Performance Texts by Dan Senn


Appealaspiele
by Dan Senn

The decision to terminate a future Life Member cannot be taken lightly, for its influence on the dismissed is only part of its overall integrated impact. Family upheaval, company and community upheaval, when it is the result of the unnecessary action of the bosses, is an especially serious matter. But because he was first and foremost a family man, he was obliged to act to whatever degree was provided under the law to protect his family and its established connections to the company and the surrounding community. The appeal was therefore a matter of brute survival as well as one of maintaining basic humanity and personal integrity. In this case, there would be no room for a facile response to an unwarranted dismissal. He could not silently walk away from his staff and colleagues; from the many years of intense commitment; and from the material needs of his family. And now, so he said, he deeply appreciated the opportunity to defend himself, his family, his colleagues, and the principles of fair play and integrity before the appeal committee, even if it had been selected, save one member, by the bosses themselves.

Fat chance.

In the presentation to the appeal committee, he would elaborate on the materials already presented in the Appeal Document which had already been presented just before Christmas. As he believed procedural errors related to the appeal had been sufficiently covered in this document, he would only mention them briefly, focusing later on the substantive problems followed by a reference to the Innovation Discrimination Employment Act, that is, if he could hold on and keep a straight face.

Dressed in his power clothing he went on to carefully explain that six years earlier the company had appointed him to a future life position as Coordinator-of-Research-and-Not-Too- Much-Innovation-Please. As this was a regular future Life Membership appointment, his position had been subject to regulations presented in the Company Employee Handbook which stated: future Life Member who has yet be awarded Life Membership must submit an annual report to the appropriate department committee at a time and in the form to be set by that committee . . ." Furthermore, and in this same regard, the LIfe Member Policies and Procedures state that a Life Member who has yet to be awarded Life Membership must submit an annual report to the Policies and Procedures Committee utilizing the proper format at a date and time to be set by that committee."

While he had followed all of these guidelines since the onset of his future life appointment, materials had been suddenly and unexpectedly withdrawn in November from submission by a third person, a Dr. Insincere Obeisance, an act which had been beyond his control and contrary to any wish he would have had in the circumstances. As stated under item V. Statement of Principles on Innovative Thinking and Life Membership in the Company Employee Handbook, " Nothing in this document shall in any way limit the procedural rights of a member of the company as set forth in the 1940 Statement on Innovative Thinking and Life Membership as presented by the National Association of Company Life Members. The first article of the 1940 document stated that:

"The precise terms and conditions of every appointment must be given in writing and be in the possession of both the company and future life member before the appointment is consummated."

He argued that if the appeal committee would uphold the action to terminate his future Life Membership after six years of work on grounds unrelated to his performance, then the "precise terms" of the original contract could not have been properly stipulated. Why? The contract position he had held for the first two of his six years had only become a regular future Life Membership position based on evaluations which described his work as demonstrating exceptional leadership and performance. Futhermore, he had never been informed by word or in writing that his position was being funded with anything other than regular and on-going monies. If the agreement had since become other than those stated and implied by the terms of a regular Life Membership slot, then he was clearly not afforded his right to precise and fair terms and, therefore, the right to renegotiate or to refuse the Future Life Membership contract altogether. Instead, while submitting himself in good faith to the tedious review process up until the moment of the unwarranted withdrawal of life membership review materials, the defendants of this action, the bosses and underbosses, acted in willful violation of the stated terms of his contract and its inherent obligations.

In a December meeting with underboss Chief Misanthrope, he had put forward the question as to how this decision to suddenly terminate him had come about. The reply was, "we had to move now before our options became limited". The Chief stressed, as many others already had, that it had nothing to do with his performance. In other words, as he was about to enter the very important sixth year review, assuming that once again he would receive praise for a job well done, the process of dismissing him would only become increasingly difficult in the following year according to stipulations which did not matter in the first place.

He was relieved that it had nothing to do with his performance.

He then posed the following questions regarding the nature of his initial Future Life Membership appointment. After having served two exemplary years on contract to the company, what purpose was served by rehiring him at a senior administrative level if only to terminate him precisely at the point where dismissal was believed legally possible? What purpose was served by hiring him to a regular future Life Membership position under rules which were stipulated only for temporary circus clowns?

It was indeed extraordinary to hire a regular Future Life Member, to require him to go through the rigorous review process year in and year out only to terminate him because funding for his position was suddenly considered unreliable. The situation was so anomalous that it was not even covered in the Company Employee Handbook; a point which was further emphasized by the fact that the matter had come directly to this high level company appeal committee by default.

The nature of his future Life Membership appointment was explained to him by Dr. Bend-Over-and-Take-It in a meeting he had with him in his little yellow office overwhelmed by the smell of dead composers. Dr. Take It stated in a low voice that he would have never broached the topic of redirecting the funding for his position; that he was well aware of the agreement that he had originally made. Take-It told him, speaking in a louder voice now, that he could not now guarantee that the funding for his position would not disappear in the future. However, he said, speaking softly again, that it was his fiduciary responsibility as an underboss to state that no funding could ever be guaranteed, an announcement he was obliged to make at all times. He then mouthed in near silence to the music of Brahms, that this was the purpose of financial exigency clauses in all employment contracts whether for regular future Life Membership status or for a part-time whore with spinning nipples. Therefore, as suspected, the financial status of his position had in fact remained unchanged from the time of his initial employment. The funds continued to flow from the parent corporation as before. Its mandates for efficiency and general competency continued as before.

Someone was telling fibs.

In the Top Bosses December termination letter, it had been stated that he was being dismissed for "financial factors and programmatic needs in the related department," a decision which had been reached in part on the recommendation of Almost-a-Dr.-Fuck-the-Boss-Anytime after having met with Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath, Dr. Insincere Obeisance, and Under-underboss Chief Misanthrope. A record of these meetings, and one between himself and Almost-a-Dr.-Fuck-the-Boss-Anytime, was given in a letter to the Top Boss sent presumably in late November.

The letter gives some indication of what is meant by "programmatic needs" as mentioned later in the Top Boss' termination letter. The letter states that his positive job reviews had only been based on limited performance in Department A and shouldn't be given too much weight. It later states that the department is looking to fill another position, and that Dr. Insincere Obeisance believes the department needs someone with more "breadth" to fill the position. Since the Top Boss' actions would havebeen based on the advise of his advisors, it was important to for him to clear up some of these inaccuracies.

Contrary to that which had been stated, within Department A alone, he had worked and been favorably reviewed in several areas which had been extensively considered in several past Life Membership review panels. These included: retrofitting irrelevant systems on past examples of true innovation; advanced software development towards unverifiable ends; advanced systems theory as applied to aging design techniques; and old directions in electronic systems within the Engineering Technology division.

The letter from Almost-a-Dr.-Fuck-the-Boss-Anytime did not mention that within Department B, he had developed expertise within numerous new employees at a low cost to the company in such esoteric areas as Risk This, Risk That, and Most People are Full of Shit. It did not mention his involvement in the production of over fifty training seminars during his six year tenure, as well as his selfless involvement with employee team building. It did not mention his involvement with co-workers in international and regional development, or for that matter, his achievements as an innovator in areas affecting other areas within the company. In the past few months alone he had coordinated the individual training of nine new employees within the companies research division. He had coordinated and lead three separate employee seminars while directing the day-to-day operation of the integrated research facility, and produced five cross-division exchanges which had greatly increased the communication resulting in a dramatic increase in profits.

As his brave life member colleagues would attest to later before the appeal committee, his suitability for the position which was opening in Division A was in question not because a "lack of breadth". The new position had been understood by all to be at the entry level, and while he was quite capable of satisfying its needs, an experienced employee at his age, one with a national and international record or performance and publication, was neither an appropriate nor a sought after applicant. Department A and Dr. Insincere Obeisance was searching diligently for Dr. Vigorous Complacency, or The Happy Hobbyist if the pickings were slim. Industry had always been besieged by insecurities and sinecurism and Department A was not the exception. Furthermore, professionals everywhere were all too aware of the restrictions placed on mobility and employment once they reached a certain point in their careers. Where top-down administration was encrusted, " Excellence" had become a code word for pedantry and nice office furniture. Small portions of invention were only allowed so as to escape embarrassment in the company prospective. In this case a " lack of breadth" had neither been an issue nor had it properly represented him to the Top Boss.

He wanted to make that clear.

The Top Boss' termination letter referred to a shift in programmatic needs within Department A. In Almost-a-Dr.-Fuck-the-Boss-Anytime's letter of advise to the Top Boss, it read that "Underboss-Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath wanted to change the way in which the research areas were run." While he would allow his brave colleagues to address the issue of what happens when a highly specialized and unique facility is turned over to the Company Goons, he decided to quote from the letter he had written to the Top Boss in November. "Now I have been told that the research will continue under the auspices of the Company Goons, where its uniqueness will be lost to administrative realities and cynicism. The national recognition, the cross-company integration, the sensitivity to employee needs, and the effective research and training strategies will no longer be available to enrich the lives of our work force. Ultimately, profit margins will be affected and return to the anaemic levels of our dismal past." He had only learned recently that the socalled programmatic changes involved the establishment of discipline-specific research labs withineach department of the division while the integrated facility would effectively be dissolved when placed undercontrol of the Company Goons. This represented a major shift in attitude, for as recently as the previous Spring, the division underbosses were actively resisting any move in this direction, an attitude which had been documented on several accounts. For example, in a memo to Underboss-Miss-Merry- the-Smiling-Sociopath from the Underboss-in-Charge of Department B two years earlier shows her objection to the establishment of an ancillary research lab for the Department B based on the grounds, as stated by Underboss-Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath, that it was "going against the argument to use the current integrated research facility and we can't work towards both." In the Autumn of that year, he had collaborated with Mr-Duck-and-Run from Department C in the design of an yet another discipline specific research facilities. In that plan, a solution was offered to the unique problems presented by a company which was actually advancing to new levels of research literacy. This document had been presented in a meeting with the underbosses and stated the following:

Problem: An increasing percentage of the company's work is requiring the use of highly specialized technology equipped with specialized software and hardware. As effective as the research facility has been at addressing the needs of the company within an integrated context, through the redundant use of equipment and personnel, it no longer satisfies all of the companies evolving needs. Its successes over the past four and a half years at cultivating an integrated and research oriented work force has brought us to the recognition that some highly specialized needs do now exist.

Recommendation: The current research facility and its associated training regimen should continue to act as the hub of research efforts within the company. However, three highly specialized research facilities should be added to address the highest level of discipline-specific development and problem solving which is impractical within the integrated facility. These new facilities would have a dual function: while they would be oriented toward the specific and peculiar needs of the related departments, they would be maintained using the expertise and general infra-structure of the current integrated research facility...

His conviction that the company should move to an even higher level of research integration was further argued in a paper requested by Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath and entitled "A Strategy for the Implementation of Research Literacy and Development within the Division." He presented this paper to the Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling Sociopath and Under-underboss Chief Misanthrope in the Autumn one year earlier where once again his recommendations were met with silence.

During that Autumn, Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath had stipulated the formation of a Research Facility Task Force for the purpose of assessing the delivery of research development to the various divisional departments. At the conclusion of the very first meeting in October, Chairman Chief Misanthrope put forward the question to all committee members as to the effectiveness of the research facility as it now stands. The subsequent responses, while never included in the minutes of the meeting as prepared by the chair himself, was a consensus of support for the current program in relation to the company productivity. This consensus would be later verified by two of his brave Life Member colleagues who had been present at the meeting, one from Department A, and the other from the Department of C.

Chief Misanthrope had experienced yet another loss of memory.

Prior to being informed of his impending termination in November, programmatic support for a change in direction from the company underbosses had never been indicated. As given in the attachments to the Appeal Document, he had received several memoranda from Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath which had been highly complimentary of his "leadership, talent and commitment to research development within the company." In a Spring memo, Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath graciously stated "I congratulate you again for the excellent research seminar. As you know a couple of the resulting innovations were designated as the "Underboss' Choice" and I intend to give one to the Top Boss and begin a personal collection with the other. I brought both over to the Top Boss and told him he could choose his favorite. This is a wonderful PR strategy for our program and to educate the other underbosses, under-underbosses, etc. about our unique approach to company research development. Thank you again for your leadership in this area."

In a document which was issued company-wide in May, the divisions research program was presented as a model in its effort to integrate research throughout the company. While he initially prepared the report as Coordinator-of-Research-and-Not-Too-Much-Innovation- Please, it had been passed through Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath's office where it was heavily edited before submission. He also wanted to mention that the Company Research Development Awards program which he had developed over the years was still being used within the division but was now being administered by Chief Misanthrope without apparent memory of its origin.

In review, his dismissal letter had stated that financial factors and programmatic needs of Department A and the company required his termination, although no financial crisis had ever been uncovered. After some digging, however, he had learned that research funding had not been withdrawn because of a financial crisis. That the programmatic changes that were cited were never recommended by the task force or by clearly defined goals and objectives defined by the division underboss. He had been told that his dismissal had nothing to do with the performance of his duties, and, of course, this had been documented in the many notes of praise for his personal work and commitment to company development. His yearly reviews had been stellar.

Therefore, the question as to the real purpose of his dismissal arose. The extensive educational services he had provided to Department A would be lost. The excellent and unique services of an research facility, one of the first to be established in the United States and the world, and all of its associated programs would be effectively squandered. A researcher of international reputation who was on the front-line of interdisciplinary technology would be hung "Out to Dry". He was at a loss, as were his colleagues and staff, as to the purpose of discarding a highlyregarded administrator and worker at a company striving for "excellence" and increased profitability.

No he wasn't. He had known all along. He had adopted a "power coat" appearance only as a means of manipulating his ideals. From the beginning he had been keenly aware of the risks in the event his subversiveness would be discovered. Hah! And even now he took great pleasure in knowing that he had changed hundreds of lives in the process. He had created a micro-generation of idealistic subversives over his six years and they were now on the loose. With them he had always been dead honest and out in the open. But after a few years he had begun to recognize the hate in Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Necrophilic's eyes when she realized that her malevolence was being used. Scary shit that look. His only disappointment now was that he had been caught off guard and that he would now miss life membership short of a law suit he had no intention of filing. The children would have to be uprooted. He would now have to disturb the narcissists pond from somewhere outside the boat. The furniture would no longer match. Yes indeed, he knew very well that he had been terminated because of his performance all along.

Then, in a last ditch effort at subversive unreality, he stated to the appeal committee that he did not wish to present dirty laundry for he was hopeful that the decision to terminate him would be reversed based on the evidence. After all, he did not believe that the groundwork for a productive relationship in the future would be helped in this way. In spite of it all, however, he was obliged to clear up one more point which had been stated in writing by the Top Boss concerning his so called refusal to communicate with the Underboss Miss-Merry-the-Smiling-Sociopath. As his brave Life Member colleagues would attest to, an unwillingness to communicate professionally or socially had never been one of his traits. However, as stated in the "Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, under article II. 8.1 of the Company Employee Handbook, " Members of the company... who have substantial authority... have an especially strong obligation to maintain an environment conducive to respect for the rights of others to the fulfillment of their responsibilities." It goes on to say that "bosses and underbosses have a particular responsibility to protect their workers from unwarranted external and internal attacks." He explained that within these guidelines, he would always be available for open and trustworthy communication with the bosses, underbosses, and anyone else.

Silly boy.

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