I have been asked why I settled for so "little" money when what I was really was deprived of by my involuntary retirement, forced by what I perceived to be a hostile work environment brimming with nepotism, imbued with discrimination and abetted by retaliation, was a well-paying job which I was good at. That represented an actual loss of much more money than $5,000. But it was never about the money, rather, it was about what I left behind me, what my imprint was after more than 25 years of outstanding work in my 2d career. That discussion will come tomorrow when we look at the 4th settling point, on page 4 of 5. The first of three drafts I was presented with had much of what I perceived to be necessary; but it lacked money. I said there had to be money (the agency had to put skin into the game), and there was a money offer in the second draft. I said the money offer was too low. In the third draft the money offer was sweetened a little bit, and I finalized that draft by executing it because it had everything that I thought was necessary to justify my actions in filing my complaint, and in leaving when I did, and to try to put my former agency back on a fair footing for all the staff members who were still there, especially those at risk solely because of their age, and those who would follow.
The very 1st settling point is that "the FTC will issue Mr. Lamberton a performance appraisal, reflecting an overall "Outstanding" rating for the 2014-2015 rating period." This is as it should have been all along. My most influential manager, who used to call me The Closer and put me on cases where important and difficult settlement negotiations were happening or imminent, not only to settle the matter but also to teach inexperienced attorneys some of the various techniques of effective settlement. For instance, in the line of important and ground-breaking Auto Recall cases that I was a part of for the year that I received a sub-standard review, I am proud that I negotiated a favorable settlement for my former agency with one of the largest car dealers in the country which was represented by the former Associate Director of the division I worked for, who was legendary throughout the agency for his absolute mastery of the law and thorough knowledge of the agency and what it had done in the past on similar cases, and in addition he was a brilliant interlocutor. After my bogus review at the end of the affected rating period, I would have settled with that manager for just one more point in the rating formula (change just one of the three Satisfactory categories to Commendable, which certainly wouldn't have been a "gift," especially in light of my subsequent award). That alone would have changed my overall Satisfactory rating to Commendable. Because I am reasonable, and my job and my paycheck would have tempered my pride and my notions of justice, we could have effected that compromise. But she was inflexible, or perhaps covering up or trying to shut me up, so once I no longer had a job, I had nothing to lose, really, and I negotiated exactly what I needed and could realistically achieve in pursuit of justification for me and fair play for those following.
The 2d of the 4 settling points was that I received "a Superior Service Certificate as an honorary performance award." This wasn't worth my job, and my receipt of it wouldn't necessarily change the management culture in my former division much less in my former agency, but it was nice to receive as an afterthought.
No comments:
Post a Comment