"Isn't He Dead Yet?"

When I was supervising call center employees at the company we called U. S. Worst, upper management was obsessed with cost control at any cost. As supervisors, we were expected to do anything and everything to reduce costs, including following employees into the bathroom to find out what was taking them so long. We advised our agents to answer with a one-syllable name to reduce call time. We had a light switch in the center of the room that each person would turn on and off when they went to the bathroom and returned, to ensure that only one person could be using the toilets at a time. The place was really obsessed with toilets and employees' bathroom habits.

I especially dreaded meeting with my boss to go over the reports of employee absence, illness, and disability. There was a long-term employee, a really nice guy, who had been living with HIV for a number of years. I'll never forget when my boss was scanning the disability reports, and when she got to this person's name, she said in an irritated tone of voice, "Isn't he dead yet?"

Trauma Story

In 2000 I was working at (name of company deleted). I was at the Reception desk in the main front lobby when an employee named Tony came out of the elevator and asked to see the CEO. Tony seemed angry and agitated. Tony had brain cancer and had been out on disability. I remember Tony saying loudly “I need to see the CEO, I need my medical benefits!” Some of the managers came out in the lobby and the next thing I remember is seeing security guards physically dragging Tony into the elevator while he was kicking, hitting, and screaming on the floor. The guards were literally dragging him by the arms and legs. I became faint and sick and went around the corner to my supervisor’s office, told her I had to use the restroom right away, and went in the restroom and threw up. I then asked if I could be excused for the rest of the day since I was nauseated and could not stop crying.