Monday, September 21, 2009

I need to get back in the blogging mode. It’s been over two weeks since my last post.

Bill went back to work three weeks post op. He’s done pretty good once he figured out when to take his meds. He pretty much reversed the a.m. & p.m. doses since he works the night shift. He got a prescription for adderall from his pcp. It seems to help him. He has an easier time talking. I no longer feel like I want to pull the words out of his mouth.

While work has been hard on him he says he does actually feel better than he has in several years.

So life was getting back on track and all we had to do was figure out what Dr. F would need to clear him for a BLA.

The last couple of weeks, Bill has been staying away from home because the rig is over two hours from home. Saturday I’d just driven back into town after taking Dad to lunch when I got a call from Bill. I thought it was unusual because he usually doesn’t call in the middle of the day, on good days he’s asleep at that time. Other days he’s trying to sleep. The first thing he said was “I just got fired.”

I suppose that many people that get fired say it’s unjustified but this truly is. It’s so wrong on so many levels.

Here’s the background.

A few weeks before Bill left for surgery, most of the crew on his tower (shift) quit. A new driller (shift boss) and hands were hired. So he had only worked with this crew for a while but they did know of our medical issues. While he was gone “A” (because I don’t know the guys name) was brought on board to fill in. When Bill got back to work A was still there because “B” had ended up in jail so A was filling in for him.

It turns our that A used to work with Brian, the driller. And I guess Brian intended to keep it that way. When he called Bill he told him “Well, I have to let one of you go.” Huh? Didn’t Bill have a job and A was just a temp? Guess it doesn’t work that way. He just called him up in the middle of the day and said he wouldn’t need to come back.

Bill then calls Andy, the pusher (supervisor for all three shifts on the rig) to see if he knows exactly what’s going on. Andy said he’d gotten wind of this happening and was trying to reach Brian. He said he’d get back to Bill. I guess that Andy had been trying to reach Brian and tell him that this wasn’t going to happen but Brian never took his calls until after he’d called Bill and fired him. And since they all use cell phones I know Brian has caller ID.

He’s talked to a couple of guys that worked on the other towers and everyone is kind of upset with Brian. Yesterday Bill called Andy just so he’d know what the “official” reason was for being let go. Andy said that the original paperwork that Brian filled out said that Bill had resigned. Oh, that would be great to have that turned in, I don’t suppose there would be any hope of unemployment. Andy then said that they had settled on “your health.” Even that doesn’t set too well. I think that could also make it tough to collect unemployment from the company. Besides, he was working and keeping up, so how does his health figure into this. But I guess when they can’t tell the truth, which is that Brian wanted to work with his friend, they grasp.

I think we’re handling it pretty good but it has only been a couple of days. If I think about it too long, I get furious and would love to wring Brian’s neck. Talk about kicking someone when they’re down. I don’t know where things go from here but I’m sure we’ll get through this. It just seems like one thing after another.

 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry Judy. I hope Brian knows that what goes around, comes around. I've lived on this earth for 39 years and have seen this cliche ring true many times.

Does Bill get any severance? Any chance of keeping up his insurance until he can get a bla?

I wish I had better suggestions. You are all in my prayers.
love,
melly

judycolby said...

No severance, just gone.

Gracie said...

I know you can't afford a lawyer, but I think I'd get one and ask them to take the case. They need to have at least filled out his paper work right and he should be able to get unemployment. They've screwed that up too, and that's not Bill's fault!

I'll be praying for you guys.

Hugs,
Gracie

Jennyr said...

I'm so sorry Judy, this is all so not fair. I don't know what else to say, except hang in there, and I'll be praying. And I agree with Gracie, get a lawyer!
(((hugs)))
Jenny.