Theories about Ron's breaks and werk schedule

[Donjeta]

That was not the media's words about him returning to work a week after, but his attorney's words.

Makes sense that one would get about a week's grievance pay. Reading the press release from the attorney, it seems like he was given a week (per routine company policy) but rc stretched it out. Ten to one they sent a letter and that is when he called.

Where are you getting the attorney's words about him returning to work a week after, Whisperer? Is this being discussed somewhere else?

Kimball said the article was not correct – that Ron was told that his employer was holding his job open. Kimball alleges that Ron was told by his employer that he could start back to work the Monday following Haleigh’s disappearance. He was prepared to go into work when he was told the Friday before that the offer was being withdrawn

.

The above quote is media paraphrasing Kimball, not a straight quote from him.
The findhaleighnow site seems to have expired but Art Harris has the whole text of the press release quoted and it says both supposed return to work and being fired were in April.

April 16, 2009

This press release is in response to the Florida Times-Union article of today’s date.

Ronald Cummings in the last two months has had to deal not only with the disappearance of his daughter Haleigh, but also false muckraking allegations by attorney Kim Picazio, representing Crystal Sheffield, and Picazio’s personal friend “Cobra.”

From the time of Haleigh’s disappearance, Ronald Cummings was told that his employer was holding his job open. He was told by his employer that he could start back to work on Monday, April 6, 2009. Ronald agreed to this date and was prepared to go into work when he was told on Friday, April 3, 2009 that the offer to return to work was being withdrawn for “abandoning his job.”

Ronald expressed his displeasure with the company for going back on its word, but at no time threatened anyone.

This office has referred Ronald to a Daytona Beach law firm that handles labor and employment law.

I snipped unrelated bickering from the release.

 

[watchinginky]

The timing seems awfully coincidental. Wonder which was first, the egg or the chicken. If there was no agreement to return he and his lawyers could have come up with the idea "We'll insist it was agreed that I'll return next Monday, it's word against word and who can ever prove that it wasn't so since there's nothing on paper" after he was fired on Friday.

If it was really agreed (in a phonecall? personal meeting? via third person? Who agreed with whom? Kimball doesn't say) that he'd return on Monday, his employers must have been reviewing the situation the previous week, hoping to find some loophole to fire him, and oops, they find out he hasn't filed the official paperwork to apply for a leave. Or maybe they had known it all along but didn't confront him with it on purpose in time for him to fill the paperwork up, to give them the excuse to get rid of him...? It begs the question, why were they so eager to fire him? I don't buy it about him being fired because there were lots of people begging for jobs. I bet that didn't stop just because they fired him. And if it was just about them needing someone to fill his position ASAP there seemingly was no problem if he was willing to go back to fill it the next working day.

fftopic:

I notice that the press release quoted by AH specifically names the reporter Dana Treen as a subject of their displeasure. A little less than a year later that same reporter is Ronald's best pal and one of the first persons he calls from jail...? I don't know what it means but I find it interesting.

BBM...maybe another employee had informed management that he had left his job while on the clock on Feb 9, 2009. Maybe he was captured on a security camera leaving the property. He could have been gone for a long time. Sounds like a good reason to be fired IMO.

There has to be a reason why his work hours haven't been released to the public and why there hasn't been any statements from PDM.....hmmmm. I think PDM was told to zip it up and not make any comments by LE.

 

[Emeralgem]

BBM...maybe another employee had informed management that he had left his job while on the clock on Feb 9, 2009. Maybe he was captured on a security camera leaving the property. He could have been gone for a long time. Sounds like a good reason to be fired IMO.

There has to be a reason why his work hours haven't been released to the public and why there hasn't been any statements from PDM.....hmmmm. I think PDM was told to zip it up and not make any comments by LE.

And IMHO sounds like a very good reason for LE to have hauled Ron C to jail too instead of telling PDM not to make any comments..If indeed thats what LE has done..JMO

 

[YellowSubmarine]

I agree there is something hinky going on about his work hours and why nothing has been confirmed or denied. What I don't get, though, is since RC's stories regarding that night already don't make sense, if he said he was at work all night and they find he wasn't, wouldn't that right there be enough to arrest him on suspicion? At least for lying to LE?


ETA: I guess saying "arrest him" is silly since he's already in jail, but there must be something they could charge him with involving the disappearance if his alibi is bunk and his stories/actions don't make sense.

 

[Emeralgem]

I agree there is something hinky going on about his work hours and why nothing has been confirmed or denied. What I don't get, though, is since RC's stories regarding that night already don't make sense, if he said he was at work all night and they find he wasn't, wouldn't that right there be enough to arrest him on suspicion? At least for lying to LE?


ETA: I guess saying "arrest him" is silly since he's already in jail, but there must be something they could charge him with involving the disappearance if his alibi is bunk and his stories/actions don't make sense.

I totally agree with everything you have stated..They should have arrested him and charged him in connection with Haleigh's disappearance long before they ever arrested him on those trafficking charges.. And I'm not buying they don't have enough evidence against him...Right now as I see it, LE is attempting to hide all the evidence they do have that will implicate him and his family...MY opinion.... JMO

 

[sneezy]

just something that came to mind...if RC is already in jail on another charge, then why rush to file charges against him? he's not going anywhere and once they'd file the charges there are specific timeframes in which parts of the judicial process have to happen.

He's in jail, not a flight risk, so why not wait and do things the best they can and try to get an airtight of a case as they can?

just a thought.:twocents:

 

[TXangel]

just something that came to mind...if RC is already in jail on another charge, then why rush to file charges against him? he's not going anywhere and once they'd file the charges there are specific timeframes in which parts of the judicial process have to happen.

He's in jail, not a flight risk, so why not wait and do things the best they can and try to get an airtight of a case as they can?

just a thought.:twocents:

BBM. And absolutely. Even if he was out, walking around and doing as he pleased, they'd most likely rather have a good solid case against him than too much reasonable doubt.

I wonder too, about those hand injuries. My husband has had different jobs that left his hands looking like that all the time, but no one (that I know of) ever attempted to explain Ron's hand injuries that way. I know he said he was a crane operator, but hasn't it also been said that he did other jobs as well? It would be an easy explanation, and yet Ron didn't try to use it as an excuse. Kind of makes me wonder what he really did do at work.

 

[elle1919]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-04-15/story/haleigh_cummings_father_loses_his_job

snip~After waiting two months to hear from the father of still missing 5-year-old Putnam County kindergartner Haleigh Cummings, the Palatka plant where he worked has fired him for abandoning the job, the company said.

Ronald Cummings’ employment was a factor in his being granted custody of his daughter and son in 2005 because he was in a better position to pay for health insurance. Following Haleigh’s disappearance, the long estranged mother of the children has said she wants custody of their son, 4-year-old Ronald Cummings Jr.

Tony McCauley, director of human resources for PDM Bridge, said Cummings’ bosses never heard from him following Haleigh’s disappearance Feb. 10. McCauley said Cummings could have asked for a leave of absence.

“That never happened,” he said from company headquarters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “Without that happening, at some point they filled his position. He was released.”~ end

It sounds as though a couple things were going on. RC never filed for a leave of absence, there was an arrangement( who made the arrangement is a mystery) for RC to return to work at some point( was this a rumor) then a few days before RC was due to return to work he was released for "job abandonment" because he never filed the paperwork for a leave of absence so PDM replaced him. Makes sense. Someone had to do his job and since he didn't file the paperwork, they had no reason to take him back as he had already breached the terms of his employment. It doesn't sound hinky to me.

The Human Resource guy even said this:
Cummings operated a rolling crane at the plant north of Palatka. He was not a longtime employee.
“We still have a great deal of sympathy for Mr. Cummings and his family and certainly hope for the best,” McCauley said.

 

[newstome]

BBM. And absolutely. Even if he was out, walking around and doing as he pleased, they'd most likely rather have a good solid case against him than too much reasonable doubt.

I wonder too, about those hand injuries. My husband has had different jobs that left his hands looking like that all the time, but no one (that I know of) ever attempted to explain Ron's hand injuries that way. I know he said he was a crane operator, but hasn't it also been said that he did other jobs as well? It would be an easy explanation, and yet Ron didn't try to use it as an excuse. Kind of makes me wonder what he really did do at work.

I believe he also worked for his Aunt Katrina's business, landscape and tree removal. Another member here, who was a neighbor, has said he did work for him on his mobile home.
I don't think Ron is the type to wear gloves.

 

[debs]

http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2009-04-15/story/haleigh_cummings_father_loses_his_job

snip~After waiting two months to hear from the father of still missing 5-year-old Putnam County kindergartner Haleigh Cummings, the Palatka plant where he worked has fired him for abandoning the job, the company said.

Ronald Cummings’ employment was a factor in his being granted custody of his daughter and son in 2005 because he was in a better position to pay for health insurance. Following Haleigh’s disappearance, the long estranged mother of the children has said she wants custody of their son, 4-year-old Ronald Cummings Jr.

Tony McCauley, director of human resources for PDM Bridge, said Cummings’ bosses never heard from him following Haleigh’s disappearance Feb. 10. McCauley said Cummings could have asked for a leave of absence.

“That never happened,” he said from company headquarters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “Without that happening, at some point they filled his position. He was released.”~ end

It sounds as though a couple things were going on. RC never filed for a leave of absence, there was an arrangement( who made the arrangement is a mystery) for RC to return to work at some point( was this a rumor) then a few days before RC was due to return to work he was released for "job abandonment" because he never filed the paperwork for a leave of absence so PDM replaced him. Makes sense. Someone had to do his job and since he didn't file the paperwork, they had no reason to take him back as he had already breached the terms of his employment. It doesn't sound hinky to me.

The Human Resource guy even said this:
Cummings operated a rolling crane at the plant north of Palatka. He was not a longtime employee.
“We still have a great deal of sympathy for Mr. Cummings and his family and certainly hope for the best,” McCauley said.

It has always been my notion that RC (via his attorney) put out the information that there was an agreement in order to later attempt a lawsuit for wrongful dismissal......which never happened. It was solidified for me when PDM made that public statement regarding the job abandonment.

We have never heard another word.

 

[elle1919]

Nope not a word, even though Kimball stated he would look into the employment laws about it.

IIRC, Teresa N stated on Nancy grace that RC was supporting himself on his unemployment benefits, I thought you couldn't receive unemployment if you were fired?

 

[lonetraveler]

BBM. And absolutely. Even if he was out, walking around and doing as he pleased, they'd most likely rather have a good solid case against him than too much reasonable doubt.

I wonder too, about those hand injuries. My husband has had different jobs that left his hands looking like that all the time, but no one (that I know of) ever attempted to explain Ron's hand injuries that way. I know he said he was a crane operator, but hasn't it also been said that he did other jobs as well? It would be an easy explanation, and yet Ron didn't try to use it as an excuse. Kind of makes me wonder what he really did do at work.

Just a comment here on the hand injuries. PDM is a safety orientated company and in order to be awarded government contracts must have a OSHA recordable rate that is usually below the national average. When I was Contract Administrator/Procurement Specialist part of the job was to make sure that the fabrication shops were safety and OSHA qualified. A review of the fab company's safety manual was required. I can tell you that every fab shop required that gloves be worn for all work performed, period. That included crane or anyother heavy equipment operation. This requirement covered all areas worked in for the companies, including laydown areas in the back 40 or north 40 as it was called at PDM. Working without gloves was considered a safety violation and some companies gave a warning, wrote up the employee and for some companies requiring 100% safety the employee could be terminated. I would bet that PDM had the glove requirement. All companies that large do.

 

[debs]

You can file for unemployment. The request goes to the former employer, who has the opportunity to write a rebuttal as to why you should not receive the benefits. If they do not contest it, the former employee receives the benefits.

 

[lonetraveler]

Quoting Whisperer from another thread because I was going off topic with my reply.

Whoa, that's news to me. I never knew that he was fired so early I must have read Kimball's press release (I think I read them all), but I don't remember having heard that he was supposed to return to work Monday 16th February and had already been fired on Friday 13th. I was always under the impression that his getting fired was a recent thing when the news was published (this article is from April 16)

When was he fired, for real???

I found this post by Indiana at Heart dated
04-16-2009,

Well, regarding Ron's time off following Haleigh's disappearance: If Haleigh had died Ron would have gotten only up to one week for the death of a child. That is normal policy for this type of plant operation. Some chemical plants only give three days. I don't know if Ron could have applied for Family Leave or not. I don't think that the time period would have been extended for a missing child. I did hear early on that some of PDM's employees had given up their vacation time for Ron to use. Some of them were very angry and had complained in some of the blogs when they saw what Ron was doing with their vacation time.

 

[Whisperer]

lle, That post about rc being a crane operator is also out of context. PDM did not say that was his job. That sentence was inserted by the journalist. The part that was repeated by the firm was placed in quotes and the rolling crane part was not part of the quote. Jacksonville news got it wrong AGAIN. This job was also not the reason why he got custody as was stated either but if you notice they implied that the job was important for him in gaining custody.

WE have to be careful when reporting and reading news articles as fact. Kimbal was correct in what he said about the Jacksonville article and that it was wrong. It was also wrong about the crane operator part too.

Just like Matt Saffer when reporting about the van. It appeared the car was returned to Chelsea and misty was the owner.

The media takes bits and pieces of different people and others articles and adds (inserts) them into their own report...doesn't make it true.

 

[Whisperer]

In the J.acksonville article, it never states when they fired rc. They obviously didn't hear from rc the week of Haliegh disappearing. They could have fired him then and not because of not calling. We don't know. I will say that rc should have known company policey for bereavement. If not, that is his fault for not phoning.

It can very likely be that rc was fired for abandoment but it may have been abandoment on a specific day and PDM does not care to muddy the waters.

 

[Whisperer]

I believe he also worked for his Aunt Katrina's business, landscape and tree removal. Another member here, who was a neighbor, has said he did work for him on his mobile home.
I don't think Ron is the type to wear gloves.

If he didn't wear gloves when cutting down trees that leaves more credence to being an idoit than he had previously. He also must have removed trees, branches, roots with one hand because the right one sustains an awful lot of damage.

I'd place my bet on he is right handed and punches things, like windows and cheap doors.

 

[Whisperer]

What is striking about the statement is that PDM Palatka would not even comment. The reporter had to get the info from Headquarters. PDM Palatka has distanced themselves entirely.

'Tony McCauley, director of human resources for PDM Bridge, said Cummings’ bosses never heard from him following Haleigh’s disappearance Feb. 10. McCauley said Cummings could have asked for a leave of absence.

“That never happened,” he said from company headquarters in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. “Without that happening, at some point they filled his position. He was released.”~

...."At some Point he was released"... Here we go again. NO DATE. They were purposely vague.
There is a story here and it is at PDM Palatka.

 

[elle1919]

lle, That post about rc being a crane operator is also out of context. PDM did not say that was his job. That sentence was inserted by the journalist. The part that was repeated by the firm was placed in quotes and the rolling crane part was not part of the quote. Jacksonville news got it wrong AGAIN. This job was also not the reason why he got custody as was stated either but if you notice they implied that the job was important for him in gaining custody.

WE have to be careful when reporting and reading news articles as fact. Kimbal was correct in what he said about the Jacksonville article and that it was wrong. It was also wrong about the crane operator part too.

Just like Matt Saffer when reporting about the van. It appeared the car was returned to Chelsea and misty was the owner.

The media takes bits and pieces of different people and others articles and adds (inserts) them into their own report...doesn't make it true.

bold by me...Lot's of bits and pieces, what a pain in the butt.

 

[dodie20]

I do remember some lawyer, or maybe Art Harris, stating on the Nancy Grace show, (fairly recently), that Ron's job & insurance played a part in his getting custody. That seems just weird enough to be true.