Yesterday, Dr. Liane Leedom wrote that “false beliefs about sociopaths are very dangerous.” She quoted a judge who said:
“Well I tell you, the world is full of productive sociopaths. Some of them hold high public office. Some of them are lawyers. It could be that a couple of them are judges, and sociopathy by itself is not necessarily a dangerous condition. It can be productive. I think it was Clarence Darrow who commented on that”¦”
Today I’d like to present a case to prove her point.
Over the last 10 days, the Philadelphia Inquirer has been reporting about Carl Greene, the executive director of the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA).
The agency Green heads is the city’s biggest landlord, providing housing to 81,000 low-income residents. The PHA has a budget of $345 million per year, funded by the federal government, and 1,150 employees.
Greene, who was hired in 1998, currently earns $306,000 per year. But 10 days ago, it was revealed that his $615,000 townhouse was in foreclosure, and he owed the IRS $52,000 in back taxes.
And, one of his former employees has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. The woman says Greene promised her a promotion, if she submitted to his sexual advances.
Greene’s tenure
Here’s where the “productive sociopath” comes in.
Before Greene was hired, the PHA had a history of waste, fraud and abuse. Greene turned the agency around, and it’s now considered to be a major success. Public housing high rises—magnets for drugs and crime—have been demolished and replaced by townhouses. Complaints about Section 8 housing have disappeared.
But here’s what else has been going on during Greene’s tenure:
• Since 2004, six women have filed complaints against Greene with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging sexual harassment, verbal abuse, retaliation, and sex discrimination. (Greene denies them.)
• Greene spent $1 million over the last two years for outside public relations experts, even though the agency has an in-house spokesperson.
• Four times a year, for the last several years, the PHA staff, outside lawyers and consultants were expected to pay up to $150 each for dinners at expensive restaurants in honor of Greene. According to the Inquirer,
There was an annual party to celebrate Greene’s birthday, one to mark his anniversary with the agency, another to laud his accomplishments, and, at Christmas, a breakfast at the Four Seasons Hotel.
Those gatherings were small compared with the bash PHA put together for Greene’s 10th anniversary on April 11, 2008. Hundreds of vendors, attorneys and “friend[s] of PHA” received letters asking them to donate $1,000 to $5,000 to Tenant Support Services Inc., a PHA nonprofit on which Greene has been a board member.
• In 2002, an audit by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development described Greene as a “demanding supervisor” who drove “a number of executive personnel” to quit.
• Employees say he’s created a culture of “fear and intimidation” at the PHA.
Transformation
What’s really strange about this case is how, back in 1998, Ed Rendell, then mayor of Philadelphia and now governor of Pennsylvania, worked so hard to hire Carl Greene. At the time, Greene was head of the Detroit Housing Commission, and one of his employees had accused him of sexual harassment. At first Greene turned down the Philadelphia job, but then accepted it. According to the Inquirer, he signed a three-year contract with an amazing stipulation:
If he were found liable of sexual harassment in Detroit, PHA could fire him – but would still have to pay the balance of his contract, then worth $160,000 a year.
“One simple reason,” Rendell said last week, when asked about that clause. “When I took over as chair of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, it was perhaps the worst public-housing authority in the nation. . . . I don’t think it’s an understatement to say now that PHA is the best in the nation.”
The transformation is due to Greene, whose work “has been stunning,” Rendell said. “He has done more to improve the lives of poor Philadelphians than anyone I know.”
Bloody daggers
Money problems, sexual harassment, self-promotion, and a management style based on bullying—Carl Greene sounds like a classic sociopath. Here’s what an Inquirer columnist wrote about him:
The rap on Greene was, and is, that he’s an effective egomaniac. A vicious visionary, a determined developer, a brutal boss ”¦ Politicians and advocates learned to accommodate the two Carls because he controlled zillions in federal money and the fate of the city’s most vulnerable residents.
In other words, according to his supporters, Carl Greene was getting the job done. If a few folks got steamrolled in the process, well, that was just collateral damage that they really didn’t want to know about.
When all these troubles came to light, what did Greene do? First, he disappeared—for several days, no one knew where he was. When he did talk to the media, he apologized for his personal failings.
He also said, “People with bloody daggers are doing whatever they can to finish me off.”
UPDATE:
Cost to settle sex-harassment cases against Philadelphia Housing chief near $900,000 on Philly.com.
In 2003, PHA planned to solicit big contractors on Philly.com.
Former Housing and Urban Development director ‘not surprised’ by Carl Greene’s troubles on Philly.com.
oxy – even before i clicked through to the thread i started to laugh. 🙂 …and it’s not stopping!!! SEE, NO ONE else would get this shit!
(i think it was 20 times weirder. I don’t know that it was worse, think it was just different…we all have trouble reconciling the many faces of the ppaths…mine were just more literal. what is weird is that i had a ‘relationshit’ with the sock puppets – thinking i was truly relating to different people. it makes some of the chit she pulled that much sicker in a way…here i was keeping ‘his’ secrets from other family members, and trying to help him against the evil predators in his life…bwahhhaha. it would be like finding out you, hens, eb, polly, CAmom, Silver, gem and witty were actually all only one person… )
the other story was a young woman who posted here. I could so relate. i don’t remember her screen name at the moment. i really understood the dynamic. she seemed to bounce back pretty fast, and in part i think that’s the blessing of youth. there are many people who pull this crap…i know. Before i knew who the ppath was i did a lot of online research – there are lots of famous cases…mind you i haven’t run across anyone doing the characters in the double digits. but, she’s old and she’s experienced. man, she must have thought the internet was the best thing since sliced bread…so many dupes, so little time.
and when i DID know who she was…well, she’s a mega pro…my friends, the ones i lost as ‘ collateral damage’…they have no idea what it has been like…just none. i wish them peace.
hopeful6596 – that’s the problem with being in this time zone – everyone else is up and about and we need to go off to bed.
the ppath fake killed the fake boy and then resurrected him. THAT was an interesting phone call. I have been NC since. many moons now. i am working on the damage and trying to get my life, physical and mental health back on track.
I know exactly what she is. NO ONE would do what she did. no one who wasn’t a ppath.
One step,
Yeah, I noticed that about the time zones. Obviously, some peeps are up well past my sleepy time, as I am right now!
That had to be such a SCAAARY phone call. Really, that is a bonafide WTF spathisode! Yowza!
Working on the damage–and you are! It sounds like you are taking care of yourself–we don’t gotta be perfect at it. I like what Oxy said in an earlier post to me, that it’s kinda like sobriety–one day at a time.
Hopeful6596
..that’s where my screen name comes from.
and actually, it wasn’t that scary. the threats that came afterward were. and finding out who she is and finding out about the things she has done to others were scarier propositions for me….seeing the depth of her disorder, over and over, from ore and more angles….seeing that she lacks humanity, knowing that evil exists in my world, that it has touched me deeply and i will never be the same – these things are scarier.
but i plan on being even better. and tougher. and wiser. and more authentic. first the PTSD, then the world…or rather, ‘my’ world.
peace out all. turning into a pumpkin.
Hopeforjoy,
You forgot one. Suck everyone and suck up to everyone on your way to the top then cut off heads when you become king. New rules apply to the leaders that love themselves like this Carl Greene character- thou shalt give a roast for my wifes baby sister’s cousin, and for the anniversary of my first crap on the toilet of my prosperity.
I have been reading lovefraud for over a year now to help me recover from a very strange encounter with a very strange man, but have never posted. Actually lovefraud has helped me understand a pattern of people that have been in my life ever since the first one (my father). I have had many ‘friends’ and some ‘lovers’ who looking back had to have been sociopath or psychopaths. I seem to attract them. And they seem to love to mess me around. My latest socipath ‘relationship’ for lack of a better word ended 1 year ago and I have been bound and determined to stay far away from anyone who even hints at being one, but unfortunately think I may have run into another one in my workplace this time. God will it never end!
If not a sociopath, at the very least he has no compassion and no appreciation for a very hard-working employee.
I went back to school in my 40’s into a health profession. Unfortunately the market is flooded and jobs are hard to find. As such, wages have dropped dramatically and people get treated less well overall because of the ’employers’ market situation that exists What this guy did to me is brutal.
I started july 2010 just as a fill-in worker and then got offered a regular part-time job in October. I worked from October to June 2010, at which time the owner of the business sold it to his two sons. One son handled the health side of it (he is a dentist). The other side handled the managerial side (no dental background).
From the 1st time I met him(the new manager), I knew something was off. His smile was fake He even had minor but noticeable speech impediment(don’t some sociopaths?). He made me uncomfortable.
One day when I was on lunch and walking towards my car, the new manager stopped me and asked me to make sure that the popcorn was picked up off the floor in the area I work in. I said sure, I always try to do that. I was insulted and thought it rude that he should ask me that. I mean it is a kids area and there is often popcorn spills. When that happens I pick them up. I am very careful to keep the whole area neat and tidy as I am a neat and tidy freak by nature. Anyhow, I found it strange that he had to flag me down to complain about something that was not an issue in the 1st place. That was my 1st clue he was power tripping. It was also insulting cause I am a heal professional not cleaning staff.
I am an extremely hard-working, dedicated person who cares about the patients as well as making sure all i’s are dotted and everything is done correctly. I spend extra time (unpaid) making sure my notes are all detailed and I review my patients for the next day all on my own time. I am friendly, but quiet friendly. I know I connect with people, and many times patients tell me I’m nice and ask to book with me. I never missed a day at work and was never late.
Anyhow, June came around and the manager gave me a new schedule for the summer where he completey changed my days of work and hours without even asking if it was OK. He also moved me out of the childrens area and into the adult area. I was happy about that because I really needed the experience of working with adults, but worried as to what that meant for September.
I was worried because he hired 2 very young, pretty, bubbly blonde girls that he interviewed himself to work in my place in the children’s area. When I asked him pointblank if I would be moved back to the children’s area in Sept, he mumbled something about no guarantees. That was my 2nd clue I was gonna get shafted by him.
These 2 new girls were not at my level of performance. My once well-organized children’s area became somewhat chaotic. The only thing they had on me was youth and cuteness.
Just this week, the manager took me aside and without even a ‘sorry’ in his words, just said that I was no longer going to have a job as of Sept. He said my contract (that I never knew I had) was expired. He expressed zero sympathy…did not even offer me a seat. I mentioned the fact that it made no sense to hire 2 new people and then fire me as I had been there longer and proven myself a good employee. He got defensive and made up some stupid lie that i had been told numerous times to keep the movies replaying for the children. First of all, I was not told that even once. 2nd I did keep the movies playing, and 3rd that is an insulting reason to be terminated when my job is a dental professional, not a babysitter.
Then he had the nerve to ask me if I would be available as a fill-in! The word NO came out of my mouth very fast.
Obviously, he thinks I am good enough to have in once in a while, but not someone he wants there on a regular basis.
All throughout the day, I constantly hear him giggling with the 2 young cuties he hired himself. He is 28 and the previous owner’s son. That is how he got the job as Controller…born with a silver spoon.
I feel so angry. My co-workers have been very nice and expressed their surprise. They all know what a hard worker I am. Some of them are scared they are next. He actually got rid of someone else a few weeks before me. SHe was an office person, not a health profesional and his moms best friend apparently! She was also known to be a very hard worker. One day she did not show up. WIth me they are keeping me around just to finish up the AUgust schedule of patients that is already booked for me.
What I have learned from this experience is that hard work does not always pay. I really do think that this guy knows I pegged him for what he is…if not a sociopath…definitely a man on a power-trip, a man with zero compassion and a man who does not appreciate a dedicated employee. I think he does not like people who think too much and ask questions. He prefers ‘yes’ girls, which I am not. I had made previous suggestions and raised concerns about some infection control procedures that were not followed properly…but got nowhere with them. I think my professionalism actually contributed to my demise…not just the fact that am no longer young and hot. Actually not true…I am hot for 48 years old!
GRRRRRR..I am in the angry phase of healing right now. It is going to be very hard to get a new job. The stigma of having been let go is not going to help. I so did not deserve this.
kat,
Good for you, going back to school in your 40’s. I agree about how being an outstanding employee doesn’t guarantee anything in this world. There are employers out there that want quality people working for their business, not fluff. I hope that you land a job in a dental practice that is way better than where you’ve been. I know that it hurts to be treated the way that you have been treated, unfairly. I would go on and apply to other practices, praying that you land in a great work place. Your current employer is the one who lost out, making a bad business decision by letting you go. By the way, what does the dentist think of your work – does he want you to stay? Is this a decision that he approves of or knows about, being curious. Also, what does he think about the newest employees? In the end, you just might want to work elsewhere, being with a more stable, professional group of dental practitioners. Good luck.
Hi Kat, nice to meet you dear! I read your post and I am very upset about what happened to you. It’s not right, it’s sickening, and possibly against Federal Laws of Discrimination !!!!! If you can, I think you should speak to an attorney, AGE discrimination is against the law, are you in the USA? Maybe you could search around on the internet about this, I am not an attorney so I really can’t give professional advice, but it just sounds so wrong to me I want to kick that little jerk in the ass.
Hopeforjoy
I love the spathy tips…especially the ‘pretend to be an upstanding citizen’ ha ha yeah what are you standing ON, a lot of crushed people…beware of the upstanding citizen! and check it’s not your head they are standing on
Oxy
it’s disturbing that whole mix of productivity and Sociopathy…I worry about it… maddening that it takes a trail of destruction, before some of these spaths are even noticed….people will keep pointing to the “good” they have done, so it’s a great cover, a great smokescreen for them to thrive under…they are slippery eels they that go undetected till massive hurt piles up…that I was in major trouble before I even noticed…so good were the lies…real harm came knocking dressed as wholesome