Sunday

Bamboozled

I was fired in May of 2015. I was fired because I, a mandated reporter took issue with arriving to work in the morning at 7:15 and the mom would be just returning from a run. Her husband takes the first train in the city. This means, she would leave her 7 year old son and 1 year old son alone for as long as an hour while she went running.

I told her I was uncomfortable and it wasn't legal or responsible. She told me she was "tired of being disciplined by the nanny" and I shouldn't return. I told her I would be submitting an unemployment claim. Two days later I received a call, she asked me to return to work. She said she would pay me for the two days off that I had missed and could I please come in tomorrow (a Tuesday).

By the time I realized what happened, I had been bamboozled. She and her husband unearthed a massive campaign of systematic and documented dissatisfaction. I was then fired 7 days later.  I received an email letter stating,

"Maggie,We have tried to work with you over the past months over some of the struggles you seem to have regarding the nanny job. We feel that should we continue on this path, we would be reckless with our children's wellbeing and as you can imagine. We cannot have that. We will provide confirmation that you worked for us, the salary amount and the dates for any future employer. As is our policy and to your great advantage, we do not disclose anything other than that to potential employers.
May you find your true path and follow it." 
And they signed it "The ____'s, "J" and "J
This time, as I remained fired, I went through the act of filing for unemployment, only to find that I had no proof that I hand conducted myself well and no proof of the original cause of friction between me and my boss. My claim has been denied. I was told to try to refile it and fight it.

I plan to. Now, I just wanted to warn you, especially you who work off the books, even though I work in the books. Seek periodic written references from your boss, even under the guise of being for a job or a volunteer position. Email is GOOD!

Signed,
Pissed Off in Piscataway

11 comments:

the teaching diva said...

And during that hour, what if something happened to the children or the home, such as a fire breaking out, a burglar breaking in, kids wandering out the door, etc. Not to be a helicopter, but if I were a mom, I would never do this. What would she have told CPS and police if something happened while she was away, even if only an hour?

She sounds like a flake. My guess is that husband doesn't know about this, and if he does, he may not care.

Interesting story. You were terminated for a stupid reason, and I hope you win. Maybe that will knock MB off her high horse.

melissa said...
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Some Young-Lady said...

Melissa,

It most certainly is illegal to leave a child unattended in the home under the age of 12 in most states!!

Amy said...

It is especially illegal to leave a young child under the care of another young child. Most states post the exact ages in regard to their particular laws online at yourstate.gov (insert your states name) commonly child over 10 may be home alone and child over 12 may care for younger child, for example. It can also vary depending on if children are siblings or not. Look it up ��

RBTC said...


i have been watching this site for years and this is one of the best pieces of advice i have ever seen - to get periodic documentation that you are doing a good job - please fight this - keep us updated

melissa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Amy said...

Its called child endangerment. Definitely against the law. C'mon.

Some Young-Lady said...

Child endangerment to leave a small not even toddler aged child alone with a sibling that legally isn't allowed to be home alone.

If you reported this to the police they would show up. So yeah I'd say it's illegal..

Corina said...

No way legal leaving a baby alone. It's abandonment and child endangerment. This is common sense.

Anonymous said...

Can you get some documentation regarding the report you filed with CPS? That might help prove that this is retaliation for reporting them and would help you win your unemployment appeal. I'm assuming, that as a mandated reporter, you actually followed through and reported them.

the real black nanny said...

I have been in a similiar situation and guess what?
Yeah, the police would throw a shitfit for a regular person, but not if the family has money.
I called on the people i nannied for while I worked there and when I left. The next nanny's mom called on the family, for the same thing. Basically the police have enough to deal with with low life thugs that they KISS ass of anyone with money. These are the people that support the PBA and bring donuts to stations.

I would say POST IT HERE!
Shame those motherfuckers.

"To the mom on Blank Street in Blank Town who's run is more important than the safety of her child, who leaves her tiny babies alone to go running for an hour in the morning before her nanny arrives. I would post it here and link the fuck out of it on mommy running sights. Most runnings moms got no tolerance for that shitttt!