What an asshole! How is he going to turn this around on me? I'm supposed to be the victim and now I'm the bad one. I still needed my job to help support my family, I had no back up, I could not lose it just yet. What was I supposed to do? I was so upset and at the same time scared because I was just threaten to be terminated in the mist of writing a sexual harassment report, REALLY? Worst of all, I wasn't educated in sexual harassment even though I did attend a few presentations, I never payed attention. I obviously couldn't trust anyone to talk about it and there was cameras all over my department so I had to be careful after this particular meeting. I did not know who to talk to about this, so I turned to my Uncle (A very smart man). My uncle worked in management so I knew he would give me a bios advice. I spoke to him about what had happened in hopes of a solution. My uncle pointed out the things I had done wrong which was speaking about it in the first place and the comments I made out of anger. My uncle and one of his colleagues gave me some pointers in handling the next few meetings which included an apology followed by accepting the department transfer. Not something I was happy to hear but they are smart men and I knew I had to listen.
The following day, I walked in unannounced to the conference room to speak to the lawyer. Fuchsia happened to be around and when she saw me, she gave me the dirtiest look but she didn't stick around. I thought, I was officially fired but I remembered the conversation with my uncle, which was a slammed dunk by the way and I knew they could not turn this around anymore. I walked in the conference room and I immediately apologized for my behavior and comments I had stated. I said the things my uncle and I talked about and I also mentioned that as long as it wasn't retaliation, I was willing to hear the plan they had. Although I didn't buy his B.S, we had a decent conversation.
The lawyer brought up Fluff and he let me know that he spoke to him regarding my statement and the situation. The lawyer told me that Fluff had no idea that I took the incident the wrong way, it wasn't his intentions to make me feel uncomfortable and he was sorry. If I was okay with it the lawyer would have Fluff approach me to apologize himself. The lawyer did not tell me what Fluff's consequences were for the Sexual Harassment however he did say Fluff understood that he had to face the consequences.
In this meeting, there was no input in my part (not by choice), they had already made their decision and it was final that I was moving to another department which was Guest Services, whether I liked it or not. The lawyer mentioned that I would be so excited for this new change because it was something they had planned for some time and everything happened in perfect timing (are you freaking kidding me?). He stated that I shouldn't feel bad for being moved to another department because everyone who worked for the company often switch around and not by choice. Someone could be directing a show one day and cleaning toilets the next day. I thought to myself maybe they did a sexual harassment report too! Grrrrr!!! I started getting upset but I had to stay calm. The ''plan'' they had for a while "supposedly" was that there was a Christian school who would be doing intern at The Holy Land Experience and they would be needing costumes. They needed a Wardrobe Specialist at the Guest Services department area to be able to hand out and handle all the students costumes. Since it would be a lot of students doing the intern, they needed to place someone there to assist those students. After the meeting was done, the lawyer stated that he would have Fluff find me to apologize and confirmed that the change would begin the following day. The lawyer planned for one more meeting at the end of the day.
On my way back to my department Fluff found me and. asked to speak with me. I stared as he apologize then I walked away. A few hours later the lawyer wanted to speak to me regarding Fluff's apology. He asked me if Fluff apologized and how I felt about it. I told him that the only reason Fluff apologized was because he was told to do so and it was not sincere so I did not accept it nor did I care for it. The lawyer seemed frustrated and he said he would speak to Fluff and insisted on Fluff apologizing to me once again but this time with a witness until I finally agreed. (he didn't really give me much choice)
At the end of the day, The Lawyer, Fluff and my new Manager met for the apology and introduction to my new job transfer. The apology went first, once Fluff finished what seemed to be rehearsed, he was excused, for the introduction to begin. After the introduction, we discussed my duties, who I would be reporting to, my pay rate which stayed the same, my schedule which stayed the same as well and I was told that I was not to go anywhere near my old department under any circumstances. How sweet right?In this meeting, I was also told I would not be doing any of the Guest Services job descriptions unless I ran out of things to do and if I wanted to help. After that meeting, I never spoke or saw the lawyer again, and Fluff was never punished! Moving on......
Weeks have passed and guess what? There has been no school at The Holy Land Experience working on any internship. I'm practically sitting around for hours doing absolutely nothing, how odd, right? Since the Lawyer did mention what school was going to be doing the intern, I had a friend call the school to find out when they were planning on starting their internship. The person on the phone stated that it was not something they do at that particular school. There was no intern happening at The Holy land Experience EVER! They were playing me from the start, the minute I wrote that statement. As the days went by the changes started but not all at once to where you can notice but I noticed. My schedule was changed with the excuse that only a lead could have the kind of schedule that I had at the time. Next thing you know I was doing the Guest Services job description which I was told I wasn't going to be doing and my every move was being watch.
My older sister was my replacement at the Wardrobe Department. Not immediately but some time after, of course Fuchsia wanted my sweet manager to suffer for just a little bit. My sister was at the auditorium break room one random day when Fuchsia saw her, (my sister and I resemble each other) and Fuchsia must have thought that my sister was me because Fuchsia tapped my sister in the shoulder and asked my sister (with an attitude) why she wasn't wearing a costume. My sister told Fuchsia that she works in Wardrobe and someone had to co-sign her word. My sister said that Fuchsia looked annoyed when she thought she saw me but to find out it wasn't me, Fuchsia looked even more annoyed mostly because Fuchsia wanted me to be in trouble. My sister says that she was able to tell how much Fuchsia disliked me just by the way Fuchsia looked at my sister! How pathetic right?!
At this point Fuchsia knew exactly who I was, and I am most certain that she made it her priority to make my job a living hell, I just cant prove it. One of the Guest service's job description was to load and unload the auditorium, since at the time there was only one auditorium, the indoor shows would take place in the auditorium and I would be assign there a few times a day. The last show of the day took place indoors, and for that one show Fuchsia would not miss it for nothing in this world, ever! One day I was assign to the back of the auditorium, when Fuchsia turned around and saw me. I smiled (purposely), I promise you her face looked like she saw the devil herself. Fuchsia was so mad and she called my new manager over and started yelling at her while she pointed at me. I overheard her (yelling) asking my manager, "Why is she just standing there and not wearing a costume?" Everyone in Guest Services had to wear a costume and I was the only one who didn't wear one. My new manager walked over to me and asked to speak to me as we walked away from the auditorium towards the front of the park. She apologized to me for witnessing Fuchsia's reaction and asked me to get fitted for a costume first thing in the morning the next day and I was to wear that costume at all times. I couldn't take my new manager serious most of the times but she always did her best to keep me away from Fuchsia. My new manager worked in direct contact with Fuchsia and had been for many years, she had to do as she was told which meant I couldn't trust her. The following day I was told by my new manager that I couldn't be anywhere near Fuchsia and it was for my best interest therefore I was only allowed to load the auditorium then I had to leave the auditorium before Fuchsia arrived.
What the heck was going on? I was always confused and fed up with everything. A few weeks after being transferred I found out I was pregnant so I had to stick it through because in my mind who was going to hire me pregnant? Not everyday was terrible, I learned to just take it one day at a time and try to just keep my job until something else came up. I couldn't do much about anything because I had no case and no way of proving any of it..
In my new department, there was a piece of paper which was given in the mornings, where it had everyone's name on it and their location at every hour for the day. At one point I noticed that my name was never at the auditorium anymore towards the end on the day and of course it was due to Fuchsia. Whenever I helped load the last show, I would notice my new manager running towards me right before the show would start desperate each time just to let me know "She's coming, it's time for you to go now, honey". I couldn't believe it was that serious. It happened so often that it became something we laughed at, then after several times she would just say ''it's time honey'' I already knew what she meant so I would just leave. When my manager was not there, one of the leads would let me know it was time and I would leave (everyone was on the same page).
You see, I knew that Fuchsia's plan was to make my life hell while I was at work so that I would quit but no matter what they did, I still did what I was told. I would just do it the way I wanted to do it and on my time. I broke the rules, smiled away and laughed when they made any new changes that only applied to me. They just would not fire me, they only made it harder. Since I like a challenge, I kept going.
The paper with everyone name on it that I mentioned was a rotation so that no one was at the same location more then once and sometimes twice. Towards the end of my employment, the piece of paper had everyone's name on a different location except mines. My name consisted of two locations, the turn style, (sometimes for two hours straight) and the last four hours in the kid's area. Sometimes I would assist in making that schedule and it was easiest to just place myself there until it was made permanent. My new manager would talk to me frequently and a lot of the things I wouldn't repeat (I guess you can say ''lesson learned''). My new manager would inform me of the changes in advance so when I saw them I didn't have a reaction anymore.
I was placed daily in the turn style at the same time they did the show "behold the lamb", the same show that the harassment happened. Every time I was at the turn style, I would see Fluff anytime he played the role of Jesus (which was frequently). Every time Fluff saw me, there was no way he could avoid me because he had to pass by the turn style to get to where he needed to be, so he tried to make small talk or he would even flash me his diaper. Yes! He would, it's like he didn't realize it or he knew he would get away with it either way Fluff did as he pleased. If its unwanted, its sexual harassment and I was no longer in the Wardrobe department therefore there was no need for me to see him in his diaper and I sure as heck did not want to see it. I kept this from the HR department because I just did not want to clean toilets after reporting it. Since the lawyer did mention something along the lines of cleaning toilets. Yes, I took it as a subliminal threat. I would however say what I needed to say to Fluff when he did something stupid. Most of the time I had to keep calm because of the location and guest coming in/out of the park.
Moving on to the kids area. The kids area was tall walls made of hard Styrofoam I'm guessing, but it was extremely hot on sunny days but they had a fan so I could cool off from time to time. It was peaceful at first, I actually liked it. The kids could do bows and arrows which meant I would have to pick them up each time from the floor one by one and got a little difficult by the time I was seven months pregnant. Sometime went by, and random things continued to happen, for example; the fan was eliminated from one day to the next, my bathroom and water breaks was reduced and not to mention at 100 degree weather I had to wear a costume with long sleeves (mandatory), I would get dizzy a lot. My new manager checked up on me frequently to make sure I was there and she would bring me the water so I wouldn't leave the area. I was always straight up with her and told her it wasn't right and she would pretend to try. I knew my days were numbered there and I felt they were winning the fight because I couldn't take it anymore. I was okay loosing this one, there was no more fight left in me.
At one of my maternity checkups, the Dr. noticed some changes with the baby and asked about my stress level and daily routine. Without mentioning any of the madness going on at work, I let her know I was on my feet and in the sun most of my day. My Dr. asked me if there was any way I didn't have to be in the sun or on my feet for so long, and she would give me a note if necessary. I asked her if the note meant they had to put me inside. Unfortunately my Dr. told me that it was only a professional suggestion, the job could say no. I wasn't going to put my unborn child at risk so the next day I took the Dr's note in to work. My new Manager was off therefore I gave it to my lead and my lead had to make a call before giving me an answer (my leads where not part of Fuchsia's crew, if fact they couldn't believe the things that happened and looked out for me as much as they could). Once my lead got back to me, it was not what I had hoped for but it sure as heck what I expected. They did not except my Dr.'s note and I had to continue to work outside but the decision was up to me, so I told my lead ''I can't do this, I'm done and I'm leaving right now!'' Once I walked out of The Holy land Experience, I felt such a peace. All this went on for approximately six months, the longest six months of my life and I was so glad for it to be over. I was glad I lost the battle because it only meant it was finally over!
Almost a year later after leaving Holy Land, I called the HR lady because I needed my W2 form. This stupid dumb ass lady insisted on mailing it to me. I told her it was something I needed at the moment and I could not wait for her to mail it to me and I would be on my way to pick it up as soon as I was done speaking to her. The wonderful HR lady asked me how far away from Holy land I was, so that she can have everything ready for me. Now what happened next, I can not lie when I tell you it left me speechless and all I could do was laugh.
The Production Building was not located inside Holy Land, it's actually a building next to Holy Land. Once I arrived to the Production Building, I walk towards the door but before I reached the door, I see that the door opens slowly. All I see is the HR lady's arm sticking out with an envelope in her hand, while she holds the door towards her trying to keep it shut, all at the same time. The door was opened enough for her to stick her arm out and peek with half of her face. I was caught off guard with this, I did not expected that at all. I was so embarrassed and felt so small that I wished I had her mail it to me instead. She handed me the envelope and said "have a great day'' .. I will demonstrate a silly picture to the right, to give you an idea of what this was like. | I am so embarrassed to have worked there. |
P.S. I am not doing this blog out of maliciousness, God is my witness. I just don't think it was right for them to sweep me under the rug and pretend I never happened. Even though was told I didn't have a case, this should have never gone unnoticed!! Please help me spread the word, I was not the only one who was a victim of sexual harassment and I am hoping that by getting you guys to support me they will come forward too. This is my untold story.
Post your comments in the comment section below, that way when other victims of sexual harassment, read this post, they can also read your comments. Also don't be afraid to share, help me stand up and spread the word against Sexual Harassment!!