Another OT!!!

If it was a simple mistake, not gross negligence, malfeasance, or other lawyer-words-for-bad-conduct, then there is no reason for suspension.

Sounds quite irrational to me. This from someone wel acquainted with irrationality ;)

Well, ol' bob zee, who was the checker? Betcha there wasn't one. Betcha ol' boss was not the two sets of eyes kind. What do they put on the

401k prospectus, "Past performance is no indication of how this investment will do in the future." Betcha ol' boss still isn't going to focus on what it takes to do it right. Betcha there still won't be two sets of eyes on the drawings.

Maybe bob zee can lone this guy his collection of Hot VWs.

Anyone smart enough to modal with SW is smart enough to organize a labor union.

Labor laws in all states I am aware of do NOT allow for this type of suspension for a literal mistake.

Mistake's happen. People's work is supposed to be "checked by", a person who used to be known as a "Checker", and signed off.

I do not think any company can get away with these things if someone wants to bitch, but frankly, I think I would probably look for greener pastures.

Bo

hello bob zee... good to know ol bob zee is alive and well out there...

Depends how large a project it is - $3000 isn't that much if the total is $300000 - and how long he has already worked for that companies best interests. Contingencies and insurance were allowed for somewhere in the budget? What is the point though of suspending someone when they should have been put to work asap fixing the error. If the employer was inclined to penalise maybe he could have required overtime for no pay until the project was back on schedule or lost an annual bonus or something. Sounds to me like your friend works for a bit of a tyrant. Most probably he exaggerated the true cost just to make your friend feel bad and because that's his style. Maybe too the company books are not in that good a shape and there is a need to run things close to the wind. In this country - N.Z. - I suspect your friend would have legal redress and the employer would not only end up paying the lost income but probably a penalty as well. Usually there is due process of warnings etc.to go through or in some instances dismissal is warranted but there has to be good and serious reason. Your friends mistake should not be represented to others (including other staff) by his employer as being 10x worse that it was because his professional repute, consideration for promotion and ability to find other employment could be unjustly harmed by it. I don't imagine this employer would give a fair reference to another potential employer. In the absence of unions or appropriate laws your friend may be best to quietly look for other opportunities.

Early in my engineering career I was put in charge of being the inspector on military qualification tests of a breathing device. It had to do 50,000 successful "fires" to get approved, and I had to certify each successful operation.

The last guy before me kidded in the lab about a "failure" & so upset the project chief, they fired him instantly (so I was told).

After 3 days of testing, I detected a "misfire" @ about item 1500, noted it in the logbook & told everyone "We start over." I was told "We don't kid around here.", to which I replied "I'm inspecting, being

100% accurate, now figure out why it failed and we start over."

And then they fired me, even though that misfire probably saved them money in the long run by forcing them to look at the detail that went wrong.

I could have bitched and hired a lawyer, but hey, there were lots of jobs out there. I was glad to get out from under the SOBs that didn't know how to run a company.

Bo

Labor union? Huh? Why would somebody want a bunch of crooks representing them?

If your friend was working under contract, then he/she could have legal recourse for this type of action by the employer. If he is a salaried employee, it's more than likely that he/she signed an "employed at will" document which basically means that he can be fired for any (or no) reason whatsoever. It also gives the employee the right to quit for any or no reason without legal recourse.

Either way, if this happend to me, I would definitely be looking for another job QUICK. I've made plenty of mistakes, some costing thousands of dollars also, but never had an employer so callous as to suspend me without pay. Sounds like the employer wants him to quit anyways (maybe to avoid workman's comp)?

Here that would be known as 'constructive dismissal'. Usual decision from the labour court is that the employer ends up paying out the salary for the duration of the contract period. In this case too probably there would be an award for damaged repute.In the end something like this would cost the employer far more than just keeping the person employed and being reasonable about things.

He who never made a mistake, Never made nothing...

& Thomas Edison said something like (from memory), if you want to be an inventor, fail a lot.

Bo

Could it be that there is a fellow "Beetle Head" here in the group?!?! KEWL!!! Didn't know that. I proudly admit to being one myself.

Well, bob z., hope you find a way to enjoy the time off. I've always enjoyed your posts, so maybe we'll see you around here a little more in the next couple weeks. The "friend" reference was cute, but possible done already.

Grins, Diego

Got a few 1200 and 36 HP parts. I go way back.

Anything for sale? I have a '59 canvas sunroof beetle I will be fixing up within the next couple of years. It's completely disassembled from the ground up right now. It is a complete car minus fenders, hood, and deck lid. Body is straight as an arrow and rust free. It's gonna be mildly custom (no cutting on the body). But get this... I want to put the orig.

36hp back in so that it will look fast, but go slow. But parts for these things are hard to come by.

Back about 1976 I made a mistake and built a $20K prototype tool that was a boat anchor. (With inflation, that is probably an $80-100K mistake today, although the mold could probably be built for less than $40K today.) I told my boss, we talked about how I screwed up, and I went back to work on a new design that would actually work. He didn't even write it up on my yearly performance evaluation.

Maybe my boss was a patsy, but I think he was a good boss. (Naturally!) Bosses need to reinforce the behavior they want to see and penalize the behavior they don't want to see. If your friend's boss wants his staff to be extremely cautious and conservative, maybe he did the right thing. If he wants them to be innovative, then he probably blew it big time.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

I've been doing this stuff for several decades. I know for a fact that the time I stop making mistakes, will coincide EXACTLY, with the time that I die.

People make mistakes, that's just the way it is. It sounds like this employer has ZERO people skills, and is probably doomed to failure, as a business, as a result. People have to be able to keep their dignity. Sounds like this guy is a class "A" a-hole.

You don't do this to someone unless there're other compelling reasons, suspected drug use etc. It may not even be legal.

Mark

In a "right to work" state an employer can fire someone with or without cause at any time. But that is no excuse for this type of poor behavior on the employer's part. I'd tell your buddy to get a job with a decent company that treats its employees well. Jobs are becoming more plentiful as the economy heats up. Maybe someone should do a cost/benefits analysis showing how much this guy made for the company vs what this mistake costed. Sounds like the boss is an ass.

Let me know what you need. I'll go in the attic and see if I can find anything.