50 Case Studies for Management and Supervisory Training

261

Case 49

A Problem in Security

Part 1—B. L.’s Style: The Legend Grows

Background Information

General Systems, Inc., was a conglomerate of various high-tech, service, and

defense-related business firms. Most of these businesses were on the south side of

the city, located in or near a prosperous, growing industrial park. The General Sys-

tems Credit Union (GSCU) served the thousands of General Systems employees.

GSCU grew rapidly in the boom times of the late 1990s and now employed about

150 people at the headquarters site and seven different branch locations. It has

operated as an independent financial institution since it was chartered.

In 2001, Robert L. Woodson—or B.L., as he liked to be called—was hired as the

security officer for the credit union. B.L. swiftly earned quite a reputation as a

GSCU character. For example, he took a measure of pride in letting everyone and

anyone know about his intriguing past: during the 1990s, he had been an under-

cover narcotics officer on the city’s police force; in 2000, after a difficult period

that, B.L. implied, included a nervous breakdown, he received a psychiatric medical

discharge from the police force.

B.L. also went out of his way to let people know that he was on sedatives to help

control his mood swings. This knowledge was comforting to anyone who saw his

powerfully developed 5-foot-5-inch frame (the result of years of weight-lifting) or

who was present during one of his violent tirades. B.L. also let everyone know that

in order not to forfeit his disability pension, he could accept a salary of only

$35,000 from the credit union. Normally a job like his would have paid an annual

salary of $50,000.

As GSCU’s security officer, B.L. was responsible for handling all the fraud,

theft, and counterfeit matters financial institutions are heir to. When he started

working at GSCU, his job duties included branch security procedures. Over the

course of the next year or so, B.L. assumed several additional duties. Then he was

given charge of running the mailroom operation. Located just across the hall from

his basement office, the mailroom handled all the correspondence of the company,

including the large volume of customer bank statements and promotional literature

that GSCU regularly distributed. B.L. also was made responsible for facilities

maintenance and repair. Whenever a roof leaked, a wall needed painting, or the air

conditioning broke, all anyone had to do was call B.L. and he would take care of it.

B.L. reported to Jed Romanoff, senior vice president. Jed was working as a teller

with GSCU when it was chartered; since then, by virtue of hard work and extreme

diligence, Jed had moved into the number two position at GSCU. However, Jed’s

strength was in “running numbers” and keeping track of details. He spent little time

managing B.L. This lack of supervision was in part due to the fact that B.L. was

often looking after repairs or security matters.