Thursday, April 17, 2008
Motivational Torture
by digby
Doing what it takes:
No one really disputes that Chad Hudgens was waterboarded outside a Provo office park last May 29, right before lunch, by his boss.
There is also general agreement that Hudgens volunteered for the “team-building exercise,” that he lay on his back with his head downhill, and that co-workers knelt on either side of him, pinning the young sales rep down while their supervisor poured water from a gallon jug over his nose and mouth.
And it’s widely acknowledged that the supervisor, Joshua Christopherson, then told the assembled sales team, whose numbers had been lagging: “You saw how hard Chad fought for air right there. I want you to go back inside and fight that hard to make sales.”
What’s at issue in the lawsuit Hudgens filed against his former employers -- just as in the ongoing global debate over the CIA’s waterboarding of terrorism suspects -- is the question of intent.
Prosper Inc. maintains that what the supervisor did, while unauthorized, overzealous and misguided, falls far short of torture, and in fact was not nearly as bad as Hudgens makes out in his quest for damages.
“We’re not the mean waterboarding company that people think we are,” said George Brunt, general counsel for the firm, which sells a combination of online and personalized instruction packaged as “coaching” and running $3,000 to $15,000 -- to customers who are solicited by telephone.
The morning Hudgens said he thought he was going to drown, his team was calling on behalf of “Trump University,” pitching real estate instruction to people who had attended a Trump seminar. Prosper is doing well, with 500 employees and clients in 70 countries, senior executives said in an interview.
“I don’t know if this would even be an issue if it weren’t for Guantanamo Bay,” Brunt said.
“How many times did the CIA even do waterboarding? Three times?” added Dave Ellis, the company president.
<...>
Late last May, the all-male sales team was having “a rough week.”
Christopherson called the men into the break room and announced, “We’re going to do an exercise.” He asked for a volunteer.
Hudgens raised his hand.
“Keep in mind,” he said, “the last time we did a team-building exercise outside, we did an egg toss.”
Prosper maintains that Christopherson explained what would happen next, and Hudgens knew what he was in for, even handing his cellphone and keys to co-workers before lying down. Hudgens insists he had no clue.
“So they held me down,” Hudgens said, “and the next thing I know, Josh has a gallon jug of water and he’s pouring it on my face. I can’t scream because the water’s going down my throat. Continued>>>
http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/motivational-torture-by-digby-doing.html
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