Opinion ID: 787947
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Promotion Practice at the Edgewater Garage

Text: 15 The record reveals that a relatively complex but informal system of promotion operated at the Edgewater Garage. In addition to official supervisory positions (e.g., first-level manager, second-level manager, etc.), there were two types of acting manager positions: temporary acting managers who filled in for supervisors who were out of the office for a few days or weeks and permanent acting managers who supervised a team of workers on a long-term basis but who were not yet official managers (usually because of budgetary and bureaucratic delays). Selection as an official manager was generally contingent on having performed successfully as a permanent acting manager for the same position. Further, permanent acting managers were usually selected from persons who had previously served as temporary acting managers. 16 Until 1998, Bell Atlantic maintained no formal system for listing available official or acting manager positions. Workers would express their interest in a position to a supervisor who would then present their names to a promotions committee. In 1998, Bell Atlantic instituted the departmental interview system to formalize the promotion process. Under this system, job openings were posted where all employees could see them, and employees could apply directly (rather than through their supervisors) for a listed position by submitting a formal written application form and undergoing an interview. According to Petrosino, this system was never fully implemented at the Edgewater Garage. Indeed, she and some of her co-workers profess never to have heard of the system. Moreover, one I & R supervisor conceded that he never used the system in making promotions, and another acknowledged that, despite the system, managers continued grooming favored candidates for particular promotions.