Mr. Randall Abernathy was referred to my company by the Illinois Department of Employment Security. The IDES contacted me via phone noting they had an individual that had been recently released from the Illinois Department of Corrections, noting that he had completed his "prison" time for his crime. The IDES noted the individual had extensive knowledge of embroidery machine operations and digitizing as that was his job for the Dept. Of Corrections. I agreed to an interview with Mr. Abernathy, but was told that I could not inquire about his reason for going to prison. However, if the individual shared that information it would be his choice. Mr. Abernathy came to the interview and did a very nice job at selling himself. He did know embroidery techniques and digitizing.
Mr. Abernathy shared the "reason" he was sent to prison as being some false tale about getting involved with and underage 17 year old. He supposedly had an affair with this girl and when her parents found out he was charged with rape. What I found out later was that Mr. Abernathy was a child molester, and had molested his own daughters which were very young at the time... Under the age of 10 if I remember correctly. I received this information later from his ex wife. She also has also filed a report with complaints about my company because she was mad that I forced Mr. Abernathy to quit his job and tried to sue me for over $100,000.00 that she claimed I owed her for unpaid child support to the State of Illinois. I will address that in my rebuttal to her report.
Mr. Abernathy came to work for Custom Imprint Designs and started out as a good employee. For about the first 6 months things went well. Then after Mr. Abernathy got an apartment on his own, trouble started. First, he met a female companion online (internet) and before long she had moved in with him. Yes, you can guess the rest... She was too lazy to work, and before long they had all the conveniences... Computer, internet, cell phone, cable tv, rented furniture, a car that was a piece of junk. All this while making slightly over minimum wage. He wanted it all, but didn't have the means to pay for it on his salary. That is why Mr. Abernathy ended up in financial trouble. He was constantly running out of money and taking advances on his next pay check.
Now to address Mr. Abernathy's claim about bounced pay checks. Yes, Mr. Abernathy did receive (3) pay checks that came back for insufficent funds. I was just a small company with only three employees. Business was tough and at times customers weren't paying their bills. But, every paycheck that Mr. Abernathy received that were returned for insufficent funds was made good immediately, and I even took care of any overdraft charges that were caused by my company that I was made aware of.
If I had known the truth about Mr. Abernathy from the very beginning, he would never have been hired by my company. I had two teenage daughters that were in the store frequently, and would have been easy prey for this "child molester". I still can't believe that the Illinois Department of Employment Security would even think about sending a person for an interview in a "retail business" where this individual came in contact with customers and their children.
In addition, if Mr. Abernathy's parole officer had been doing his job he would have known about this matter. If it were as serious as Mr. Abernathy claims wouldn't it make sense that his parole officer should have been in contact with the employer. The parole officer NEVER talked to me other than to ask if everything was going ok, and that only happened three or four times the entire 18 months he worked for me. I even asked Mr. Abernathy to have his parole officer stop by and talk to me which never happened.
Mr. Abernathy got angry and walked out two weeks before Christmas. He was upset with me because I asked him to redo a job that was not up to the expectation of the customer. He was also upset because I had questioned him why he had allowed his girlfriend to be in the store while I was not there. A rule that he violated several times.
Mr. Abernathy was told that if he walked out during the Christmas rush, that he would not have a job to come back too. He got angry and after using some profanity at me and stormed out the door.
After careful consideration I decided that everyone can make a mistake
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