Pubdate: Sat, 20 Jun 2009 Source: Kingston Whig-Standard (CN ON) Copyright: 2009 Sun Media Contact: http://www.thewhig.com/feedback1/LetterToEditor.aspx Website: http://www.thewhig.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/224 Author: Paul Schliesmann FIRINGS BAFFLE WORKERS When Michael Grant got a call out of the blue asking if he wanted to work at the StarTek call centre in Kingston, he was hesitant. The company had a reputation for constant change in its pressure-filled workplaces. When he did accept the job, the former street kid found it rewarding. "As it turned out, I really excelled at it. It was a great environment," said Grant. "I came from a rough place. I ran away from home when I was 13. I was a street kid for four years. What (this job) did for me is it gave me more self-confidence. It made me realize, 'hey, I can actually go somewhere here.' " Last week, Grant's 3 1 /2-year stint at StarTek came to an abrupt end. The technical support worker was called into a meeting with management and swiftly dismissed. Despite his solid work record, Grant was let go because of a nine-year-old minor drug offence -- an incident he declared at his initial job interview. Grant was one of a dozen StarTek employees dismissed from the company's Futures Gate location last week, apparently for the same reason -- unpardoned criminal convictions. Similar reports are coming out of the United States. An Ohio newspaper, the Mansfield News Journal,reported this week that 23 workers had been fired from the StarTek call centre "reportedly because of their criminal histories." StarTek employs about 1,700 people at its two Kingston sites. The second office is located on Hwy. 15 in the city's east-end business park. But a company spokeswoman said no one there was terminated. "Approximately 12 people have been affected. These terminations were done as a result of a change in StarTek policy and changing business conditions," wrote Mary Beth Loesch, senior vice-president business development at the company's head office in Denver, Colo. Two other former StarTek employees contacted by theWhig-Standard said they, too, had been let go for past crimes. Last Wednesday at 1:30 p. m., David Ellison was in an job interview for a technical support trainer position. Ellison said his 10-minute presentation on how to peel an orange "was probably the best interview I had in my life. Two hours later, I just got out of this interview and they fired me." Ellison was told he was being let go because of a 14-year-old conviction. In 1995, when he was 19, Ellison got caught with half a gram of marijuana in his pocket and fined $300. Two years before that, he'd been charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to sell. Like Grant, he also declared his brushes with the law at his job interview. "I was completely honest. It's nothing I was ashamed of. It happened years ago," said Ellison. "It was illegal. I got caught. But again I disclosed this. And if I was good enough 3 1 /2 years ago, what's happened now?" Neither of the men's dismissal letters make reference to their criminal past, only stating that their services were "no longer required." Yet both claim stellar job performance. Last year, Ellison was the lone StarTek customer service representative out of 2,500 across North America to receive a service excellence award in recognition of his work for the U. S. communications company AT&T, one of StarTek's main clients. An AT&T director from Tulsa personally presented it to him in Kingston. A third Kingston man let go in the wave of dismissals, Ken Ruelland, said he was told in his exit interview that the orders came from AT&T. "It's wasn't StarTek's decision, apparently. StarTek said AT&T handed them a list of people that no longer qualified to work for them because their policy had changed," said Ruelland. "I'm 35 years old and it was 15 years ago when I was in a bar fight. I'd been (at StarTek) almost two years. The worst part for me was that I totally disclosed when I got the job there. They said, 'That's fine. As long as there were no recent thefts or frauds.' I'm still in awe they can legally do this." StarTek officials refused to comment about AT&T's involvement in the firings. An AT&T official referred theWhig-Standardto StarTek. Donald Carter, professor emeritus of labour law at Queen's University, said it sounded like StarTek may not have initiated the dismissals. "It costs money to get rid of employees. I assume that it's the outside contractor that's dictating the employment policy," said Carter. "That certainly does happen." He said the employees likely have no grounds to contest their firings. The Ontario Human Rights Code stipulates that workers are only protected if they have applied for and received a pardon for their past crimes. "It's not easy to get a pardon," noted Carter. Carter said they could hire a lawyer and sue, but not to get their jobs back "because courts don't reinstate employees." The Kingston StarTek operation was the first in Canada, opening in 2001. At the time, the company was assisted by the Kingston Economic Development Corporation (KEDCO), which ran job fairs and hiring events and even conducted a local marketing campaign. In October 2007, StarTek added 550 new jobs, bringing its total Kingston workforce to 1,700. In 2008, the company received the "Outstanding Corporation of the Year Award" for raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for local hospitals. Grant, Ellison and Ruelland say their firings have left them in financial difficulty. They will likely apply for employment insurance. Grant and Ellison received severances amounting to one week of pay for each year of service. Ruelland got only one week's pay because he fell just short of two years at the company. "It's rough for me. I'm a single dad. I have a four-year-old daughter and I'm on my own," said Grant, who receives no child support from his former partner. "There's not a lot of work out there. It's not like I can bring a four-year-old on a job search. I'm sort of struggling now. It's me and her and that's it." Ellison said he was told by a manager that "if you get your pardon, we'd love to have you back." But even when he was working for StarTek earning $14.99 an hour he couldn't afford to pay for one. Not all requests for pardons are granted and they can take years to get. The three men are dismayed by their firings. "We had no trouble whatsoever. If anything, we were commended for our work," said Grant. Carter said they were probably the victims of sweeping corporate policy. "That's the trouble with big companies," he said. "They often have rigid policies that don't make a lot of sense." - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr