Message-ID: <2908531.1075862889009.JavaMail.evans@thyme>
Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2001 08:15:03 -0800 (PST)
From: rebekah.rushing@enron.com
To: kenneth.lay@enron.com
Subject: 
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X-From: Rushing, Rebekah </O=ENRON/OU=NA/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=RRUSHING>
X-To: Lay, Kenneth </O=ENRON/OU=NA/CN=RECIPIENTS/CN=Klay>
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Mr. Lay,

I wanted to send you a note to say I appreciate the way that you have been =
handling things.  I have alot of respect for you.  My name is Rebekah Rushi=
ng.  I consider myself an Enron grandbaby.  My mother, Helena Payne worked =
for HNG and then Enron for a total of 24 years.  She was an accounting cler=
k and retired in April of this year when the accounting group was outsource=
d.  Going through that process with my mother, was an eye opener for me, ho=
wever after numerous meetings with her supervisor and the human resources d=
epartment, I feel comfortable that Enron did a good job of taking care of h=
er in that situation.  Her supervisor even made it possible for her to rece=
ive her 25 year grandfather clock.  The one thing that does trouble me is t=
he fact that allot of the people that were around in Enron's beginning that=
 we'll call the worker bee's (the people that you could count to get the jo=
b done behind the scenes) have lost alot due to the poor decisions that upp=
er management have made.  My mother along with many others  in her situatio=
n were the people that this company could and still can count on, they are =
loyal to Enron and alot of them had the majority of their 401K invested in =
Enron stock.  This was the majority of their live savings, they do not have=
 anything to fall back on. In my mother's case (as is the case with many ot=
her retired or soon to be retired Enron employees) she lost $300,000 in her=
 401K and only had a little over $400,000 in it to begin with.  I work with=
 a lady that has been with Enron for 23 years and was looking forward to re=
tiring within the next 5-6 years, but now she's not sure if she'll be able =
to, because she too lost alot in her 401K.  I realize that it's been said m=
any times, a 401K is not a sure thing but the people that I'm referring to =
had been around for a long time, knew the track record of Enron, and showed=
 their loyalty to the company.   The second thing that concerns me is that =
this same group of employees have the possibility of being faced with looki=
ng for a job.  Most of them are 50 years or older and have been with this c=
ompany for many years.  They've survived all the different reorganizations =
because they've had great work ethic.  They weren't always the most 'innova=
tive', but they've always been the most loyal and dependable.  Instead of t=
heir dream of retiring, they're now faced with the possibility of having to=
 find another job.  Interviewing will not be as easy for them, because in s=
ome cases, they haven't had to interview for another company in quite some =
time.  I know the politically correct statement is that they will not be di=
scriminated against because of their age, however statistics show that in s=
ome cases when a hiring supervisor has a younger candidate and a more matur=
e candidate (45+), they usually will select the younger candidate.  They wo=
uldn't admit to discrimination of age, but it does happen.

These are the people that my heart goes out to.  I wish that there was some=
 way that these loyal and dedicated employees could be taken care of.  I ad=
mire you for your decision to waive your rights to the provision that you w=
ould have received.  I realize that everyone has lost something due to the =
events that have occurred, I just wish there was a way that the generation =
ahead of me that has been with Enron  could recoop a portion of what they'v=
e lost.  It the least that they deserve.    =20

Thank you for your time.


Rebekah Rushing (rebekah.rushing@enron.com)
Enron Principal Investments
713-853-3273 - phone
713-646-8010 - fax