Nero
HUDSON — For lead grievant Jessica Nero, losing her job at the Greene County Department of Social Services meant giving up on her dream of being a caseworker.
“Since I was seven, I dreamed of having this job,” said Nero, who plans to pursue her master’s in social work. “I was comfortable working with my clients and thought things were going great.”
Like her co-workers who were also unfairly let go, Nero won’t soon forget the shock, confusion and anger she was forced to confront after a call into a meeting with her supervisors meant her job, and her dream, was over.
With no explanation, outside of not being a “good fit,” and no previous disciplines or issues of any kind, Nero packed her desk and left.
“I felt like I had been hit by a bus,” she said. “I was devastated.”
Nero immediately called her husband. As a union member in law enforcement, he knew that her contractual rights had been violated. They also knew that her CSEA contract stated a probationary period of 26 weeks. Nero was fired outside of that window.
Nero contacted her then unit president, Judy Ganje, who reached out to CSEA and the case was in motion.
More than four years later, Nero still feels the sting of that awful day, but is happy in another job in another county. “Things are going well,” said Nero, a mother of two children.
Nero said she appreciates CSEA’s multi-year effort on behalf of herself and her co-workers.
“Honestly, I am still kind of surprised,” she said. “I was done. I wasn’t even in the union any longer and CSEA went above and beyond for years to make sure that what happened to me doesn’t happen to others.”
— Therese Assalian
