ATGrestLive!: A Tallahassee Horror Story

UPDATED: 5/16/2018 with some more stuff I remembered, some stuff I have learned after the blog was shared with the public and to clear up a few points. 

PART ONE: Intro: It's a Hard Pat Life

Recently I was asked why since October of 2016, I have been an emotional wreck. People are dumbfounded when they say something to me and I repeat it wildly and explain that I have a "filter" where I hear things wrong.

Since October, I attempted to kill myself three times, I called the suicide prevention hotline at least 5 times and have a panic attack whenever the phone rings, a door to an office is shut suddenly behind me or my new boss walks in the room and everyone shouts, "Good Morning, Pat!" (Her name is Pat)

In order to tell you why, I must start with a confession.

I am a survivor of abuse. Not domestic abuse, not physical abuse. But, emotional abuse. Emotional abuse that came from a place that prides itself on "open door policies," and an "accepting culture and virtue."

My friends and family are sick of hearing this horror story. Hell, I've told it in detail to everyone. My family, my friends, acquaintances, strangers like that one homeless drunk dude on the corner of High Rd and Ocala. If anything, I haven't let it go just so I never forget the horror that I experienced. So, that in the future, I will fight harder and take steps to protect myself. I've done a lot to try to get this out of my system. The last post I wrote, the poem called "The Filter" was another attempt to write the pain out of my system.

Workplace harassment is alive and well. Yes it is Live. I guess you could say it's PATLive.

PATLive is a call center here in Tallahassee, FL, but most importantly it is supposed to be an answering service. I say "supposed to" because 9 times out of 10 you had to pretend to actually work for all the random companies that people were calling in for. These companies were from all over the country and some in different countries. When, in reality, an answering service, by definition is supposed to take messages. That's it. Take messages. Not say, "Oh I'm sorry my boss isn't here right now, he just went to get a non fat latte from Starbucks. Let me take a message" or "Oh you're being harassed and you say I'm a mother fucker? Oh my boss was on your property and now you want to murder me? Oh, my boss stole from your grandmother? I'm so sorry, you just missed him, can I take a message? Yes, sir. I'm sorry, I know I'm a piece of shit and that you hope my baby dies. I apologize that I'm such a piece of shit and that I work for such a piece of shit company that would leave solicitations in your mailbox. Can I take a message?" 

Additionally, you have to take calls for a substance abuse treatment hotline and weed out the people that can't pay for a private treatment center. Of course, the people calling in actually believe you are a counselor (you couldn't correct them) and wanted to cry to someone about themselves or a loved one or they said they were suicidal. Many I know couldn't handle those calls and needed therapy afterwards. You also have to take calls for a utility company which I won't name and get threatened because the person's electricity is out either due to an outage or due to non-payment and you had to play along as if you worked for the utility company all the while being helpless to actually assist the person.

If that isn't enough to give you ulcers, I don't know what will. But, my horror story, believe it or not, does not begin there. 

PART TWO: ATGrestLive!

It was by far the most inconsistent place I've ever worked. Not just because of its poor training and unclear expectations but it's also inconsistent with its name. In case you're confused, it's also called Tresta. But, wait there's more! It's also called ATG Technologies. Well, whatever they want to call themselves, the company is the biggest piece of crap company I've ever had the misfortune to work for. Now, I guess if you're a kid in college wanting to earn some money part time, it wouldn't be so bad. But, it definitely wasn't a good fit for me. Why? Mainly because I was awesome at it. I know, you're confused. I'll try to explain.

Understand this, like kindergarten they use a point based system. You do not gain points, you only lose points through their irrational attendance policy. You lose points if you pee too long or if you get a low call grade. You start with 100% and it goes down from there. You also lose points for being late and missing work without a note to "defend" yourself. 

*AMENDED: After re-reading this, I remembered that you DO in fact "gain" points if you receive a compliment from a customer or a caller. However, the compliments must be compliments with an adjective and not just complimenting you on "doing your job." So for instance, the compliment must be something along the lines of, "You have been amazing" or "Your voice is very nice," etc. However, you must take into consideration that you have to make note of the caller ID so that you can forward the compliment over to your coach. Otherwise, you won't receive the credit. You gain 1 point per customer compliment (it caps out at 5 extra points) However, if you received ONE customer complaint, you lose 5 points. So lets say you miss a day of work without a note (that's 5 points off) and you receive a customer complaint during the same audit period, that's another 5 points. So at best for that audit period, assuming your calls were PERFECT and no other issues, you'd receive a 90% on that audit AKA "retrospective." Now if you missed work, got a customer complaint, and received an "audit error" (where you told a customer something wrong or did something wrong on a CCR call) you'd lose another 2 points even if your regular live receptionist calls and all other CCR calls were PERFECT. If that's the case, then the best you could get on that audit period performance review would be an 88%, which is scarily reaching close to a "write up" worthy performance review*

Also, like a day care, they give incentives like paper stars. So, yeah....a grown woman with ambition who takes her job really seriously isn't going to thrive well in that kind of environment. I was an excellent employee. Nearly two years and more than 52 performance reviews I achieved 100 percent on all but three. And those three were a 95, 99, and a 98. The 95 was because I was sick and didn't go to the doctor to get a note {You know, like I'm in elementary school and need a note from mommy} But, because I was so good at it, I was stuck. I saw people who had been hired and way too soon after they were hired, they were promoted way above the seasoned employees who'd spent years proving themselves in every way possible. There is one unqualified person that was promoted to lead and the way she'd help the agents was to place them on hold and ask someone who actually knew the information, sometimes she would ask someone who she was a supervisor of. When I got one of these people who I knew didn't know any better than me, I'd hang up and when they asked me if I called them, I'd tell them it was an accident, I'd wait until they were on a call and then I'd call someone who would know. Of the 4 leads at any given time, only two at any given time actually were good at their jobs. There are several currently employed that deserve promotions, whom I won't name. Only know that some have been there 10 plus years.

"Well, gee Marsha, that doesn't sound right. Surely, you jest." No, I jest ye not, gentle reader." "Well, they must have earned the promotion, somehow. Oh, mighty Marsh one, tell me the secret of their success!" Sure, Bob, I'll tell you: The secret of success at ATGrestLive? (I think that should be the new name, just combine all of them) Be completely incompetent, prejudice, ignorant all the while making sure you can hold your liquor really well. Drinking buddies of the call floor management are given preference for promotions no matter how under qualified they are. Oh and make sure you are young and beautiful, that's really important. Even if you are super terrific at your job, if you have any gray hair, they can't have that because that would hurt their "image." (Yes, there was a person turned down for a promotion due to their age, and they told this person to their face that was the reason) 

The company prides itself on an "open door policy." But this "open door policy" is a fraud. They use that as a cover to see who has any complaints so that they can make a mental note of who are the "trouble makers." I recently remembered that in 2016, the management held meetings for three days regarding their rise of negative reviews on Glassdoor. They basically spent hours picking apart and making fun of the negative reviews and told us not to post negative reviews on Glassdoor. I'm sure any person in that room who had wrote one of the negative reviews felt uncomfortable. Instead, we were told to go to management with concerns. Unfortunately, I was one of those people who made the mistake of going to management with concerns. I was told, "you're wrong" and that was the end of that. The response I got was very similar to the recent infamous Channel Awesome response of, "We regret that you feel that way." But add in, "Here's why you are wrong..."

Yes, they spent three days holding meetings that were "required" to be attended in an attempt to impeded on our right to free speech. Their reasoning? Keeping people from wanting to work for the company keeps them from hiring new people, which keeps the call volume high. Well, for the most part it worked because it scared three people into deleting their negative reviews from Glassdoor.

Okay, I know I sound bitter, so of course you must be thinking I'm lying. But, I have no reason to lie. I left of my own accord and have been super happy about that decision ever since. Yes, a part of me can't wait for a lawsuit to smite the woman that "runs" HR and the bully that runs the AC, but as I learned in church, or maybe from Buffy...patience is a virtue, so no, I have nothing to gain except the ability to put my free speech to work and vent.  

The call grades were insane. This is what makes you lose points: 1) The word "um" YES PEOPLE! Say "Um" once---GO FUCK YOURSELF, LOSER! BWA-HA-HA! 2. Interrupting the caller 3) Not apologizing for interrupting the caller even if the caller interrupted you. 3) Not following scripted instructions. 4) Following scripted instructions that were incorrect on the script that resulted in you doing something wrong. 5) Not saying the caller's name enough 6) Not saying "please" enough 7) Saying "please" too much 8) Not saying "thank you" enough. 9) Saying "thank you" too much.

There's a lot more that could be added for calls dealing on the customer service side of things, but I will skip those because it doesn't add anything more to this horror story. But, it's the same bullshit but with more bullshit added to it.

PART THREE: Start up or Screw up?

The funny thing about this company is it has been a start up company since 1990. Well, got news for you all...if you haven't started yet after 27 years...you probably aren't going to. After asking a CPA, I did learn that they are probably staying as "start up" for illegal tax breaks and that the IRS must not have caught on yet. But, I don't care about that. But, I was informed that explains why there are three different start up companies: ATG Technologies, PATLive & Tresta, Inc.

Whose to blame for this company sucking harder than a hoover? Well the CEO obviously, but more directly, their management. Management at this over inflated egotistical company is the worst I've ever seen. AND I WORKED AT RADIOSHACK FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, PEOPLE!! RADIO SHACK! And we all know how well that company is doing. Oh wait, they went bankrupt not just from poor business but mainly due to all the lawsuits from former employees....yes, employees and I lived through a lot of problems at that company and nothing SHITSHACK ever did is anywhere near as bad as ATGrestLive! Seriously, please don't pay me hours worked or for overtime, please! I wouldn't be needing therapy right now if that was all that was done to me!

That felt good to let out, so let me refocus and move on with this story.....

PART FOUR: Suspicions
 
I'll go ahead and tell you this: So I had suspicions due to many things that made me feel like I was being held back for promotions and even being treated poorly because of my epilepsy. For instance, when my seizure medicine was no longer working and I began to have breakthrough seizures I told them that I needed time off. The head of HR GOT ON TO ME FOR NOT DISCLOSING MY DISABILITY DURING THE TIME OF MY INTERVIEW!

PART FIVE: Confirmation of my suspicions

But, I dealt with it. I wasn't going to say anything or do anything. I was trying to convince myself that I was just imagining things. Until one of those people I mentioned earlier, lets call him Marco Fuckaro, who got promoted way too soon to a higher position above me, made a really hateful crack during a conversation with me. To put this conversation in context, I must add that he is the RECRUITER for the company. You know, the person that is in charge of looking for new hires.

The conversation was exactly like this: 

ME: I think they should offer performance raises.

Marc Fuckaroo: Why? 

Me: To keep morale up and the high turn over down. I would stay if I knew I could get raises since I know I won't be promoted.

Marc Fuckaroo: Uh, have you tried applying for a promotion?

Me: Yes, I was denied an interview. They said that I hadn't been a CCR for long enough. Which, I don't buy because (this name has been changed to protect the "innocent") Sidney McSlutty was a CCR for only three months before getting promoted, but I have been one for 8 months and my performance is perfect. So, I know I'll never be promoted. I think it has something to do with that seizure I had on the call floor or just my epilepsy in general because I was moving up really well until they found out about my condition.

Marc Fuckaroo: Well, let's face it, Marsha. If you can't handle the stress of your own calls, how can you be expected to handle the stress of anyone else's?

I know...what the actual fuck, right? 

After several hours of crying because the position I had applied for was "Quality Coach" and in that position you were to (duh) coach the agents, listen to their calls, etc...so you know where this is going. After his statement, I felt all my concerns had been validated.

Okay, I'm a big girl. I know what to do. I'm smart, I know my rights. It was the first thing I learned when I joined my support group back when I first received my diagnosis. I know that I have a disability that is in an ADA protected class. Meaning that, if I have any complaint, the company I work for must investigate it thoroughly, regardless of their own personal opinions of me. If they didn't they would be violating the ADA and the EEOC which would result in the EEOC issuing me a right to sue letter. I, being ignorant, believed that the company knew this and would at least have a talk with the guy and do everything they could to make sure that I wasn't treated in such a way again.

So I emailed the head of HR and requested a meeting so that I can file a complaint. For the sake of protecting the guilty, we shall call her Karen Stork. So, Ms. Stork had been out for a bit so it was a few weeks later when she responded to my email like this:

Karen Stork: We can meet on Thursday at 1:00pm.

Me: Sure, sounds good.

Karen Stork: Oh nevermind, (lets change this blimp's name too, you know, to protect the guilty) Mave Dason isn't available to meet with us on Thursday. Will Friday, October 28th at 1:00pm be okay?

Me: Um, sure I'm free that day. But, I don't understand. Why does Mave have to be there?

NO ANSWER TO MY QUESTION

NOTE: Yes, she invited management to sit in on my formal complaint against management.  

PART SIX: The Meeting & My "Filter" 

OCTOBER 28, 2016

I can tell you exactly why she did not respond to my inquiry. Because, instead of following federal law, she and Mave ganged up on me for 47 minutes and 58 seconds. Yes, there is a reason I know the exact length of the meeting.

Technically I could write out the transcript to the meeting but I will save you the aggravation, plus it will anger all of you who love me and lets face it, silencers are so hard to come by these days. 

I'd also like to note that I did not work on Fridays. So, they literally had me come in on my day off to be bullied...without pay. 

I got to the meeting. Here's the breakdown:

I tried to tell her my concerns, but I was interrupted, "That is inaccurate, Marsha" she said. I said, "Um, I told you I don't want to be interrupted and I just want to be heard out. Anyway, as I was saying I want to file a complaint against Marco Fuckaro due to the offensive comment he ma--" "That is inaccurate, Marsha...."(she then rolled her eyes like a valley girl) and says "You have a filter where you hear what you want to hear." Karen also said that Marco Fuckaro already came to her and therefore, she knows I'm incorrect. 

Yep, that's right folks! The person who I'm filing a complaint about went to HR and gave them a heads up because that person knew he had messed up and I could, and probably would, file a complaint. So, the head of HR chose to believe Marco without hearing me out and instead, resorted to victim shaming. 

"Marsha, that is inaccurate" and "You have a filter" went on for about the first 6 minutes until Mave waddles in, shuts the door, sits next to me and that's where the real bullying began.

Picture Mave sitting in a chair next to me and Karen at her desk. I felt like I was at a court martial with the door shut. No escape. 

Now, I'm sitting there at first trying to make it very clear that I am not accusing anyone of any wrongdoing and that I'm just voicing my concerns. It is a Human Resources meeting after all, right. Right?

Mave is quick to give me the "talk to the hand motion" and says, "Marsha, I'm gonna need you to stop starting sentences with I feel."

UM WHAT? Okay? 

Then what followed was the craziest accusations. He claimed I said all these strange things I never said, all the while attempting to use gas lighting techniques to, I don't know, make me remember saying and doing things I never said or did. 

They accused my memory of being faulty and every time I tried to guide the conversation back to the matter at hand, Mave would quickly switch it back to things I supposedly had said and how wrong I was and that I was "poisoning the water." My favorite line Mave said was, "If you're gonna be like this, you need to help me out and terminate your employment with us." They knew they couldn't legally fire me but they had planned to get me to quit because they knew they had been discriminating against me and even the manner in which they were holding this meeting was a violation of the ADA. 

They tried to blame my memory, which is really insensitive because everyone knows that since I have developed epilepsy, I struggle with my memory. At one time I had a photographic memory. I could be off book for a two act show when I was the primary player in less than two days and since 2009, I find myself writing notes and leaving voice memos for the simplest things. So, you can see how they used my disability against me in a vicious way. Therefore "the filter" reasoning was brought up a handful of times if not more during the meeting. When I last listened to the audio recording, I tried to count how many times Karen or Mave blamed my concerns on "my filter" but lost count because I'd downed half a bottle of wine and was crying uncontrollably by the end of it.

Without going into too much detail, I can tell you that I was emotionally tormented for those 47 minutes and 58 seconds. So, much that as many good points I made during it, as hard as I fought to not have my rights violated, in the end, they successfully gas lit me into thinking that everything was my fault and I was taking the best company in America for granted with my "filter." There were a few times that my point was so good that both Karen and Mave were speechless and struggled to find a rebuttal. The last part of the meeting went something like this:

Mave: Um, poisoning the water out on the floor...if you do that and I catch wind of it and then you come to me and say, "Hey *Mave, why did you say this thing?" the conversation will go poorly. 

Karen: Do you need some water?

Me: No, I'm going to get a coffee. 

*Name changed in direct quote to protect the guilty

And to clarify, a complaint report was never filed which is ALSO against ADA compliance. Of course, each company has its own policies but my written statement was never taken as it should have been and I never signed anything. Towards the end, she scribbled something on what can only be described as a Jimmy Johns napkin and mumbled that she would file a complaint. But no complaint ever saw the light of day. 

I know what you're wondering....you recorded it? Um, of course I did. Because deep down I knew this wasn't going to be a simple matter of reporting an offensive comment. In previous meetings, they had always managed to convince me that I heard something wrong or that it was all my fault and I knew that if I had it on literal record, they could not claim they didn't say the things they said. For instance, they once called me into the office to berate me for posting an extremely vague meme regarding a co-worker I had posted on Facebook (I was working two jobs at the time so for all they knew it was about a RadioShack co-worker) 

I'm glad I recorded it because it is reassuring to me to hear it now, without even working there, knowing that yes, I heard right. No, I don't have a filter. They bullied me, harassed me, turned my disability against me and made me hate myself.

Soon after I played it for a friend when the friend asked me how the meeting went. Since, I obviously had a "filter," I was worried that I wouldn't tell it right and I played it for this friend who was shocked, dismayed and quite frankly pissed off. This should have been enough to give me mental stability, but it did not.

PART SEVEN: The Aftermath & Realization
 
After the meeting from hell, I cried for 16 hours, only stopping long enough to try to catch my breath. I didn't sleep well for weeks and I lived in constant fear that I would lose my job if I complained about anything ever again no matter how minuscule. I had panic attacks when turning on the road that led to Hell, er, I mean ATGRESTLive!. Constant nightmares, then the depression and suicidal thoughts kicked in. This lasted until nearly the beginning of January 2017, when I realized that I had to find employment at a real company with a real Human Resources Department. Thankfully, without any hunting, I found a new job with way less stress but the same pay. 

UPDATE: As of May 2018, my psychiatrist has officially diagnosed me with PTSD as a direct result of the meeting with Karen and Mave. She even was kind enough to write a statement and she told me that she is willing to testify to that fact if it goes to court. She recommended that I write and share my story in order to deal with the trauma. Since, I'd already written it, I edited it and then finally got the guts to share it with the world. 

So, why can't I let it go? Three reasons: I want the world to know what this company did to me. I want the company to know I know what they did to me, but mostly, I want to make sure that they never do this to anyone else. So, please, Marco Fuckaro, Mave Dason and Karen Stork. Please read this. I hope that the CEO, Bosston (name changed to protect the innocent) reads it. And especially let their lawyer read this, maybe my story will make the lawyer teach HR about the laws that are in place and make sure they adhere to those laws.

I also want to inform all my friends and family that don't know this happened so they will understand why for over 6 months, I've been an emotional wreck. 

No, for all of you wondering, I still haven't decided to take legal action. That's not up for me to decide. That is for the EEOC to decide. I might never had decided to sue on my own, but the Federal Government kind of has a mind of its own when it comes to violation of protected citizens' rights. So all my friends out there reading this, don't ask me right now if I'm going to sue. According to some sound legal advice, it's not my call. If, after reviewing the paperwork, the EEOC sends me the right to sue notice, then I'll decide.

Until then, thank you for reading my experiences. I hope those of you with disabilities know your rights. 

If you need a list of protected disabilities, this is the link to the EEOC website: https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/adaqa1.cfm

This is the official list from the website:
"An individual with epilepsy, paralysis, HIV infection, AIDS, a substantial hearing or visual impairment, mental retardation, or a specific learning disability is covered."

There is so much I would love to say, but I won't for now. Maybe me finally writing out will help me finally sleep soundly at night.


Thanks for reading and remember, "There's a light in me that shines brightly. They can try. But they can't take that away from me." Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme) -Mariah Carey

An update: This isn't the worse thing they have done. They've also fired employees due to medical issues, surgeries and even threatened one employee with a write up because they didn't want to give the head of HR their medical records. Plus the head of HR loves to lie to people to say that you have to be a full time employee to qualify for FMLA. This is not true, you only need to have worked a certain number of hours. So, if you are a current employee and Karen Stork tries to feed you that bull, throw the truth back at her. You can find all the details of what is required for FMLA from the website. NOTE: It's not that she means to lie, it's just she has never had any official training apart from some online quizzes so she literally does not know what she is doing. I could run HR better than her, so could my dead cat. 

Another update: Right after releasing my blog to the public, I have learned that since this happened Marco Fuckaro has been fired for sexual harassment. So I guess if he would have done something of a sexual nature to me, my complaint would have actually been filed. Or maybe not, because with this company, it is not the complaint but rather whom is needing to file the complaint. And of course it depends on who the complaint is against. Marco wasn't as close in management's inner circle. I'd imagine if Mave were to sexually harass someone, that employee would have been discarded faster than spoiled milk and the incident(s) would have been swept under the rug.