Georgia garbage man gets 30 days in jail for early pick up

[Jimmy Higgins]

Jail for this guy seems absurd, regardless of blame.
However those blaming the company, myself included, are making arguments based on the premise the this guy was forced or at least coerced into doing this by his employer. That is highly plausible. However, it is also possible that he has a set number of pick-ups and is paid for making them and not on an hourly basis, and so he cut corners and went to a residential area too early because it takes him less time that way for the same pay.

IF that is the case, then the driver is to blame and the company should be able to dock his pay for the fine amount.

There is one thing to point out here... this was his first violation! The maximum allowed sentence under the law is 30 days. So he did this once, and the prosecutor and judge agree to jail him for 30 days? Are they filling beds in a private jail house? He had no lawyer and these assholes railroaded him. Both the Prosecutor and Judge should be fired/impeached.

It wasn't until he got a lawyer and publicity that things were put right. How many cases are there like this where defendants are taken advantage of by the Judicial system?

 

[TSwizzle]

There is one thing to point out here... this was his first violation! The maximum allowed sentence under the law is 30 days. So he did this once, and the prosecutor and judge agree to jail him for 30 days? Are they filling beds in a private jail house? He had no lawyer and these assholes railroaded him. Both the Prosecutor and Judge should be fired/impeached.

It wasn't until he got a lawyer and publicity that things were put right. How many cases are there like this where defendants are taken advantage of by the Judicial system?

I agree, this is such an outrageous abuse of power prosecutor and judge should be expelled.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

I agree, this is such an outrageous abuse of power prosecutor and judge should be expelled.

Or given a bonus for helping to maximize PrisonCorp profit margins. All rights are important and you can't just go around saying that human rights somehow trump shareholder rights.

 

[arkirk]

I did a little research on Sandy Springs. It is a city that is almost entirely privatized Even the 911 service is a private entity. They brag their city is a PPP (Private Public Partnership) so in reality this "city" is an amalgam of all the private business' desired controls on the city. That might explain why they only prosecute individuals in that city. Pictures of the city officials indicated they were damned white!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

What would suck is if he was given too much work to do in his regular time slot. Then he has been pressured into jail.

If he wanted to start early, just for the heck of it (like getting off at 3p instead of 5p) and this is the first infraction that is still screwed up.

Another point is that it was probably the backup alarm or compactor alarm that made enough noise to have a complaint called in. Not the intrinsic noise of the truck.

Or gets a nice lawsuit against his employer.

 

[dismal]

Jail for this guy seems absurd, regardless of blame.
However those blaming the company, myself included, are making arguments based on the premise the this guy was forced or at least coerced into doing this by his employer. That is highly plausible. However, it is also possible that he has a set number of pick-ups and is paid for making them and not on an hourly basis, and so he cut corners and went to a residential area too early because it takes him less time that way for the same pay.

IF that is the case, then the driver is to blame and the company should be able to dock his pay for the fine amount.

There is one thing to point out here... this was his first violation! The maximum allowed sentence under the law is 30 days. So he did this once, and the prosecutor and judge agree to jail him for 30 days? Are they filling beds in a private jail house? He had no lawyer and these assholes railroaded him. Both the Prosecutor and Judge should be fired/impeached.

It wasn't until he got a lawyer and publicity that things were put right. How many cases are there like this where defendants are taken advantage of by the Judicial system?

Oh, so I guess you don't like driving on roads and having firemen come when your house is on fire?

Government is what we do together![/conservoprogressive]

 

[SimpleDon]

Perhaps the law is widely considered to be unconstitutional or is infrequently enforced. As we learned in another thread here under these conditions it is acceptable to ignore the law as if it doesn't exist.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Why is the company itself only fined? Why can't the company manager be brought into the court house and locked up for 30 days instead of the new guy who was just doing what he was told?

The problem is that this sort of thing devolves into a bunch of finger pointing and nothing actually gets solved. That's why they went after the individuals actually breaking the ordinance--there's no way to finger-point there. It's the same reason they go after the individual cashiers that sell to underage customers--it actually works.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

There is some precedent for this. Truck drivers are routinely ticketed and fined for following dictates of their companies. For example, if a local road is closed to truck traffic, and the driver goes there anyway because their company enforces a route-time that requires the shortcut, it is the driver who gets ticketed and fined, thus encouraging drivers to refuse their company dictate in order to retain their CDLs.

Exactly. You have one person who you can clearly prove was in the wrong. Enforce the law on them and they'll push it up the ladder to wherever it needs to be pushed.

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I feel bad for an employee in this situation, being stuck between performing his job and getting in legal trouble. It seems the city at this point has all but admitted it's powerless to do anything against any company willing to flout it's rules, so it will go against the employee instead. Perhaps companies in this area will now start ignoring any rules they feel they wish to since the city government can't stop them and apparently has no recourse.

Actually, I expect what we will see here is that the company can't find drivers willing to take the garbage trucks out at 5am. In other words, problem solved.

 

[Sarpedon]

One of the things I've decided to do in response to all these recent events is to pay more attention to my local elections. Far too many times I've left items blank, or checked the one who is running unopposed, simply because I didn't know. I really get a sour taste in my mouth when I see things like this, now.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Jail for this guy seems absurd, regardless of blame.
However those blaming the company, myself included, are making arguments based on the premise the this guy was forced or at least coerced into doing this by his employer. That is highly plausible. However, it is also possible that he has a set number of pick-ups and is paid for making them and not on an hourly basis, and so he cut corners and went to a residential area too early because it takes him less time that way for the same pay.

IF that is the case, then the driver is to blame and the company should be able to dock his pay for the fine amount.

Which is what I was saying about finger-pointing. When you go after the company you get a lot of this. Going after the individual you know is guilty avoids it.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Jail for this guy seems absurd, regardless of blame.
However those blaming the company, myself included, are making arguments based on the premise the this guy was forced or at least coerced into doing this by his employer. That is highly plausible. However, it is also possible that he has a set number of pick-ups and is paid for making them and not on an hourly basis, and so he cut corners and went to a residential area too early because it takes him less time that way for the same pay.

IF that is the case, then the driver is to blame and the company should be able to dock his pay for the fine amount.

Which is what I was saying about finger-pointing. When you go after the company you get a lot of this. Going after the individual you know is guilty avoids it.

Fine, no finger pointing required. Why the maximum penalty for a first time offender?

 

[braces_for_impact]

What is stopping the garbage man from pointing a finger back at his employer whom is making him pick up trash in violation of a local ordinance?

 

[dismal]

What is stopping the garbage man from pointing a finger back at his employer whom is making him pick up trash in violation of a local ordinance?

Right, the government should never punish individual corporate employees for breaking laws.

 

[Sarpedon]

The fact that he'll be fired?

And his employer has lawyers and he hasn't?

And his employer has political clout and he hasn't?

 

[ronburgundy]

Jail for this guy seems absurd, regardless of blame.
However those blaming the company, myself included, are making arguments based on the premise the this guy was forced or at least coerced into doing this by his employer. That is highly plausible. However, it is also possible that he has a set number of pick-ups and is paid for making them and not on an hourly basis, and so he cut corners and went to a residential area too early because it takes him less time that way for the same pay.

IF that is the case, then the driver is to blame and the company should be able to dock his pay for the fine amount.

Which is what I was saying about finger-pointing. When you go after the company you get a lot of this. Going after the individual you know is guilty avoids it.

He is doing the job paid by the employer. The employer should get the fine. The employer can then fine the employee, if they can prove he was acting on his own and against enforced company rules.

 

[TSwizzle]

What is stopping the garbage man from pointing a finger back at his employer whom is making him pick up trash in violation of a local ordinance?

Right, the government should never punish individual corporate employees for breaking laws.

In this case, from what I know, there is absolutely no reason why the driver should get jail for 30 days. That is grotesque and disproportionate. It was the driver's first offense. The residents should be up in arms about this man's treatment and should contract with another provider.

 

[dismal]

Right, the government should never punish individual corporate employees for breaking laws.

In this case, from what I know, there is absolutely no reason why the driver should get jail for 30 days. That is grotesque and disproportionate. It was the driver's first offense. The residents should be up in arms about this man's treatment and should contract with another provider.

Government is the things we do together.

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Which is what I was saying about finger-pointing. When you go after the company you get a lot of this. Going after the individual you know is guilty avoids it.

He is doing the job paid by the employer. The employer should get the fine. The employer can then fine the employee, if they can prove he was acting on his own and against enforced company rules.

Right, people are not responsible for crimes they commit while working for corporations.

 

[ronburgundy]

He is doing the job paid by the employer. The employer should get the fine. The employer can then fine the employee, if they can prove he was acting on his own and against enforced company rules.

Right, people are not responsible for crimes they commit while working for corporations.

The employee may also be responsible, but the employer definitely is.
He didn't rob a liquor store or commit a crime unrelated to his job duties. He used the truck his employer supplied at the hour his employer supplied it to pick up trash and his employer pays him to pick up. He failed to execute his job in a manner compliant with the law, and employers are responsible for ensuring that their employees do so. In addition, the employer was definitely aware of the ordinance while the employee would only likely be if the employer informed him. If an inspector finds that a refinery isn't following property safety procedures to prevent leaks/spills are the employees directly fined or the employer?

 

[TSwizzle]

In this case, from what I know, there is absolutely no reason why the driver should get jail for 30 days. That is grotesque and disproportionate. It was the driver's first offense. The residents should be up in arms about this man's treatment and should contract with another provider.

Government is the things we do together.

No idea what that means.

Which is what I was saying about finger-pointing. When you go after the company you get a lot of this. Going after the individual you know is guilty avoids it.

He is doing the job paid by the employer. The employer should get the fine. The employer can then fine the employee, if they can prove he was acting on his own and against enforced company rules.

Right, people are not responsible for crimes they commit while working for corporations.

He was picking up trash at 5:00am, do you honestly believe that deserves a custodial sentence ? He should have been ticketed and sent on his way.