A worse boss

[nancylebov]

An hour about Steve Raucci, a school superintendent who ran an astonishing reign of terror for years, including extreme threats and vandalism against his subordinates.

The institutional protections weren't all that bad, but Raucci arranged things so that he was both the boss and the union rep, his behavior was so weird that complaints weren't taken seriously, and he'd done a good job of saving electricity (having sabotaged someone who'd previously had that job) and it was convenient that the union wasn't getting complaints.

A text version of the story-- but really, the radio program is better.

I'm willing to bet a little that Raucci isn't the worst boss in America, and a lot that he isn't the worst boss in the world-- he probably didn't have the police on his side.

And I wish Raucci had put that much drive and intelligence into something positive, or at least harmless.

Comments

[siderea]

Thanks for drawing my attention to that. I download the pod cast of TAL, but I haven't been keeping up.

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

He wasn't a superintendent--he was only a chief maintenance man--it makes it even worse, in a way, to think how many people he was able to completely, ably, intimidate from his position. The clincher was when he produced the explosives--that he was storing in the middle school where his office was--300 times more powerful than the most powerful legal firework.

Also, his town is very near where I grew up.

(I listened to that when it was broadcast, rapt and horrified.)

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

Corrected. Thanks.

[jim-p.livejournal.com]

Isn't there, like, a zero-tolerance you're-automatically-history policy for weapons on school property?

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

By the time he was offering up explosives in the middle school, the police were moving in on him.

[supergee.livejournal.com]

Kevin & I listened to that in the car while taking books to the VA Hospital. Frightening story!

[sodyera.livejournal.com]

He reminds me of the Super my set of apartment buildings had when I first moved in. Such petty tyrants often crop up when management is weak or (in our case then) non-existent.