Horrible Camp Birchwood for Boys Experience! CCUSA Emails

After being unfairly let go from Camp Birchwood for Boys on 19 July 2013, I got in contact with CCUSA originally by phone when I was still in Minneapolis and that's when CCUSA told me to wait until I was in the UK and send my complaint in an email.

The email below, which was sent on the 23 July 2013 shows the worst thing that I was originally accused of before being fired and after this all CCUSA did was email Camp Birchwood for Boys asking for their reasoning and the director Daniel Bredemus sent them the report and that is where it ended with CCUSA.

I was let go by Camp Birchwood unfairly as what I have been accused of just didn't happen.

I was accused of screaming and shouting at the children, which I know that I will never do this and being accused of this makes me feel really down about myself and I know I wouldn't do this as I have based my self on not being like that as I know exactly how it feels and would never do that to another person nevermind another child. Also Dan has fired me for this reason yet he has previously said that I am one of the campers favourite counselors. He also said he would hire me again next year and that he would give me a good reference if I was to go to another camp.

None of the reasoning behind this makes sense and to me it show that either he has lied as well or he has been incompetent in all of this. Therefore I am looking to clear my name of any wrongdoing and although the is no black mark against my record, I was still accused of something horrible and it needs to be cleared up. Also I wasn't even given the correct wages for the 7 week period that I worked there for, and I will be looking to claim my full contracted wages as I was let go unfairly.

This situation that has been created has messed with my life both in the long term and the short term and I will be doing all I can to fix this.

Below is the report that Camp Birchwood for Boys had sent to CCUSA on 24 July 2013. The report is horrible and I hate reading it as it is just awful that someone would wrongly accuse someone of something as horrible as this.

Now what I have put in bold is what the director failed to mention to me before I left camp and yet it is included in the report to CCUSA and it is easily the worst thing that is in the report and I don't believe for a second that the director just forgot to mention this to me. What has been put in bold was in fact another counselor that had done this and I know this because I witnessed it, after it happened I made sure that it never happened again, although the director has over done it (most likely to make me look as bad as possible). This is the reason the director didn't mention this to me was because he knew I hadn't done it and also knew it was another counselor, so he has most likely used me as a scapegoat for not just a returning counselor but a previous camper, and how would it look on the director that he would hire and re-hire a person like this.

We received a formal write up of complaints lodged against you during your time at camp.  Many of the complaints revolve around your 3 day camping trip to Lake Saganaga.  2 campers initially complained and their story was further corroborated by others who say the witnessed your behavior.  Their complaints include:

- Being cruel to one camper in particular.  Stuart would yell obscenities at him and tell him to stop paddling and then he would yell at him to start paddling again over and over again.  The camper was confused and scared of Stuart Moran.  This camper was also making shadow puppets in the cabin while Stuart was reading a book to the campers, and as a punishment for not paying attention, Stuart forced him to do push ups.  During the push up session, Stuart put his foot on the camper's back, and caused him to fall over and made him start over again with the push-ups.  Other campers in the cabin confirmed the story.:
- Campers also stated that Stuart screamed obscenities at a homesick camper who cried frequently during the trip.

- Threatening to drag a camper out of his tent if he did not get out, while using obscenities.

Also in the report there is no mention of another camp making complaints about screaming and shouting at campers. Yet the director told me that another camp had made these complaints and that was his main back up for firing me, yet this is not mentioned in the report. He obviously couldn't risk CCUSA or anyone else contacting the camp in question as he would have been found out for his lies.

The other things in the report I have already mentioned about how I did not do it and there has been proof of this including another counselor overhearing that the homesick camper was out to get me and my fellow trip counselor for not letting him go back to camp during a trip, which we were unable to do due to it being a one-way trip. So not only did I get accused of something another counselor did but there is also proof that shows that I didn't do what else I was accused of and that another counselor (same as the one above) was also accused of this and yet I was the only one fired as the other counselor kept his job.

So looking at this it is clear to me that the director has lied and in my opinion has purposely fired me for something I didn't do, It is also clear to me that CCUSA also knows this as you just have to look at the facts:

- Me being accused of something another counselor did and the director not mentioning this to me on the day I was fired.

- Another counselor being proof that the homesick camper had lied and that another counselor was also accused, yet only I was fired.

- The fact that the director said that another camp had made these complaints and yet this was another lie by the director.

-The director offered to hire me again next year as well as offering to give me a good reference. Most likely in hope that I wouldn't put a complaint against him.

-Also as I've mentioned before the director seemed to have a personal problem with me, as for why this occurred. I don't know what could have made this happen.

-Also there was only ever me and one other counselor present during what I was accused off in the report and yet the director says more than one person backs this up. Yet ANOTHER lie from the director.

What I can tell from this is if the director truly believed that I had done something wrong then there would be no need for him to lie and yet he lied countless amount of times, which shows to me he has done this on purpose and makes the whole matter even more disgusting and pathetic and the fact is, is that this is the only thing that makes this situation make sense.

I will post other emails with CCUSA which shows them trying and failing to cover their tracks, which is why I should be able to get a full refund from them when I take this matter to the small claims court. Also I am confident that I will at least get some justice for what happened at Camp Birchwood for Boys, even though it has taken its time.

Below is the last part of the email that CCUSA sent to me.

I hope that life settles down for you soon and you can find a way to appreciate the good parts of your summer.  Even those these campers complained, I'm sure you must have made a positive impact on many other campers.  Try to focus on remembering those campers.  Hopefully this report can lead to some closure for you.

In bold is the last thing they said in this email to me and I thought this was a horrible way to end an email. How they could say that the false report from Camp Birchwood for Boys could give me closure, but seeing the report is what fully convinced me that the director had knowingly fired me for something I did not do and I will not stop until I get some just some justice for what has happened, which should hopefully be soon enough.