Mirror Universe

I might enter into an agreement with Working America
because I'm pro union but I think these things need to be
stated for the record. So, I'm writing them now, as well as an outline
of the case that that I filed with the PHRC, on this day, D
ec. 19, 2006, before I sign any such agreement. That way the
facts of our history together can be made public. Afterall,
I might choose to attempt to work for them again. I must
also confess that I find Jenn Jannon to be a
deeply mediocre and obstinately dim person.
She isn't fit to run a hot dog cart. I don't care if she is Rendell's girl.

I suppose I won't be able to say that after the agreement. Oh well.


--- Philip Shropshire  wrote:

> Date: Wed, 14 Sep 2005 22:03:54 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Philip Shropshire 
> Subject: You're Being Sued And Here's Why....
> To: Jenn Jannon <jjannon@workingamerica.org>
>
> I can probably think of more things, but here's a
> preview of what's to come:
>
> 1. Actually I only had a chance to canvass on my own
> about 2 hours mainly because of travel time
> throughout
> turf and also because my helpful FM interupted me
> during my evening to trade some doors with me. By
> the
> way, here's a quick critique of Chris. He's
> argumentative (Seven or eight times by my count,
> showing the wondrous people skills that we know
> biology majors have. Several times he insisted that
> people in their 60s and 70s give him their work
> email
> address without first asking them if they owned a
> computer or understood what the term "email" even
> meant...he didn't adhere to his no contact list at
> least once when I saw him do it...just a shining
> beacon of perfection that guy...) and I got the
> distinct impression that he was trying to slow me
> down
>
> during my two hours. I guess I was getting too close
> to that 20 members.
>
> 2. The standards I was given to meet, particularly
> the
>  ones for letters, 6, or for contacts, 30, wasn't
> met
> by anyone I worked with that night. For example even
> giving you the benefit of the doubt of the 2 and a
> half hours that's 60 contacts. NO ONE WORKING FOR
> YOU
> THAT NIGHT HIT 60 CONTACTS. By the way, in case you
> don't comprehend this that's bigotry! You give the
> black guy a standard  that nobody can else meet.
> Objective standards don't just protect me, they
> protect you from legal discrimination lawsuits. In
> fact, I will ask the court that you use them in the
> future as a remedy.
>
> 2a: NO ONE HIT 6 LETTERS EITHER.
>
>
> 3. I was not rude to you or your office worker.
> Quite
> frankly, I didn't have time to be! If she didn't
> want
> me to check my email she should have said no! And I
> wasn't rude by leaving the chair when you asked me
> to
> and I don't care if I happen to be a big black man
> and
> you were intimidated by that. I really don't..
>
> 4. I'm probably filing my complaint with  the city's
> human relations commission on Monday. I'm not happy.
> By the way, and I don't always include this on my
> resume unless people ask me, I have successfully
> filed
> and prosecuted (Pro se I might add. I write my own
> legal briefs...) a discrimination lawsuit. You don't
> apply those standards to white folks. You're guilty
> of
> bigotry.
>
> Look, I'm not in a hurry to give bad publicity to
> what
> I think is an organization that means well, but your
> behavior is so egregious and seriously wrong, not to
> mention probably illegal that I don't see what other
> recourse I have...If you wish to rethink your call
> and
> come up with some objective standards (and for
> reasons
> that should be obvious I would be hesitant to work
> for
> you without them.) I can be in Monday. If not, I'll
> see you in court. Make sure you put that on your
> resume...
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Philip Shropshire
> www.threeriversonline.com
>
> PS: By the way, a hostile environment doesn't mean
> that you're dumb enough to call me "nigger".  Racial
> bigotry means applying a standard to me that you
> don't
>  apply to your white employees.I think 60 contacts a
> night meets the prima facie standard for racial
> discrimination...One more thing: this isn't high
> school! I don't care what the kewl kids think...!.
>
> PPS: One more thing, the federal courts usually
> frown
> upon civil rights complaints. Here's the bad news:
> unless they're aimed at unions. At least that's what
> was true for the seventh circuit...
> 

I’m going to try to answer your questions in sequential order:

Were you denied employment?

Yes. In fact, I believed the forms I filled out indicated a refusal to hire.

Please provide the date of application if this is a failure to hire.

I believe that the exact date that I tried out for the job was September 14th, 2005.

Please state what occurred when you visited Respondent’s place of business on September 14th, 2005.

I was applying for a canvassing position with Working America. The hours were from 1 to 10 pm and it paid almost 10 dollars an hour. I have about five years canvassing experience and in fact ran a canvass for about several years. I came in about an hour early and I filled out some paperwork and I also read their handbook. The most important factor in the work is gathering signatures and members. In fact the standard for new workers is about 16 members or signatures a day when canvassing on a five hour period. There was nothing in the handbook about letters.

By the way, we knock on doors from about 4 pm to 9 pm. (For the record, our status is protected under both political and religious speech.)

The way this works is that you go out in a neighborhood (I think we were out near Mt. Lebanon, not the most liberal place in town) for about five hours. You spend about half of that time with your trainer, who in this case was Chris West, and then you spend the other half by yourself. So, I walk with Chris about 2 and a half hours and then I walk by myself for another 2 and a half hours. By the way, I’ve done more training than Chris and you usually make a determination if a person can do the job by those 2 and a half hours or so.

According to Working America’s own handbook, my standard should have been no more than 4 an hour or 10 for about 2 and a half hours. I was asked to get about 20 members! By the way, I knew this was more than they should have asked me to do. In fact, I was asked to get 20 members, 30 contacts and 6 letters in a 2 and a half hour period. If you project that out, that’s about 60 contacts (people you talk to), 50 members (people who sign) and 12 letters in a five hour period. (Actually, because of the walking distance on turf, I only ended up canvassing about 2 hours, not 2 and a half.)

No one met those standards that night for a full five hour canvass. Nobody. Black white or indifferent.

For the record, I concentrated on members and I got about 16. I think that was the second highest total that an observer trying out for this job had ever gotten. But even if I hadn’t done such a spectacular job, keep in mind that my contact within the company, who’s white, can testify that they don’t hold people accountable even when they don’t make those numbers.

So, I thought, being that my numbers were so high—I had met my five hour minimum within two hours—plus the fact that I’m one of the most experienced canvassers in the state if not the country—I’ve been canvassing since the early 80s and had been doing a much harder kind of canvassing for money (The kind of canvassing that Working America does is akin to a kind of double AA ball. I’m a Major league canvasser who once had to raise 120 dollars a night to keep my job. I usually got the kind of signatures they were asking for while raising that kind of money…If I had been hired, I would have immediately been one of the top canvassers.) I thought I was a lock.

When I was told that I was not getting the job I was given two reasons. One: that I was rude when I asked to check my email. And two: that I hadn’t met that 30 contact, 20 member, 6 letter standard that I was asked to make. Both reasons are clearly pretextual and make no sense. So, I’m taking these guys to court, in front of a jury I sincerely hope.

Were you hired?

No I wasn’t.

Were you given a test in order for the employer to decide if you would be hired?

Yes, the observation night was supposed to be the test. By any objective standard I passed with flying colors. But we'll let a court decide that.

Please state what occurred on September 15, 2005 between you and Chris?

Nothing happened on September 15th. All of the events that happened occurred on September 14th, 2005.

For the record, I have named Working America, Jenn Jannon, and Chris West as the defendants in this matter.

Who is the person who interviewed you?

I was interviewed by Jenn Jannon before I came in and my observation night was another kind of interview.