Bell Atlantic boss questioned in Human Rights case

BANGOR – A supervisor who warned Bell Atlantic employee David Bishop for a reported lag in productivity was asked Wednesday if he had once referred to the employee as a “festering pus sore on my ankle” during a hearing before the Maine Human Rights Commission.

James Jordan appeared startled with the question, which came during the third day of a civil trial at U.S. District Court in Bangor.

Attorneys for Bell Atlantic, now known as Verizon, objected to the question posed by Bangor attorney Martha Temple. Temple is representing Bishop at the civil trial expected to last through Friday.

The trial is taking place at U.S. District Court in Bangor. U.S. District Judge George Singal is presiding.

Eventually, Bell Atlantic’s Boston attorneys Stephen Reed and Barry Guryan were overruled. Required to answer, Jordan said the comment referred to Bishop’s quality of work, not to him as a person.

During nearly 51/2 hours of testimony, Jordan detailed a deteriorating relationship between Bishop, 39, and his supervisors.

Bishop, a 13-year employee, contends he was retaliated against and subjected to adverse employment actions in Bell Atlantic’s Ellsworth garage where he still works. The action reportedly took place after he filed complaints with the Maine Human Rights Commission, according to the lawsuit. Seeking unspecified monetary damages, Bishop is requesting the court grant punitive and compensatory damages

On Wednesday, Jordan, under questioning, acknowledged that Bishop was placed on an action plan for improvement in 1999, but that other technicians with low productivity were not. According to Jordan, he has 16 technicians under his supervisory umbrella.

After he came under scrutiny for low productivity, Bishop was required to call as many as four different bosses who had 12 different pager numbers if he was unable to complete a job in one visit. Yet, other line-splice technicians with low productivity were not given the same requirement, according to court information brought out Wednesday.

Line-splice technicians perform work that includes telephone line repairs and installations.

During his time with the company, he has garnered high overtime hours on the job, a fact that concerned officials in the late 1990s who were trying to cut back on the overtime budget.

Eight jurors – six men and two women – are hearing the case.

On Wednesday, attorney Temple asked detailed questions of Jordan in efforts to prove her client was singled out for treatment that differed from other struggling employees on the job. She also quizzed Jordan about a decision to suspend Bishop for three days a year ago for job activity that involved cutting out wires on a job site. One supervisor earlier said the activity was “not serious.” However, another action with which Bishop was charged, cutting halfway through a supporting wire and rendering it unusable, was destruction of company property, according to Jordan.

Another line-splice technician testified Wednesday that he routinely cut out wires that he had determined should be replaced and that he never got reprimanded for it. Steve Andrews, who has worked for the telephone company for 27 years, said he had never heard of an experienced technician being required to retake a basic training course, as Bishop had been required to do.

During cross-examination, attorney Reed asked Andrews if he had “ever cut halfway through a drop wire crossing a road and left it in place?”

“No,” Andrews said.

The trial continues Thursday, though a verdict is not expected until Friday.