A couple of weeks ago, a client was in my office alleging discrimination and wrongful termination against her employer, the University of Utah Hospital. In analyzing her case, I had to inform her that I didn’t think her case had merit and I could not help her. I did encourage her to seek a second opinion, or three.
Most people view an attorney as either a cheerleader for their cause, or as a weapon that they can pick up and wield as they choose. These people would rather shoot the bearer of any bad news than accept advice. Most attorneys know this. When analyzing a case, they consider it, and rather than upsetting those with whom they first consult, they simply tell potential clients that they are too busy to take their case. I personally don’t think that is productive. So, I told this potential client what I thought.
I also asked her if I could copy a document she had brought that demonstrated her employer had implemented one of the most strict attendance policies that I had encountered. Although this document did not support her case (because the policy was not illegal), I indicated that the document could help me demonstrate (in my disability cases) that employers are more intolerant than many vocational experts indicate. She declined, indicating that if I couldn’t help her, she was not going to help me. What she failed to understand was that, although I am a beneficiary of cases I successfully resolve, the document would help other blue-collar workers, like her. I tried to explain this, but to no avail.
This typifies the attitude that many blue-collar workers and other individuals in our workforce have, who seek employment because they do not have the capacity or the desire to form small businesses for self-employment. It also highlights the main reason that employees have such little power in states like Utah.
They cannot understand that they have more in common with those with whom they work than the Donald Trumps of the world. In fact, they have more in common with the immigrant than they have with some of the tyrants residing at the top. They do not understand that while there are only a few industries and businesses that offer certain services and products – and therefore enjoy operating with limited competition – there are hundreds who are willing and able to compete for the few jobs that such companies offer. They claw, scratch, gouge, and demean their coworkers, literally, metaphorically, and politically. And they gaze up, fondly, and fawn over those who have no affection for them, and who, too often, view them with great disdain. They think this is what will get them ahead. It doesn’t.
Until blue-collar workers and other employees once again become fed up, as they were when the industrial age was at its height, not much will change to advance the rights of the working class. The sad reality of that is, it would take so little to demand and achieve what they rightly deserve: a living wage, affordable housing, adequate healthcare, safe neighborhoods, a clean sustainable environment, an even playing field, and accessible educational opportunities.
Loren M. Lambert © July 29, 2017
Most people view an attorney as either a cheerleader for their cause, or as a weapon that they can pick up and wield as they choose. These people would rather shoot the bearer of any bad news than accept advice. Most attorneys know this. When analyzing a case, they consider it, and rather than upsetting those with whom they first consult, they simply tell potential clients that they are too busy to take their case. I personally don’t think that is productive. So, I told this potential client what I thought.
I also asked her if I could copy a document she had brought that demonstrated her employer had implemented one of the most strict attendance policies that I had encountered. Although this document did not support her case (because the policy was not illegal), I indicated that the document could help me demonstrate (in my disability cases) that employers are more intolerant than many vocational experts indicate. She declined, indicating that if I couldn’t help her, she was not going to help me. What she failed to understand was that, although I am a beneficiary of cases I successfully resolve, the document would help other blue-collar workers, like her. I tried to explain this, but to no avail.
This typifies the attitude that many blue-collar workers and other individuals in our workforce have, who seek employment because they do not have the capacity or the desire to form small businesses for self-employment. It also highlights the main reason that employees have such little power in states like Utah.
They cannot understand that they have more in common with those with whom they work than the Donald Trumps of the world. In fact, they have more in common with the immigrant than they have with some of the tyrants residing at the top. They do not understand that while there are only a few industries and businesses that offer certain services and products – and therefore enjoy operating with limited competition – there are hundreds who are willing and able to compete for the few jobs that such companies offer. They claw, scratch, gouge, and demean their coworkers, literally, metaphorically, and politically. And they gaze up, fondly, and fawn over those who have no affection for them, and who, too often, view them with great disdain. They think this is what will get them ahead. It doesn’t.
Until blue-collar workers and other employees once again become fed up, as they were when the industrial age was at its height, not much will change to advance the rights of the working class. The sad reality of that is, it would take so little to demand and achieve what they rightly deserve: a living wage, affordable housing, adequate healthcare, safe neighborhoods, a clean sustainable environment, an even playing field, and accessible educational opportunities.
Loren M. Lambert © July 29, 2017
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