Surprise Tuesday Blog: RESPECT in the Workplace: June 18, 2013

A familiar theme: Respect.

Why do people feel the need to treat each other poorly in the workplace? 

The workplace: this is somewhere you spend much of your time. You spend more time at the workplace than you do at home. Think about it, your co-workers should become a second family. Maybe they do! Family feels very comfortable to treat each other poorly, we see it all the time. People's Court is a place where we see family suing each other all the time. So why am I surprised that co-workers and bosses have the audacity to treat others with less than RESPECT.

I am at my job for many years. I have always treated my co-workers and superiors with respect and expect the same in return. It does not happen.

What happened to The Golden Rule? Do unto others as you would expect them to do unto you. This is something we learn in kindergarten or before if you have parents that teach it. The practice of public humiliation is not expected in the workplace. Someone who chooses this approach as a way to manage their staff is severely lacking in ... oh so much!

When you have good people working for you, it is time to acknowledge and appreciate them. For over twenty years, I was treated with respect and then ... a change in management. How quickly things can change.

Which brings me to the next question ... Why does someone who gets power and control abuse it?

I am thinking this is an age-old question with many answers and yet, no answers. A study in human nature. What I do know is that we are all people who deserve respect from each other. We need to be at work. We need to feel appreciated on some level. I know, I know, we get a paycheck, we should not expect thanks. But ... we should not get treated poorly. What do you think?

Shout-out  to Megan!

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Maybe together we can figure this out. 

Thank you for joining me today.

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Friday: June 7, 2013: RESPECT

Hi Readers,

Sorry to have been gone for so long. So much is happening and I have not been able to write. I am back and want to share something with you. I am fascinated by the way people treat each other in everyday life. Have you noticed that a certain level of respect for each other is MISSING!!!! How do we get it back? I am perplexed by the decline of everyday communications. Here is an example of a conversation overheard in an office:

Administrative Assistant to IT person as he/she was walking past: Excuse me, I have a stupid question. Can you help me?

IT person: There are no stupid questions, just stupid people that ask them.

Really! Is this an appropriate response to someone who is asking for help? I know the usual response to that question is: There are no stupid questions. Why on earth would the IT person not give the cliche answer or just respond: What can I help you with? The cliche answer puts people at ease. The answer given puts people down. It is insulting. In the workplace we do not expect to be insulted by our coworkers. Is this a sign of the times?

I am having a real problem with this. Please let me know what you think. Also, please share  experiences you have had with the lack of respect that seems to be prevalent in our day to day life.

Thank you for reading! Please visit the following site and help support a worthy animal rescue organization. There are many ways you can help support them with NO COST to you!!!!!!!!!

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ617.html

Let us all return to the GOLDEN RULE:

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

People's Court Blog * Saturday 4 - 6 - 2013

Hi everyone. I am going to post weekly. During the week there are approximately 15 court cases. I am going to pick my favorites and share my thoughts with you. Please share your thoughts about the cases I write about and other cases also.

It is so interesting to watch everyone interact with each other. There is so much to be learned as people find a way to make the wrong right. Some people are so patient waiting to  be paid or waiting for a service, others are very impatient. Some people treat others with respect, with others the disdain is palatable. 

Even though everyone should be respectful to others, it does not always happen that way. When everyone is in court, we hope they are on their best behavior. Again, this is not always the way it happens. It constantly amazes me when people disrespect the court. The Judge deserves the ultimate in respect. 

The other issue which I find amazing, is the lack of preparation. Some people do not bring any evidence. Where do they think they are going? This is the day they are in court, this is the day they need to prove their case. 

Here is a case from Friday, March 29th. A couple moves and their TV is broken. They submit the claim to their renters insurance and then decide to sue the movers. The couple cannot prove the movers broke the TV because they did not unwrap it right away. There are so many excuses on their part why they waited. When you move and there are expensive electronics, they need to be checked right away. Because they submitted the claim to their renters insurance, it appeared they broke the TV. The woman explains that she did not know how renters insurance works. Really? She also did not know what it meant to send a certified letter. Again, really? It is not that complicated. It was no surprise that they lost the case. 

I hope to hear from you about your favorite cases. Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Please check out this rescue group: http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/NJ617.html

They do great work for the animals. Please help support them. 

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People's Court: 7-20-12

We Are Here Over $9.00!

Susan took her Dad's car to Rohon's auto repair shop. She needed tires and was having problems with the fan belt. Rohon operates out of a storefront in Brooklyn. He does not have a yard, his customers have to park on the street. The alternate side of the street parking rules are in effect in this area.There is much talk about double parking, and it being tolerated. Double parking is not legal, it is essential leaving your car in the middle of the street. Susan drops off the car before work, goes into the shop and tells Rohon where the car is parked. She is planning to pick the car up the next day. Unfortunately, her car was not moved in a timely manner and she received a ticket and was towed. She wants Rohon to be responsible for these costs. The funny thing is, he is willing to take care of her repairs for free. This would appear to be a sense of responsibility on his part for the ticket and the tow. The tow ticket shows that the car was still on the street two hours after Susan dropped it off. Rohon should have moved it soon after she left it and none of this would have happened. Offering to do the repairs for free seems to be a reasonable offer. What goes wrong? He asks Susan to pay a $9.00 environmental fee. She refuses and sues him for the cost of the ticket and the tow. Why doesn't she accept his offer? She said he was rude to her and the offer was not enough. Also,her car was never fixed! Why do people get caught up in these situations? For a person like Susan who appears to be very busy, why take the time to come to court? It is always about the principle. It is never about the money. For $9.00, this would have been over, she would have remained a customer and would not have to look for a new mechanic. Rohon is not upset about losing a customer, he feels it is her loss, she is losing a great mechanic. As far as the outcome of the case, they are found equally responsible and split a $300.00 verdict. Susan should have accepted Rohon's initial offer and saved everyone major headaches!

You Killed My Trees!

Edward is suing Thomas for the removal and replacement of 5 trees. Edward is convinced the snow that was pushed against the trees killed them. Thomas admits when he plowed snow at the neighbor's house, he pushed the snow onto Edward's property during one year. Several years went by and Edward says that Thomas is responsible to remove and replace the trees. He has brought evidence. He has some pictures of trees with broken branches.  He has also brought an estimate to have the trees removed and replaced. He does not have a letter from an expert explaining the condition of the trees. Thomas is counterclaiming for the cost of research and preparation for court.  It is true there has been a lot of snow this past winter. Thomas says that after he was asked to stop plowing the snow toward's Edward's property, he stopped. He was not responsible for the snow accumulating against the trees. Can snow build-up next to trees damage and kill them? Wouldn't there be many more dead trees after a bad winter? Edward does not have enough evidence to prove his case. The pictures do not show who is responsible for the damage to the branches. Broken branches do not cause trees to die. If a snowplow hit the tree, that would be a different story. That did not happen. Why would Edward waste everyone's time and resources when he does not have any proof? Why didn't he videotape the damage being done? Why didn't he call the police? This is always the best way to document an injustice. Edward cannot prove his case, he does not win. Thomas has a video of the trees on Edward's property. He identifies the type of trees and show some damage they have sustained. He says this damage could have happened in any storm. He cannot prove his counterclaim. Both men lose their cases. Hopefully. both men have learned something, so it is not a total waste of time. It is really important to have documentation when you want to prove something.

We Have A Leak - Please Fix It!

Daryl is suing Julio and Tom for back rent and utility bills. They rented a laundromat from her. They were already renting another store in the same strip mall. They saw an opportunity for another business. I give them credit for wanting to have another business. Unfortunately, they did not do their homework. The laundromat was not a booming business. They also had problems with a leaking roof. They claimed they called Daryl to let her know and she did not look into the problem. Daryl said she went to the store and the doors were locked. When she contacted Julio and Tom, they said they shut down. In February, the leak was worse and now there was snow and ice built up on the roof. When she finally has a contractor evaluate the problem, the condition of the leak had gotten really bad. The laundromat has been closed for business, so the landlord did not feel an sense of urgency to repair it. The two men had signed a 6 month lease, so they need to abide by the terms of the contract. They do have to pay the utilities and the majority of the rent. The Judge reduces the amount of the rent because of the condition caused by the leak. They are responsible to pay the landlord $2000.00 for the utilities and a portion of the rent. What could Julio and Tom done differently? They could have documented contact with landlord regarding the leak. What could the landlord have done differently? She could have treated Julio and Tom with more respect. Especially since they were already tenants and she had a working relationship with them. People need to treat each other better and communicate when they have problems.

Please share your thoughts in the comments. Thank you for joining me.

 A life without dreams is like a garden without flowers.

-Unknown

People's Court: 7-2-12: Respect

So many times the people in our lives let us down. Whether they are family or strangers we all deserve to be treated with respect. If something occurs and we lose someone's respect, do we then deserve their cruelty?

Maria Elaina is bringing her soon to be ex-husband to court on behalf of her father. When the couple was still together they had a dog. The dog was hit by a car. When Anthony and his father-in-law rushed the dog to the vet, Anthony did not have any money with him. His father-in-law offered his credit card for payment and Anthony agreed to pay the bill. Over $3000.00 was charged to the card. Paying the bill $100.00 a month, lets interest charges accumulate. Four years later, there is still a balance on the card. Anthony is still paying, although now he has moved out. He continues to provide for the dog even though he does not live there anymore. When the dog passes away, he pays for everything, vet bills and the cremation. He even gives Maria Elaina half of the ashes. Now he decides he is not going to pay the remaining balance of almost $500.00. He feels since he has made payments for all of these years, paying almost $7,000.00 (remember the interest charges), Maria Elaina should pay the rest. Unfortunately, he has made the commitment to pay his father-in-law. He is required to pay the balance. Now, what I do not understand is why Maria Elaina has not taken any responsibility to pay half of the expenses for the dog. They owned the dog together. She is so bitter over the break-up, she does not see how ridiculous she looks by not paying her own way. Anthony should sue her for half of the expenses. I do not think he will since he probably wants to move on and not have to deal with Maria Elaina more than he needs to. 

A tenant decides to move out of her apartment after living there for 6 years. Time flies when you are having fun, the landlord says she has lived there for 8 years. The time seemed uneventful until there was a storm that left branches in the driveway and on top of another tenant's car. When she gets up in the morning she could not get her car out of the driveway because of the branches in front of her car.  She wakes up the landlord so he can move the branches. She claims he was very angry when he comes outside. He tells us that he was outside at 1:00 am clearing the branches. There might have been some very small twigs in front of her car. He says he was not happy to be awakened for this, but did not yell or curse at her. She is now scared for her safety because of the anger her directed towards her. She decides to move out. She wants her security deposit back even though she did not give him the proper notice. She brings a printout of his arrest history to prove she had a right to be afraid. She did not call the police at the time of the incident. There is no reason to think he is going to harm her. She does not get her security deposit back. I think it was very cruel to bring up this man's arrest history, it had nothing to do with her situation, even though she said it proved why she would be afraid of him. Why do people have to be cruel to each other?

Marilyn thinks she had a contract to write a script for a movie and then to write a book. She never had a signed proposal or contract. Yet she does research for the project and sends an invoice for the work she has done. The story is about Councilman Davis who was assassinated in 2003 in New York City Hall. A police officer on the first floor sees what has occurred in the balcony and kills the shooter. Councilman Davis's brother wants to educate the public about nonviolence and promote organ donation. He has a mission and to further it has been interviewing several people to write a book based on the documentary he has made. Marilyn thought he had hired her even though there was nothing in writing and they did not discuss payment. When he did not agree to pay the invoice, she sent him a nasty e-mail that referenced his brother. Why do people have to stoop to a low level when they do not get their way? She should have just kept everything about business and not attacked him personally. He obviously thinks highly of his brother to dedicate his life to this mission. This woman does not win her case and continues to fight for her case in the hallway. She felt they had a gentlemen's agreement since they shook hands and hugged. Mr. Davis says he respects the court's decision and will continue with his mission. Again we see the importance of getting an agreement in writing.

Please tell me what you think. Thank you for joining me today.

"Your success and happiness lies in you.Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invincible host against difficulties."- Helen Keller

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