Complaint Review: West Corporation - West Transaction Services

These are two letters I submitted to corporate. read and you'll see what happened to me. and before you read this let me add that I was also disqualified for unemployment benefits because they said that I was in violation of Code of Alabama 1975 Sec 25-4-78(3) stating that I can be discharged for misconduct connected with the work. What they failed to include was that the only way they can disqualify me is with previous warning, which I never received. I smell a lawsuit. enjoy



My name is David. I was hired to work in the Huntsville, Alabama call center on May 15, 2006 as an agent for Cingular Wireless, under the training of Ms. Jennifer Leslie. Three weeks into my new hire training, I applied for, and was hired for, the position of Training Assistant(herein referred to as TA). My exact date that this occurred was June 6, 2006. I was to start this job and all of its official duties on June 12, 2006.

After my new hire training was completed, I immediately moved into my new position by assisting all trainers in whatever capacity they needed me, including everything from smaller jobs (making copies, faxing documents, etc.) to bigger jobs (facilitating courses, attending calibrations, conference calls, etc.) Under the supervision of former Training Manager Jason Burson, myself and Jasmine Greene (another TA that was hired at the same time as myself), fulfilled all tasks that were set in front of us, in the most timely and professional manner as possible.

Whenever we werent involved with classes, we reported to the production floor, as we were instructed, to see if there was anything that was needed from operations . This mostly included answering hands on the floor, and processing calls to help with call volume. In the beginning of 2007, our Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) were informed that due to corporate restructuring, the SME position would be eliminated and all SMEs were to report back to the phones to be officially classified as agents. They were provided with letters in which they signed, accepting this demotion.

In the beginning of April 2007, after a meeting with John Thomas, our site director, our new Training Manager, William Williams, sent out a department-wide e-mail stating that all Training Assistants were expected to report back to the phones for a full 8 hours a day until further notice. Naturally, this raised some concerns and questions as to the reasons for this sudden decision. Unfortunately, through no fault of his own, Mr. Williams was hired externally and was not familiar with the policies and procedure are far as the reporting structures of West. Being in such a high position, he has been forced to adapt as best as he can with everything.

At the same time, all paperwork I signed stated that my department and division was Training, therefore, TAs were to report to the Training Manager. However, when this decision was made, we were told to report to the Operations Manager, Delia Olkiewicz from that point forward. This raised some alarm, seeing as how everything, from our job descriptions, so our acceptance letter for the department stated that we did, in fact, report to training.

Now there are 4 TAs total in the training department in Huntsville, myself (David Daniels), Jasmine Greene, Arthur McCartney (Pacificare) and Frances Walsh (Pacificare). However, all of the changes that were supposed to be taking place seemed to only be taking effect for myself and Jasmine. I understand that we do work for different line groups, but we were told that these changes were taking place were for the entire position, not our specific line.

At the same time, TAs were needed more than ever to assist with supplemental trainings and new hire classes, because of various obligations that our Operations Trainers had. Mind you, none of this information came from our Training Manager, only from our Operations Manager, who, after during a conversation with our Operations Manager, informed me that if TAs were ever needed for anything from the training department, an email with specific dates, times, and tasks performed was to be sent to the Operations Manager and, if approved by herself, TAs would then be released from the phones for the time period specified and, after that duty was fulfilled, we were to report back to the phones. Emails were sent to this effect to all Trainers working for Cingular.

Again to this point, Jasmine and myself were not informed of anything outside of the fact that we were supposed to be the phones 8 hours a day. Even in the midst of all that has been occurring, perhaps the shocking surprise came on May 22, 2007, when I saw a newly printed team list with my name on it as an agent. I walked out to the production to merely ask a question to our daytime supervisor, Alecia Flint. Ms. Flint was about to conduct a huddle with Marlon Leonards (one of our Daytime Production Team Leaders) team and asked me if I wanted to sit down, seeing as how this was my team now. I sat with her, very confused with her statement and she proceeded to apologize for my impending demotion and my being placed back to agent status. I informed her that I was not aware of any of this and asked if I could see a copy of the list of persons on the team.

Sure enough, my name was the last one listed. Mr. Leonard and Ms. Flint informed me that Ms. Olkiewicz had placed me on the team the day before, and sent it out to them. I immediately wondered why I hadnt received any notification at all from Delia or anyone else to this effect. Shortly after this occurred, word had reached John Thomas and he called a meeting for TAs to discuss the history of the TA position and explain what was happening and why it was happening.

Strangely, this meeting only included Jasmine and myself. Why would we have a TA meeting and be without two of our TAs? Mr. Thomas informed us that, first of all, TAs always reported to production from this inception of the position. Furthermore, TAs were never designed to actually teach classes, but to only be a behind-the-scenes support system for the training staff. We were also informed that there was an effort for the TA position to be cut because of a lack of first quarter earnings on the corporate level and our being placed on the phones was an attempt to keep the TA position open by being able to say that we are raising revenue by being on the phones.

Revenue that pay the salary of the higher level management on our site. Still a bit unconvinced by this meeting, I decided to do a little research of my own. I pulled up the West intranet job opening site, and found some very interesting information. First of all, there is an opening for a TA position, both in Rocky Mount and our College Station call centers. Is this cut being made as a company decision or as a site decision? Also, if revenue was a problem, why wasnt our pay scale compromised instead of our job responsibilities?

Furthermore, upon looking at the description for the responsibilities of a TA on the College Station opening, it clearly states Training Assistants are responsible for.grading tests and quizzes and developing training material..Training assistant may be asked to conduct a portion of the class The point of the Training Assistant position, as I was told upon being hired, was a means of getting your feet wet as a trainer in all aspects, including teaching a class.

Now, the rebuttal for that argument was that we have recently switched lines from regular cellular service to Business service, but the information is the same information. Trainers went through certification classes that TAs were informed could not attend, but while our Trainers were being certified, I was assisting a trainer that was sent from Reno to conduct a new hire class, but was unsure of the information because her call center did not use the same systems ours did.

Furthermore, the day after we had this meeting with John Thomas, two of our night trainers had to call out, leaving Jasmine and myself to cover the classes for them for the entire day, which we would not have theoretically been able to do since we were never designed to teach classes. Also, I pulled up the first quarter earnings report from the first quarter for West Corporation and saw that not only was the company not down in earnings, but West corporation was actually up 19 percent in revenue.

In a statement taken directly from the report, We are pleased with our first quarter results," said Thomas B. Barker, Chief Executive Officer of West Corporation. "The higher than anticipated adjusted EBITDA margin includes non-recurring interest income of $3.3 million as well as reflecting our continued emphasis on growing the most profitable parts of our business.

I have contacted my lawyers and they are prepared to undergo litigation for these issues stated. Before writing this letter, however, I have consulted with Ebonee Younger, our Employee Relations Training Coordinator and Valeria Wakefield, our Human Resources and Employment Coordinator, as well as our Training staff, Dewitt Donald, Jennifer Leslie, Alicia Jones, and Howard Wright, who have all been enlightened on the situation.

Most recently, on June 3, to be exact, while working on a quiz for Alicia Jones class, I was approached by Mr. Thomas, who asked me why I wasnt on the phones. I let him know I was working on a quiz and he asked who had approved me to do a quiz. I tried to tell him since Ms. Jones was in class, she hadnt had an opportunity to email Delia yet, but I was interrupted and told that since I didnt have permission to type the quiz, I was immediately suspended until further notice and was escorted out of the building without any papers or notification by Mr. Thomas.

That same day, ironically, our Pacificare TAs (much to their surprise) were told that the TA position had been cut and they were to report to the phones immediately. At the point of this letter, I am currently on my suspension from work. I feel that it is necessary to inform West on a corporate level of the happenings at their call center and to shed light on an issue that has been going on for quite some time. I have included emails reflecting the information I talked about in this letter, including a copy of the team list with me on it, and copies of my acceptance letters and the TA job description, illustrating who we are to be reporting to. This situation is one of immediate concern for me and your company.

To Whom It May Concern,

This letter is a follow-up to a letter I wrote in 2007 regarding some very unfair practices at the West Corporation in Huntsville, Alabama. For those who do not know who I am, my name is David Daniels, and I was hired into West Corporation originally for AT&T Wireless and was shortly promoted to become a Training Assistant. Through situations stated in my letter attached, I lost that job and went to work for the American Express line group. That's where this letter begins. I was an agent for American Express at West Corporation in the summer of 2007, and again, was promoted shortly to become a Production Team Lead for the line group. Now let me bring you up to speed to what has been going on up to this point.

Before I transitioned to American Express, Huntsville had developed a contract within the Comcast Cable Company, and we shortly had a Comcast division line group at our site. Our site director, John Thomas, had many qualified applicants apply for the job of Operations Manager for Comcast, and somehow, a young lady by the name of Jamie had aquired the position and was moved from our Pacificare health insurance line group, with no experience in that industry whatsoever to head Comcast.

At the same time, the personal relationship between these two individuals became quite apparent when Mr. Thomas began driving her car to work everyday and vice versa. But I digress. Comcast employees were labeled as the most disorganized, and unmotivated line gorup at west, which s****.> Needless to say, members of Comcast's corporate investigation team came to Huntsville to assess the situation, which ultimately ended in Comcast pulling their contract with West Corporation, costing us money and business. I find it funny, however, that right before Comcast folded, Mr. Thomas' female friend 'found' another job at a completely different company and managed to leave right before everything came tumbling down.

In any event, I started working at American Express and aquired the position of Team Lead. I developed my team into one of the highest goal acheiving teams on the floor, and at the end of last year, we were assessed on our skills as team leads, and I was rated highest as far as agent satisfaction and effective leadership skills. After about 6 months of tenure as a Team Lead, a position opened for an Operations Trainer. Coming from the training environment, naturally I was more comfortable training and put in my application for that job.

However, after a series of interviews and presentations, I did not aquire the job, bt the job was given to a lady named Brenda, who just happened to be a church friend of Jennifer Leslie, our new training manager since our previous Training Manager William Williams was fired based on putting through inaccurate information for line groups. By the way, did I mention that William Williams and John Thomas were church friend as well??? But again, I digress. Brenda was working for CIGNA and had healthcare experience, whereas I had experience with AT&T Wireless, and training experience at that, but was still looked over. Not a problem.

Shortly after, all three of our Trainers for American Express trainers quit, and a posting for more Trainers came about as well. I talked to the Training Manager and she discouraged me from applying, insinuating that she had already decided who she was going to hire before interviews even began. I don't believe that an employee should ever be discouraged from applying for a position at West Corporation. Now let me backtrack a bit. When William Williams was fired, and the Training Manager position opened, our former Training Manager, Jason Burson, applied for the job and with his credentials and experience, was turned down for the job as well.

So at this point, i've hit the glass ceiling at Weest Corporation by being told that any job I apply for will be denied, because to move higher in the company would mean the approval or John Thomas, who I have not had the best relationship with, after his trying to get me fired so many times and not succeeding. The straw that broke the camel's back occurred today, when I was fired from West Corporation. Lee Wiggins, Operations Supervisor, was notified by myself and another team lead, Astrid Pope, that I had to leave early on Tuesday afternoon, after I had received a call from my son's mother asking me to come to the hospital due to his illness.

I alerted them and told the team lead that if anyone asked, I let them know as well but that my son had to be attended to. On Wednesday of this week, my son was still sick and I called back to work to put in some PTO hours for myself. I spoke with Mr. Wiggins myself, who put in my tie and assured me that I would be fine and he hoped my son would feel better in the next couple of days. I returned to work today not only to find that my badge would not let me into the building, but that my Operations Manager, Michael finch would issue me my paperwork saying that I was fired because I left without alerting my supervisor first.

So not only was I lied to by saying everything was fine when I called in on Wednesday, but I also found out that my job had been posted since Tuesday, when I left. I was fired before I even knew what was going on.

On top of that, all Step III PINS and Dismissals have to be approved by the Site Director and employee relations director. My Dismissal form does not have John Thomas' signature on it anywhere. After losing my job with West Corporation, I am alerting anyone I can at West that due to the unfair business practices and corruption from the head to the bottom of the company, I refuse to stand, and would strongly suggest an full investigation and evaluation of each member of management at the facility. I have alerted my lawyers and supplied them with my papers, which are being processed as I speak. I cannot let the sadistic ideas and motives that run that building continue any further. Again, I can be reached at (((ROR redacted))) I look forward to your time and attention to this urgent matter.

Sincerely,

David

Enclosures: Corporate letter

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David
Huntsville, Alabama
U.S.A.