IU worker laid off after 32 years

Thirty-two years, one job, one employer, one year before retirement. \nWhile former IU Materials Management employee Barney Corder thought he was only one year away from receiving the proverbial golden watch, he received something else -- a pink slip.\n"I guess working here for 32 years doesn't count for anything anymore," he said.\nIn November 2003, Corder suffered a strained lower back while working as a truck driver for the Materials Management department. After his injury, Corder's duties were relegated to the Physical Plant, and he was put on workman's compensation because he could no longer lift items over 40 pounds.\nAfter working under workman's compensation for nearly two months, Corder was required to take a physical. According to Corder's Work Status Worksheet, Corder suffered from a lumbar and lower back strain while he was moving equipment for the University. Corder said after he was given his physical, he was simply told to apply for another job.\n"Those Human Resources people are about the coldest people I've ever met. No goodbye, no nothing. They just told me to pick up an application if I wanted another job with the University," Corder said. "I figured after I worked here for 32 years, I would get some sort of preferential treatment, but now I've got to fill out an application just like everyone else."\nWhile Corder claims his only problem was a bad back, Jim Mcauley, a manager for the University Printing Services, who served as Corder's boss, said he could also be unreliable at times on the job. \n"Sometimes he does his work," Mcauley said. "But he would get bent out of shape on something and just like to raise heck about it, and that's the biggest complaint that I had with him. At times, he can be likeable, and also, on some days, he's impossible to work with."\nDirector of Human Resources Maurice Smith said the University could not comment about Corder's situation because federal law prevents employers from speaking about individual situations.\nWhile Corder's family formerly subsisted on both the incomes of Corder and his wife, he has been forced to rely purely upon his wife's earnings and unemployment checks to take care of his family after his termination.\n"I've got a 5-year-old son, a wife and a mortgage just like everyone else," Corder said. "But now, I don't have a job, I don't have insurance and all I've got is unemployment."\nMcauley said Corder was fired because he could no longer perform his job tasks at the desired level. \n"I don't know if he was fired. It was medical," Mcauley said. "He could no longer do his job with the medical restrictions that were placed on him."\nDespite his recent money troubles and difficulty finding a new job, Corder is quick to say he does not hate the University. \n"I'm only angry at my department," Corder said. "They didn't want to accommodate me, and I think they looked at it as a chance to eliminate a guy that's costing them some money."\nWhile Corder is unhappy in his current position, he still wishes to thank some of his former co-workers.\n"I'd actually like to thank (IU Physical Plant Worker) Dave Hurst for helping me out," Corder said. "I did appreciate what he did, and I just want to thank all the guys I worked with during that time."\nRegardless as to whether Corder is rehired at IU or finds a job at another location, Corder said all of his thoughts will be with his family.\n"I've only been off for about a month, but I can see it's going to be tough," Corder said. "I thought maybe one day I could have sent my son to IU. \n"But now I don't know if I'm going to be able to."\n-- Contact senior writer Dan Patrick at djpatric@indiana.edu.