My termination undoubtedly was triggered by political forces external to the UAB campus who were uncomfortable about the content of UAB's own "investigation" showed never was written on work time or with work equipment. My guess is that the Pants' termination also was driven by some external political force. And based on the Gupta case, I doubt that John Saxon will make a serious effort to find out.The Pants' nationality and their choice of an attorney add an interesting twist to the story. As you can tell from this audio, UAB accused me of engaging in "non work-related activity," even though I was doing exactly what my supervisor had told me, and my colleagues, to do--to keep up with Alabama-related articles when we had a chance.
The atmosphere in my office also was relatively loose, which I think most of us appreciated. According to UAB's own records, I violated no policies at all. I never received any such warnings, under university policy, about computer usage or anything else. Seema Gupta, represented by Birmingham attorney John Saxon, prevailed on her claim of religious discrimination. As is true in any office, they were not the only employees who made a few phone calls or sent a few e-mails on company time. They also reminded Ms. Kelly that two and a half years prior, Plaintiffs had asked for her approval to engage in external consulting, to which she agreed.
The atmosphere in my office also was relatively loose, which I think most of us appreciated. According to UAB's own records, I violated no policies at all. I never received any such warnings, under university policy, about computer usage or anything else. Seema Gupta, represented by Birmingham attorney John Saxon, prevailed on her claim of religious discrimination. As is true in any office, they were not the only employees who made a few phone calls or sent a few e-mails on company time. They also reminded Ms. Kelly that two and a half years prior, Plaintiffs had asked for her approval to engage in external consulting, to which she agreed.