I was hired as an Account Manager with Ab, and was put in charge of a new account. All went well for about the first week or so. The office staff has put on a great front as AB being an honest and ethical company.

Before I go on, let me say this - this report in no way shape or form reflects on the clientI was assigned to. The client and their staff were great to work with and I have no issues whatsoever with them.

Anyhow - I was directed almost from day 1 - take care of the client in whatever way is needed. It was my call as the best way to do this. Basically as an account manager, you are told by AB, you treat it as a franchise. the account manager decides the best ways to handle anything needed and to make sure things run smoothly. You are told that the company is supposedly designed to support the officers in the field. The acocunt managers support the officers, the district office supports the account managers, the regional offices support the districts and corporate supports the regional offices. Yeah, it sounded good.

Anyhow..to make a long story shorter - this company decided that after almost two years I was to be terminated. Supposedly the client wanted me gone. The reasons for my termination were - (this happened in June 2010)

1- Improper use of client issued phone. FACT -I had client permission since day one to use the phone in any way I wanted to. FACT - the client specifically had the phone I was issued placed on an unlimited plan for calls, texts, data. I was given direct permission by the cliet to use it in any way chosen - both personal and work related use.

2 - Accused of not being on site during working hours. FACT - I was on site for all working hours. Fact - I had permission form the client to work from home if the days work was to be entirely administrative (paperwork, logs, reports).. this meant I could telecommute one day per week.

3 - Supposedly poor performance. FACT - Recieved 4.0 evaluation just a few weeks prior to my termination. FACT - regular client meeting reflected an above average satisfaction form the client in my work and the work form my team. FACT - I had to repeatedly solve issues that the district office couldn't. (Client refused to pay invoices due to the insurance requirements by AB not being met. I had not been involved in any way with this matter. I was being held accountable for unpaid invoices by the district and corporate offices, when THEY knew it was due to incomplete insurance requirements. Once I was told about the insurance - I was told by the Senior district manager to stay out of it as it was being handled. 4 unpaid invoices later, finally, the operations manager asked me to get involved. Once I was involved, the matter was fixed within 3 days. I took the time to READ what the client had wanted, took the time to send a few emails, and got the matter resolved. This could have been taken care of months earlier had those responsible taken the time to READ what the client wanted.)

After I was let go - rather abruptly I may add, (no previous write ups or previous disciplinary actions) I contacted various sources at the client location. The client contacts that I talked to said that -

When the new contract was done in Sept of 2010, it would have been likely that my position would have been removed. This was due to costs not due to anything else. The client, like most businesses, had to cut back and we were contractors after all. The client representativesI spoke with said they all were trying to figure out how to keep me there, but said they had told this to the district office staff. This means, the district office got rid of me but likely kept billing the client the same rates for my position but paid someone else alot less than I made. They basically were ripping off the client.

The client said they were extremely happy with the work I had done since day 1, extremely happy with the team I built, happy with the work they do, and could not imagine how things would be without my team in place.

I witnessed Ab practice unethical business practices when it came to billing the client, was forced to bill for things I KNOW they did not recieve, and witnessed the district offices continued discrimination of both gender and racial issues. Luckily, most did not effect me or my team directly, but any issues reported to the district offices were covered up and disregarded. I witnessed hwo they treated officers on accounts, heard how other account managers were instructed to cover things up, and saw firsthand how the office staff treated the officers.

The seniour district manager of the office repeatedly gambles with subordinates (poker nights)..and those that tend to win a lot from him tend to become unemployed rather soon afterward. Those that lose a lot to him tend to get promoted. I find that rather odd. The senior district manager happened to come from Abs main competitor in the area, Securitas, and he maintains a lot of close friendships with several of the managers there. Iwas told by another member of the Ab district office staff that the senior district manager get money form Securitas for account bids. Curious, I inquired further and was told that sinc ehe made money eacht ime Ab got an account, if a potential client was not willing to sign a contract with Ab due ot the higher billing rates, the senior district manager would call his friends at Securitas and tell them all the details of his dealings with the potential client, and if Securitas got the account by bidding lower, he got money for it. While I can not verify this as fact, his delaings with both people within Ab as well as knowing his background, it would not surprise me in the least. This is a man who terminated female staff for refusing sexual requests by him...though it was always done by an "office restructure". He is a disgrace to the security profession.

Bottom line for this is simple - if you want an honest security team on your property - create your own team of employees to do it..Do not hire AlliedBarton or anyother security firm. You can do it cheaper, have a lot better employees, and have amuch more effective security force. Do it in house.

While I do miss the paychecks I got for Ab - they paid me well -I would not go back to them even for the money. I miss my team of people as they were a great group, but I do not miss not being able to contact anyone when needed. If you call anyone, say the district manager or operations manager, you got voicemail and never get called back...and if you send email...you were better off sending them to Santa Clause as youd get a better responce and more help from him than anyone else. What they advertise about being client focused is only partially true - they are focused on the client money - nothing else.