If you followed us on Facebook or Twitter over the weekend, you may have noticed a few references to some guy named Ryan Tate. He's the CEO of Tate Publishing, the company that gives shitty writers and bible school dropouts the opportunity to tell people at a party that they've published a book.
Anyway, Ryan has been the centerpiece of a weird story involving corporate espionage, Christian justice and moronic employees, only not nearly that interesting (link). Here's a recap in case you missed it:
• Last week, an anonymous person sent a company-wide email alleging that Tate Publishing planned on outsourcing Oklahoma jobs to the Philippines.
• The email caused Tate Publishing CEO Ryan Tate to call a special staff meeting to address the rumors.
• In the meeting, Ryan Tate insulted, threatened and prayed with his employees. He told them the email was "the straw that broke the camel's back" and that 25 employees were to be fired as retribution or “justice.”
Since the story broke, we’ve received a couple of dozen emails from current or former Tate Publishing employees. These Ogle Moles seem to confirm what the audio from the staff meeting implies: Tate Publishing is a fishy company, a screwed up place to work, and Ryan Tate is one hell of an asshole.
Here’s the email that started the whole mess. It was apparently sent to Ryan Tate and BCC’ed to the rest of the company's staff:
Ryan Tate,
In 2009, Tate Publishing LLC was named one of the best places to work in the state of Oklahoma. In a post published on your blog in April 2, 2009, you say "most publishers outsource and farm out their work because it is cheaper" and went on to say "we handle every element of production in house" and also "if you want to lead an industry and succeed you need to make the extra investment in the staff". Three short years later, you have opened an office in the Philippines to do just that - outsource and farm out the work that has been done by loyal, hard-working Oklahoma employees. What has changed in that time that has caused you to come to the conclusion that "a staff that never quits" as you referred to them, are no longer worth the investment?
If you need reminding, here is a link to the post I am referencing.
He fired 25 people for that? Even King Joffrey thinks that's a bit rash and immature. In fact, it’s so rash and immature that I think it may be contrived. I'd almost be willing to bet that...
A) Tate Publishing probably is — or at least was — looking to outsource a majority of their work to the Philippines
B) They have been planning for a while to downsize some of their Oklahoma operations
C) They thought this email would be a perfect excuse to fire people
To support that theory, just listen to Fucktard Tate talk towards the end of the video. He does everything possible to discourage any employee from coming forward and taking the blame. He then goes on and on and on about how unfortunate the whole thing is, but that there’s no going back and that the decision to fire everyone is final.
What sane CEO would take an action like that? Just wipe out a production division because somebody sent a gossipy email claiming the company was downsizing. It doesn’t make any sense. If business was great and jobs weren't going away, who’s going to do the work? Will production slow down? Will supply meet demand? Who’s going to train the new employees?
Of course, none of that matters if you planned on outsourcing those jobs to the Philippines in the first place. The email controversy would then actually be convenient. It would give you a cowardly reason to fire 25 people and a valid excuse to not pay any severance. Hell, maybe it was Ryan Tate who wrote the damn email. He seems like the type of punk who address himself as "Ryan Tate" in an email.
Even if my whole conspiracy theory is wrong, Ryan Tate should at least consider firing himself and/or outsourcing his job to the Philippines. He’s an idiot. If a similar scenario was put in front of a competent CEO or manager or shift leader at Wendy’s, they would have held a meeting, assured their employees that everything was fine, answered some questions and moved on.
They wouldn’t have threatened lawsuits and wage garnishment and property liens. They wouldn’t have called people “morans” and “cowards.” They wouldn’t have told people they “Are gonna get ya.” And they wouldn’t have done all that because they are competent people who had to earn their management position. They are not spoiled, spineless, incompetent products of nepotism.
Anyway, we’ll have more on this story as the day and week progresses. As I mentioned, we’ve received a lot of emails about Tate Publishing and their crazed CEO. Check back later this week for more.
