Just need to vent real quick in a way that's not going to get me fired.
My boss is an idiot. She was put into the directors position because our last one was a thieving felon. The board of directors, in all its infinite wisdom, put someone in charge of an organization and all of its finances without conducting a background investigation. Now, we owe thousands of dollars back in grants we've received which means no raises or bonuses for the employees. Now, the current director gets these phone calls EVERYDAY from debt collectors while we're at work. They call my office line, which is usually reserved for court employees, attorneys in town, and occasionally victims that I work with. So I get to transfer the call to her office every single time. It not only ties up my line, but she then requests that I take messages for them instead of passing them off to her. Now, the board of directors obviously did not learn from their previous mistakes. They ran a background check of this director and it came up clean. They DID NOT run a credit check. That would make sense when you're putting someone in charge of an organization's finances, correct?
This director told a victim that she cannot go to the police because it would be considered hearsay and there is nothing that they could do about it. She told a direct victim to a crime that she couldn't report it because it would be considered hearsay. Hearsay. I corrected her in front of the victim and informed the victim that she absolutely did need to contact law enforcement as soon as possible and get a paper trail started, as well as file criminal charges. After the victim left, the director pulled me aside and told me to keep the book learning out of the job because that's not how the real world works. This is a lady with a bachelors and masters in criminal justice, telling a guy with a bachelors in criminal justice that everything we've learned won't help us in a job where we directly help victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
Yesterday, I informed her that it's illegal for our organization to turn away help to men. She told me that we are considered "women and children only." I told her that actually, since we receive federal funds, we legally are required to equate all services that we offer to women to men as well. She then started citing bullshit grant information asking me why our grants specify women and children and not men. I then had to inform this ever educated and lovely woman that while it did say women and children, it specifies that the phrasing women and children is not to exclude anyone based off of race, gender, etc. She then went into a tirade in my office about how men don't report DV because we want to be macho. She then told me that being macho is a double edged sword. You don't report it, you don't get help. I reminded her that currently, we don't offer help to men so reporting it would do next to nothing. She stormed off and closed her office door for the rest of the day.
This is a women that, rather than directly talk to an employee that is doing something wrong, would rather bitch and moan about it to other office staff. When I recommended that she directly consult that individual with the problems she's alleging, she said that it wouldn't do any good. I had to remind her that she's the director and its her job to take care of these problems, as she's the one directly responsible to our Board. She told me that it's not my job to tell her what to do. I told her its not my job to listen to her bitch and moan about employees and it's going to end up in a lawsuit. She has not spoken to me yet today so I'm wondering if I'm going to be fired or not. I'm a male working in a place where the staff is 95% female. After that "macho" comment, and various other comments that I've written down, I'm fully prepared to hire an attorney for wrongful termination based on discrimination. I've also kept copies of our employee manual, an employee manual for another part of the job, and the employee manual for my job (I wrote the grant for my position, had to start from scratch). All of the manuals but mine are riddled with discriminatory practices. I've had to spend hours training employees in the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act, and the Fair Housing Act and how they all apply to our organization. I'm guessing if I were to leave this organization, they wouldn't last a year. There is another guy that works with me but he's a pussy and doesn't do his job. He'll roll over the moment a voice gets raised and he's comfortable making a measly wage, living paycheck to paycheck with no savings, and sitting there at his computer not doing a God damned thing related to his job.
I would have left long ago if I hadn't worked so hard to get where I am in this organization. I strongly believe that the only reason why I wasn't offered the position for executive director is because I hadn't completed my bachelors degree yet. I've implemented policies and procedures that have made us more efficient, look better to the public, prevent lawsuits from hitting us, etc. I just want to leave this place on a good note. A couple months into a new job and I'm going to address the Board of directors for this organization and lay out everything I've seen wrong, what staff are doing that's illegal, etc. I can't wait for that day. I'm just trying to figure out a way to do it so that it looks like I'm genuinely concerned for this organization and not doing it out of malice. The board all likes me because I do this job very well and because I'm a guy. I'm just wondering how they're going to take direct criticism (which is definitely due).
Anyway, rant over.