So today between talks, I was surfing the newsfeed and I came across an article about my old divisional VP where I used to work up in Calgary. He has moved on to become the head of a new electric startup startup (that looks quite promising) down in Arlington, WA where I grew up. He was Jewish and was getting his MBA and was a very sharp fellow. This new start-up originated in Israel and then moved into the hotbed of composites manufacturing and a place that, other than Oshkosh, WI is a premiere General Aviation hub. Very smart move. That plus the access to Boeing talent as that company ebbs and flows, it will make for a really good arrangement.
Anyway, seeing him doing well (as far as I know, he had nothing to do with my firing - but it was likely directed by the "company slut" from Victoria, BC where the company HQ resides (for now)) makes me happy. I thought he was doing a remarkable job there in Calgary.
After I left (or rather, was unceremoniously booted), the pandemic hit and tourism/travel ground to a halt and hit the company in the pocket and both viable production lines were shuttered in Ontario and in Calgary. It must have been dicey to be there - just as it was to be a part of Boeing after 9/11. Bumpy to say the least - every day was an adventure those 20 years ago.
Anyway, I decided to see if Dave Curtis was still at the helm. Dave Curtis was the CEO of Longview Aviation and fell for the wiles of the "company slut" who flew from BC to Calgary to personally fire me a few years after I hired on when I dared to question a hostile work environment for myself and others of faith (Muslim and Christian - basically those who held traditional views on abstinence, etc). And the finding by an independent commission was in our favor when I was fired a week later - likely by a really pissed off slut who did not want her not-so-secret sin flaunted about (she was the company joke along with the CEO - nobody respected either of them). The married women who hate a shagger/cheater and those below who might have wanted to shag a subordinate but knew that a two-tiered system was in place that would not allow their hypocrisy - but allow for Dave Curtis' indiscretions with the company slut - and likely others... Once a non-repentant cheater, often a serial cheater. Boeing's lore was replete with the CEOs wining and dining many women on company time and travel. It was, for the longest time, just a matter of it being a "perk" of the job. No one respected them - because if they could not keep that thing under control, what else could they not do well? The name of Phil M. Condit was re-tooled by me to become; Feel My Conduit. I think he set a record of like five different women during his relatively short tenure at Boeing. During the strike - all of us just savaged on him, though he was a fellow engineer. The next in line, a bean counter Harry Stonecipher was no better. Old Stonechipper ripped a page out of old Phillip's playboy playbook. While any underling would have been fired for the same night moves. It really jaded the average, nose-to-the-grindstone rank and file types at Boeing. Typically, cheaters are not counted among the engineering rank and file; we simply are too practical for that crap. We might see a hot young thing and even turn our heads and whistle, like so many beaten down slide-rulers - but logically rationalize that she will just get old and wrinkly like the last one, therefore it is probably just better to ride it out to it's logical conclusion without the drama and pocketbook drain of the whole divorce thing. Most of us never partied or used drugs because it always sucked wind the next morning. Either way, you had to pay the piper for a few minutes of euphoria. Simply not worth it to the logical mind. With the instance of sexual impropriety, every engineer would have been calculating the risks of STDs and it would have ruined the moment. There is little joy in sin for those with logic overrides. Engineers are simply kill joys.
Curtis was apparently married etc when this gal (who was a rank and file hourly rate production worker) slept her way into the VP for HR slot. After all, she was pretty good looking - so why not use it or lose it before age and wrinkles took their toll - and get that dream corporate position? I used to talk about her and would always give the sign of the pointer and middle finger springing open when describing how she "worked" her way to the top.
So now Curtis is finally gone. I bet he had no notion of how things would go in November 2019 when his fling flew out to fire me bringing up harassment by two of my co-workers who were sleeping together (on the sly) and who pressed me for my religious beliefs when THEY asked why I had just voted for Trump in November 2016. Most liberal Canadian despise Trump - and they were baffled why I would be bold enough to stick up for him when they were trashing him (in the workplace). So, when I talked of the need for the Atonement and repentance and then the three biggies, it did not sit well with them (why do I even open my mouth, right?!?) and I caught hell for it until the female left the company when they finally quit shacking up and tied the knot. So yeah, it was a little uncomfortable knowing that my lead was living with his Chinese girlfriend, another co-worker was dating the daughter of his ex-wife (yes he was 55+ and she was in her 20's), the remaining guy at the other desk was fornicating with his girl and I was just trying to be monogamous-Mo and not take the glares personally when the subject would come up. Fact is, everyone there knew it was wrong and were raised in somewhat religious homes. Even if I had said ZERO about chastity, people knowing what my religion represents and knowing that I had not denounced my value set would be set against me or the Muslim gal (that I helped get hired) who actually lived in a separate apt up until the day of her wedding. She and I had chosen our high ground and we were not about to depart from it. Either of us would have rather been dead than compromise our value sets. It is just who we were/are. We have continued on - each successful while the others have gone their own ways.
I hope that Sherry Brydson (private owner of Longview Capital) acknowledged the improprieties of Dave Curtis and the company slut and both were replaced by others that could not be blackmailed, etc. The greatest reason not to have a CEO in one of those compromising situations where the person with the power has an underling that mysteriously rose to prominence within the company.
(v) Conflicts of Interest A conflict of interest is any situation or arrangement where your personal activities or interests conflict with your responsibilities toward Longview and/or any of the Longview Entities. You must avoid conflicts of interest, whether real or perceived, in the performance of your duties. If you find yourself in or witness a potential or actual conflict of interest, you have a duty
This is what I did above (my duty) - and I got burned for it.... See Longview Ethics Guidelines
Right after Curtis was let go (I noticed in the announcement that they were explicit that Curtis has no part nor parcel of leadership there anymore including the Board, etc), I noticed that the company had prominently laid out a policy of non-intimidation and bullying and harassment including sexual harassment. I laud Longview for doing the right thing and clearing that air once and for all. I am sure the new leadership will have the company line driven in; no dipping the quill in the company ink. Period.
As with everything, it all worked out in the end. Literally, a week before I was fired I was complaining to the Lord that I needed more income to complete a project. I ended up getting a job where I could work from home at twice the salary that I had at Viking and I did not have to worry about a forced-jab policy to sustain my family. That still does undo the indignity of the situation - but it was another successful test to prove the Lord herewith....
I will still continue to preach the virtues of abstinence within the bounds of marriage, decry corruption in general, and will continue to stick to principle. I will still wince inside knowing that a smackdown may be coming - but hey, it is good to the stand as a witness of Jesus Christ and to take a few as the Lord's punching bag....
It keeps me alive.
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