By Teresa Zerilli-Edelglass
Thrown under the Bus is the cathartic tale of a woman who put herself through college and
entered what she thought would be a career in a government job with what most
people known by the acronym MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority), or buses and
subways.
Thrown under the Bus takes place in the state of New York, and in the boroughs of New York
City, at a time when most of the jobs were held by older white men whose opinion
of women is that they should be at home in the kitchen.
There was blatant cronyism. Many male
managers did whatever they could to get women to leave, and promotions to
supervisory capacity filled by men; regardless of any qualified female candidates.
Being female in this work environment
meant harassment, unrealistic expectations, and doing the work of people who
should be doing the work because it was their job; not a subordinate who was
doing their pay level job.
Working for a government agency isn’t
all roses. In Thrown under the Bus,
the harassment caused a women unbelievable stress, demotions, and all manner of
means to get her to walk away from a career she put herself through college and
desired above anything. Yet she persevered as along as humanly possible until
such time as the work place became intolerable causing psychological problems.
Going to the EEOC (Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission) only exacerbated her problems, and the EEOC
representatives sided with her employer. Suing a government entity only caused
more problems.
If a hostile work environment was not
enough to endure, try having the MTA deny benefits because you have no union
representation.
This saga went on for over a decade.
Every congressperson should receive a
copy of Thrown under the Bus, and the
master at arms should make them read it.
Thrown under the Bus receives five stars out of a possible five stars with a must read
recommendation.
Reviewer
Robert Medak
Freelance Writer, Editor,
Proofreader, Reviewer, and Blogger
