Olive Branch, MS—
FAST FACTS:
- Man Loses Job, Appeals
- Says Union Rep, Manager Conspired Against Him
- Search for Answers Leads to Fists Flying
(Olive Branch, MS 2/24/2009) An Olive Branch man, pushed to frustration over a job issue that seemed to spin out of control, takes action.
But that action could land him in jail.
It happened Monday, and brought police to the man's former workplace at a trucking company.
We've all faced situations we though were unfair, but Aundra Miller's situation seemed so unfair and so wrong to him, he felt he had to take action.
Unfortunately that action turned somewhat violent, and today two men are recovering from minor injuries as a result.
Aundra Miller says he's a man pushed to the brink. He says he loved his job at USF Holland and worked hard. "I made it a point to take care of the freight, help my operations manager out to the best I could." he said.
One was even a golfing buddy, but others, and his union rep he says, would never stop picking at him.
After he says he legally turned down overtime, he says the company accused him of walking off the job, and considered him as having quit.
He tried through union appeals to get his job back, but says the union rep and the company conspired to keep him out."They took it upon themselves to do what they had to do to violate my rights by the contract." Miller recalled.
So Monday, after losing another appeal, he returned to Holland to get answers. It ended with two men, a supervisor and the shop steward getting sluggedÂ… twice. One of them after he was already down.
Miller can only describe it one way. "I lost control." he said.
And what does the company say? Not much. Outside of a brief recounting of Miller's lashing out, Holland would only say. "The two Holland employees have received medical treatment."
And that's not even from the company, but it's New York P-R firm.
Miller's remorseful, and has a message for the men he hit. "I'm sayin' it now. I apologize for what I did just to let you know, it has affected me." said Miller.
And it's going to affect him. Legally. "Both counts that he is charged with of simple assault are both misdemeanors, however he could face a fine as well as jail time." said Major Mark Kimbell of the Olive Branch Police Dept.
Police say Miller was cooperative, not at all violent, and turned himself in. "I think the lesson to be learned here is, even though things may not always go the way we want, you must be responsible for your actions and violence is never the answer." said Kimbell.
Unfortunately it took this loss of control for Miller to learn that lesson. I just wanted to do the right thing" said Miller.
Miller says many of his co-workers support him. Hopefully that'll help, because he'll face a court date, and maybe even civil charges over his outburst.
