Sabotage!

[Bob Ducca]

It's over.  The musical Useless P. McGee and I were supposed to work on together is over.

And he completely sabotaged it.

One of his (two) jobs was to run the sound board.  We discovered that he could not hear feedback, so we asked someone else to come in and do it.

He wouldn't let him.  He didn't say so, but he just sat in front of the sound board and didn't move, so the guy we brought in didn't know what to do- he certainly wasn't going to cause a scene.  I didn't find out about it until after the show.

He turned off the stage monitors so the kids couldn't hear the music.

He pushed the stop button "accidentally" halfway through one song.

He kept adjusting the microphones so there was constant noise.

The kicker?  It still went great, the kids were total pros and I look even better to my boss.  So, although I am still really mad at him, the lesson we learn is that being PA towards co-workers usually backfires.

[IndianInlaw]

The kids had a good time and Useless dug himself in deeper.

Who would ask for more?

[Virg]

Deb1000faces wrote:

"So, although I am still really mad at him, the lesson we learn is that being PA towards co-workers usually backfires."

What exactly is passive about actively sabotaging a show in progress?  Either this guy is going to be a problem at every performance (what kind of a jerk would want to mess with a bunch of kids' performances?) or he's incompetent beyond usefulness.  Why does he still have a job in this group?  If anyone in my theater group pulled this on my kids I'd have to think long and hard before even allowing him to resign instead of tossing him out and telling all of the parents exactly why I did.  That's just inexcusable.

Virg

[Pixie]

Mr. Idiot needs to be Mr. Unemployed....IMO.

[Clara Bow]

It's time to open a can of you-know-what on Useless, that was utterly appalling behavior! To attempt to ruin the kids' evening just to be Mr Boss Man?? Heinous in the extreme!
It's time to boot his butt onto the unemployment line....

[Bob Ducca]

To everyone questioning why he is still employed, I have one word:

Tenure.

Be assured, we are working on getting him out. 

[Bob Ducca]

Deb1000faces wrote:

"So, although I am still really mad at him, the lesson we learn is that being PA towards co-workers usually backfires."

What exactly is passive about actively sabotaging a show in progress?  Either this guy is going to be a problem at every performance (what kind of a jerk would want to mess with a bunch of kids' performances?) or he's incompetent beyond usefulness.  Why does he still have a job in this group?  If anyone in my theater group pulled this on my kids I'd have to think long and hard before even allowing him to resign instead of tossing him out and telling all of the parents exactly why I did.  That's just inexcusable.

Virg

First, thanks for your outrage!! 

Second, he has tenure.  It isn't as simple as "He needs to go," it is really difficult to fire a tenured employee.  (Mr. Useless had an allegation of molestation against him six years ago and that didn't work, either.)  We (the principals, the district Fine Arts coordinator, and myself) are doing everything we can to build enough of a case to fire him, or at least force him to resign.

Third, what was "passive" about his PA behavior was his insistance that everything he did was "accidental;" also, he knew the person that was supposed to do sound was there, but instead of saying, "I really would like to do the sound myself," he planted himself at the soundboard and didn't leave.  I agree that the total evening's worth of behavior comes down more on the agressive side, there were definitely PA elements.

Overall, what is PA about the whole situation is that he continues to insist that we are "a team" and it is "us against them" while he continuously does his best to sabotage me or undermine me with the kids as well as the faculty.  He doesn't realize that he is really the least popular person on campus, and his obvious manouvering against me has only made my position stronger.

Funny, I teach in elementary school, but this situation sounds very Junior High...

[wetblanket]

It isn't as simple as "He needs to go," it is really difficult to fire a tenured employee.  (Mr. Useless had an allegation of molestation against him six years ago and that didn't work, either.) 

Oh dear. 

Keep documenting all this stuff, hopefully enough will pile up to suffocate him.

[bopper]

You may not be able to fire him, but can you talk to your management to state that you do not want to work with him "as a team" anymore?  That Mr. Useless states that all of these things "accidently" happened and he ignored the trained sound person, so he is not somebody you feel you can work with. 

[Bob Ducca]

You may not be able to fire him, but can you talk to your management to state that you do not want to work with him "as a team" anymore?  That Mr. Useless states that all of these things "accidently" happened and he ignored the trained sound person, so he is not somebody you feel you can work with. 

Thanks for the suggestion- I have made my feelings pretty clear to my supervisors.  They are aware that the "team" is really me doing all the work and him taking half the credit.  Also, the sound person is one of the principal's best friends, and he went straight to her office and told her what was going on.  By that time, though, the performance had started and we were stuck.

Somehow, I have given them the impression that if Mr. Useless returns next year, I will not.  I promise that I have issued no such ultimatum, but I'm not really doing that much to correct it either, because it is a possibility.  However, my principal is quite openly telling people that she needs to get rid of Useless so I will stay.  The wheels are turning- hopefully he will decide to retire (he could) or move to the city where his wife currently lives, 500 miles away.

[Virg]

Tenure.

Oh, goody.  Well, there's a few things to consider.  Next time there's a "team" thing, play him completely out of it.  Forget to invite him to rehearsals or inform him of where they are.  Assign him exacly nothing to do.  Make it so that he has to force his way into everything he touches, and then leave him hanging.  If he wants passive-aggressive, that seems fair since this way you don't have to worry about anything he might be responsiible for.

You could also be sure the parents know why he's not helping out.  That won't help with tenure, but it'll sure turn public opinion against him.  For most folks, I'd be very against character assassination, but anyone who would try to sabotage a children's show just to get at his coworkers is fair game.

Virg

[Balletmom]

OH, I so feel your pain.

There is nothing worse than incompetence with stage technical stuff because it is so unfair to children (and any performer) who works hard to practice.

And it is impossible to prove intent--

Last year, at our school musical for Veteran's Day, the music teacher sang a solo (Actually two, but one was blessedly short.) Off-pitch. A song written for a male soldier. Sung by a female. In a bad key.

It was such agony listening that for weeks afterward all my teaching colleague had to do was start warbling in falsetto the song and we'd choke up.

Good luck getting rid of Useless.

We also had a coworker on our team who was notorious for being difficult. Along with off-loading as much work as possible on the rest of us (She truly believed "there's no "I" in team) she would routinely do drive-by ballistic fits when she felt overloaded with stress (and couldn't off-load it on one of us.) I went part time and my other coworker (the warbler) quit altogether. Just like other teachers from previous years. The principal turned a blind eye to it because The Devil put on a good front show, was reasonably  and our grade was always desperately short of experienced teachers.

Now The Devil is quitting mid year to take another district position (after vocalizing freely about the quality of mid-year interviewees last year) and the principal is livid. Well, sleep with the Devil...metaphorically, of course.

So good luck with Useless. I bet he stood up and took his stage bow right there along with you!

[jfulle5]

(Mr. Useless had an allegation of molestation against him six years ago and that didn't work, either.)

wow how did that not get him fired? In my school district even an allegation will get you fired, it's a zero tolerace policy brought on by a hefty lawsuit. It's kind of twisted that they would still let him around children.

[Bob Ducca]

Tenure.

Oh, goody.  Well, there's a few things to consider.  Next time there's a "team" thing, play him completely out of it.  Forget to invite him to rehearsals or inform him of where they are.  Assign him exacly nothing to do.  Make it so that he has to force his way into everything he touches, and then leave him hanging.  If he wants passive-aggressive, that seems fair since this way you don't have to worry about anything he might be responsiible for.

You could also be sure the parents know why he's not helping out.  That won't help with tenure, but it'll sure turn public opinion against him.  For most folks, I'd be very against character assassination, but anyone who would try to sabotage a children's show just to get at his coworkers is fair game.

Virg

I have already begun making notes for next year, and he will not be involved in the musical in any way, other than teaching the songs to his classes.  (And if I could figure out how to change that, I would- I may ask the principal to give me all the third graders next year, since they will be the ones performing.  Worth a shot!)

He is fair game, and I am finding myself considering things of which I would never have thought myself capable.  I think that the word is spreading...the kids are a lot more savvy than he realizes, and they really resented him messing up their performance.

The fight continues!

[Bob Ducca]

OH, I so feel your pain.

There is nothing worse than incompetence with stage technical stuff because it is so unfair to children (and any performer) who works hard to practice.

And it is impossible to prove intent--

So good luck with Useless. I bet he stood up and took his stage bow right there along with you!

Thanks, Balletmom.  It is hard when he keeps sharing credit for the musical, which he does, and, technically, he did pretty much what he always does, and he's always gotten all the credit before.  He seems pretty mad, though, that people keep talking about what a wonderful job Deb1000faces did, and NOT mentioning him.  He hasn't spoken to me at all today- I think the faculty party yesterday clued him into some things (several congratulatory speeches directed at me and omitting him completely.  Hee hee.)

(Mr. Useless had an allegation of molestation against him six years ago and that didn't work, either.)

wow how did that not get him fired? In my school district even an allegation will get you fired, it's a zero tolerace policy brought on by a hefty lawsuit. It's kind of twisted that they would still let him around children.

Mondrian, to be honest I don't know.  The details I know are this: he was alone with a small female child for a fairly long time period (he says he didn't realize she was in his room, because she was just silently sitting in the corner...I don't really buy that, but he is pretty clueless...) and that child made the allegation after she had gone home and talked to her mother.  He was suspended with pay while the investigation took place, and I think in the end they just couldn't get enough evidence to stick.  The police said there was evidence to show that the mother could have planted the idea, so they wouldn't file charges.  I heard this information directly from him...no one else has mentioned it, and he told me as an illustration of how unsupportive our principal is.  He felt she should have just known he couldn't have done something like that, even though it was her first year as his principal.  He's a peach, I tell you!

The teacher's unions in our area are pretty powerful, and there have been several cases locally in which the allegations were proved to be not only false, but maliciously made in order to get the teacher fired.  Each allegation is thoroughly investigated, but there is no "zero tolerance" on allegations.  Frankly, I'm surprised that any such policies still exist, since they seem to be a bit on the unconstitutional side (denied due process, and all that...) but I certainly understand the desire to safeguard all children.