Workplace from Hell

Imagine having sharp cramping pains in your stomach that practically brings you to your knees, migraines that make your eyes water and the urge to vomit, all at once. This is how I felt every time I walked into work. There were times when the fear of pain kept me from coming to work at all.

The unsanitary work conditions, mental abuse from supervisors, and continuous disregard for general human decency made this the worst company to work for. If you were fortunate enough to receive a promotion, you were jokingly informed that you had come as far as you could possibly go because of your race. If you can't stomach racist jokes to minority workers, a vice president who yells and belittles workers in front of the entire office and supervisors who repeatedly reminds you that you are worth nothing to the company, then join the club. The worse part is coming to work and being subjected to unsanitary working conditions, such as toilets that overflow onto the work floor carpet, using five port-a- potties brought in to accommodate one hundred people, roaches, leaky roofs and HR lacking people skills.

I recall feeling privileged when I received the call back offering me a position with the company. After all, it was close to home and the pay was better than any company in the area. I was not aware of what would lie ahead.

At first glance, it looks to be a normal over crowded call center. To employees, it's an experience that you wish you could forget, but never will. I was one of the lucky few who moved up quickly (two promotions in one year). I went from customer service to Account Manager with hopes of moving further up the ladder. That's where I was quickly informed that I would not move up any further, because I had gone higher that any other African American in the office.

I recall working through the smell of bodily fluids soaked into the carpet from the overflowing bathrooms, bloody tissues on the floor of the ladies room and hearing of a booger wall next to a men's room urinal. The leaky roof made it hard to get any work done when you had to move your computer after water leaked into it. The vice president was heard across the building when he'd come out of his office to yell and use profane language towards startled employees who were often male. A quiet male employee who fit "the description" was searched by police on the work floor, because he wore the same clothes as a robber who held up the fast food restaurant across the street. When walking the work floor, there are employees rolling drug blunts, playing cards and arguing. Even though the office has a professional casual dress code, some women wore short revealing clothes, while others wore their street clothes.

Human Resource was not a place for employee assistance or anything helpful. After going to HR with claims of being sexual harassed my a male co worker, I was told by Human Resources that I may have been reading too much into it and that I shouldn't let it get to me. There was not assistance with any real issues, while in other companies HR was the place for employees to receive help. I encountered numerous racist remarks and jokes from supervisors and IT. They were thrown into conversations as standard comments throughout the day.

This profitable corporation has offices throughout the country and deals in many business fields. It is a shame that they do not treat their employees with the respect they deserve. The working conditions are not worth the paychecks, but some people have no choice but to stay and endure it all. I resigned after going as far as I could go and I never looked back.