greg said he did not agree with it. I refused to sign it. Greg told Julio and then he came to the office and was upset. He told me that I had to 'sign so I did under protest. 

I receive my annual evaluation in March which results in a raise in pay raise But, on February 27, I appeared at work and John Thompson (Dock Foreman) met me at the office. He gave me a disciplinary warning for making errors on paperwork. I refused to sign, he called Julio, and I ended up signing under protest. 

There is a QC guy name Adren who had given me trouble at work, but nothing that I had reported. I had just ignored him.
Just prior to May 10, 2012, I was training another clerk, and making labels. All of a sudden the QC, Adren, came in, took a seat next to me, and started saying that he heard I was messing everything up around here. I thought he was joking, so I said, What? We didnt mess anything up and if we did, we all make mistakes, even you have mixed seals before. At the time Adren was making these remarks toward me, a co-worker, Shane Davis, was sitting in the office and started to joke back at him when Adren began to raise his voice. Another person in the office, Pat Marrow, informed us that David Kirk had someone in the office and to keep our voices down. I told, Oh, Im sorry, okay.  However, Adren continued to make remarks toward me.  I whispered, Hush, but Adren refused.  As I continued to ignore him, Pat Marrow walked over to Adren and informed him that David Kirk had people in the office, and asked if he could be quiet. Adren looked mad, and I was beginning to think that Adren was not joking at all with the comments that he made. A supervisor, Greg Lewis, walked in the office asking me a
question. As I answered Greg, Adren jumped up out of his seat yelling at me, Thats discrimination! You see thats why nobody around here likes you!, then stormed out of the office. Greg and I looked at each other with confused looks on our faces. Shane and I thought that Adren was joking because his statements were so outrageous.

Then Adren went to another warehouse where he had a confrontation with another QC person named Kevin (they may have
actually had a physical conformation). After that happened, the company conducted an investigation. Everyone in the office gave a statement including me. There is an employee named who gave a statement and she said that they were asking questions in a way that they were looking to get me. 

On May 10, they fired Kevin and Adren. That day, Will Smith carne to me and gave me a written notice saying that I had
been arguing with Adren. So, they were blaming you me for Adren's conduct. I signed the document under protest. I was the only person who received a written warning. 

On June 24, 2012 I sent out a survey to my coworkers that worked on my shift and the shift following mine. I am a student at American Intercontinental University studying business administration. I got an idea to do the survey as a school project and for my own personal knowledge. I wanted to know what other people were thinking about unions. So, I decided to use an online survey website. I went to surveymonkey.com and generated my survey. 

I then handed out a hard copy of the questions to ten people including two supervisors: Brandon Lyons who was my supervisor (C-Shift Supervisor), and Gregory "Lance" Allen (A-Shift Supervisor). Among the employees that I sent it to John Debraal. I also completed the survey. All ten of the other people returned the surveys and then I used the surveymonkey
website to generate the results. I did not distribute copies of the results. 

On July 16, there was an issue that came up with the acknowledge button. There is an office in our warehouse (warehouse #4) that has an alarm. The sounds to indicate there is some type of issue with the product moving from silo to the warehouse
(for packing). The alarm sets off a light. Then it is my responsibility to hit the acknowledge button to show that I saw the alarm and then I announce on the intercom what caused the alarm (i.e. high pressure, low pressure).
Then after I receive a responsive announcement that they heard my announcement, and I have to clear the alarm. It is a daily
occurrence to get an alarm. Brandon is often in the office working with me. 

When the DK unit is malfunctioning it can cause false alarms. This happens from time to time. It was happening on July 15. On that date, Brandon came to the office and he taped the acknowledgment so it would not go off and we could work. Maintenance was supposed to fix after our shift. 

On July 16, I reported to work at about 6:30 pm, when we reported for work, the supervisor from the D-Shift (Terry Jones) told us that we should expect the alarms to go off all night because their DK Operator had broke the DK unit. He also mentioned it to Brandon Lyons. Then, as soon as we started our shift, we had an alarm. I hit the acknowledgement button and made an announcement over the intercom. I received the responsive announcement and cleared it. Then the alarm went off again. I made another announcement and we cleared it. There was some malfunction because it kept going off over and over again. At some point, Brandon and John come to the office and everyone wasfrustrated about the repeated alarms. John decided that we tape the button to avoid the alarms. Brandon did not object, so John taped it
the button down. I did not tape the button and did not suggest taping it.At the end of the shift, Brandon removed the tape. 

The prior shift had been taping the button too. I could feel the sticky residue on the button when I pressed it. It was obvious that prior shifts had been taping it. 

I reported to work on July 20 and the Day Foreman, Greg Lewis, approached me and told me to tell him the truth, he heard that I taped the alarm button the prior Monday.

I told him no. He said that I had to tell him who did it. I then explained to him what happened that night as I have described
here. I did not tell him that Brandon did it the day before. He then asked me to write a statement about what happened and I
did it immediately and gave it to him. I know he also made John and Brandon write statements. I assume they asked other people on the shift. HE did not give me a copy of my statement. I was worried about what would happen to John after that, but I was not worried about myself because I had done nothing wrong. 

On July 25, 2012, I reported to work and saw another clerk, Tracy Davis, was there to fill in for me. There was a group there that evening that included Gus Torres (Excel Superintendent), Reynaldo "Julio" Rodriguez (General Dock Foreman), Alberto Rodriguez (General Bagging Foreman), and Greg Lewis (Day Foreman). Torres usually only appears if there is a problem
or discipline. When I arrived, they asked me into the break room. Gus started talking about the day the button was taped. He told me that people in corporate were disturbed by the comments in my statement. I asked what was wrong with my comments and that I had done nothing wrong. He told me that it was my third offense regarding the fired me is baseless, the survey is the only thing I can think of as the basis for my decision. I would also point out that there are cameras in the warehouse and that Paul Jack told me he had people telling him what I was doing (watching me). 

After I was discharged, I filed for unemployment and Excel disputed my claim. We ended up at a telephone hearing and the
TWC issued a decision awarding me unemployment.