u/BrandoCarlton

I’ve been in the hvac for almost a decade. Started in commercial sheet metal, moved from tin banging to service after 3 years when I was still an apprentice, started doing my own calls 1.5 years into that. Within the last two years I really felt like I was figuring things out. We got a new service manager earl this year and this guys a pusher. I’ve always been great with my production, but tend to 2nd guess myself on the technical side. The guy I’ve always considered our lead tech is very knowledgeable, but is always getting caught up on little details that derail the job and burn up hours. New manager has been telling the project managers and the foreman that I’m his #1 guy. He’s putting me on the bigger and more difficult jobs. At one point he designated the guy who trained me on t&m work only after he got burned on a few. This is the guy I call every time I get stuck still, but I got the rest of the guys calling me the new lead tech.. I kinda hate it. It doesn’t seem right. Makes me wonder if the new manager doesn’t appreciate knowledge and doing things the right way… not that I’m a hack but I feel like there’s so much I still gotta learn before I would ever consider myself lead worthy. Is this something I just gotta nut up and accept?

I thought I was over this when I moved to commercial but I ran into the biggest dork maintenance worker ever today. I did an owner training in the morning 1.5 hours away from this job, get there about 12 and immediately get to work. Maintenance fella sees me and my coworker getting materials ready to hang round snap lock and proceeds to text my other coworker on the roof who’s running the job that we’re bullshitting too much. He called me immediately and I already had 30’ up… told him I had no idea what that dude was going on about. Maintenance man comes up to me a few minutes later and asks how long something was going to take- I threw what I thought was a lighthearted joke out there and said “shouldn’t be long but every time someone asks it adds 5 minutes”

Dudes eyes got all wide, he storms off without saying anything, only to come back 5 minutes later and demand we stop what we’re doing and move onto the next group of machines cause he has to use that area, and dogbirded us for the rest of the day making every little comment he could.

At the end of the day he called my fucking boss about the joke hahahahaha. Soft as baby shit. Can’t wait to see him tomorrow- if he didn’t like that joke I don’t have a good feeling about the next one.

Sorry if this is all vague, but I was directly involved in an incident on a new construction site in Ohio. I was working for a subcontractor and made a joke was taken out of context and another sub was very offended. Between that and other incidents the sub contractor took all of their employees off the site. The main contractor did agree that it was a misunderstanding, but I was asked to leave the job site. There was a short investigation done by a city prosecutor and the equal employment officials but no charges were ever filed

Years later, a lawyer representing the main contractor reaches out to me and wants to have a “friendly conversation” about the incident. I declined. They reach out again, this time saying even if I don’t talk to them now I’m going to get subpoenaed into the court hearing. The subcontractor that pulled all their employees from the job is suing the main contractor for the amount of the contract.

I don’t know much about this stuff so I’m hesitant to get into a meeting with a bunch of lawyers who are representing someone else, especially without my ow counsel. Is it wise to keep declining the meeting? Even if it means they subpoena me? Should I have counsel for the meeting? What kind of lawyer would be able to help me here? I reached out to an employment law office and they told me to call a defense attorney, called a defense attorney and they haven’t gotten back to me yet.