"I was looking out across the room, at what seemed to be a wall of people who were all against me - their lawyer, my supervisor, the employee relations officer, and the hiring authority. At that moment, I felt terrified and completely alone."
It's a moment we hope to never have to deal with in our careers - sitting in a witness stand and fighting against an injustice committed by our employer.
The reality is that a violation of your rights could happen at any time and ACSS members have the right to professional representation on matters like rejection on probation, EEO investigations, out-of-class grievances, and much more.
One ACSS member recently shared with us the value of his membership after he spent a year fighting back against a violation of his rights as a state supervisor:
I would like to voice an experience that I have personally undergone over the last year of my life.
Management violated my rights. I tried to reason with them, and I was ignored.
I reached out to ACSS and they were there for me; to listen to my concerns and to stand beside me.
When it was time to appear in front of the Administrative Law Judge to hear my complaint on two separate occasions, ACSS was there for me.
When I was on the witness stand on the second day, I was looking out across the room, at what seemed to be a wall of people who were all against me - their lawyer, my supervisor, the employee relations officer, and the hiring authority. At that moment, I felt terrified and completely alone.
Then I looked over and realized that I was not alone, in my defense and standing beside me - ACSS was there.
I am so grateful that I did not have to endure this painful experience all alone; because ACSS was there for me.
My professional ACSS labor relations representative allowed me to have the strength and courage to stand up for my rights and to object to management’s wrongful decisions.
Thank you ACSS for all of your support and hard work.
- S. Lincoln