So, here we have Mario Cuomo, Governor of New York, who has now been accused of sexual improprieties. YEAH. WHAT ELSE IS NEW? Below are just a few comments from those who have had the misfortune of working for him.
“A micromanager to the 100th degree,” one former staffer recalled. “One of the worst I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s not just chaos for his close staff,” another former employee said. “It’s chaos for his whole administration.”
“There was a general sense that when the governor was in the building that you were to walk on eggshells,” another said. “And while you’re walking, make sure those shoes are nice and shiny.”
Two male aides who worked for Cuomo in the New York governor’s office say he routinely berated them with explicit language, making comments such as calling them “pussies” and saying, “You have no balls.”
“The Governor is direct with employees if their work is sub-par because the people of New York deserve nothing short of excellence. ”
So, you all know that I have worked in fancy, schmancy law firms my entire life. I have also worked with, and was around many politicians, because as you probably know, they're all lawyers.
I'd like to address the Governor's comment about his directness screaming and yelling towards employees whose work is sub-par because the people of New York deserve nothing short of excellence. Here is what I would like to know ... what is "excellence?" If you're working diligently, proofing and re-reading your work product and providing quality work on time and error free, is that not excellence? NO. It is ONLY Excellence if the Big Boss THINKS it's EXCELLENCE. You could provide PERFECT output and trust me, there will ALWAYS be ONE ASSHOLE who will find SOMETHING WRONG. This is a FACT. As I've said in the past, you must be inside the asshole's head to know exactly what he or she wants and what he or she considers "excellence."
THEN, if you have provided work product that is sub-par, it is perfectly ok for your superior to tear you a new asshole by humiliating and berating you in front of all of your co-workers. I've always wondered ... how come they can scream at you but you can't scream at them? I will tell you why. Because THEY have POWER and you DO NOT. They can fire you, but you can't fire them and this is what they lord over you by giving you bad reviews, or having you put on probation ... all sorts of things that will let you know exactly where you stand. AND, if your superior is a fucking asshole who abuses you by yelling at you, giving you the silent treatment, rolling their eyes at you, basically making you feel like an idiot, you know those seminars you have to attend where it is pounded into your head that "we do not tolerate bullying in this office"? Yeah. Well that's bullshit. Complain to HR about your abusive boss and you might as well start updating your resume because you will not be there for long.
This is why now, when someone is fired they are escorted out with their belongings like a common criminal and then their entire existence is completely erased. They will never be able to enter the building again. Period. End of Story. This protocol is due to people "going postal" -- just the other night I had a dream that I had a tiny little pistol that held two bullets and I shot someone. Probably an old boss.
I once worked at a firm who had a major perv who was head of HR. He made sure that there were no tampons in the ladies restroom and you could only get one from him. You literally had to go to his office and ask for a freaking tampon because he wanted to know which of his secretaries were on their period. He was very into dating Latinas from South America via websites that provided "mail order brides" or "sex for sale" ... whatever the hell his freaky predilections were. He would travel back and forth to Columbia all the time to meet women and he once told me that he'd go anywhere for pussy. Here is the miracle -- he was actually fired! This is RARE. Pervs usually get sued by the women they harass in the office and then what usually happens is they pay her off and they get fired and the perv continues working and harassing to his hearts content. This situation was a little different because he wasn't harassing women IN the office, he was just talking about his sexual exploits which made everyone want to gag.
Then I worked for a partner who once worked for the Securities & Exchange Commission. This guy did a lot of shady things. For instance, he hired an attorney--not to work in the firm, but to work for HIM. He sat him in an office and had this guy do a ton of Blue Sky Filings (don't ask), and then he made me work for this guy! This was a MAJOR risk management issue. We were told time and time again that NO ONE should be in our offices, in an office, with access to files, correspondence, etc. Mr. Partner had a paralegal in the firm who worked specifically for him and was his "go-to" person who handled all of his Blue Sky filings. She ended up quitting over this. No one knew what Mr. Partner was doing. When I finally went to my office manager to let her know (because I was really freaked about getting fired for not reporting this) -- know what she told me? Just do what he wants.
Working for him was bizarro. I was not allowed to open any of his mail. EVER. One day he received a call. He was not in the office yet so I let the call roll into voicemail. I did this because here's how it usually goes:
Me: "Good morning, Mr. Big's office."
Caller: "May I speak to Mr. Big?"
Me: "I'm sorry, but Mr. Big is not in his office at the moment. May I take a message, or would you like his voice mail?"
Caller: "I'll take his voice mail, thank you."
AND THEN YOU PUT THE CALL INTO VOICE MAIL.
He arrived at the office literally seconds after the caller left him a voice mail. When he checked his voicemail and heard the message he yelled at me because he had been WAITING for that call!" HOW am I supposed to know he's in the freaking elevator moments away?! I don't have ESP. Stupid shit like that would happen all the time. It makes no sense, and yet I'm the idiot because I didn't jump into the consciousness of his mind to see he was IN THE ELEVATOR so I should make the caller wait.
He also had a bad habit of not letting me know if he was coming into the office. When he wasn't in the office by 1:00 pm I would email him and ask "hey, will you be in today?" Answer: "No. I'm in China." Mhmm. Good to know.
Whenever there is a politician that everyone loves I always wonder what it is like to work for them. Are they a yeller? Do they get off on humiliating their secretary? Are they mean?
As for Mario Cuomo, he should just resign. There will only be more females coming forward. Cut your losses and call it a day. You're a dick and this is what you deserve Asshole.
I h8 white males and their shitty attitudes!
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