MAIDEN NAMES

Dealing with the recent mistake of laboratory results, I recalled an incident at work years ago.  

Working under a government contract, our plant was contractually committed to be a "drug-free zone";  as we had Department of Defense personnel located in our facility we had to be very careful.

One day, as  I was walking through the plant, I noticed that a woman was wearing a tee shirt with a large marijuana leaf on it.  I told her Team Leader to bring a replacement and I informed the woman that she had to remove the shirt.  She said that she would have to go home.  I told her to clock out and do that.

I went to Human Resources and told the Manager I wanted a drug test to be ordered.  I was told that I was "making a mountain out of a mole hill";  I responded in a smart aleck tone and said that I would personally pay for the random drug testing if they weren't willing.

I asked to see the employee's personnel file, which was begrudgingly handed to me.  As a person interested in names, I usually always ask the maiden names of women I meet.  As I was leafing through the file, I saw the results of the employee's initial drug test and I noticed the name of the person certifying her drug test had the same surname as the employee's maiden name.  As it is an unusual name, I thought that was highly suspicious.  I also noted that the emergency contact number was listed as her mother and it was the same as the name of the person certifying the test at the lab.  

I demanded to see the Human Resources Director and told him that he needed to launch an investigation.  He disagreed with me and said imperiously that he "didn't take orders from a Manager".  Technically, in the Company structure, the Human Resources Department reported to "Corporate";   I immediately went to the Vice President and Plant General Manager to whom I reported and related the incident.  He simply picked up the phone and told the HR Director that he was going to have the private investigator conduct an investigation.  The employee was sent to a different lab where she tested positive for drug use and was terminated. 

After the investigation it was determined that it was her mother who worked for the lab the Company used and had falsified her daughter's drug test;  the Company changed labs.  After taht, my boss would call me "McGruff"!

The enmity between the HR Department and me had been long-standing.  Although I had applied for a position there and received a very nice refusal, I felt no animosity as I was told I was "overqualified";  I accepted a position with another company.  Several months after that refusal,  I learned that my former boss at another company had accepted the position of VP and General Manager at the company where I'd been turned down.  A few weeks later, my former boss called and asked me to join him there as the Production Manager.  I asked if he knew that I'd been previously turned down for that job.  He laughed and said that he didn't know that but that he was having problems with Human Resources and I could help him with that also!  

After joining the Company, I had several run-ins with HR and oftentimes I had to turn to my boss for support which antagonized the Director. 

Fortunately, that HR Director was soon replaced by Corporate with a more aggressive individual.