TJ Simers gets $14.5M from LA Times

There is nothing off-putting about punishing a billion dollar company when that have done something wrong. What should he have gotten and what penalty should the employer have to pay?

 

Yep. The review system was bullshit. My first few reviews were fairly done, with my SE giving me a 5 for making deadline, because I never missed it. Second SE would give me a 4 for that, even though I still didn’t miss it, and when I’d ask, he’d give me a sheepish look and say he wished he could give me a higher grade.

 

Are you fucking serious? Jeezuz.

 

I'd be so much happier about this if I wasn't so familiar with what a jerk Simers is.

 

I don't know. I just think it's a gross overstatement of the impact the loss of the job had on, remember, one guy -- especially one guy who didn't need the job anymore, is among the few journalists who could have afforded to sue, or who would have been inclined to sue, anyway, and who wasn't actually fired because of his age.

He was shown the door because he made too much money in a cost-cutting environment and he was difficult employee. Firings happen all the time for that combination of reasons, usually to people who can't possibly seek redress. As I said, I'm glad he won, for the sake of possible future others, but I don't think Simers' case will make any difference, or set any precedent, either for any company, or for any journalist, save for him.

And I'm not even put off by Simers himself, as many others are. He was a good reporter and a very hard worker, a columnist who wasn't a no-show in the office, and someone I was able to watch work, and listen to on the phone, up close, almost every day because my desk was right outside his office for several years (and doing that was something to behold, let me tell you).

 

The tactics used to get older - read, "higher salary" - employees to take a buyout or quit are nothing new.

Shuffling deck chairs and putting longtime columnists, reporters or beat writers in shitty positions usually does the trick. You're sailing along, experienced, usually respected, have a good list of contacts and sources, solid or glowing personnel reviews, maybe have won awards, and then some fucktard editor moves you to covering something you've never done or would do, puts you on the "robust" new high school coverage in a Lifestyle section, or maybe "general reporting" on weekends.

If you stay, you know you'll be treated like shit even if you're capable of doing what they want. So, you leave. And it clearly wasn't done across the board to others. It's even presented as "More than 20 years of service" or some structure. It's selective and discriminatory, and everyone knows it. But like Frederick said there aren't enough lawsuits challenging this shit.

Good for Simers.

 

I never met him, but I know several people who worked with him and didn’t have much good to say to him
One story I heard was about someone who had gotten a new job and on his last day, he wrote a farewell column
The first letter of every paragraph spelled Fuck you TJ Simers

 

I didn’t get a raise for four years before the strike.
One time I asked my boss for a raise and he told me: “You’re THIS close”
The day before the strike, they threw $$$ at me and everyone else
When I returned three years later, they added that and some more to my salary
They also added a 401K (nonmatching) to the pension we got from the Guild
Now they’re trying to take the 401K away and both Detroit papers are working without a contract

 

A 401k without a matching is a stinking IRA that you can open up for free at TD Ameritrade or a dozen other places. And when they boot your ass, you won't have to hassle with transferring it.

Whoop de damn do for offering a non matching 401K. F that place.

 

I don't think those agreements hold up in court. A company has no right to say you get a buyout based on you agreeing not to sue. Is this correct, attorneys? That's blackmail, folks. A judge would rule in favor of the reporter.

 

Yep, we should sue automatically when "reassigned" to an exciting news job after becoming a respected sports columnist/writer.

 

This is why the suits and mini suits shouldn't be able to live with themselves. This is common place. I know people who got 2 or 3 out of 5 for attendance when they didn't miss a day and didn't take vacation. I mean that's just insulting. You almost have to walk out the door that day if that happens to you. If you have self respect you say: "How can I get a 2 out of 5 for attendance when I've never missed a day and took no vacation time all year?" The secondary suit says, "2 is a good grade."
You say, excuse me I'm headed to HR office, go there and see if you can get a severance/settlement while quitting right there. You also call your attorney and plan your lawsuit.