Wrong Isn't Erased By the Appearance of Fake Apologies

Human Resources and The Beast think we're done, but we aren't even close to being finished.

AI-Generated Image: A Black Woman sitting with two White women at a table in an office conference room.

Just because you reached out to me doesn’t mean you care about me.

Recently, I received a follow-up Teams message from the HR Manager. She was “checking on” me and wanted to see if there was “anything” she could do or anything she “needs to be aware of” regarding my post-Human Resources investigation against our new Operations Manager. The message was sent to me on Wednesday, April 09, 2025.

I looked at the message, tilted my head, and mulled it over for a few moments.

Anything that she can do . . . what does she think she has done? Sweeping our valid reports to them under the rug was not a performance in due diligence. It was not an act of service to us and our well-being as contributors to this company. I blandly responded, “No, there isn’t. Thank you.”

She then proceeded to tell me she noticed my name was floating around as a navigator who would need “birthday coverage” at their facility and reminded me of when I could take time off for my birthday. Once again, these people really must think we aren’t well-versed and in the know with the company handbook. I am taking my actual birthday, Thursday, April 17, 2025, off, and our new Ops Manager was made aware of this on Friday, April 04, 2025. At the time of our communication, she had not approved my requested time off.

I slapped this information on the HR Manager and informed her that if they intend on having someone at my site for coverage, that navigator or training assistant will have to meet with the center manager before they arrive at the site. *Crickets*

This company seems to think they can just hoist people over their shoulders and plop them wherever they want to, whenever they want to. Not at my site. That’s not how things are done.

She avoided that statement and made yet another I did not want to read, “Okay. If there’s anything you need from me or anything I can do, please don’t hesitate to let me know. Enjoy your day!” I just shook my head and said to myself, “This chick. Ugh.” And I moved on with my day.

The fact that she believes she’s covering her ass doesn’t mean her ass is covered. It’s not. It’s still fully exposed; a moon of ill-intent, and soon, more people will see it.

The Beast Will Be Visiting for a Site Review.

These are to be conducted weekly. When we were informed of this, I exhaled a sigh that could shake the world. I do not want to be in my new Ops Manager’s presence weekly. I do not want her anywhere near me. I informed the center manager of this and her response to me was, “The hell she is.” The Center Manager has had one phone call with our new Ops Manager and that’s all she needed to know she doesn’t want to communicate with that woman ever again.

Factor in all that is happening to me (the Center Manager is a former supervisor/center manager of mine. Bear in mind, the site where I am placed for testing, is a previous location where I used to work), and she truly doesn’t want to have anything to do with the Ops Manager.

She has informed me that if everything doesn’t go the way I need it to go, send her a Teams message or a text message to her phone, and she will come to my office. If it appears necessary, she will escort the Ops Manager out.

I’m full of wonder, ready
for the impending inevitable.
daily, I remind myself,
“Be patient. Beauty is
just around the corner.”
I hope my sanity
will remain intact
until then.

The Beast is expected to be at my site on Wednesday, April 16, 2025. I am so glad my time was finally approved on Thursday, April 10, 2025, for my birthday the next day because after dealing with her for nearly a full workday, I know I will need the next day off. This is, of course, pending that she does not offend or say anything racist or discriminatory during my co-worker’s site visit on Monday, April 14, 2025.

My co-worker is beyond anxious about the upcoming arrival of The Beast and well . . . I cannot say I blame her. I am certain by Tuesday night, I will be a ball of nerves and anger awaiting the next day’s events.

I have been in prayer mode, reminding myself to stand my ground. However, allow her to lasso herself and throw herself into a path for the wolves. It is my belief she will end up sticking her foot in her mouth more times than I can count and either a patient, the Techs, myself, or the Center Manager will end up telling her completely off and then reporting her yet again, after removing her from the site.

One can only hope she has enough rope to lower herself to the pits. Maybe she does.

We have a new co-worker. She’s everything we’re not.

And yet, she has already had to submit a report to Human Resources about The Beast. I will not go into detail in this installment because all the savory and juicy bits will be in the next one that will include yet another meeting we’ve had to have with the Ops Manager and HR.

Now that we have the sweetest, most helpful, and soft-spoken White woman on our team alongside us, we believe she will amplify our voices. Because HR has had three Black, critical thinking, and intelligent women try to warn them about the Ops Manager, and they casually told us it must have been our “perception” or we must have thought we “heard” and “saw” what we actually heard and saw, and now . . . their opportunity to have rid themselves of one person is shaping up to them losing four employees (which means, the entire NC region for patient navigation) due to their mishandling of this case.

A small part of me is emphatically celebrating—thinking about the possibility of the immediate termination of this woman. The other part is swelling up in anger because if they choose to hear her . . . why couldn't they have chosen to hear us, too? If we’re forced to endure her even more after our newest co-worker’s case is complete, then it lets us all know there is no future for anyone at this company.

Our new co-worker, at this point for us all, is suddenly, “The Great White Hope,” and just reading that is extremely sad, yet . . . true. We are all hanging on until our respective ships come to dock and we are allowed to board them and leave—no looking back.

So we wait. And in the waiting, we learn and build upon what we already know to be true.

Soon, freedom will be ours.

*A poem of mine, entitled “wonder ready” was used in this installment as a previously published piece from my blog, A Cornered Gurl.