Darren Appleton Video: "Banned! My Story"

[vapoolplayer]

Think so ?

Drug tests are used all the time to get rid of people due to personal vendettas or when they don't have just cause to out right fire some one.

I used to be a supervisor for a pretty large utility contractor. One day i get a call from our regional manager telling me that i have to take a drug test the next day but not to worry about the results. I told him i was not worried because i have never failed one.

The next day i found out that we had another supervisor that had to take a drug test also. He failed and was fired. I found out later that he was suspected of taking kick backs from sub contractors but it could not be proven so they had an employee invite this supervisor to a party where people were smoking weed and he joined in .

Another example.

I was supervisor for another company a few years after the above incident. They hired a saftey inspector and lets just say he and i butted heads quite a few times. I was told by several employees that he was asking questions about me and it was evident to them he was trying to dig up dirt on me.

One monday he pops in and names off 3 guys who have to go take a drug test that morning. One of them was my son . one of the three named came up to me and said he knew he was going to fail and if there was anything i could do about it. I told him there was nothing i could do.

So two days later the safety inspector comes into my office and informs me my son failed his drug test and wanted to know what i was going to do about it. The guy who came to me before the drug twsts were taken somehow passed . I call my son into my office and fired him on the spot.

That evening i ask my son what the hell was he doing failing a drug test.? Well short story is he went and spent the weekend with a family who also worked for me. A husband ...wife and son crew. They all smoked pot over that weekend. A blind man could see that this family was tight with the saftey inspector and my son had been set up.

I had this family workimg on a out of town bid job with a couple of other crews and it took me a few weeks of driving my personal vehicle out and watching this crew but i caught them padding their time sheets. I fired the whole crew. The saftey director came complaing to me about i apparently singled them out and not my other crews on the same job. I said yea like you singled my son out. I said you keep fucking with me and you will be next down the road.

Well i wound up quitting and going into bussiness for myself and i learned later that this safety director was fired .

Ya. In past positions in private sector I’ve gotten phone calls along the lines of “you’re going to do a random test on 10 of the people on that site. One of them is going to be X employee. Pick the others at random.”

Sure, it “shouldn’t” happen. But it’s very common.

 

[straightline]

Edited to add that in the first situation i was asked to have a test also so that it would not appear that the other supervisor was being singled out.

Lemme briefly "yeah but" here:

It's still an employer and/or enforcement issue. In the case of sports, players are treated like product - drug testing being quality control. The option of enforcement as leverage is very real so no argument there.

 

[dnschmidt]

I am very impressed with this video. What we have here is a professional who committed, by his own account, several acts of extreme unprofessionalism, but has the pedigree as both a professional and as a man to make all of these statements, which I've paraphrased: 1) I admit to the allegations made against me, I own it, and I'll take it on the chin, 2) I need to learn from these mistakes, so I don't repeat them, and 3) I apologize to my sponsors, and I will understand if they drop me, but I don't think they will. These are the words of a classy guy, one I'm proud to count as a close friend.

Darren's only beef here is that he feels he has been over-penalized. I'm not going to suggest that I know how penalties have been handled in the past by either WPA or Matchroom, so I'm in no position to agree or disagree with Darren, and it's not my place to do so anyway.

The only point on which I disagree with Darren is that I don't feel that whether or not he was aggressive in his manner is a potentially mitigating circumstance. He was, by his own account, unprofessional, combative, profane and disrespectful. That makes this a serious matter, even if he didn't threaten or strike anybody.

Darren's a good guy and a great player, and this temporary derailment of his heartwarming comeback to super-elite status won't slow him down. Darren's got a lot of great pool left in him.

I haven't read the posts in this thread yet, but it's AZB, so the apologists will surely come out in droves. if they haven't already. They will feel that these acts of unprofessionalism are no big deal and don't warrant more than a slap on the wrist, and they'll be mistaken, for code of conduct violations are a very serious matter.

Props to Darren for his video which evidenced regret and genuine contrition.

PS I was glad that Darren explained a) that he favors drug testing in pool, and b) how random drug testing in pro pool works. Only those finishing in the top 16 in an event are subject to possible testing and I must admit that I never knew that. That easily explains how he came to be tested in both March and April, since he had several high finishes.

The only thing that I found odd about the video was that Darren was not very articulate. I thought Englishmen were by birth able to skillfully use English and that wasn't the case. He would have been better served by writing a script and reading it as he wouldn't have sounded so disjointed. I like Darren and hope this cloud quickly passes over him. What does seem unfair is the insane antics we routinely see from Earl that never get punished whereas they dropped the hammer on Darren.

 

[skogstokig]

The only thing that I found odd about the video was that Darren was not very articulate. I thought Englishmen were by birth able to skillfully use English and that wasn't the case. He would have been better served by writing a script and reading it as he wouldn't have sounded so disjointed. I like Darren and hope this cloud quickly passes over him. What does seem unfair is the insane antics we routinely see from Earl that never get punished whereas they dropped the hammer on Darren.

englishmen aren't more articulate than scots, irishmen or americans. it often correlates more with upbringing and education. iirc darren grew up in what in american english is called "the projects" and i doubt he had an extensive education. definitely more a doer than a talker, his youtube channel is getting traction with pool fans looking for tough drills

 

[skip]

What is the problem you have with (CocoboloCowbo} ever heard of free speech? I though this form was for free expression. My way are the highway is a bad view. I know a lot of you will love me for this post I will get out the popcorn, have fun. Skip

 

[couldnthinkof01]

What is the problem you have with (CocoboloCowbo} ever heard of free speech? I though this form was for free expression. My way are the highway is a bad view. I know a lot of you will love me for this post I will get out the popcorn, have fun. Skip

Judging by your spelling of his name and ultimatum, cousins?
Just kidding

 

[the_bomb]