Apr 14, 2008

At-Will Employment

The comments and emails on the Trujillo case have me wondering if my understanding of at-will employment is incorrect. Why can't his employment be terminated?

My understanding is he'd be owed some severance pay if the termination was not for cause. So what? Just get the lab as far away from this as possible. Leave the rest to law enforcement.

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

There is no sympathy for those that violate children. He gets off easy.

Anonymous said...

He sould call Hook. Seems like apples from the same tree.

Anonymous said...

"At will" though feared and ranted against, never actually occurred. The LANL polices for termination must be followed and they are not as loose as has often been described here for "at will employees."

I personally would be willing to pull the hot seat switch on any child abuser/molester, but I couldn't do it unless I was convinced the individual was guilty - I couldn't do it based on rumors and allegations.

Frank Young said...

LANL could not bypass "for cause" issues simply to get this over with? Remember, this is an employment decision not a finding of guilt.

Anonymous said...

I think that it is quite unfair
that this poor man should lose his job over this. Castration would be more appropriate.

Anonymous said...

12:34 - What about the LANL employee who says that she has been harassed by Pat to gain access to her son? LANL could have staff relations perform one of their famous investigations, come up with facts, and then their would be ammo for cause.

Anonymous said...

It would run the risk of creating a public outcry for Rich Marquez to be fired next.

Anonymous said...

What chest thumping hypochrits. So are we to believe Trullio is the only unethical person in management at the Lab? No morons, the reason people like him and Marquez stay employed is simple--they're willing to pull the trigger and know where the bodies are buried. That buys you lots and lots of job security. Ok? Get it now? Those fiegning outrage over this Trujillo guy are the same idiots that got their shorts all in a bunch over Clinton getting a BJ in the Oval Office but are now mum as the Bush oil cartel.rams it drilling pipe up our collective poop shoot. How stupid can we be? Apparently there's no limit.

Anonymous said...

If LANL really wants to fire someone they can usually find a cause (phone call abuse, minor security infractions, etc.). LANL policy books are filled with ominous warnings about dire consequences for not closely following policies to the letter, especially since LANS took over.

Trujillo is politically well connected in Northern New Mexico. LANS will be hesitant to take any actions against this man unless further evidence comes forth. At best, they may decide to carefully remove him from his management position to some other place where he still makes a nice salary but can do less harm to those around him.

Anonymous said...

yea! Let's hang the mutha! How else can we cleanse our conscience for developing weapons of mass destruction?!

Frank Young said...

4/15/08 6:38 AM,
Would you want to investigate this? It's worth the extra severance not to drag the issue out trying to make it "for cause". Fire him, it's a no brainer.

Anonymous said...

Has the DOE investagated this issue? Mr. Trujillo should resign, if not he should be terminated. He is not what this management needs right now, I don't think that this story is going to go away...So Mr. Trujillo if you read this (I'm sure you or your cronnies do read the blog) please do the right thing and resign and leave this State, for your own good and that of the children.
Hey mabe the "employee's should refuse to deal with this guy? What would management do then? Defend him or fire him? We need to put him on the spot.

Anonymous said...

With Patrick around I don't have to listen to whining for daycare.
-Mike

Anonymous said...

Trujillo isn't the issue. The sick culture that is the Los Alamos Lab is. But you don't what to hear that, do you? That's why you keep the likes of Marquez in your midst, and you know it. It's who you are. Best and brightest. The crown jewel. We're different. Worlds best science. Yea right!

Anonymous said...

does anyone know if Trujillo is even still employed? Does he still have his clearance? i cant imagine this man even showing up to work. any info?

Anonymous said...

"Trujillo should resign, if not he should be terminated. He is not what this management needs right now, I don't think"

I agree. You don't think.

Anonymous said...

Trujillo isn't a whistleblower. So yes, he's still employed.

Anonymous said...

Used to be a person was innocent until proven guilty. That was pre Bush though. No, I forgot. It's actually pre Mr. Bill's stint as DOE. Secretary. That's when Dr. Lee was shackled and locked up in solitary for months without a trial. Where was the outrage of the anti Trulillo crowd then? Probably cloaking themselves in the American flag, attending Sunday church service and making sure their kids weren't stupid enough to get recruited to fight wars their patriot parents are so good at starting and allowing others to die for. Ain't the conservative view of the world grand?

Anonymous said...

Hey Frank: Don't let this story die. We as employees' need to at the very least send a message to manangemnt that we do not approve of Mr. Trujillo's "public charges". Maybe we can make a postive change; using this blog.

Anonymous said...

How else can we cleanse our conscience for developing weapons of mass destruction?!
===============

Who on the hill has a guilty conscience?

Why would one have a guilty conscience
over winning World War II, prevailing in
the Cold War; and thus saving an untold
number of our fellow citizens?

We don't feel guilty; we are PROUD!!!

Anonymous said...

I would venture that HR will find Trujillo no longer fit to conduct employee-relations activities. He will probably be promoted to an out-of-site position with an increase in pay. In fact, Marquez has probably already seen to that. Trujillo runs with some others in HR that have a "past" as well.

Anonymous said...

2:20 pm: "That's when Dr. Lee was shackled and locked up in solitary for months without a trial."

Sorry, but you know nothing about the Wen Ho Lee case. Lee was kept in solitary based on the potential magnitude of his offenses, based on solid physical and forensic evidence. It was only because the "right" people in the Justice Dept. decided to get involved at the last moment that the case was essentially dropped due to concerns about how much classified information would need to be divulged in open court in order to get a conviction on the worst charges. Lee did what he was accused of doing; the government decided to cut its losses. Read the Bellows Report.

Anonymous said...

7:07 pm: "He will probably be promoted to an out-of-site position"

Did you mean "out-of-sight" or "off-site"? Ah, English...

Anonymous said...

Attorney Henry Valdez will not prosecute any hispanic felon unless it becomes a cause celebre. Otherwise, they get a free ride.

I was on a grand jury where a couple of "boys from the valley" got a couple of teenagers from Los Alamos drunk and raped them. Henry Valdez refused to prosecute.

Anonymous said...

The at-will clause could still take place. If Mr. Trujillo needs his Q to remain employed and he can no longer keep it because of the secondary investigations that take place, then there is cause for termination.

Hmmm, hasn't he used this cause to terminate others, even b4 we were "at will" employees?

Anonymous said...

he was harassing a woman in my office to get access to her underage son. I really dont know what LANL needs to fire this bastard. Do they need to catch him at work molesting little boys? anyone who can even consider him innocent or human is insane.

Anonymous said...

9:53 PM wrote "he was harassing a woman in my office to get access to her underage son. I really dont know what LANL needs to fire this bastard. Do they need to catch him at work molesting little boys? anyone who can even consider him innocent or human is insane."

It is called the friends and family plan and they will protect Trujillo even though others have been terminated for cause for far less. Maybe Marquez can find him a cushy job as the Director's personal HR guy.

Anonymous said...

"Maybe Marquez can find him a cushy job as the Director's personal HR guy."

Maybe Rich Marquez will become our next Director once Mikey leaves for California. Wouldn't that be grand!

Anonymous said...

Patrick Trujillo coined the nickname "Tootsie" and it was certainly appropriate.

Anonymous said...

To - 4/15/08 8:15 PM

You caught me on that one. Indeed should have been "out-of-sight". What was I thinking?

Anonymous said...

Pardon the change of subject, but I've read lots of negative insinuations about Rich Marquez here, but never anything specific. What has he allegedly done that raises people's dander?

Anonymous said...

Do a search on Marquez on this and the historical LANL blogs. You will become nauseated quite quickly.

Anonymous said...

"Do a search on Marquez on this and the historical LANL blogs. You will become nauseated quite quickly."
4/20/08 7:41 PM

Using the search box at the top level of this blog, I did a search for Marquez and came up with essentially nothing. A few top level posts containing his name, but no specific information, and nothing in the comments. The search function did not look in the comments. I had to do a text search for that. What am I doing wrong?

Anonymous said...

Pat came back to work today so watch out folks. He was quite happy ...

Anonymous said...

Was this the Pat Trujillo from HR-ER than runs the witch-hunt employee investigations for upper management?

Is it the same Pat T. who ghost-writes the half-assed, sloppy letters of reprimand for those who upper management wants thrown under the bus to cover for their failures to manage the institution that result in big, embarrassing PR disasters?

If this is the same individual, it is absolutely the pinnacle of irony that the hatchet-man for management is an accused molester let off of prosecution on a technicality.

If this is not the same individual, I honestly believe they live in the same moral neighborhood.

Anonymous said...

"Pat came back to work today so watch out folks. He was quite happy ..." 4/21/08 7:22 PM

Watch your ass (and I mean that literally). Patrick Trujillo is back at LANL. With all that he's been through lately, he'll end up being an even meaner attack dog for LANS. Has LANS management no shame?

Anonymous said...

so let me get this straight;

1- patrick trujillo is a rumored pedophile
2- he is suspected to have a pattern of this both in his private life and with co-workers at LANL
3- he has fired LANL employees for questionable/flimsy reasons in the past
4- he gets away with all of the above?

Wow, LANL should be really proud of the worthless operation they are running. They are enabling a culture of filth and violence and they are silent on all this? J Pat simply strolls into work everyday now and gets to live like nothing ever happened? Like nothing is currently happening? And WE all just sit around and accept that? This is nauseating! Where is the witch hunt? Where is the anger? The disappointment? The revenge? The justice?

Anonymous said...

I'm already visiting with my lawyers. Are you? J-Pat's in trouble.

Anonymous said...

Can anyone say, 'Class Action Lawsuit'?
Do we need to start talking about getting all the employees JPAT has questionably fired together? Do we need to go after the lab, to make sure they dont just let this moron back to his desk?

Anonymous said...

11:49 AM, announce who you are and I will gladly sign up.

Anonymous said...

"This is nauseating! Where is the witch hunt? Where is the anger? The disappointment? The revenge? The justice?"

4/24/08 6:09 PM

You jest, right? In case you have forgotten, this is LANL we are talking about.

Pat Trujillo may be an amoral and filthy attack dog, but he's LANS' amoral and filthy attack dog. If they protect his position after all this, he'll be even more loyal and willing to follow attack orders from above.

Anonymous said...

If the "rumors" and "accusations" about him are true - get the evidence and follow through! If any of it is true, he needs to be terminated as quickly as possible. Anything less is just talk. I can't believe any of us is prepared to ask management to take action against an employee based on rumors and unsubstantiated accusations. There's already been enough misuse of that at LANL.

Anonymous said...

The Espanola Police Department was attempting to file charges against Trujillo on several counts of pedophilia. Unfortunately, the statues of limitations let him escape from prosecution.

That is far more than just idle rumor, 9:48 AM.

Anonymous said...

Dearest 9:48 AM,

Its people like you that enable pedophiles and corrupt corporate execs. Just because JPat has minions like you to help him fuck the system, doesn't change the truth. It will all surface eventually and you will be walking with your leg between your legs. Why don't you keep you mouth shut about things you do not understand. That the ethical adults handle this one.

Anonymous said...

4/28/08 10:15 AM & 4/28/08 1:01 PM

9:48 here,

Ethical adults?! Rant, rave, and run around in circles - what kind of action is that? If he's done half the things at work that has been talked about here, GET THE EVIDENCE AND PURSUE HIS "FOR CAUSE" termination. The fact that the authorities haven't been able to do anything on the pedophile issues is the same as the murderer who gets off on a technicality. You hate it, but legally can’t do anything about it – except as a vigilante, which your “adult ethics” would prevent you from doing.

I have been involved in the successful prosecution of a pedophile who has twice been denied parole through our efforts . . . what have you done?

Anonymous said...

9:48 - look at you beating your own drum and blowing smoke up your own ass. if you are such a model citizen, why arent you helping the victims in this case. when you speak out with your ignorance, you shut down honest people who have been hurt. you could stand to have some tact in your comments and not openly defend a man who may very well still be found guilty. when you sit there and scream your defenses for this man, you do nothing but blast the woman who is timid to come forward with real rape charges, or children suffering from years worth of sexual abuse trauma. this has nothing to do with vigilante justice- this has nothing to do with JPAT, but has EVERYTHING to do with being responsible to potential victims- not protecting the monsters who ruin lives.

Anonymous said...

9:48 again,

"when you sit there and scream your defenses for this man" what are you talking about? What is it that I've said that supports such a statement? I've been saying just the opposite - get the facts, build a case and take action. Sitting around waiting for "may very well still be found guilty" certainly isn't helping the victims, past or future.

Since I don't have any real information to work with, and since you don't seem to be inclined to action, I guess we'll just have wait for lab management and/or the local authorities to take care of it.

(Your total misunderstanding of my motives, doesn't stop me from praying for all victims of such abuse.)

Anonymous said...

9:48,
Sorry if i misunderstood your motives. I just strongly feel that quelling the heat over JPs actions/ rumored actions doesnt help anyone. It discourages honest people from doing the right thing when they hear people discounting well before they've had their chance to speak.

Anonymous said...

any word on what ever happened to Pat?