RLE Closer Now

[Gabrielle]

Well I came out to the CEO, CFO, and HR at work and they all support me.  So far I am set for going full time in June at the end of the school year.  Since I work for a private k-12 school I didn't want to disrupt the school year.  I'm not sure yet if we will send out a letter to the faculty or not.  The school's labor attorney told them to just move along with the transistion and answer the questions as they come up since this is dealing with private medical information.

I should be starting the process to legally changing my name in January when I get my tax return.  It will take two to three months from the date I file it with the court.  Hopefully I don't have to see the judge and they just sign off on it.

[Laura Elizabeth Jones]

That is great news, Gabby. 

[Suzie]

Congratulations!  It's always nice to have something to look forward to.

[Joyce]

Gabrielle, this is really exciting news.  I'm pretty much at exactly the same spot as you, ending the fall semester at my university, planning the visits to various administrators in Dec and Jan, hoping to coast out of the spring semester without too much disruption before RLE in June.  I'm really interested to hear your CEO, CFO, HR stories -- are they blogged somewhere?

[Gabrielle]

Gabrielle, this is really exciting news.  I'm pretty much at exactly the same spot as you, ending the fall semester at my university, planning the visits to various administrators in Dec and Jan, hoping to coast out of the spring semester without too much disruption before RLE in June.  I'm really interested to hear your CEO, CFO, HR stories -- are they blogged somewhere?

I've not blogged them yet as I don't want too much information out that could fully out me until the official announcement is made this summer.

[Audrey]

Going full time is really a neat experience if the people in your life are open minded and accepting.  I was really lucky in the fact that by the time I got to the RLE most people knew and accepted me by then.  I went full time in Sept. 07 and haven't looked back.  Just remember to take it easy.  good luck 

[LivingInGrey]

That's great Gabby that you have people who support you in the work place. I hear a lot of people that have to switch their jobs because of a transition.

Grazt and good luck.

[Wing Walker]

Hi, Gabrielle,

I am very happy to hear that you have things in order for your transition and that your employer is treating you with the dignity requisite with being another human being.  I wish you well!

Wing Walker

[gothique11]

Congrats, that's good to hear!

[Gabrielle]

Well I have to say today ranks up there in worst days in my life.  I just want the work day to be over so I can go home and have a good cry.

Today I had a meeting with my boss, he brought HR with him.  I explained that I was TS and was going to transistion and that I had already talked to the CEO, my boss' boss.  To this my boss explained that he kept separate my job performance and my personal life which he considered this transistion to be something of a personal nature.  After that clarification he stated how he was not happy with my job performance.  Long silence followed that statement.  I asked him if he could provide me with a list of his expectations and he said he already had.  There followed another long moment of silence.  I then asked him if there was a way we could fix these issues he saw in my performance to which he replied that at that time he wasn't sure and he would have to think about it.  He mentioned that he had previous conversations with HR about these performance issues and they had been documented.  That ended the meeting.

So after this meeting I searched through my email and found a document he prepared that had what items he would like to see from me, most I had completed and some I had given him some of the work but had not completed it all.  I also looked on careerbuilder.com and I am pretty sure I saw my job posted up there.

I'd have to say after this meeting its time for me to leave this employeer after being here for eight years.  This boss is new also, he has been here since July this year.  I don' think he really liked me from the first time he met me.  I've also contacted an attorney to get some legal advice.  Florida has no protections but there are some other protections I could qualify for depending on how they handle this.

God I had today!

[Kate]

Geez, nice! All the sudden "job performance" is an issue?

I'm surprised he'd be such a pain since the CEO and CFO seem OK with it? Is there a way to get them to apply pressure?

Although going around the boss might make things WORSE too...

I'm so sorry, Gabrielle, that really sucks. Schools though are notoriously difficult to transition at. Everyone starts thinking, "what will the parents say?" and fearing lawsuits and publicity.

~Kate~

[Gabrielle]

Geez, nice! All the sudden "job performance" is an issue?

I'm surprised he'd be such a pain since the CEO and CFO seem OK with it? Is there a way to get them to apply pressure?

Although going around the boss might make things WORSE too...

I'm so sorry, Gabrielle, that really sucks. Schools though are notoriously difficult to transition at. Everyone starts thinking, "what will the parents say?" and fearing lawsuits and publicity.

~Kate~

I honestly think in his case, he hasn't liked me since day one that he got here.  I don't think I fit the mold for what he wanted in an IT Director.

[Audrey]

AAAGGGHHH, Gabrielle that sounds horrible.  It sounds like hes got it out for you personally.   >  Maybe you should go back to the higher ups and get them to help you out. If that doesnt work maybe your skills would be better appreciated elsewhere.  I just think it will make the whole transistion process harder if you have to constantly worry about your boss and his prejudice.  Just try not to let it bring you down (I know "Easy for you to say"), but seriously you deserve better than that.  Hang in there youll get through it.

Audrey

[Joyce]

Gabrielle, I'm so sorry.  What a let down to have mixed messages inside your operation and to have what you reasonably expected to be a progress-making meeting turn south like this!  Sounds like an ambush to me.  Even if you could argue your way into job security, it sounds as if this guy has simply decided to get rid of you.  I'm sure the trans issue actually makes it harder, as you can always muddy the water about performance vs. trans-expression by pointing to your performance and thrusting the burden on him to show he's not transphobic.  I just don't know if such a thing is worth the effort.  Can you move laterally to get away from him but still keep a job?

Offering her shoulder to cry on,

Joyce

[Gabrielle]

At this time I am willing to take a 15k paycut to move somewhere I can transistion.  So I am looking for a new job.  I am sure this does muddies the waters some for him.  My heart is telling me that I need to get out of there.  On my way out though I am going to give my letter of resignation to the CEO and state how I see things and then wish him luck in their future endevours.

Posted on: December 14, 2007, 06:37:02 PMWell today I went to HR and got a copy of my employee file, since there was not a single negative note in the file, I asked that he write me a letter explaining that as of this date there is nothing negative in the file.  I also found out that my boss has been doing a quiet search to replace me since September, again he got there in August.

I recieved a phone call from technical recruiters from Boston and my local area.  Both are system administrators jobs and they seemed interested in getting my resume to their clients and setting up some interviews.

Posted on: December 17, 2007, 05:40:28 PMWell, today I had another meeting with my boss and I was offered 3 months severance with benefits.  So effective Thursday I will no longer be working for the school

I will have the time and freedom to find my next job.

[Audrey]

Hope the job search goes well.  I hope that your not letting it get to you.  youll find a job where your accepted i guarantee it, just don't give up.   

[Ms Bev]

Gabrielle

I'm very sorry to hear the way you were treated.  Consider it a cosmic shove in the back to get out of that crappy small-minded school.   Be aware that the laws in Florida won't protect you.  Here, in Maryland, the laws don't protect you either, so instead, you find an enlightened corporation that doesn't care what the local laws will let them get away with, but have their own internal workplace diversity policy in place. 

I work for such a company, and they have a powerful workplace diversity policy.  I never have to worry about being fired because I'm ts if I do a good job on par with my peers.  All I have to do is keep bigoted coworkers in their places, and if I need help, I go to HR, and they act swiftly to apply corporate law.  Been there, done that too.

Get a list of fortune 500 companies who embrace workplace diversity, and work for them anywhere they have an office that suits you.



Luck girl,

Bev

[Annie Social]

I would suggest contacting the National Center for Lesbian Rights at www.nclrights.org. Despite the name, they are in the forefront of trans rights; they are the folks who helped and advised Susan Stanton in her battle here in Pinellas county. Karen Doering is a good person to talk to, and a good person in general.