ERMC Unethical, Immoral, Illegal

On 02-21-2009, I called my place of employment (Cool Springs Galleria Security Department contracted by ERMC) to check my work schedule and was informed by ***** that I had been removed from the schedule. I had not been previously informed of this by anyone in the management staff and no reason was given as Officer ***** did not now. I am sure that the reason for my dismissal stems from a meeting I had with security Director Doug Frady on Monday, February 9th 2009. In this meeting, I addressed many issues regarding the blatant disregard for state and local laws prevalent at our contract location. Among the issues discussed were the following:
1. Sgt. ***** committing at least two counts of theft from vendors that I know of, both times amounting to fifty dollars or more, for which he was never prosecuted or even so much as disciplined by the company. I wrote the report for one of these offenses. This matter was also never reported to the state licensing authority which is required by law in cases of theft by a licensed guard. Also discussed was his use of the cctv system to watch football games rather than watching for crime which is his job.
2. Sgt. ******* being admittedly addicted to oxycontin, a controlled substance, and never being disciplined by the company. Furthermore, this was never reported to the Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance which is required by state law in the instance of a licensed security guard being addicted to any controlled substance or alcohol. Sgt. ****** has also missed at least 60 days during my time of employment for a number of imaginary ailments, conditions, and terminal diseases never so much as being written up for missing so much work.
3. Dispatcher ******* ********* arriving to work on the average of 41 minutes late everyday for the last ten years and never being disciplined by the company. I also addressed how this put an unnecessary burden on the third shift officer who has to work over each

day waiting to be relieved from duty. Doug Frady stated that "she has always been late to work and that is just the way it is". When I told him the third shift guard had spoke of quitting if this wasn’t resolved, he replied: “F**k Him! I don’t give a s**t if he quits or not!” This speaks volumes for how Mr. Frady values his employees. Ms. ********* has subsequently been suspended from work due to being arrested for her third count of driving on a revoked license in addition to simple possession of a controlled substance. Again, this was not reported to the state which is required in instances of a licensed guard being arrested for any reason.
4. Lt. **** ********, who completes the work schedule each week, has repeatedly changed work schedules on an officer's off day and not informed them of the change. This usually resorts in the guard missing their scheduled shift and being berated by the management but never officially disciplined since they don't want anyone to know it was really their own fault.
5. Doug Frady's policy that concealable body armor is not an authorized part of the uniform even though this is considered to be personal protective equipment by OSHA and as p.p.e. is guaranteed to employees in at risk occupations. By his reasoning, it cannot be considered an unauthorized part of the uniform anyway since concealable body armor cannot be seen under a shirt.
6. Doug Frady's policy that handcuffs are not authorized for our location even though OSHA, the State of Tennessee, and ERMC's own policy manual all refer to handcuffs as another form of p.p.e.
7. The terminating of **** ****** for "lack of work/layoff" and the immediate hiring of three new guards to take his position and two other open slots which were already available. It seems that Doug Frady lied to the state and to **** ****** telling him the economy caused the elimination of his position. If a position were to be cut, shouldn’t it have been based on seniority and shouldn't he also have

offered **** his old position back when it "became available"?
8. In the seven months I have been employed with ERMC, I have been forced to cover over 30 supervisor shifts without receiving the supervisor rate of pay. I have also worked 10-12 hour shifts without being afforded the opportunity for a meal break more often than not. This is due to my being the only guard scheduled to cover the floor on my shift. Mr. Frady said: “Bulls*t! You can take a break whenever you want to!” That might be possible if I weren’t constantly responding to calls from the dispatch office.
This is merely the tip of the iceberg. I have been told by ***** ****, a long time employee of the company that "anyone who brings this stuff up doesn't last long afterwards". Doug Frady's response to my concerns was that I "could either be part of the solution or part of the problem". My question to him after that was if management is the problem then how could I be part of the solution. I asked how it looked to the client and the patrons of the establishment to see these things go on. He stated further that "he does things his way and in his own time, no one will tell him how to run things, and he doesn’t care what anyone else thinks". He had also stated on an earlier occasion when I addressed similar issues that, “you b****h more than any white man I know”. Anytime a guard doesn't agree with the outright corruption and disregard for the law, they are forced to resign, literally. **** ******** and **** ****** are only two examples of employees who were coerced into signing resignation letters by Doug Frady. I have also been told that there have been numerous complaints made to the corporate office against Sgt. **** ***** for creating a hostile working environment. In each instance, the person bringing the complaint no longer works for the company due to their "resignation". There is clearly no standard of discipline at this location. In the past ten years, there have been over 100 former guards

employed while the same group of six in the office seems to be untouchable by the corporate policy or even the law for that matter. There have been numerous complaints of harassment, sexual harassment, unbecoming conduct, and theft made against guards by employees of the mall as well as vendors and patrons. In my seven months of employment, I have never received a single complaint or disciplinary action. I have worked in the private security field for 10 years not including my time in the US Army. I was even praised for writing the clearest, most concise, and detailed reports at our location. On 02-22-2009 I went to check the schedule for myself and get a reason for my termination. I noticed that my name had indeed been removed from the schedule and my name had been removed from my locker and a new lock placed on it as though it had already been reassigned to someone else. My personal items that were in the locker were nowhere to be found. The personal items consisted of nothing more than a few plastic cups, three ink pens, and a bottle of white-out, hardly anything of value but I would have expected some sort of professional courtesy. No one even contacted me to let me know I had been terminated. I turned in my uniforms and keys to Sgt. **** ***** and asked Sgt. ***** why exactly I had been terminated. He replied, “I don’t know. You’re talking to the wrong guy.” If the supervisor on duty cannot even give me a reason for my removal from the schedule and the disposal of my personal property, why then have I been terminated? The only reason can be that they don't want anyone around who might shed light on their shady dealings.

They only start you at $8.00/hr. It ain't worth the anger.

I think they did you a favor; $8.00 an hour is certainly not enough to live on period, and to have to go through what you had to in working there certainly makes it not worth while.

What I have found is that no salaried job will pay you what you're really worth, if you are an ethical worker, which it appears that you are. Idealy, I hope you have found better employment, however if you or somebody you know have a burning desire to chart your own financial independance and freedom, I suggest that you take a serious look at the following website. If it is a fit for you I will here from you if it is not, I wish you the best and a better employer than the previous one. www.yourinternetbiz.biz