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IT DOESN’T EXIST.
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Reasons for Leaving
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"A combination of conflict adverse management, unethical housing practices, overstepping of authority by coworkers, and uncompensated time"
I was fired. Contributing factors were:
- I was given the responsibility of managing a newly-hired employee during a week-long absence of the Senior Property Manager. My instructions were to call her into the office whenever I needed her, and to instruct her on tasks that needed to be done. During this week, the employee, over text/call, refused my instructions, challenged my authority, and was disrespectful without justification. While remaining professional with the employee, I brought the attention to the Senior Property Manager, who made no attempt to rectify the situation by clarifying to her my instructions to manage her, clarifying to me that I had overstepped, or any other sort of resolution that could have been taken in a misunderstanding of authority. The Senior Property Manager, and management in general, had very obscure, inconsistent expectations and guidelines on authority and responsibility. This obscurity led to multiple future instances where I felt I was supposed to assert authority and manage others without being backed up by those above me in instances of disagreement, even though that responsibility of management was placed on me by them in the first place. The lack of support from management in executing my responsibilities caused me to overcompensate with assertiveness, a situation which resulted in disgruntlement and ultimately resignation by those I managed and could have been prevented by the Senior Property Manager or the owner stepping in during instances of disagreement to back up the authority they had placed on me, as opposed to leaving the entire responsibility or demanding subordination on my shoulders. The employee had resigned and also had noted lack of clarity in authority, within about 3 days prior to me being fired.
- Due to a lower pay rate than my previous job, as well as fewer hours that I was permitted to work, I decided to seek a second part-time job to work on weekends, during my time off of Buffalo Management Group, in order to increase my income to a comfortable level. Nothing in my employment contract disallowed me from doing so, and the company was informed and did not explicitly object to this search. However, management showed clear annoyance with the fact that this reduced my weekend availability to come in on an “on-call” basis in order to perform apartment showings, as well as to answer after-hour phone calls, both of which were availability expectations that were not initially made clear by the company when hired. Upon informing the company when I first started seeking weekend employment that it was for financial reasons, specifically health insurance, they made no attempt to adequately compensate me for weekend time that they had expected me to remain on call for without pay, or to offer a health insurance benefit similar to ones held by other employees, so I continued seeking until I eventually found a second job with Tarantino Foods on Saturdays and Sundays. On numerous occasions after obtaining this second employment, management implicitly expressed annoyance with me, publicly among coworkers that I was not available to remain on call during weekends for showings or after-hour calls despite being uncompensated for the time. At no point however, did they note that it was not allowed. These more recent conversations happened within a week prior to me being fired.
- As spring came, I began riding my motorcycle to work. Personal transportation is not explicitly required in the employment contract, but it is implicitly needed or at the least, highly preferential as it allows employees to conduct showings at our various properties around Buffalo and Tonawanda. While I had a car as well, I preferred riding my motorcycle to work, and by extension, to conduct showings, so long as it didn’t interfere with my ability to competently and professionally execute my responsibilities. A couple weeks into my utilization of my motorcycle to and from work, a coworker, who was a senior in the company and was close friends with the company owner, but was not in a management position over me, approached me and asked a number of questions about how fast I ride, among other things. He proceeded to say that if he sees a motorcycle on the street, he likes to stay away from them, and told me that he “prefers” that I don't ride it to work. After the interaction, I spoke with the Senior Property Manager who supervised me directly and told him about the interaction. He confirmed there was no issue with me riding it and that I was allowed to continue doing so as long as I am able to answer calls through my bluetooth headset, which I was. Aware of the negative sentiment within the company regarding motorcycles, I was careful not to be perceived as loud, careless, obnoxious, or unprofessional while riding, especially when nearby BMG properties, while also not surrendering my autonomy of which vehicle I chose to drive. About a week later, the same senior employee had approached me again, and had expressed surprise and confusion that I was still riding my motorcycle despite his previous “preference” that I not do so. A lengthy, and mostly polite yet very disagreeable conversation ensued. As a result of my questioning, the employee had confirmed that his “preference” was not at all related to my perceived professionalism, or representation of the BMG brand, or even competence in performing the job, but was rather related to his concern for my safety, since motorcycle riders experience higher accident and fatality rates. I politely explained to the employee that while I appreciated his concern for my safety, it did not factor into my decision. He did not diminish his persistence. Though the conversation did not end in a complete agreement, I had suggested, and he had agreed, that the issue be resolved by looping in the owner of the company, Myron Robbins, into the conversation, so that there could be a conclusive answer on the matter from the highest possible authority. Due to little willingness for negotiation on this topic on my part, I had prepared to tell Myron during this conversation, had he objected, that I would be willing to be told which of my vehicles to drive to work, only if provided a company vehicle, and that if abandonment of my autonomy to decide which vehicle to drive to work was a condition for my continued employment, then he would have to fire me. Ironically, that conversation had never even occurred before I was fired within about 10 days.
- While I typically pride myself on being a competant and subordinate employee (regarding matters that are reasonably within an employer's scope to dictate), including at Buffalo Management Group, I was frequently engaged in tenant vetting practices that I often deemed to be unfair, if not immoral, and later learned to be illegal. While I did not know the illegality of those standards until leaving, I occasionally had instinctive distaste for them, which sometimes led to disagreements between myself and other coworkers regarding who would make a good tenant. I overwhelmingly abided by the standards handed down to me and did not substantially deviate from instructions, except where discretion was permitted. Nonetheless, I would often verbally challenge what seemed to be overly strict or nonsensical standards placed on prospective tenants, especially those involving young couples with dual incomes, who were being analyzed only on the income of one, based on the off-chance that they were to break up after moving in. These disagreements were not major but would often cause tension between coworkers which I believe led to an environment where my opinion was treated as a liability and an annoyance rather than a helpful addition to the decision making process. Just months after leaving, the company was sued in federal court by H.O.M.E. (Housing Opportunities Made Equal) for discriminating against families with children, a practce which the organization alleges they have been doing since before 2022, and one which was evidently a part of their routine during my time there as well, though at the time I had falsy understood the practice to be legally justifiable through occupancy limits.
Overall, I enjoyed my time at Buffalo Management Group, and generally had very good interactions and relationships with of my coworkers. However, a combination of conflict adverse management, unethical housing practices, overstepping of authority by one coworker in particular, and uncompensated time expectations, led to a situation in which the organization and I were overwhelmingly incompatble. I am very appreciative of Myron's willingness to start me off in a role where I had no previous experience, and I have much respect for him. However, I would not return to the company if given the opportunity.
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