Complaint Review: Hudson Valley School Of Advanced Aesthetic Skin Care

I am a former employee of the Hudson Valley School of Advanced Aesthetic Skin Care. While there I was assaulted. No action was taken against either of those who assaulted me. I was told by Maria Furguson that if I filed a police report I would be fired. This was my second time working there, the first time I was fired for being pregnant. At that time I took no action against the school as it did not cause me permanent harm. I also didn't want negative energy around me.

A couple of years later I ran into Maria Furguson at Shop Rite in New Paltz. I was shocked to see her but very happy she was well after her battle with a serious illness. I had so many mixed emotions I didn't know what to do. I finally decided to forgive Maria, who was once my friend and was even sitting in the front row at my wedding. I sent her the letter attached with the intention of letting go of the anger and sadness I felt.



August 8, 2006,

Dear Maria,

I really hope this letter gets to you without being intercepted as I am assuming the others did. I dont know where to start. Well first of all this is not any type of official letter. The reason it is typed, well we both know what my writing looks like. As for sending it certified, I tried sending letters to your home address and they were returned. I sent them to the school and got no response. This way even if I dont get a response I will know you received this.

I consider myself extremely lucky that I attended the school when I did. You gave everything to your students and would work with us one on one if we needed help. You made a huge personal sacrifice to make sure that your students did well. As a mother I cant imagine spending that amount of time away from my baby to further someone elses career. You were selfless and gave everything. I wanted nothing more in life to be a reflection of you. You projected your professionalism every single second that you were teaching. When I started teaching; I considered it a compliment when someone jokingly referred to me as your clone.

I have no intention of trying to sue you but I feel that I have to point out all of the things that you have left yourself wide open for in the past in addition to your total disregard for anyons feelings other than your own. You fought so hard for your life. Now I am pleading with you to fight just as hard for your dignity and self respect.

The day I saw you outside of Shoprite all I wanted to do was hug you and tell you how happy I am that youre doing well. I cried when I got to my car. I prayed for you to get well ever since you told me. Your friendship meant a lot to me. I just dont understand why you did something so horrible to me. I would have quit the job if I knew that keeping it would end our friendship. While I was working for you; I was offered the job I went to school with the intention of getting. I would be making a lot of money. I turned it down out of loyalty to you; I could not abandon you when you were sick. Once I was pregnant I would have had no choice but to quit my job at the school for the safety of my baby. There would be no way I could handle the stress caused by Rosanna walking in and screaming in my face about things she knew nothing about. Shes a huge liability. Im surprised no one has sued you because of her screaming at everyone, swearing, using anti-Semitic and racial slurs. Not to mention, its an Aesthetics school, appearances and how you present yourself count, Rosanna looks and acts like a used up $50 w***e.

I sincerely wish you all of the happiness in the world, but sadly I dont think youll ever be happy unless you stop repeating the destructive pattern you have repeated in your life. I know that you have been through more than anyone should have to but it doesnt excuse the way you treat people. Please remember that I am the one who would insist we take turns paying for lunch. I never tried to take advantage of you in any way. The day I brought in the oil and almonds for you do you remember what you said? It wasnt thank you. Your exact quote was how much do I owe you. Before the accreditation you were in the hospital. When I told you that I had Keith strip and wax the floors you were furious and wanted to know why I did that without your authorization. Your next question was how much do I owe him? When I told you that he did it so that the school would look as good as possible and that it didnt cost you anything you stopped yelling but still didnt say thank you. You have reached a point where you dont even recognize that a true friend is someone that you dont have to buy. Look at all of the people that you have pushed out of your life since youve started the school.

Although your business is a huge success your personal life is a mess. You have left your children with whoever would take them without a second thought. You took in some unemployed loser and made him the director of your school for some time. You allow your sister to dominate you even though she stopped talking to you for months after you wouldnt put your name on a school for her. She convinced you to try natural alternatives instead of proven medical technology which allowed you illness to progress further. Who do you think would have benefited from your death? You are a strong confident woman; that is until Rosanna walks into the room and makes you wish you could hide under a rock. You allow your thoughts to be influenced by whoever your favorite person of the week is. One minute someone is a complete loser and the next they are a genius and in charge. You need to make your own decisions. When you first started the school there was no way in hell you ever would have allowed anyone to treat you that way. Rosanna would put you down in front of the students and you allowed it. Do you remember the letter Nicole sent to the department of labor that you showed me? Every word nailed it. More than half of your employees could have sued you for harassment. Although youre allowed to fire someone; you are not allowed to harass them.

I was so hurt when you told Lillian to fire me over the phone because I called in for a Thursday on a Tuesday since my doctor put me on bed rest. That was the only time I ever called in within an entire year. When she called and told me that she had been instructed by you to let me go because my pregnancy was interfering with my work I was outraged. When I told her I wanted to speak to you she told me you were very ill at home and had told her to tell me specifically not to call you. Out of respect for you, I listened. I still dont understand why I was treated that way. The day I told Rosanna I was pregnant she went home. An hour later you told Lillian to send me home. This was after you had me work with Lillian to teach her how to do peels because you knew how incompetent she was. I never personally injured a student while working and no student was ever injured by another student under my watch. I was fired by someone who repeatedly sexually harassed a student and injured several others. She didnt even know the difference between paraffin and hair removal wax.If it wasnt for my intervention, the student that was sexually harassed he would have owned your school since you did nothing after his first complaint.

Although youve been smoking all of your life I dont think you understand the impact it has on your short term memory. The entire thing with the night clinic that I got written up for you authorized in front of the student that made the complaint. The MAIN reason for the clinic is so that the students get experience; not to make the school money. You probably dont even remember the conversation. The students were complaining that they could not set up, do three services a night, and clean up. Students were being thrown in to do things that they hadnt even practiced on each other. Look at your numbers. I taught the students how to sell products. Not only is that a skill that they need in real life; it increased your profit without having students do things they werent ready for.

You also had me teach things that I wasnt ready for. In the beginning you told me that if I didnt feel I knew a subject well enough to teach it to let you know. In reality, it didnt matter to you if I felt qualified or not, I was told to do it. I was the only one who wrote my own lesson plans. Why didnt anyone else have to do their own lesson plans? As a matter of fact, you used them. I over heard you teaching one day and you referred to telangatasia. A student asked you to spell it and you did t-e-l-a-n-g-l-a-s-i-a. It was a typing mistake I made. When I started I was thrown into the lions den without almost any training. The only training I got was the mandatory unpaid days I spent trailing Nicole. . Why didnt anyone else have to do that either? Then you would scream at me in front of students because I didnt do things your way. Due to your short term memory issues, your way was not always correct. Do you remember calling me from the doctors office because you had a patient and didnt know how to use the pulse light machine?

I dont understand why I would be forced to teach something that I would clearly state I didnt know and then criticized for doing it wrong. I was being set up to fail. The rules changed daily and were different for everyone. I worked hard for you. I worked through lunch every clinic day (unpaid) because students would be running behind because they were so over booked. Just like you, I helped students on my own time. I spent hours on lesson plans even though no one else did. I DDS to come to the school, do a free training, and give the school $5,000 worth of products. I had arranged for an aromatherapy who had published several books to come and teach both schools for free. You actually told me that even though I had arranged this for you and you would profit off of any product sold (not to mention the savings you received by not having to pay someone of that caliber), that I would not be paid for the day since I wasnt teaching it. Dont you think thats being petty? It was rescheduled due to weather but since I was fired I had no reason to reschedule it.

This leaves me with some things that you may want to put some thought into. How many of your former employees left on good terms? How many friends have you lost? What do your children think of you? What does Rosanna think of you? Who do you spend time with that youre either not paying or doesnt want something from you? Who is and who isnt taking from you? Who would still be around if your money was gone? Most importantly, what do you really think of you?

Ive thought of you often over the last few years and have had an entire range of emotions towards you. The first was disbelief, anger, hurt, disappointment, used, betrayed, the list goes on and on. There is no way you can think what you did to me is right. I know the things Ive said are harsh and I truly apologize it they hurt you but I feel its time for you to know just how much you hurt me as well as others. Underneath it all Ive still prayed for your health and well being. Ive still wanted good things for you. So many things have happened and all Ive wanted to do is pick up the phone and share with you. Then I remember, youre not my friend anymore, you through me away. You feel everyone and everything is replaceable. Before I worked for you we would go out of our way with our busy schedules just to visit with each other. Now I live less than ten minutes from your school and dont even talk to you.

I know that youve been through hell. When I saw you that day all I wanted to do is hug you and tell you how happy I was that youre doing well. It made me realize how much I miss you. It made me think about the huge impact you made in my life. For that I will be eternally grateful. I am at a point where I am able to forgive you. I couldnt abandon you for a reason. I wanted to let you know that if you need me that I will be there for you. My contact information is on here so I guess the ball is in your court. If you would like to talk please get in touch with me.


I had no ulterior motive for sending her this other then to let go. I was surprised to get a letter back from her asking me to lunch. She even thanked me for being the only one "with the balls" to say it to her face even though she needed to see her therapist after reading it. Maria told me THAT IF I EVER SAW SOMETHING LIKE THIS GOING ON TO PLEASE LET HER KNOW INSTEAD OF ALLOWING IT TO CONTINUE ON. I called her and agreed. We met and talked. She told me that it was not her, it was all her sister who she was no longer speaking to because of how badly their relationship turned. At the time I owned a very successful delivery company and also distributed olive oil from Portugal. I brought her a bottle at lunch. We talked about various things. She had told me that they had two IPL's at the school at that time. Maria even told me if I ever wanted any services that she would have them put in the computer that I was to be seen for free in order to make up what had been done to me.

We continued to speak even though we both had very busy schedules. I had mentioned in passing that I had applied for a job at a bank so that I could save the $1,250 a month I was spending on benefits. The price of fuel had gone up and my profits were dropping. At that time my credit was still good. We tried to make plans on several occasions but were unable to find a time we were both available. After learning that I was no longer immune to hepatitis I called Maria to let her know. After all the health problems she had endured I didn't want her to get caught off guard by thinking she was safe. She then asked me how my job search was going. My credit was fairly extended at that point and I thought it was preventing the bank from hiring me. She asked me if I would consider working at the school. I told her jokingly not unless she was going to pay for my benefits and give me a huge promotion. She said that wouldn't be a problem. When I realized she was serious I explained to her that since I have a pre-existing condition I need a high level of coverage so I really didn't think it was a good idea.

I also repeatedly said that I did not want to jeopardize our friendship over business. I said the only way I would consider it would be if every single detail was agreed upon by both of us prior to my starting. She told me to discuss it with my husband and then get back to her the next week if possible. She called almost every day to see what I had decided. She had an accreditation to deal with and didn't know what to do. She said that she had hired S(I will not give her full name), one of my former students who is a sweat heart, and that S had gone crazy and gotten married then went to a swinger's vacation. When her and her new husband got back he had S committed. She also claimed that S had an affair with a New Paltz police officer and brought him into the school due to her questionable morals. She said she didn't want someone with a history of mental illness working there as a teacher. She also talked about how sleazy S is.

I was shocked but still remember Maria from when she used to be a good person. I was there for her when she first learned of her husband's affair. I even found out the name and street address of the woman who had become Maria's husband's mistress. When I attended the Hudson Valley School of Advanced Aesthetic Skin Care it was different. It was much more simple and you almost got what you paid for. I will admit there were some subjects I needed to seek professionals on my own to teach me because they were not taught there. When I attended I was never taught the following subjects; anatomy & physiology, chemistry, electricity & machines, Make-up or a few other things. With make-up we were told to "just play with it". There were some things I was taught by Maria; facials(which have been changed since their original sequence), body treatments, the mechanical aspects of chemical peels (In my opinion Maria does not understand the systemic effects that go on once the various chemicals have been applied the the skin), client consultation, and waxing, although at that time the school did not teach brazillian waxing, we learned that on our own, the hard way. We did nothing else. This was imperative to get the basics. Back then Maria stated that microderm is a useless procedure.

I took a job for $5 an hour so that I was able to do an internship with Kelly who was an aesthetician working for Dr. Beltrani. Maria said it was crazy to work for that little amount of money. I thought it was an amazing opportunity. I was getting paid to learn with the best dermatologist in the area as well as one of the most highly respected Aestheticians in the country. I considered this job a privilege and will be forever great full to both Kelly and Dr. Beltrani as they've taught me more about skin then any book ever could. I learned how to do microderm before Maria even believed in the process. I also got to see one skin condition after another. I also saw skin cancer in it's various stages and have not tanned since even though I'm pretty sure I went through withdrawal when I stopped. I stayed there for as long as I could, even after obtaining my license. Finally they couldn't allow me to work for $5 an hour since I was a licensed Aesthetician and they couldn't afford to have me observing and asking questions at a higher rate then what they were paying but couldn't legally pay me under the minimum wage. I had to leave. I also had to take full advantage of that internship as this was my one and only chance to learn as much as I could about skin.

Maria and I had been to each other's homes. I was working for a plastic surgeon in West Port CT about 50 hours a week. I remember when the drug rep from ICN pharmaceuticals came in and gave me a video on how to perform a TCA peel. I was so excited I called Maria from my cell phone on my way home. Maria was even more excited and asked if she could come over that night and watch it with me after I got home from work. I agreed. My then boyfriend thought we were both nuts. He couldn't understand what was so exciting about it. I continued to learn more an more things. I was even taught dermaplaning, which is a manual form of exfoliation that is done with a scalpel very carefully. Maria had wanted me to teach her that procedure but I told her I wasn't comfortable with that because it was still kind of scary for me. I also went on to take a one on one course in Huntington Beach, CA at the Huntington Academy of Permanent Make-Up, which is the top school in the country. I developed a lucrative private practice doing this procedure. Maria was so generous she allowed me to use her school at times to see clients. I would allow one or two at most students come into the room with us as observers and also assist by handing me things. Although Maria took no money from me for this I would always make sure that my clients purchased services from the school also. I did Maria's face at her own home for her convenience. She has wanted me to do touch ups but I hadn't had the time and I don't work if I cannot work at 100% as that is permanent and my signature on someone's face. Maria also wanted me to teach her this but I'm not qualified to teach this subject as you must have at least 100 clients for each individual procedure.

One day in 2002 Maria called me and asked for a favor and of course I said yes. She asked if I could do orientation with the new group of students so she could attend a permanent make-up class. I honestly had no idea she intended to pay me for my time until I received a check in the mail. I called her immediately to tell her it was not necessary for her to pay me as she was my friend and friends do things for each other. She said she would be very uncomfortable if I refused the money so I thanked her and accepted it. She had paid me $20 an hour. It had not been previously discussed as I didn't expect to receive anything.

A couple of weeks went by and I called her and asked if she knew of any local doctors that were hiring. She said there were no doctors that she knew of but that she would be happy to hire me. I told her that there were several subjects I didn't know well enough to teach. Maria assured me that I wouldn't be asked to do anything I didn't know how to. Then her sister, the one I refer to as a $50 w***e, started getting involved. Her sister made me shadow Nicole, the current teacher for a full two weeks, 80 hours unpaid. I did it. When I got my first pay check I nearly fell over. I couldn't understand why I had only been paid $16 an hour when I started out at $20. Maria told me that at that time she couldn't afford to pay me anymore then that but it would go up soon and she would allow me to see clients out of the school and pay me 60% of the amount of services I performed. I was also not paid for the many lunches and breaks I worked through.

I was given and accepted a very large amount of responsibilities. Maria was fighting a deadly illness and I could not let her down after all she had done for me. I even turned down the job I went to school with the hope of obtaining which would have paid me over a two thousand dollars a week because what kind of person is so disloyal that they allow their friend to lose the school they've sacrificed their marriage and well being of their children for? I stayed and worked like an animal. The massage school was in the middle of moving and had no where to go so we literally had standing room only with the massage students there also. I just kept going, twelve hour days, being paid for 10 1/2 if I was lucky. Then my husband wanted to start his own business. I had a very serious discussion with Maria about my future with her school. Maria told me my job and my hours were extremely secure and that she would make sure I had enough hours to pay the bills even if my husband's business was not making a profit.

Maria wasn't there because she was receiving medical care. I did the absolutely best that I could. Maria hired a woman as a teacher that was 50 years old and did not have her GED yet. This woman caused a student to have a corneal abrasion by not showing her how to safely do microderm. She also "mixed up" paraffin wax with yellow wax and applied it to a student's face after she had received a Jessner's peel. So there was a student who's raw face was covered with pine wax. She burned several students while trying to do glycolic peels. The icing on the cake is when she sexually harassed a male student by repeatedly touching his butt. The student came to me and I immediately told Maria and nothing was done. He came back to me again very upset that he had already told me that this was a problem and it made him extremely uncomfortable and I told her again. That time she "had a talk" with the employee. The same employee sexually harassed a female student but Maria took no action about that behavior. Her resolution to this issue was to PROMOTE this woman to the school administrator. This is the woman who fired me after I called on a Tuesday to say that I would not be able to work on Thursday as my doctor had put me on bed rest. I had never called in prior to that time. I was told that my pregnancy was interfering with my ability to work. The students were even asked to write bad things about me to back Maria's case. The woman was later fired when she upset a client to the point where an ambulance had to be called. For all of these reasons I was afraid to go back there again. I wrote up a conditional acceptance of employment that Maria signed off on. I have included a copy of that correspondence also. I have the signed copy in my possession but am able to provide the one directly on my computer;

November 26, 2006

RE: Conditional acceptance of employment

Dear Maria,

I have put a lot of thought into your job offer and would like to take it I just wanted to make sure that Im not putting myself into a bad situation. I can only do what is expected out of me if someone tells me what those things are. I have made a list of my specific questions. You and I have discussed my concern with your sister. I have watched the two of you go back and forth several times. I need absolute assurance that at no time will Rosanna be in position of authority over me or that I will be forced to have to work with her. There is no way I can work in that type of atmosphere again. I do not want to have to report to anyone other then you.

Im going to outline the points that I would like to have exact clarification on because first and foremost I value our friendship and feel that if we have a set of specific guidelines that we have to refer to it will prevent any type of future conflict. Second, I enjoyed teaching, just not the situations I was put into. Quite honestly it was one the most personally rewarding jobs Ive ever had. One of my students is in school for pre-med. When I met her she could not even pass the state board for massage due to the fact that she has a learning disability and doesnt test well. I spent my own time researching and teaching her a way that she could put the knowledge in her head on paper. Im extremely proud of her and I cant even describe the way it makes me feel that I made this possible for her. She went from wearing black lipstick to studying to become a doctor. I would like to be able to continue to teach at least part time as a long term portion of my career plan.

Last time I gave the school everything I had. I studied for hours every night so that I could write my own lesson plans and further educate myself, I worked with students with special needs, I got vendors into the school to get the school and students free products, and I spent your money just as I would my own. I drove past the school yesterday and saw the bench on the porch. I bought that on clearance and always tried to get you the lowest possible price on everything. When I was covering the desk during a break from school I actually called one of your credit cards to get them to waive the late payment fee. I feel that I dedicated myself completely. At one point you also felt that way. Your sister started trying to make me look bad then Tanya was suddenly good and I was bad. I know that business is separate then personal but I have never felt as deeply betrayed as when the students started calling me after Lillian fired me to tell me that Rosanna was in the class asking them to write bad things about me because I was trying to use my pregnancy as an excuse for being fired. The exact reason I was given was that my pregnancy was affecting my work. I had spoken to Tanya after she left also and she confirmed what the students had said. I am not asking for a contract promising me a lifetime of work, just some assurance that if I do the things you list I will have a job.


DETAILED JOB DESCRIPTION

As far as the teaching you and I discussed that Jackie would be doing the facials with the beginning students. The first time through on the bikini waxing I might need help; Im a little out of practice. There are some subjects that Im not that great at but you said that your lesson plans make it easier. I would like to review them.

I need a specific job description including any non teaching responsibilities that you would want me to handle beyond teaching. I know that you are only one person so there is only so much you can accomplish in a day. I need to know if you want me to arrange for companies to come in and show us their new products or if you want me to set up appointments with the guidance counselors at the local high schools so that you can get the graduates to enroll. To avoid any confusion I will have in writing what specific things I have authorization to do in the event that you cant be reached. I want every detail of my job listed that way I can make sure that it is done. I also need all of your policies regarding students and clinic in detail

1. In addition to teaching what other responsibilities will I have?
A. Getting experts from different modalities to guest speak & different product lines to come in & demonstrate their products?
B. What type of documentation needs to be submitted on each student to show their progress so that they stay eligible for funding?
C. Would you need me to work directly with any of the vendors or distributors that you deal with?
D. Who would be responsible for inventory & ordering products?
E. Who is monitoring your website? Someone needs to check on your website periodically. Ive tried a couple of times to post a room in my house and sent an email to the school starting seven months ago but still hasnt gotten a response. Not returning an email is like not returning phone calls and can easily lose you business.
F. Are there any other responsibilities that I havent thought of that you are unable to get done now that you need done?


WORK SCHEDULE & COMPENSATION

When evaluating my compensation please keep in mind that I have proven I am reliable and the cost of turn over is extremely high. I would like to come up with numbers that both of us are comfortable with and discuss this in further detail in person. Im not sure what your pay scale is now but I was making $16 an hour before and you were paying half my benefits. That was not enough for the amount of work that I did. Also, high turnover is extremely expensive. It is much more cost effective to improve employee retention.
.
In order for me to make money in addition to the benefits I will need to work more then just teaching the night classes. Although the night classes will be enough to cover the cost of my benefits (family); but thats about all it will cover. The plan I have now covers the doctors that I need it to and has affordable co-pays. I have to have low co-pays because I have at least ten prescriptions a month and several doctor appointments if you decide to go with another company I may or may not need to stay with mine. My current monthly premium is $1,250. I have too many pre-existing medical conditions to go with a plan with high co-pays or that my doctors wont take. The plan would be available to your business also even if you only put me on it. However, due to the fact that the end of the year is approaching you would need to make you decisions quickly. In January the rates will go up.

1. If the following shifts are available; they would be my first choice of days because they are the easiest for me to cover; I would like to work every night shift, Mon, Tues, & Wed in addition to Mon. & Thurs. Day shift

I would be available to work on Tues. Day if needed in addition to weekends, but I dont want

To start off with more then I can handle with my other obligations, I do need to know ahead of time

How many hours a week I will be working so that I am able to make sure I have child care
2. I would like to teach some of the continuing education classes & be paid on a commission basis
.
3. I would like to see how many students would enroll in a class that was just on Saturday & Sunday, I spoke to payroll person at Paychecks and she is actually interested, I dont think I can find an entire class by myself, but I have been asking around just to see what people think.
4. Would I be able to see clients at the school for commission when it its closed? That way it could make us both money instead of just costing, you pay for the usage of the school seven days a week so you might as well make the most of it?
5. I completed the first module of teacher training. I would like for the remainder of the classes to be paid in full by the school since the reason for taking the classes is specifically to teach at your school.
6. Any benefits besides medical that are given to the rest of your employees.
7. All skin care products for my self or immediate family at cost not just a discount.


There is also the issue of my hand writing. I am not able to write legibly on a black board or those boards that erase. I can do typed notes on an over head projector. Its been a while so I wanted to remind you how bad my hand writing really is. Please let me know the way you want to handle this.

Please review this and give me a call as soon as you have a chance to. I can start within the next few days as long as we have come to an agreement.



When I saw things start to go badly besides the fact I was promised $20 an hour and she was paying me $18 I knew I needed to let her know there was a problem. I then gave her the following letter;

February 27, 2007,

Dear Maria,

There are some issues that need to be discussed because the stress level of the current environment is causing my health to decline and that cannot continue. I understand that you are under a lot of stress right now but I want you to think back and remember when you told me that if I saw things that were going on I should point them out right away. Predators wait until their prey is most vulnerable before they make their attack and I think with your mother ill thats what happened. You really should consider either going back to your therapist or seeking out a new one if the one you were seeing isnt doing enough. If you see doctor insurance will cover unlimited visits under certain circumstances, I gave you a copy of the new law. This will give you a neutral person who has nothing to gain from you based on the decisions you make in your life.

There was a time when you thought that Lillian was the best thing since sliced bread and she took care of everything. In reality she was ruining your reputation and making the entire world hate you as she claimed to be doing things with your authority. We both know how I feel about Lucile; actually although no one else has the balls to say it to your face almost everyone has a problem with her. However, I dont think she is the only problem since shes really not smart enough to manipulate you all by herself. You always follow a pattern and when youre under a lot of pressure you tend to be easily influence by other people opinions or versions of how things or other people are. First you absolutely love someone and they are the best and then a month later your opinion about them changes and you find fault in every thing they do. Ive seen it over and over and over with one person after another, including myself. All it takes is for someone to plant the seed in your head and you see nothing but bad even if the good outweighs it by 90%.

In business I gave out the syllabus and was told it was the wrong thing to do so I didnt hand it out in body treatments and was told that was the wrong thing to do. Last week I had the new class for the last two hours of business then the students took their break which left one hour and twenty minutes. During the break I went over the test with the students that took it. The week before you stayed because the students told you they didnt have a teacher. Last Wednesday there was one teacher for one student and me for the other two groups. I feel like Im trying to live up to an unrealistic expectation and all youre looking at is half the picture. You see that the one new student was getting the material that she needed from her instructor but that I wasnt able to provide the other two groups the information that they needed to get; bottom line. Prior to my acceptance of employment I requested in writing a written job description. I dont think that I should be expected to do things that no one else is able to do. The other instructors also make sure that everything they do is on the clock. If they do theyre lesson plans, make copies, and even sit in the office reviewing the lesson plans while on the clock why dont I have the same opportunity? Not only have I done work at home without pay, Ive used my paper, ink, and electric to make copies, quite honestly I just felt it went with the teaching. The fact that everyone else is paid to do it is leaving me feeling resentful and used. Prior to my starting you and I discussed money and hours and I told you that I needed to make $20 an hour and had to have all three nights every single week just to pay for my health benefits. The day shifts that I work would be the only money that I would make above that. You agreed to that. It wasnt until after I worked and was about to open my check that you told me on the phone that by the way I decided to start you at $18 instead of $20 and over the next few months Ill get you up to the $20 that you need to make. My entire reason for working is to pay for my benefits and I still havent had a pay period that for one reason or another wasnt short on hours, either snow or Holidays keep coming up.

When I got your policy change that was left in my mail box it was quite insulting. First of all although I requested it I have never been given any kind of employee policy book so how can changes be made to something I cant reference. I am the only one that has emailed students so it was directed towards me but yet you couldnt stop and speak to me. With the exception of sending an email reminder to students about the Sunday class I have not emailed any student unless I was returning their email since you said someone complained. After that the students were asking me if they could give me permission to email them and I told them that if they wanted to be contacted by email that they could email me and I would return it. Why would you feel the need to make a policy change rather then speak to me directly? Im not sure who is whispering what in your ear due to their own insecurity but I dont like feeling like I have to constantly wonder if I am there for the same reason as Jenny Lang. You cant stand her but dont want to work nights yourself so you keep her around. I put too much of myself into teaching to be put in that position. I am reliable, Im there every night so that the students have a feeling of security instead of constant change, I have the night students finally working together as a team, theyre learning what Im teaching (it shows on the test scores), and I make myself available to them if they have questions. When they go on break I am always helping someone with something. I also have been allowing them to email me and answering their questions, helping them with their resumes, and just giving places where they can find more information online so they have more resources and can become independent. I dont get paid for the extra work I do and it is your name attached to the school so I will not return emails anymore if that is what you want. The drop in the test scores for the state boards shows that something went wrong. Numbers are black and white and speak all for themselves.
That is the best I can do as far as teaching. The night that you were upset about them being loud there were also circumstances behind it. They just found out either about new policies or policies that hadnt been enforced in the past. We had our test review that night and you spoke to the class for the first hour which after the break left us with two hours and twenty minutes. Wednesday is always the hardest night to keep them in control anyway if you add any kind of curve ball its almost impossible to keep them on track past 9pm. I have done everything I can to benefit the school and the students. I made sure you had a new doctor right away so that you wouldnt have to be stressed out about that. I even made sure that the women from Key Bank wanted to do business with you. When a student asked what the most important quality they look for when considering a loan it was character plain and simple. So I made sure that they like you even though you couldnt be there.
Things are not going quite as I thought. I would like to continue to work for you but I think it needs to be restructured in order for it to be a good situation for both of us. Im not making enough money to pay my benefits and I dont want to switch down to CDHP because the co-pays are higher and one of my specialists doesnt take it so I would have to pay out of net work. If you add all of that to the premium it would cost me an extra $400 a month. I like working with the students but there are classes that I dont think anyone is going to teach quite the way you want them taught. I dont want to live under a microscope its putting too much pressure on me. Ive had a headache for a week and a half without a break. At this point I think it would be better for both of us if I was to just work clinic instead of classroom. You are expanding and soon you will need to separate the night class in order to fit everyone. I could also fill in some classes that way the pressure can be on someone else. If you have any other ideas I am open to suggestions but things cannot continue the way it is. I feel as if I am at the receiving end of a witch hunt. I will still be there for you personally no matter what. Your friendship means a lot to me and I dont want to jeopardize it and I feel that will happen if the situation stays this way.


Due to WC court holding up my receiving an MRI, I only found out a few weeks ago that I now have many herniated as well as bulging disks. I did have 3 bulging disks prior to this but the damage was not nearly this extensive.

IF YOU ARE OR KNOW AN ATTORNEY THAT CAN HELP ME PLEASE GET IN TOUCH WITH ME ASAP

Legal Help Needed, class action & personal lawsuit
Clintondale, New York
U.S.A.