For the exclusive use of H. Hoang, 2023.

UV7767
Rev. Aug. 5, 2020

Marlow Construction (B): Robby Gomez

Robby Gomez had grown up in Lawrence, Massachusetts, a working-class town of about 75,000 people
located 30 miles north of Boston. His parents had emigrated from the Dominican Republic when he was four
years old. His father had been working on the floor of the local tennis shoe manufacturing plant ever since. His
parents rented a small home in the older part of town. Gomez had left school in the 11th grade to begin making
money for the family, and since then he had worked in food service, landscaping, construction, and various
other industries. He had gotten married at 21, and he had two children who were still very young. His wife had
worked odd jobs, getting paid “under the table,” before she had injured her back while babysitting for a family
across town, and now she struggled to work and often needed help with her own children.

Gomez had gotten his job at Marlow Construction through a friend of his who had worked there for
several months. Gomez had experience in construction, so he decided to give it a shot. The job was fine. The
pay was about the same as at other places. So were the benefits, although he hadn’t qualified for those yet. The
boss, Dan Marlow, seemed like a decent guy, and that was why Gomez’s recent interaction had been so
unpleasant.

That morning, Marlow had fired Gomez. Afterward, Gomez got back into his car, hoping it would start.
The starter had been going for a while now, and that morning he’d had to hit it with a hammer to get the engine
to turn over. He knew he needed to get the starter replaced. Plus, the check-engine light had been on forever,
and the car was way overdue for a state inspection that it was unlikely to pass. But after paying his rent and
utilities, buying food, helping his parents with their rent, and sending some money back to extended family
members in the Dominican Republic, he just couldn’t afford car stuff right now. He tried to take the bus to
work a few times, but it was always running late or too full when it got to his stop.

While disappointed, Gomez wasn’t surprised when he got fired. He knew he was late for work sometimes,
but he didn’t know what else to do. Typically, if he had trouble being on time, it was for a good reason. With
his wife being hurt, he needed to drop the kids off at school or take them to his parents’ house so his mom
could watch them. At times, he missed work because he needed to stay home when the kids were sick and
couldn’t go to school, or when no neighbors were able to help babysit. Once he was late because he needed to
give his friend a ride to work and then got stuck in traffic on the way to his own worksite. Gomez had had to
help, though, because his friend’s wife sometimes watched his kids. He had thought about telling Marlow all
this, but he had learned from his prior jobs not to complain or make excuses, because the guy who complains
is the guy who gets fired—bosses don’t want to hear about problems.

Gomez realized that losing his job meant his family would have to tighten their belts for a little while. And,
if he didn’t find another gig soon, he and his family would have to move in temporarily with friends or his
parents. He wasn’t sad to leave Marlow Construction, however—it was just another job, and it wasn’t like
Marlow himself was making any real effort to keep people. Gomez thought, “Maybe they have work at the
tennis shoe factory, or I could do some day labor here or there until the next opportunity.” As he pulled away,
he saw the gift card Marlow had given him weeks ago, still sitting in the cupholder of his car. “What the hell
good is that to me?” he thought.

This case was prepared by Sean Martin, Associate Professor of Business Administration. It was written as a basis for class discussion rather than to
illustrate effective or ineffective handling of an administrative situation. Copyright  2019 by the University of Virginia Darden School Foundation,
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This document is authorized for use only by Hiep Hoang in Organizational Behaviour taught by Nham Ngo, HE OTHER from Oct 2023 to Apr 2024.