RENO, Nev. (KOLO/Gray News) – Imagine catching a last-minute flight across the country from North Carolina to Nevada – bags packed and ready to go, with the intention of starting a new job and providing for your family.
“That was my plan,” said electrician Demetrios Hasty.
But when you land, there’s no job.
“I was thinking that was going to be a blessing for us. I told my kids in the first place when I got offered the job that we were moving here [to Nevada]. They were excited and everything. It’s just a big disappointment from me to them.”
Hasty, a father of four, flew out to Reno on Sunday to start his new job at Tesla. He has been an electrician for seven years.
Hasty said he applied directly with Tesla and then also through Superior Skilled Trades, a third-party hiring company.
“I was offered the job, but I had to take another course. I already had [taken] the course prior, but I could not show proof of my certification. I had to pay $60 to take the course before I came out here for a 10-hour class, which I did,” Hasty said.
Hasty was originally set to work on Monday, but he spent the day finishing the course and finding transportation to work. Tesla would not allow him to take an Uber, so he decided to get a bike and was prepared to start the job on Tuesday.
“I woke up two hours early and headed out there at 3 a.m., which was 15-degree weather. I had to ride that bike up a 3.5-mile hill,” Hasty said.
But when he arrived at Tesla, a supervisor told him that he was not scheduled to work.
Hasty headed back to the hotel on his bike. Later, Tesla told him he needed to find a different form of transportation – not an Uber and not a bike.
So, Hasty spent the afternoon looking for a ride in the hotel lobby.
“There was a gentleman downstairs who happened to work in the building that I was going to be working in and that I had to report to in the morning. He told me that it was not going to be a problem [to drive me]. Anything I needed,” Hasty said.
But that still wasn’t going to cut it, and he was laid off by Superior Skilled Trades on behalf of Tesla.
Fortunately, Hasty found Catholic Charities of Northern Nevada, which handles hundreds of cases like Hasty’s at the St. Marguerite’s support office.
CEO Marie Baxter said she was able to help Hasty stay comfortable in Reno while he figured out how to get back home to North Carolina.
“We sat down. We met with him. We were able to get him some gift cards, and made sure he had a place to stay, which he did,” Baxter said. “We got him on the way to the airport this morning because he was able to get that flight back home.”
Baxter said she hopes for a better outcome for Hasty in the future.
“Hopefully, he will have a better connection with an employment situation in the future, because he really wants to take care of his family. We support that and want to help him get reconnected,” Baxter said.
Hasty said he needed the Tesla job in order to provide Christmas gifts for his children.
“My kids are the ones that are really taking a loss in this because I can’t provide for them for Christmas like I thought I could after coming here to work,” he said.
Superior Skilled Trades paid for Hasty’s flight back to North Carolina.
KOLO spoke to Tesla’s superintendent and Superior Skilled Trades’ vice president of human resources on the phone. Both refused to provide a comment.
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