People Tell Their Staggering Stories Of Revenge

“I was working for a privately run correction facility (PCF for short and anonymity) and had been doing so for nearly 10 years. Names will be omitted for anonymity reasons, even though the facility is now long since closed down.

The pay was nothing like what state or federal employees get paid, and it was a constant show of being short-handed. I worked my way up through the ranks from being a front-line officer in the units to visitation Sgt, shift commander, and finally, security specialist. Bear with me, as this does take a bit to explain why the upward steps came. When I was a floor officer, I worked with others assigned to the same unit to get a general code of conduct going (i.e., what we would expect out of the offenders and what we would let slide within reason).

Because of this, the unit we worked on ran so well that most thought of the unit as the ‘easiest unit in the facility’ to work, but it was because all of us ran it nearly identical and were consistent and fair. Eventually, this caused my shift commander to move me to other areas as a test and eventually into visitation.

Visitation ended up being one of the most demanding positions I worked at the facility simply because prior officers had done so little and were so behind.

Along with my partner (which regularly changed because of the stress of the position), we got the visitation department up to code and went from taking 5 visitors a weekend to over 80 visitors a weekend on the regular. After doing this for roughly 3 years, I moved up to Sgt of visitation, which was less stressful as it was more supervisory and handling complaints as well as necessary policy revisions.

After nearly 2 years, I moved into shift commander. Here, I identified several issues with our overtime policy to include significant favoritism issues as well as corrected several reporting flaws that we were constantly being dinged on by PPMU (Private Prison Monitoring Unit of the department of corrections in my state). Because of this, PPMU personnel and I became very close as I worked with them on further clarifying and correcting some of the things we weren’t doing quite right.

This led to creating several spreadsheets in Excel that more or less made tracking overtime, vacation, assignments, and various other little managerial things far easier to track with barely anyone having to do much other than add their employees and fill out assignments for each shift. This allowed us to get away from favoritism and more easily spread the copious amount of overtime fairly, so everyone was doing their fair share instead of just a handful constantly being taken advantage of while also making it easier to explain monthly shortages.

Higher-ups loved it, PPMU loved it, and many of the overworked front line staff were delighted by it cause it allowed them to finally get some rest after 16-hour shifts while others hated it cause they couldn’t skate by under the radar without doing their share of mandatory overtime (part of the new hire agreement was signing you understood there was mandatory overtime, and refusal could lead to disciplinary up to termination).

During this time, we had some changes in administration and the creation of a couple of positions that were required as part of our contract with the state which was re-negotiated yearly (this is important to know later on). This included at least 1 captain per shift (originally, we had 2 lieutenants), a captain of housing (had none prior), a security specialist, also an lt position, and changing several positions from officer to Sgt level.

This is where the problems started and a number of the staff started filing complaints, because while the state-mandated these positions, the private company didn’t like it cutting into their profit margin and begrudgingly agreed. However, our administration saw this as a way to get their friends in cushy positions. Company policy says to promote from within, but our administration found ways to make it seem like most internal candidates didn’t meet qualifications while hiring old buddies into newly created captain and administrative positions.

I was eventually moved to security specialist and backup shift commander. My new role was creating facility-specific amendments to administrative regulations to ensure we were following the purpose of administrative regulations. This entailed how our equipment was managed, key set permissions, restrictive housing unit, visitation, perimeter security, and making sure all guest/visitors/vendors/volunteers entry policies were followed to include mandatory background checks. I also ended up taking over several other Excel spreadsheets that were required to show each department in the facility was accordingly staffed the required hours per our state contract agreement.

It was quite the handful, to say the least, and by closely following the administrative regulations, I was quickly making more enemies as a lot of the issues started showing how incompetent the administration was, namely the major, housing captain, and one of the other captains that were buddies the major got hired on.

As security specialist, I reported directly to the major, deputy warden, and warden as well as by extension PPMU.

We had regular meetings to discuss issues and how to remedy them, then it was my job to author the adjustments, so the major could review and sign them along with the warden before they went into effect. By this time, I was the sole manager of no less than 5 major Excel spreadsheets in the facility used in various departments. All of which I trained each in those departments, to include major and captains, as it was to eventually become their responsibility to manage them.

This included giving them encrypted passwords if those spreadsheets ever broke/corrupted as Excel is known to do on occasions. However, this didn’t happen and I was constantly the go-to in order to get them fixed.

After a couple of years of this in comes the private corp to renegotiate the contract and suddenly my position responsibilities get reorganized into their respective captain or major responsibilities.

At this time a new captain position comes open, and I put in for it along with several others with similar experience to me, and one that has absolutely bare minimum experience but is close friends with the major and another administration sitting on the hiring board. Needless to say, they get the position, and I get bumped to their old position as housing lt.

I ask my major why I can’t be moved back to shift commander where I can at least still work on all the policies and sheets I’ve made up to this point to which my major says to me “You aren’t a Captain, and we needed a Captain there. Not you. Just be happy you didn’t get demoted, and stop trying to be a captain.”

I smile and reply “Ok, but you do know if you move me to housing, I no longer have responsibility over all the work I currently do as that is all security-related responsibilities, and housing has different responsibilities, right?” It is important to note that at this PCF Housing and Security acted like two different entities from one another, and Security had final say over housing, but it was housing’s responsibility to address housing issues before coming to security.

This meant moving me to Housing Lt instead of back to shift commander would mean I no longer had any right to correct them when they weren’t following the policies I had written prior, and certainly meant I had no responsibility over any of the spreadsheets they managed.

“Well, that is how it works here,” the major replied. “You just didn’t get the captain position.

I’m sure we chose the best person, and there will be no issues. Just do what your new position is because you aren’t a captain; you’re a housing lt., and you will do only what is part of that position’s assignments.” At this point, he gives me the biggest grin as he has waited 3 years to ‘put me in my place’ for making his job harder by actually having to do his job.

“Ok,” I say and leave the room without saying any further.

Cue the nuclear revenge.

Now I had also submitted complaints of harassment and policy violations with updates as further incidents took place causing the complaint to stay perpetually open, and this was added to the complaint with documentation. This was only another notch to a long-going issue, one that various others I worked with have also joined in on as they had equally been railroaded, harassed, discriminated against (to include lost wages), and saw the Nepotism taking place.

It is important to know that the policy on Nepotism for this company included language stating that ‘Family and close friends could not have unfair advantages in promotion or job placement over qualified or current employees.’

Now it isn’t immediate, this change, but after a couple of months, I’m now working as a housing lt and taking care of my new responsibilities. I’ve shed all responsibility of prior spreadsheets, policy adjustments, and anything that doesn’t have to do with my immediate department.

It is about this time when things start to go noticeably wrong.

Even though I took the time to train, assign management rights, and give password control of all workbooks to the responsible department heads (most of which were the major) it doesn’t take long for it all to go to chaos. The new captain doesn’t know a thing about Excel, let alone any of the reporting software a shift commander has to use sometimes multiple times a day.

They are very lacking in knowledge of AR and quickly get various offender and staff complaints. The major isn’t keeping track of the spreadsheets he is now supposed to manage (contract compliance tracking and facility entry tracking) because he is just as clueless when it comes to anything computer related, and visitation is slowly going down the drain cause none of the other captains kept open communication with the Sgt/officers to help deal with issues and staffing concerns.

By this point, PPMU is very unhappy and demanding that these areas be brought up to compliance within 30 days or they will start to pursue fines against the company cutting further into their monthly profit margin by nearly $1,000 per day out of compliance for each issue on top of other fines for failure to fill contractually obligated positions. Needless to say, these are fines that add up very fast for those who don’t know.

At this point, my housing captain calls me into his office with another of the admin to give me the assignment of fixing these troubled areas. After reviewing the assignment, I smile back and tell him “Sorry, the major told me I wasn’t a captain and that I was to stop doing captain work now that I was a housing lt. This is beyond my assigned post to fix as it requires me to tell security what to do in order to fix it.”

“We should work as a team. You don’t want the team to suffer for this, do you?” He says to me. Then the other admin pipes in “Lt., let me get this right. You are refusing to do this because you didn’t get the captain position?”

I then give the same grin the major gave me when he told me months earlier. “Well, that is how it works here, isn’t it?

Security manages security and housing takes care of housing unless it jeopardizes the security of the facility, then it is security’s problem, right?” I then roll my shoulders into a shrug, “I just simply lack the authority to do that job, and the major assured me that you and the other captains all had it under control. I even showed it all to you before I was reassigned, remember?”

By this point, I can see that the captain is getting visibly upset as they are now entirely responsible for all the work I used to do. The other admin at this point looks at me again and asks, “So, are you refusing to do this assignment?”

“It isn’t that I’m refusing to do the assignment; it is just that with all my new responsibilities as housing lt.

I simply don’t have the time to do them and the work of a captain, which the major made very clear I’m not supposed to do the work of any longer as I am not a captain.” I then stand with a smile, “So, no, I am not refusing the assignment; I am following the orders of a higher superior that told me to no longer do anything outside of my assigned duties as a housing lt.

Last I checked, the post orders I signed stated I was only to do assignments that are of housing unit responsibility, which also is signed by the major and the warden. Now, if you don’t mind, I really have other responsibilities I need to get back to.” I then smile at both of them and walk out of the office as I was currently in the middle of getting vacation request and working on offender housing assignments to ensure we were in compliance with STG (security threat group) and racial balance requirements for the nearly 1,000 offenders in the facility.

About 20 days later, I receive a phone call while on vacation at 8 AM from the stand-in warden (our warden had been put on administrative leave pending investigation) along with said housing captain.

“Is this Lt.?” asks the stand-in warden to which I groggily answer, “Yes, it is. Who is this?”

“This is Stand-in Warden, and I’m sitting in the room with Housing Captain who has brought something rather startling to my attention.

He is saying that you refused to do an assigned duty that resulted in the inability to track various things in the facility, is that correct?”

At this point, I sit up in bed and answer, “Yes, that is correct, but that is beca-” I don’t even get to finish as this stand-in is clearly upset at my admission and interrupts me.

“You do realize that this is insubordinate behavior that is gross in nature, don’t you?” Anger was clearly in his voice, but a controlled anger.

I can only imagine that the housing captain is sitting in the room with a grin.

“Am I going to get to answer, or are you going to interrupt me again? It seems you have already made your mind up on the matter given the tone of your voice, sir,” I respond.

“You’re correct. I’ve decided that your negligence in performing duties as assigned is gross in nature and believe this meets the required parameters for immediate termination effective now.” He pipes back, obviously not happy with what I said.

“You do realize I will be adding this to my complaint of workplace harassment and retaliation if you do so without getting the full story, don’t you? This means that I will be adding your name to the complaint for failure to do your due diligence in getting the full story on top of the warden you are currently replacing, the housing captain sitting with you, the major, and several others for violation of your own disciplinary policy.” I’m shaking at this point, angry that this is happening, and that I have to resort to this extent to get the point across.

“And yes, I do have access to all of the documents, including all current policies of the company, the current contract between the company and the state, and will pursue this if you continue with this.”

“You do what you feel is necessary, and I am doing what I feel necessary. As of this date, you are hereby terminated. You will receive in the mail the disciplinary form and decision to include a formal answer to your complaint by the week’s end.”

“You see, if you’re part of that complaint, you no longer can issue the formal answer according to policy. It will now have to come from corporate HR who will have to agree with your decision and already has copies of the complaint as well.” My voice now shaking from my own anger.

“Well, then you’ll be hearing from them, I suppose.” The phone then hangs up but not before I could hear the change in his tone of voice as well.

I wasted little time in updating my complaint and notifying the corporate HR person I had been in contact with for about 6 months now.

A week later, a notice was sent to all employees that the facility would be closing their doors permanently in 90 days, and I continued to receive my full 40 hours a week pay until the day those doors closed without ever having to return to work.

I was then later allowed to file for unemployment as well as the technical reason for loss of employment was through no fault of my own. I later found out from the HR department that the facility was closed due to four major reasons:

1.) The company was no longer making any profit due to poor management decisions that lead to PPMU issuing upwards of $75,000 in fines per month on top of out-of-control over time due to shift commanders not properly tracking their shift officers overtime, vacation, or days off.

2.) Many of the administration and captains had received numerous complaints of company violations to include harassment and nepotism.

3.) PPMU investigated the qualifications of some of the recently hired/promoted administration and captains as they too were suspicious that they didn’t meet proper qualifications for the position. This means they were entitled to back-fine all the days those positions were filled simply because they were unqualified candidates.

4.) The investigation found all complaints to be valid and would require termination of nearly all of the current administration, 2 captains, and 1 HR for failure to correct the issues meaning it was easier to just cut their losses rather than try to fix it.

Why was this nuclear revenge? Well, the state had to quickly move and relocate nearly 1,000 offenders, 250 people lost their jobs, of which 15 of them ended up fired due to policy violations resulting from the investigation of nepotism and workplace harassment.

A few had workplace discrimination and resulted in one person, who was not receiving a fair wage of others of a similar position, to receive back pay of upwards of $38,000. My start of complaints led to others filing complaints for similar reasons in the nearly two years leading up to this adding to documentation of the issue that resulted in the closure of the facility.

Even knowing the impact this had, if I were to live through it again, I would still have done the same thing.”