During June 2017, just months after taking on publishing responsibility here at Blogging Blue, I got an internal message from someone that I didn’t know. They wanted to set up a meeting. Not sure on who was asking, I talked to my manager. They recognized the requestor as one of the HR Reps that supports our department and I should probably take the meeting. So I did.
I got there a few minutes early and the conference room was empty so I waited outside. Right on time the HR rep and a stenographer showed up.
So we chat a bit and then they presented a copy of the company’s rules on use of the company’s electronic resources. We talk about that and I am given a detailed explanation and then am asked to sign. Ok?
Then we get to the point of the meeting. A third party from outside the company reported that I was using company time, computer resources, and disparaging my employer on line in my posts.
So, I needed to provide a complete explanation of my role at BB and how the site worked. I explained that I did not work on BB during work hours and didn’t use company supplied computers or software to post on or maintain the site. They didn’t believe me. I also explained that posts can be written at any time and scheduled for nearly anytime in the future. (You guys don’t think that I actually get up at 5 AM every Thursday to post Thursday Music, do you? I sometimes program a whole month’s worth at the time. I actually have a couple of things queued up for next week.)
We then reviewed my presence on social media and they recorded which sites BB had a presence…and where I had personal social media accounts.
I emphasized that BB is not a going concern. No one gets paid, revenues don’t meet costs, and it is only a hobby for all of us posting here.
I was tasked with a follow up note on what we discussed. That is where some of the details are coming from. Their task was an internal security review to make sure nothing prohibited was going on on BB.
That evening (AT HOME), I did a search for my employer on BB. I came up with two hits…both legit items at the time…written in the years prior to 2017…and neither written by me.
Then I visited Facebook and removed any reference there to my employer and removed a few photos that I had posted of work related events. And I removed reference to all of my other employers as well.
I did the reverse on LinkedIn. There I removed all reference to Blogging Blue.
These previous three items I did voluntarily and pro-actively to prevent future ‘complaints’.
And then I sat and wondered…who the fuck has time to do something like this? Why should even major disagreements devolve to trying to screw up somebody on their job? This is complete and utter bullshit.
Finally after waiting around for two months, HR comes back and said that their investigation showed that I had done nothing wrong and was not in violation of any company guidelines.
All that for what? To wind me up a bit? Try to get me fired? What a lot of bullshit and waste of time for me and the other employees who had to spend time looking into it. Who’s that petty?
Wait, it’s not Doxing Day…but Boxing Day? Oh well, it’s written. I guess I’ll publish this anyway.
Well from the company’s perspective, I’m sure it’s mostly just typical HR BS. I’d guess some jerk reported it just to be a jerk. And then the lawyers say they have to follow up and do due diligence to reduce their exposure & liability, blah blah blah. From HR’s perspective though, not wasting their time – seems like most people who do that live for such things to prove how important they are.
I’ve had several someones (or perhaps the same someone under different aliases) write complaints about me and Blogging Blue over the years. I’m sorry this happened to you.