Tropicana Manufacturing Bradenton - Tropicana Products - PepsiCo - QTG - Pete Hayes - Peter B. Hayes Tropicana Bradenton management engages in blatant discrimination and retaliation against disabled ripoff Bradenton Florida

We have 2 days in Mid August set for Arbitration on my case regarding the wrongful suspension and termination [Sept 2007] that was in apparent retaliation for my OSHA complaints for unsafe working and health conditions at the Tropicana Bradenton Plant owned by PepsiCo.

The Union, Teamsters Local 173 is representing me.

Also still open is the USDOL / OFCCP complaint for the retaliation and wrongful removal from the job for 15 weeks in response to my written request for reasonable accomodation under the ADA.

My EEOC complaint is still open on the retaliation and subsequent termination for my OSHA reports.

I will keep you all updated ONLY on the status of my case, as I cannot post any new information regarding Tropicana or its management or partner companies under direction of my union attorney and USDOL /OFCCP investigator.

I was hired at Tropicana Products aka: Tropicana Manufacturing in Bradenton, FL. on 3-14-06. I am a 30% rated disabled Veteran, and gave full disclosure at time of hire. They even made me get a medical second opinion at my own expense prior to hire. I did this, and was hired. Keep in mind, that as far as the job itself and the pay and benefits go, this is an excellent job, and I like it. I am not some disgruntled whiner.

The hours are long and you can work 7 days a week for several weeks without a day off and those shifts can be, and often are 12-16 hours per day with only 8 hours between punch out and punch in, which allows for a maximum of 4 hours sleep. I was working in the Fruit Recieving dept up until 5-31-06 when the long hours and short recovery time were starting to aggravate my overall health and my disability.

After working 15 hours on 4 hours sleep, getting off at 7AM, I went into the plant medical office to inquire about what accomodations were available to me as a disabled person. All I wanted was some sort of work hour restriction that would give me 12 hours between shifts instead of 8, as with my injuries/disability it took me almost an hour just to be able to get around after getting up.

Well, this was a short discussion, as the nurse (Elizabeth Harris) went straight to the HR office which is connected by a hallway and with her came Tulsa Everett, the senior HR rep at that time. Without any discussion or evaluation, Tulsa 'removed' me from the job without any documentation which I requested, and was denied. Not only did she take me off the job, she deactivated my access badge and timecard, as would be done when terminating an employee, but I was not terminated. I was simply off the job, without status or communication.

>I filed a grievance with the union (Teamsters Local 173) and after being out of work 11 weeks, was paid my full back pay, but still not put back to work. I was told I had to get another medical evaluation at my own expense and get a release that stated 'without restrictions' before I could come back to work. Well, being permanently disabled this would be impossible.

The above paragraph should read:
* I filed a grievance with the union (Teamsters Local 173) and after being out of work APPROX 11 weeks, was paid my full back pay BASED ON AVERAGE HOURS LOST, but still not put back to work. I was told I had to get another medical evaluation at my own expense and get a release that stated 'without restrictions' before I could come back to work. I SAID: Well, being permanently disabled this would be impossible. *

After 2 more months of fighting, I got back to work in another department. The original complaint was at this time allegedly resolved. THE ADA VIOLATION ITSELF WAS NEVER ADDRESSED OR CORRECTED. IT REMAINS UNRESOLVED TO THIS DAY. AND, TROPICANA MANAGEMENT CONTINUES WITH THE SAME BEHAVIOR.

>In the mean time, The 2 HR reps involved are removed from HR. 1 was fired (Eric Rivera) and 1 is reassigned (Tulsa Everett). Therefore Tropicana knows there is a problem here and risk of a lawsuit for the blatant ADA violations. Tropicana is owned by PepsiCo and is part of the QTG division. (Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade).

The paragraph above should read:
*In the mean time, The 2 HR reps involved are "removed" from HR. 1 was fired (Eric Rivera) and 1 is reassigned (Tulsa Everett). Therefore I BELIEVE Tropicana knows there is a problem IN THEIR HR DEPT and AN APPARANT risk of a lawsuit for the blatant violations THEY ROUNTINELY ENGAGE IN. Tropicana is owned by PepsiCo and is part of the QTG division. (Quaker-Tropicana-Gatorade).*

*However, APPROXIMATELY 3 months later, they are right back to the 12-16 hour shifts with 8 hours in between PUNCH OUT AND PUNCH IN, and once again, my condition is aggravated. This time I need medical treatment to resolve the pain and loss of mobility, however, I can and do keep performing my job, just in great pain. I make a medical appointment and a course of action being lumbar traction therapy is prescribed BY DR. CHRIS FLAIM of MANATEE WELLNESS CENTER. *

Tropicana denies my right to medical care and calls it an un-excused absence! They deny me the opportunity to get treatment that takes only 1 hour, twice per week even though I scheduled it outside normal duty hours so ONLY forced overtime would POSSIBLY be affected.

So, I file a formal written request FOR REASONABLE ACCOMODATION UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THE ADA with the HR Dept (Jenny Williams, HR Director) which is quickly denied without any real evaluation, and they attack my character, etc. Then Jenny Williams 'removes me' from the job! AGAIN! Without status or documentation once more. This time I am out of work for another 15 weeks. I am now out almost $5,000 in lost pay which has been denied 3 times through the Union grievance procedure, even with a rock solid case and abundant documentation of all events, and the prior violation.

>Pete Hayes, HR Manager fabricates testimony and documents to get me off the job and keep me off the job. I get paid for a few weeks and get put back to work, but 9 weeks lost time and all of my expenses, etc. remain unpaid.

The paragraph above should read:
*Pete Hayes, HR Manager fabricates A DOCUMENT TO MY DOCTOR, BEING A FALSIFIED AND GREATLY EXAGGERATED JOB DESCRIPTION to get me off the job and keep me off the job. THIS FABRICATED LETTER WAS OBVIOUSLY ENGINEERED TO GET A SPECIFIC RESPONSE, AND HE GOT WHAT HE WANTED. I get paid for a few DAYS IN THAT FIRST WEEK, AND THEY PAY ME FULL PAY TO STAY HOME FOR THE LAST 4 WEEKS, and THEN get put back to work, but APPROXIMATELY 9 weeks lost time and all of my expenses, etc. remain unpaid.*

I have a USDOL/ OFCCP complaint filed for the blatant ADA violations which is being handled by Carlos Gamazo of the USDOL OFCCP. Which is the office of contract compliance, as both Tropicana and Pepsico are federal contractors and must meet higher standards and have a 100% compliance rate with ADA, and other programs for Disabled persons and Veterans.

That is where it is at now. Possible Federal and State sanctions, as well as me having to sue them at my own expense for the violations.

Please give me your thoughts and experiences if you have worked for these companies or know someone that has. If you are an experienced lawyer in FL and are on the federal bar, please contact me if you are interested in a contingency fee based case. I can cover some costs, provided I am still working.

Steve
Bradenton, Florida
U.S.A.

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**Legal Disclaimer. All of the statements made here are true and correct to the best of my knowledge, and nothing here is meant to be of a defamatory nature towards anyone. I simply want my money due me, and the underlying problems fixed so others do not have to go through what I have gone through.**

I already corrected the scumbag comment issue. Bob corrected me and I already posted the correction. Sorry, Pete, I was wrong on that issue. You called me a dirtbag, not a scumbag. My mistake. Please accept my apology.

As far as the email goes re the $250,000 go away money, etc presented at the JAC. Bob told me that this was misrepresented by Pete and more weight was put on that part of the email to poison the board, and it worked.

Yes, the entire email was presented in the case, but that was the point that was emphasized as per Bob's conversation with me immediately after the decision on my case was made. This is my Union Representative, so I trust what he tells me.

As far as the illegal/unethical activity on the part of Tropicana HR on my case, that is ALL documented and through the 2 different cases, you should already have all of that documentation in my file, as it was all provided by me and presented in my case last year, as well as this year. And, Carlos had every piece of paper on this case as well, which was presented.

Here is a summary of what I have documents on:

1. I go into the plant medical office on 5/31/06 to simply ask about workhour accomodation for my known disability. Tulsa immediately pulls me off the job without cause or documentation or status.

2. I ask for written job status. Tulsa says "we don't do that".

3. Immediate notification of adverse action was not made to my Union by the company. This is a blatant contract violation.

4. Tulsa de-activates my card and blocks my access to the plant, all without any documentation on my job status. She disables swipe entry, and posts Wackenhut guards at each gate. I was turned away as per Tulsa Everett's order to Wackenhut, and I have a signed letter by the Wackenhut officer.

Eric attempts to keep me off the job along with Tulsa Everett, but ignoring and willfully ignoring my calls to the job hotline for work during seasonal layoff and at the "resolution" of my first case. I have the chain of emails to back this up. I also presented phone records to back up my claim that I called numerous times. I can once again contact my cell phone providers to get these. As I recall, there were like 70 calls to the job hotline by me and I never got a job from it. However, I do know that 10 temps were hired in for positions I requested. Eric got the OK from Wendell and his reason was that he had no volunteers!

On/ about 4/4/2007 I make a written request for "reasonable accomodation" under the ADA and once again, am removed from the job without cause, this time by Jenny. I have ample documentation of this entire chain of events.

Therefore, my claim of discrimination against disabled persons by tropicana HR/Management is validated. Especially as you [Tropicana HR] settled my first case and paid full back pay.

Then, this year, Jenny paid me "grievance pay" for the remainder first week when she pulled me off the job, which indicates admission of wrongdoing, as well as the last 4 weeks I was paid FULL pay to stay home! I am missing the approx 9 weeks in the middle. So if you paid at the start and at the end, why was I not paid for the time in the middle?

Jenny forcibly removed me from the job based on a falsified letter with greatly exaggerated job standards to my doctor. I have this letter with Pete's signature on it as well as the job description he sent, and the official job description provided to my initial doctor by the medical office. They are VERY different! And, I have done the job, and can testify that the requirements Pete stated are not what the job involves.

That letter was obviously written with one purpose in mind. To pull me off the job.

I have all of the written documentation that lead up to this as well where my requests for exused time for medical care were denied, even though I only needed 1 hour, twice per week, and the appt's were already scheduled outside my normal duty hours.

Tropicana HR blatantly refused to comply my doctor's request.

Tropicana HR refused to provide ANY "reasonable accomodation" under the ADA as requested.

These are documented facts.

Tropicana's way of dealing with anything is to get rid of the employee. That is common knowledge too.

Javier,

I was just informed by Bob Tuttle that I was wrong regarding the derogatory statement made by Pete hayes about me.

I said in my statement to you last Friday that Bob Tuttle told me that Pete Hayes called me a scumbag during last year's GRC on my initial case.

Bob Tuttle corrected me yesterday at the union meeting and said that Pete Hayes called me a dirtbag, not a scumbag.

That is real professional of your HR Manager to use that kind of language towards an employee during an official company meeting with a union representative.

This conduct was on company time and on company premises, which violates many PepsiCo's policies and standards.

Keep in mind that my statement was not made on company time and was not made on company property either. Nor was it made as a reperesentative of the company.

Actually you have no say over that statement I made at all. It is irrelevent and no company policy was violated, nor was any contract item violated by my statement, but Pete was in violation for sure.

The ONLY recourse on that statement is for Pete to file a civil suit on me I welcome him to do just that.

Thank you.

Titled: "Regarding the "Blogs" you enquired about.

Pete,

I understand you contacted Bob Tuttle yesterday about some alleged blogs on the internet.

I will be glad to give you the URL's to each, or print them out and fax them to you if you prefer. I am not hiding anything here, and I am only stating the documented facts.

Nothing illegal here, and nothing in violation of company policy. I'm just excercising my constitutionally protected rights of freedom of speech.

Are you going to now attempt to violate my constitutional rights, as well as my rights under the ADA, etc?

The facts are clear that you and other members of management violated my rights, AND engaged in retaliation against me when I stood up for my rights.

You, alone, had several opportunities to make this right and you CHOSE not to do so.

So, now, YOU have left me no other choice in dealing with this. I am taking it to the next level. The WORLD.

I bey you will really enjoy my new website dedicated to you alone and also my new video dedicated to the entire management team at tropicana. The tentative title is "Incompetence gone wild".

That is because everything that happened to me was either due to total arrogance or total incompetence on the part of all involved.

And, there is nothing illegal, or against company policy regarding telling it like it is.

And I WILL be telling the world, as per YOUR choice.

This is ON YOU, not me.

Thanks,

Steve

First, I found out yesterday by my Union Rep. Bob Tuttle of Teamsters Local 173 that Pete Hayes called him in regards to this post and others like it on the internet! He got the info from someone at PepsiCo whose sole job appears to be looking online for stuff like this!

Pete Hayes informed Bob Tuttle that "we have our lawyers looking into those blogs", etc.. I guess this was supposed to be some form of intimidation.

I guess he'll be real impressed when my website and my video get released! I will have a website dedicated just to this issue of discrimination and retaliation against disabled persons and veterans, AND the title for my video will be "Incompetence Gone Wild" and Pete Hayes will be the star.

Second, I want to clarify that the "written request" I made to the company [Jenny Williams] was worded as "REQUEST FOR REASONABLE ACCOMODATION" under the provisions of the ADA.

A company with over 1000 employees working 3 shifts 24/7 could not accomodate a legally disabled veteran needing only 1 hour twice per week for essential medical care.

However, they accomodate others by putting them on light duty for weeks at a time, where someone else has to do their job, and they give people off on Sunday to go to church when requested, etc.

If you are a disabled person, you should steer clear of this group of companies. They WILL NOT accomodate you.

Now, that I have stood up for my rights, I am the bad guy. I am the boatrocker and troublemaker. Pete Hayes has used derogatory terms to describe me to others, as some of them have informed me.

I'm a bad guy because I stood up for my legal rights. Actually my human rights. But management at tropicana is just that, in-human.

However, they themselves fail to show up for days at a time, and/or come in late, leave early, take 2 hour lunches, etc. Therefore, they get their medical care when needed.