By Faith Tapper, , Seattle
When I saw in the JTNews that Rob Jacobs had resigned from the Anti-Defamation League, I was very worried. A year ago, I’d turned to the ADL for help when I was nearly fired when I insisted on taking off from work on Rosh Hashanah. My boss had told me that he would fire me if I took the day as a vacation day.
I called the ADL and Rob Jacobs answered the phone. He was totally there for me. He visited me; he called, wrote and then met with my boss and, when that did not work, he met with my boss’s boss. He explained to my employer why it was simply good business to work together with me to come up with a solution that worked for all of us. Because of Mr. Jacobs, I didn’t lose my job and I did get Rosh Hashanah off.
This year, my boss’s boss is no longer at my company. My boss again told me I could not take off Rosh Hashanah. Since a month ago, I’ve called the ADL office 12 times and left messages each time. One time someone answered the phone. She promised to help. But since then, no one has returned any of my calls and no one has called or e-mailed me.
I sent a letter explaining my situation, giving the person at the ADL all the contact information for my boss. I even sent her the letters that Rob put together for me last year. I was completely ignored. When Rosh Hashanah came, I took off the day, only to come back to find my boss is letting me go.
After Rob Jacobs went to bat for me last year, I believed in the ADL. No longer. I am so very sorry that Rob Jacobs is no longer at the ADL. They made a huge mistake letting someone that dedicated go. He really cared.