S-t-u-p-i-d-i-t-y beyond imagination

[85Sooner]

As he tells it, Randall Hinton is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing.

He spends much of his workday at the State Insurance Fund donning headphones, listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes and his superiors are cool with that.

His work agenda involves placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He arrives at 7:30 a.m., leaves at 3:30 p.m., sees no one and talks to no one.

AND NOW HE IS SUEING for discrimination.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=767070&TextPage=1

[Vaevictis]

What's stupid about it?

[Vaevictis]

It seems utterly reasonable to me. The guy is, by all accounts, sufficiently competent to be entrusted with responsibility commensurate with his pay.

And you've apparently got a bunch of people sidelining him for political reasons when they should be making use of his abilities.

The problem here is not that the guy is suing to DO THE WORK HE'S GETTING PAID TO DO. The problem here is that you've got people who are deliberately preventing him from doing so.

Folks like to complain about government employees, but here's one who actually wants to work -- and you want to call him out over it? You should be calling out his bosses for flagrantly wasting taxpayer money.

[TUSooner]

As he tells it, Randall Hinton is paid $93,803 a year to do nothing.

He spends much of his workday at the State Insurance Fund donning headphones, listening to rock 'n' roll, blues or classical tunes and his superiors are cool with that.

His work agenda involves placing his feet up on his desk, staring out his office window and counting cars on the New York State Thruway. He arrives at 7:30 a.m., leaves at 3:30 p.m., sees no one and talks to no one.

AND NOW HE IS SUEING for discrimination.

http://timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=767070&TextPage=1

Seems like you were trying to make the guy look lazy, ungrateful, and unreasonable, when in fact he wants to be productively employed. At least that's what he says.

Fail.

[yermom]

i'm not quite sure about the discrimination thing... but it does sound like he's not taking jobs that he thinks are beneath him

i wish i could get away with that and collect $93k a year

states need to be able to fire people like this...

[BillyBall]

I thought this was going to be about SicEm and SicEmEx...

[8timechamps]

Don't you think real stupidity would be calling attention to himself if he really just wanted to do nothing?

He clearly has the desire (and seemingly the ability) to do real work. The only stupidity I see is on the part of his bosses.

Hinton isn't the problem, he's the one trying to draw attention to it.

[Vaevictis]

Hinton said he dismissed the recent offer because he did not want to do contract quality assurance and work for a contract administrator who was in a entry-level management post.

A director-level employee should not report to an entry-level manager. He was right to refuse. The only reason to do that is if you're trying to kill someone's career.

[soonermix]

how do you get this job i would like to submit my resume

[soonerscuba]

But he's a government employee!!!!11!!!!111!

[soonerbrat]

i'm not quite sure about the discrimination thing... but it does sound like he's not taking jobs that he thinks are beneath him

i wish i could get away with that and collect $93k a year

states need to be able to fire people like this...

you want to sit in a room with no computer, internet or anything?

[85Sooner]

FOR 93k per year, I'll bring my own computer and start an EBAY Business.

[yermom]

eBay, consulting, something

even if it wasn't making money, it's not that hard to occupy time ;)

[AlbqSooner]

If he occupied his time with a side job during working hours they would have a reason to extend discipline - up to and including termination.

[yermom]

i would think that insubordination would be enough

i've watched LOTS of people get moved downward due to restructuring and not just sit there and no nothing. and i wasn't dealing with the sharpest crayons in the box when it came to management either, yet they kept this sort of thing from happening

[Scott D]

85 do you ever read a full article before you post here in your outrage?


Court papers show the stipulation promised Hinton his post at the Insurance Fund, controlled by Pataki's appointees under multi-year terms that continue years into the future. They gave him a job and an office but told his boss not to let Hinton handle anything of substance, according to Hinton and his former manager.

If anything, this guy's story shows EVERYTHING that is wrong with jobs being awarded by political appointment.

yermom, the story pretty much has them shoving him aside. And that he's been blackballed because he wouldn't play ball with Governmental appointments trying to shuffle the deck to fit political agendas.

[85Sooner]

85 do you ever read a full article before you post here in your outrage?



If anything, this guy's story shows EVERYTHING that is wrong with jobs being awarded by political appointment.

yermom, the story pretty much has them shoving him aside. And that he's been blackballed because he wouldn't play ball with Governmental appointments trying to shuffle the deck to fit political agendas.

Yes, he did not want to leave his post to someone new coming in. The Stupidity is that the guy is getting 93k a year for nothing and he is whining about it. I see no "outrage" in my post. If in fact he "received his job due to Political appointment" then he surely would expect to be replaced after the one who appointed him is out of office. It goes with the territory. If I were the state comptroller, I would just eliminate the position after what I just read. THen he can whine and moan and bitch with 0$ in his pocket.

[Vaevictis]

They can't eliminate his position because he's got a legally enforceable agreement.

There's also nothing in the article suggesting his original appointment that he refused to vacate was a political one, as far as I can tell.

Also, there's nothing stupid about actually wanting to earn your paycheck.

[yermom]

85 do you ever read a full article before you post here in your outrage?



If anything, this guy's story shows EVERYTHING that is wrong with jobs being awarded by political appointment.

yermom, the story pretty much has them shoving him aside. And that he's been blackballed because he wouldn't play ball with Governmental appointments trying to shuffle the deck to fit political agendas.

the story said that he had been given duties that were beneath him and he refused them. he kinda loses me when he pulls the race card and brings up that white males got positions he wanted and that somehow means this is all because he's being discriminated against because he's Native American. it's more like it's because of politics and/or that people don't want to work with for some reason. he's probably an irrigating feminine hygiene product.

some appointed position like that is begging for stuff like this. it's like hiring Tony Soprano's cousin that you can't fire, but you don't want him screwing anything up.

[TUSooner]

The Stupidity is that the guy is getting 93k a year for nothing and he is whining about it.

OK, I get it now. Taking money for nothing is OK, but trying to get somebody to let you do the job you are qualified to do - and which was awarded in a legal settlement -- is stupid. Sorry I misunderstood.

Seriously. I think your attempt to stoke ourage and indignation is off-target. BUT... it does sound to me like the guy could be one of those people whom most of us have worked with at one time or another with who just can't go along to get aloing and who always has to be in somke kind of p*ssing match with the Company. And ethnic discrimination seems like a stretch. I think you could defend a Title VII suit from that guy pretty well.

[Frozen Sooner]

yermom, you're missing a key component here.

He initially sued for racial discrimination under the Civil Rights Act. The EEOC allowed the suit to go forward, and the government eventually settled. The racial discrimination angle is moot now, as it doesn't appear he's alleging racial discrimination at this point.

What he's now alleging is that his employer is retaliating against him for filing suit under the CRA. That is in itself illegal under the CRA. It seems like he has a fairly legitimate complaint, though obviously we don't have the entire story.

[Scott D]

Yes, he did not want to leave his post to someone new coming in. The Stupidity is that the guy is getting 93k a year for nothing and he is whining about it. I see no "outrage" in my post. If in fact he "received his job due to Political appointment" then he surely would expect to be replaced after the one who appointed him is out of office. It goes with the territory. If I were the state comptroller, I would just eliminate the position after what I just read. THen he can whine and moan and bitch with 0$ in his pocket.

The political aspect was that they attempted to move him due to another position being a political appointee. He fought the system of political appointees, which I think we can agree is one of the worst ideas in this country because you constantly end up with people not qualified for those jobs but they have them as political favors for helping someone get elected to office (in this case Pataki as Governor).

So I'm confused now at what you are upset about. Is it the fact that he makes $93k a year to do nothing because someone over him ordered that he not be given any actual work to do in what appears to be the hopes that he'd quit. Or is it the fact that he's irritated and filing a new lawsuit for discrimination because he wants to be doing the job that he's being paid not to do?

yermom, and how would you feel if your boss decided to bring some 15 year old in off the street to supervise you and make you do entry level work?

[yermom]

i might rather have had the 15 year-old off the street over some of the supervisors i've ended up with over the years. and to fill holes i have ended up going down in the org chart before

i've also watched other people that i used to report to end up as peers and basically subordinates at times.

it sucks, but it beats finding a new job.

i don't understand continuing to work for an employer that settled a lawsuit with me. i'd expect to not get along with management at that point and move on, but that's just me.

[Scott D]

his job was apparently part of the settlement.

[GrapevineSooner]

If I was qualified to do a particular job, loved everything about the job, got the pay rate for that position, but had all my work for that position undercut from me as a form of retaliation, yeah, I'd be slightly pissed to say the least.

If anything, 85, the guy should be hailed for whistle blowing on government waste.

[Scott D]

If I was qualified to do a particular job, loved everything about the job, got the pay rate for that position, but had all my work for that position undercut from me as a form of retaliation, yeah, I'd be slightly pissed to say the least.

If anything, 85, the guy should be hailed for whistle blowing on government waste.

But he makes $93k to sit in an office and do nothing, and whines that he wants to work!

[Frozen Sooner]

i might rather have had the 15 year-old off the street over some of the supervisors i've ended up with over the years. and to fill holes i have ended up going down in the org chart before

i've also watched other people that i used to report to end up as peers and basically subordinates at times.

it sucks, but it beats finding a new job.

i don't understand continuing to work for an employer that settled a lawsuit with me. i'd expect to not get along with management at that point and move on, but that's just me.

As an exercise, go apply for a job and tell them your reason for leaving your last job was because you won a lawsuit against them.