Back in October 2014, I was laid off from my job at 1-800WeAnswer in NYC when the company was sold. After a year of not being able to find work, I was offered a job by the former lawyer of the company, Bill Fisher. He had purchased a company called Central Surveys in Shenandoah Iowa. He promised me the office manager’s job. I have a written letter stating that I was going to be the new office manager making $15 an hour. My brother and I along with our cat packed up his car threw 95% of our things into a storage locker and made a five day, twelve hours a day drive from NJ to Iowa in a car with no air conditioning. I had a meeting with Bill Fisher when we got out here and immediately instead of keeping his promise of making me the office manager, he decided he didn’t want to be bothered keeping his word and threw me on the phones as a telemarketer because he knew we didn’t have the money to return to NJ. The present office manager had lost the company millions of dollars in telemarketing contracts, not because the projects were difficult, but because she was too lazy to do them correctly. All this woman wanted to do was sit in her office and read her library books, eat, play on the computer and have her coffee with the receptionist and accountant.
We stayed in a motel called the Tall Corn Inn from mid-September to the beginning of November which Bill paid for because the house that was supposed to be waiting for us, first wasn’t finished then, as we were told, the women who owned the house decided not to rent anymore but sell. All the time we were there, he bugged us about finding a place of our own complaining how much money he was spending on the hotel. There were not a lot of available places in this town so it took us some time. By the beginning of November, we had found a small house a few blocks from the call center and moved in.
From the very beginning, Bill had me watch the Office Manager’s movements and report back to him what she was and wasn’t doing. He kept promising me he was going to get rid of her but he needed the excuse. Personally losing a million dollar contract should have been enough though nothing changed.
After losing the Iowa Workforce Account, Bill went out and got another major and million dollars (or close to it) account with a company called Issues and Answers. They ran political surveys and would keep the office working. New computers were set up for the project and the office manager was told to hire more people. She brought in twenty-five new people. Being the ONLY one with computer knowledge, I was put in charge of the computers along with the telemarketing, no extra money just more work. With each person she brought in, she gave them a speech of “you can’t make a living working here. You’ll never be able to pay bills working here.” When it came time to do the project, only twelve out of the twenty-five people hired came back. Most of these were the teenagers that were hired. I told Bill about what she was saying but he did nothing about it. All he did all the time I was there was to complain to me about how much he hated her and how much he wanted her gone. As the BOSS he could have gotten rid of her but he didn’t bother. The office manager was never there for the night-time project. She’d be there during the day doing nothing then as the night crew came in she’d leave. The project was left to be run by the receptionist who had NO idea what she was doing. I told Bill Fisher to put me in charge of it but as in the past he sat on his tail and did nothing but complain about how the company was losing money and nothing was being done.
Finally, in July of 2017, he closed the office down putting around 75 people out of work. I was told I would get to work from home for a company called CX Solutions located in Virginia so I WOULDN’T have to move again since I can’t afford to. This went on until May of 2018 when I was laid off. By this time Bill had merged his company DSRA with CX Solutions giving them full power. He went back to being just the lawyer. CX Solutions closed down DSRA, Bill’s company in California which he allowed putting 12-15 people out of work, and because they had to lay off some of their employees they came after me. Their statement was “Why should Arleen work if we have to lay off a few of our employees?” Bill, not bothering to stand up for me, laid me off. I personally feel that CX Solutions having to lay off anyone didn’t have anything to do with me and they had no right to take it out on me. All Bill seems to care about is taking his family on expensive vacations and making sure his own expenses are taken care of, not who he has hurt.
A few months ago, I had a fight with Bill Fisher because I called my old boss Rob Porter looking for work. He and Rob are now competitors and he doesn’t want Rob to know all of the bad business decisions he’s made. He attempted to chew me out for talking to him. He spent the whole conversation cursing me out. I, in turn, argued back not once caving in which only pissed him off further telling me I could just “go crash and burn” for not running to Virginia like he wanted me to even though he KNOWS the company there doesn’t want me. I know he was trying to make me cry which wasn’t going to happen. I never signed any nondisclosure papers saying I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. It was because of this fight and his attitude I’ve cut all contact with him.
Since then I’ve been unable to find a decent job. Shenandoah is a mom & pop type of town where there is no work. There is no public transportation, nothing is walking distance and I can’t afford a car. Bill Fisher’s attitude turned into “If I want my job, I should get my ass to Virginia.” I personally know that CX Solutions don’t want me there. Bill told me that in order for them to give me a job they’d have to make the decision to lay off more people which they don’t have to do. I don’t want to make another 1800 mile trip to a company that doesn’t want me. I can’t afford to live there especially without a job though Bill said we’d “work something out.” I’m sorry if I don’t trust this statement.
I’ve also come to the conclusion, though I, unfortunately, can’t prove it, that CX Solutions is bad-mouthing me behind my back. Every time I put in for a job, having to put them on as the latest employers with references, I never heard from the potential company again. The one time I “accidentally” put in a different name as a reference, I landing a VERY part-time job.
I want to know if there is anything I can do.
We stayed in a motel called the Tall Corn Inn from mid-September to the beginning of November which Bill paid for because the house that was supposed to be waiting for us, first wasn’t finished then, as we were told, the women who owned the house decided not to rent anymore but sell. All the time we were there, he bugged us about finding a place of our own complaining how much money he was spending on the hotel. There were not a lot of available places in this town so it took us some time. By the beginning of November, we had found a small house a few blocks from the call center and moved in.
From the very beginning, Bill had me watch the Office Manager’s movements and report back to him what she was and wasn’t doing. He kept promising me he was going to get rid of her but he needed the excuse. Personally losing a million dollar contract should have been enough though nothing changed.
After losing the Iowa Workforce Account, Bill went out and got another major and million dollars (or close to it) account with a company called Issues and Answers. They ran political surveys and would keep the office working. New computers were set up for the project and the office manager was told to hire more people. She brought in twenty-five new people. Being the ONLY one with computer knowledge, I was put in charge of the computers along with the telemarketing, no extra money just more work. With each person she brought in, she gave them a speech of “you can’t make a living working here. You’ll never be able to pay bills working here.” When it came time to do the project, only twelve out of the twenty-five people hired came back. Most of these were the teenagers that were hired. I told Bill about what she was saying but he did nothing about it. All he did all the time I was there was to complain to me about how much he hated her and how much he wanted her gone. As the BOSS he could have gotten rid of her but he didn’t bother. The office manager was never there for the night-time project. She’d be there during the day doing nothing then as the night crew came in she’d leave. The project was left to be run by the receptionist who had NO idea what she was doing. I told Bill Fisher to put me in charge of it but as in the past he sat on his tail and did nothing but complain about how the company was losing money and nothing was being done.
Finally, in July of 2017, he closed the office down putting around 75 people out of work. I was told I would get to work from home for a company called CX Solutions located in Virginia so I WOULDN’T have to move again since I can’t afford to. This went on until May of 2018 when I was laid off. By this time Bill had merged his company DSRA with CX Solutions giving them full power. He went back to being just the lawyer. CX Solutions closed down DSRA, Bill’s company in California which he allowed putting 12-15 people out of work, and because they had to lay off some of their employees they came after me. Their statement was “Why should Arleen work if we have to lay off a few of our employees?” Bill, not bothering to stand up for me, laid me off. I personally feel that CX Solutions having to lay off anyone didn’t have anything to do with me and they had no right to take it out on me. All Bill seems to care about is taking his family on expensive vacations and making sure his own expenses are taken care of, not who he has hurt.
A few months ago, I had a fight with Bill Fisher because I called my old boss Rob Porter looking for work. He and Rob are now competitors and he doesn’t want Rob to know all of the bad business decisions he’s made. He attempted to chew me out for talking to him. He spent the whole conversation cursing me out. I, in turn, argued back not once caving in which only pissed him off further telling me I could just “go crash and burn” for not running to Virginia like he wanted me to even though he KNOWS the company there doesn’t want me. I know he was trying to make me cry which wasn’t going to happen. I never signed any nondisclosure papers saying I wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone. It was because of this fight and his attitude I’ve cut all contact with him.
Since then I’ve been unable to find a decent job. Shenandoah is a mom & pop type of town where there is no work. There is no public transportation, nothing is walking distance and I can’t afford a car. Bill Fisher’s attitude turned into “If I want my job, I should get my ass to Virginia.” I personally know that CX Solutions don’t want me there. Bill told me that in order for them to give me a job they’d have to make the decision to lay off more people which they don’t have to do. I don’t want to make another 1800 mile trip to a company that doesn’t want me. I can’t afford to live there especially without a job though Bill said we’d “work something out.” I’m sorry if I don’t trust this statement.
I’ve also come to the conclusion, though I, unfortunately, can’t prove it, that CX Solutions is bad-mouthing me behind my back. Every time I put in for a job, having to put them on as the latest employers with references, I never heard from the potential company again. The one time I “accidentally” put in a different name as a reference, I landing a VERY part-time job.
I want to know if there is anything I can do.
