Poster hiding behind a handle offended by the suggestion that we respect other peoples' privacy.

Doesn't pass the smell test. You have some good stuff on the NG board, but it is, how shall I put it, excessively deferential to the management and commercial interests of the D&S and C&TS.

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Point to more than one such post before using the word "constantly" (or the non-word "unhealthily").

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1574 posts since 2015 is "new"?

Sorry folks, I'll put the snark away for now.

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I suggest that you research the term "gaslighting", we aren't falling for it.

From my experience as a manager and CEO over the years, one does not often if ever get spontaneously fired.

I think we need to lock the thread as a news item and wait for an official statement from C&TS and/or Mr. Pappas.

Wesley

All

I strongly encourage the C&TS to only publicly acknowledge weather or not he was an employee and the dates of his employment. Anything more can open them up to a lot of issues publicly and legally. After all there are reasons why any public board deals with individual personnel matters in executive session.

But there are bigger issues buried in all of this. One is the knowledge base out there and how it is quickly eroding away. I would argue it may have already hit a critical point of loss as too many working on steam today do not understand a steam locomotive like the engineers and craftsmen of the past. Yet this lack of knowledge does not stop them from proving their ignorance. Add the ability to baffle those who know even less and it is easy to find people thinking with emotions and not thinking critically about a situation when they do not understand the technology or the situation at hand. It is imperative that we always question ourselves in ways that force us to learn not only more about railroading but also to ensure that we do not fall victim to someone who is pushing for something that may sound great but is actually not in your best interest.

For the C&TS I hope they do not make the typical move they seem to make and hire someone without a true public search. It would also help if they would quit hiring people because they "showed up in the commission's office". It would also truly benefit the C&TS if they put some true oversight into the commission and not just stood there and took reports. It is easy to focus on the event that apparently took place without taking a look at the deeper problems and finding ways to resolve those issues. That seems to be a problem many groups and individuals have.

Robby Peartree

He wasn’t just an employee. He was the CMO and Assistant Manager. Losing him and John Bush is a major negative for the organization and could have dire consequences in the future.

There's a reason it's a bad idea to talk about personnel issues in a public forum.

It's the same reason that companies will only confirm employment when asked for references.

Unless you know exactly what's going on with an HR thing it'd be wise to not comment.

And if you DO know exactly what's going on with an HR issue it's absolutely critical not to comment.

I don't think anyone here would like anyone publicly speculating about the reason for their departure from an employer. Give this man that same courtesy.

So lets close the C&TS TODAY BECAUSE THERE IS NO ONE ELSE IN THE WORLD WITH THE TALLENT OF THESE TWO PEOPLE. Ask yourself, what is wrong with that thinking? Or the comment we cannot survive without person x, y, or z? If someone is irreplaceable you better look at shutting your business down when they leave. This is how people get away with doing bad things because others make their value greater than it is.

Robby Peartree

There could be many things they want to keep confidential that are none of the public's business. The NGDF is right to ban discussions of personnel issues like this.

They don't want to open themselves up to the legal liability around the topic and I'm surprised RYPN is ok with that possibility.

If I were the man in question and I found out that some uninformed discussion of my situation on the internet caused me to lose out on a future job opportunity I'd be on the phone with a lawyer who I'm sure would love to take the case.

Just a few observations.

1. Forums are private spaces, they can censor to their heart's desire, no matter how poorly-done. They can even ban users. What another forum chooses to discuss or not is their business. Back when people still read the daily newspaper, and even medium sized cities had multiple papers, you knew which paper's editorial board supported which political organization. Being "in the tank" for management of a particular tourist line isn't necessarily bad, though it's more intellectually honest if the moderators of such a forum actually just admit as much. That way a reader can make their own informed decisions on what is and is not being discussed.

2. Employment situations are tricky. Most employers in the real world now just do "neutral reference" policies, that they will only provide the dates of employment and position worked, and nothing more. Most employers don't want to unintentionally wade themselves into litigation over libel, defamation, etc.

3. Even good people get fired. Back early in my legal career I worked at a law firm whose environment was more toxic than Love Canal. I even had a senior partner hurl a ceramic coffee mug at my head one day when I gave an answer to a question he didn't like (I managed to duck in time). They'd fire people every August to make room for the people they hired who had just graduated from law school. We always joked that the alumni of this firm could fill the local hockey arena. The fired alumna of this place includes a number of judges and other successful, good people who went on to better things after working in that toxic hellhole.

4. Poor management isn't necessarily illegal.

5. It's frankly far too soon to see how this bodes for the employer. Let's refrain from speculation until we we see tangible results, one way or the other.

6. Employees typically just want to move on, even if their termination wasn't justified. I wouldn't expect an "official statement" from anyone.

7. You could objectively be the best employee in the world. Your boss could be objectively the best boss in the world. If the two of you don't get along, it's not a healthy work environment, and moving on is probably a good way to foster better growth for the employee.

Finally:

That comment alone is the funniest thing I've read on this forum in a while. It's also sadly accurate. I once had a railfan file a bar complaint against me, complaining that he thought I was going to somehow use my secret power to ruin his career. It was obviously dismissed as just a paranoid delusion. Best part is that the complainant couldn't spell my name right. Who did it isn't important, and I really have no enmity towards them. But it shows how out of hand people can get over something innocuous as online conversations.