The Brooklyn Dodger |
Vol. 25, No.2 At the IRS - Quality is Job None Jul. 15, 2007 |
COUNSEL'S KANGAROO COURT |
The Brooklyn Dodger |
Published by NTEU Chapter 53 George Greenberg President Bob Schillaci Editor 107 Charles Lindbergh Blvd. 1180 Veterans Highway Garden City, NY 11530 Hauppauge, NY 11788 516 683-5679 631-851-4965 |
EMPLOYEE WISECRACKS |
Bushwhacked...Junior |
EDITORIALS |
EVERSON BAILS OUT Heaven Help the Red Cross |
An individual's employment is terminated. The individual alleges that this termination is a result of discrimination. Someone investigates the claim. However, the person investigating the employee's discrimination claim reports to the person who signed the order to fire the employee. The situation described above most recently occurred in: 1 - Stalin's Russia 2 - Nazi Germany 3- Castro's Cuba 4- IRS' Office of Chief Counsel The correct answer is "D." Incredible as it may seem it happened most recently in the IRS office of Chief Counsel in Westbury, NY. NTEU Chapter 53 has just learned of the Kangaroo court scenario while representing a probationary Counsel employee whose employment we believe was wrongly terminated. The recommendation for this termination was initiated by Office Manager Evelyn "The Warden" McCrum with the help of her Lead Administrative Coordinator, Agnes Nadvornik, A/K/A "Trustee Rusty." Warden McCrum said one of the reasons for the termination was that the employee did not exhibit a spirit of teamwork. The employee contended that the warden arrived at this conclusion because the employee chose not to participate in the warden's holiday grab bag. The Warden stubbornly stood by her determination that the employee did not exhibit a spirit of teamwork despite the fact that several of the employee's co-workers made statements to the contrary. The order to dismiss this probationary employee was ultimately approved by Associate Chief Counsel Dennis Ferrara. Given the situation, the Union suggested to the employee that an EEO complaint was the best way to fight this outrageous management action. After filing this complaint the employee was contacted by EEO Specialist Susan Magee. Chapter 53 researched the IRS Discovery Directory and found that Ms. Magee reported to a HR officer, Mary Donelan, who in turn reported to Dennis Ferrara. Yes, THAT Dennis Ferrara the person who signed the order to dismiss the employee. In the world of IRS Chief Counsel the person who ultimately signs employment termination orders, oversees the investigation to determine if the fired employee was discriminated against! Another fine example of internal controls and ethical behavior by the IRS! After a question of jurisdiction over which NTEU chapter represents the employees in the IRS office of Chief Counsel in Westbury, it has finally been established that Chapter 53 represents these employees. In our few conversations with the employees over there, we have learned that the situation described above is not an isolated incident. The employees have told us that "Warden" Evelyn McCrum often shouts at and berates the employees. We have been told Warden McCrum does her best to create and maintain a jail house like climate of intimidation in which anyone who objects to the cellblock- like conditions faces reprisal. Even the attorneys who represent the IRS in Tax Court on cases are not immune from the warden's outbursts and tactics. You would think the IRS Counsel attorneys would be treated with the utmost professionalism by the agency, but based on the information we received that is far from the case. The management staff in that office is so arrogant that they do not believe that they are required to follow labor law This arrogance may stem from years of not having to deal with a Union and/or be held accountable in their dealings with bargaining unit employees. Recently a meeting was held during which certain bargaining unit members were told of a significant change in working conditions that directly impacted them. This is commonly called a "7114 meeting" in reference to the section of the law under which it is defined. The statute says management is obligated to invite the Union to this type of meeting. However, Westbury Counsel Management chose not to invite the Union to attend. You want a fine example of hypocrisy how about these people who supervise attorneys deliberately ignoring the law!! Chapter 53 has challenged this action by Westbury Counsel Management and is prepared to use any legal options available to correct this situation. It appears the office of Chief Counsel in Westbury is no different than the rest of the IRS. In our opinion, the atmosphere of heavy handed management, lack of management ethics, intimidation of employees as well as the implied threat of retaliation for speaking out that permeates throughout the IRS is alive and well in Westbury. |
"I thought my manager and I were on the same page but apparently we are not reading the same book." - - - "There is a big difference between management and leadership." - - - One employee made the following comment regarding the departure of Commissioner Everson for the Red Cross. What irony, he went from sucking blood from taxpayers to......sucking blood from everybody. - - - Chapter President, George Greenberg, on learning that W&I Territory Manager, Maritza Collazo and her posse of management hit men were tormenting a Brooklyn employee who suffers from Lupus. "We don't want sick people working for us. We are the Wal-Mart of government." |
When he was first appointed, we duly noted how Mark Everson had once gone streaking through his college cafeteria in the 70's. Presumably, as he heads for the door of IRS headquarters, he remembered to wear his pants this time. We never had any high hopes for Everson. He was a political hack that the Bush administration stuck in charge of the IRS. He had no idea what he was doing when he started and, judging by the way things are going now, it just never got any better. He's no great loss. The only really worrisome thing is that they'll probably find someone worse to take his place. Charles Rossotti at least had a vision. It may have been an impossible vision because he never understood that his main enemies were the executives who were supposed to implement his policies. Those executives' prime function was to preserve their own perks and positions. They always had their eyes on their next job instead of their current job. It was a recipe for disaster and the re-organized IRS that Rossotti paid consultants $400 million to design never had a chance. Everson had no such vision. This was a man who was content to let his executives do things their way, for their own benefit. For the union, we note that his biggest legacy has been to put the Labor Relations staff in virtual charge of the IRS when it came to personnel decisions and that is truly like putting the fox in charge of the hen house. On the national level it is Everson's thugs who are trying to gut the Collective Bargaining agreement which is all that separates YOU from the tender mercies of managers. Too many of those managers do not have a clue how to manage anything but as long as they hold the title the IRS assumes that they magically acquire the skills they need. They should be more careful who they promote but competency is not a requirement. They want adherence to doctrine. As for the Red Cross, what can we say? That organization has been heavily criticized for its response to Hurricane Katrina. Everson's predecessor, Marsha Evans, resigned. Evans, in turn, had been appointed following the resignation of her predecessor after criticism of the Red Cross' handling of September 11th. It took over a year to find a replacement and, after all that time, they came up with Everson? Let us hope that there is a respite in disasters on American soil. How many of us could handle George Bush clapping Everson on the back and saying, "Markey....you're doing a hell of a job." |
Former IRS District Director Pleads Guilty to $1.3 Million Tax Fraud |
On April 26, 2007 the Justice Department announced that the former Director of the Southern California District, Jesse Ayala Cota, had plead guilty to a number of charges related to fraudulent tax schemes. The Justice Department report specified: Jesse Ayala Cota admitted defrauding the U.S. Treasury of more than $1.3 million and to earning more than $300,000 from his participation in the scheme. Cota, 65, of Vista, Calif., admitted in his plea agreement that from 1997 though April 2002, the conspirators, through Renaissance, operated a scheme to defraud the govern-ment and individuals by marketing a program designed to sell illegal tax deductions through false and misleading representations. His co-conspirators, Todd Eugene Strand and Daniel Joel Gleason, previously pleaded guilty to the same fraudulent scheme. Additionally, Cota admitted that during his participation in the conspiracy, those involved prepared or had others prepare false federal income tax returns resulting in a tax loss of approximately $1.3 million. We're not terribly surprised at this. What did they think that these companies want with former IRS executives? They sure as hell did not want them for their tax expertise! They wanted them for their contacts and their influence and we all know that the practice continues to this very day. Nonetheless, the one thing that we are absolutely certain of is this: Rather than deal with the problem the IRS will subject YOU to another round of "ethics training." It's what they always do when one of the brass gets caught with his hand in the cookie jar. |
Chapter 53 has recently learned that the IRS has lost its mind on the issue of computer security. This is not terribly surprising as they did not have much of a mind to begin with. It now seems that anytime a lap top computer is lost the IRS wants someone's head...regardless of the reason. To demonstrate the issue, we have written a one-act play entitled... THE INMATES ARE RUNNING THE ASYLUM Dramatis Personae Peter Puller................................Director, Field Operations Christen Lackey.........................Labor Relations Specialist Upton Schitzkriek..............................Aggrieved Employee John Zipless................................NTEU Field Representative The Scene: Puller and Lackey sit at a table across from two empty chairs in a typically drab IRS office. A bored looking stenographer sits at the end trying to kill flies by squashing them between the curtains and the window. Lackey: Ready for the next case? Puller: Sure, what's this one? Lackey: Uh, lost computer...suspension of.... Hmph, it's not filled in. Puller: What's today's date? Lackey: The 21st. Puller: Make it 21 days then. Get them in here. Lackey opens the door and two men enter. One, older and disheveled, the other resplendent in a Bill Blass suit. Puller: Right. So, which one of you is Up Schitz... er, I mean, Upton Schitzkriek? Schitzkriek: That would be me...in both cases. Puller: Which makes the man in the suit, Mr. Zipless? Zipless: You are batting 1.000 so far. Puller: Read the indictment. Zipless: This is not a criminal case. Puller: Yeah, whatever. Frankly, I can't believe you guys are wasting my time on this hearing. I know he's guilty. Zipless: Perhaps you should hear the evidence before deciding? Puller: Whatever. It's your dime. Zipless: No, actually it's your dime. The agency is paying for this travesty. Lackey: On the sole count of having lost your lap top computer the agency proposes a suspension of 21 days. Schitzkriek: (Aside to Zipless) "I thought it was 30?" Zipless: Shut up. We just gained 9 days. Puller: Proceed. Zipless: First off, the computer was not lost. It was stolen. Puller: What's the difference? Zipless: My client was the victim of a crime. His home was burglarized. Puller: I'd say the IRS was the victim. We are the ones who are missing the computer. Zipless: Other things were stolen from his home. Lackey: We don't care about that. This is about IRS property. I'll wager that he's insured. The IRS is not insured. We are out one computer. Puller: And don't forget the data. Valuable taxpayer data was on that computer. Schitzkriek: It's encrypted. Most of the time I can't even get at it. Puller: So you were utilizing the dastardly scheme known as FlexPlace when this occured? Schitzkriek: No. It was in the evening, I was finished working. I had gone in the field and the IRS insists I take my computer in the field. Puller: Why not bring your computer back to the office and secure it? Schitzkriek: My manager does not like absorbing the additional time on cases. Puller: I'm getting sick of these whining managers, too. Lackey! Make a note. To All managers: Stop Whining. Lackey: Yes, sir. Puller: If I may, Mr. Schitzkriek, where were you when this alleged burglary took place? Schitzkriek: I was in the shower. Puller: So, the computer was not in your direct control? Schitzkriek: Of course not....I was in the shower. Puller: Well, if you had diligently followed IRS regulations about maintaining control of your computer at all times...ALL times, Mr. Schitzkriek....we wouldn't be having this little conversation now, would we? Zipless: You expect employees to bring their computers into the shower? Puller: It would certainly meet the standard of adequately safeguarding an IRS computer. Schitzkriek: It would ruin the computer. They don't like water. Puller: What a computer likes or dislikes is not my concern. If you had taken the computer into the shower it would not have been stolen by persons unknown, would it? We'd still have it. Right now, we don't have it, do we? Zipless: You would have a sodden pile of plastic of no use to anyone. Puller: So, you agree that had Mr. Schitzkriek applied due diligence and taken his computer into the shower with him we would still have said computer and therefore there would be no pending suspension? Zipless: That's possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Puller: It makes perfect sense to me. How do you think I, Peter Puller, got to be a DFO? Not by sitting around pulling my .... Lackey: Ahem. Puller: Right. So, that's it. You admit that the computer was stolen while it was out of your sight because you failed to bring it into the shower? Zipless: We admit nothing. Puller: Well, if there's nothing else, I shall render my decision. I suppose you'll want to be taking this case to (whining) arbitration? Zipless: Seems like a foregone conclusion. Puller: Fine. If those pinkos want to give away the store it's no skin off my nose. No one will ever say that Peter Puller was asleep with his hand on the... switch. Zipless and Schitzkriek leave. Lackey fixes her hair. Lackey: My, that was unpleasant, wasn't it? Puller: I'll say. Dig out the next case. I'll need a couple of extra martinis at lunch today. Lackey: Okay. I've got it. Another Revenue Agent. Apparently, he took his computer into his shower in order to not leave it unattended in his home. MITS reports that it is a total loss and the data is gone too. Puller: What an asshole. Where do we get such people? |
A WORD OF WARNING TO W&I |
NTEU issues a paper called Case Digest to the chapters. It's a summary of case decisions and many are mundane but last time one caught our eye. The IRS charged a 17-year veteran TRR with unauthorized accesses to two accounts. The issue was whether the Grievant had a "close relationship" with the taxpayers, who she assisted in her normal TRR duties at the walk-in counter. The "close relationship" in the IRS' warped view was that both had attended a few neighborhood social gatherings over the years and the two taxpayers were related...but not to the employee. The case went all the way to arbitration and the arbitrator found that no such relationship existed and ordered the grievant's record cleared. Our congratulations to Chapter 36 in Missouri on their victory but it doesn't change the fact that this employee was run through the wringer by an insane IRS management for doing her job. Can you imagine the hell that would break loose if employees refused to do their jobs everytime a taxpayer looked "familiar?" Management would be howling like stuck pigs. It might be worth it just to show them what happens when you get what you wish for? |
A Little Humor |
A man got out of a car in a rural area and went to speak with an old farmer. He told the farmer, "I'm with the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration and I need to set up an observation post on your farm to keep an eye on IRS employees at the local office." The old farmer said, "Help yourself, but don't go in that field." The TIGTA agent replied, "I have the authority of the U.S. Government to go where I want to go. See this gold badge? TIGTA is allowed to go wherever it needs to go." So the old farmer shrugged and went about his chores. Later, he heard loud screams and saw the TIGTA agent running for the fence and close behind was the farmer's prize bull. The bull was madder than a nest full of hornets and was gaining on the agent at every step. The old farmer called out: "'Show him your badge!!' |
