Hostile Work Enviroments - Question for HR or Mngmt People? (or anyone!)

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I have a question for anyone versed in the conditions of a hostile work enviroment and what it entails.

I'm posting this question regarding something that my wife is going through. Some of you might have read about the ongoing saga on this thread . Here is a basic rundown of what is happening.

My wife is a retail manager with the same company for over 20 yrs. She is good at what she does, her store landed in the top 5% of the company in customer service, she had the highest score in the district for loss prevention, her sales are not at plan but literally no stores are making plan. She was told on her bi-annual review though that where he sales are at as of that time were right on track where the company expected them to be. She has practically no turnover and only lost one person this year and it was due to them not working out. She rarely has anyone leave disgruntled. Mainly when people leave it's because of a move or that they have graduated, gotten married, etc.

She has had an employee as her assistant - I'll call him Al - for a few years, he held other positions prior to that. The past year has been a difficult one with him and my wife. My wife was out of work for 2 months last year due to health reasons (she has a rare autoimmune disease) and while she was gone and Al was in charge, the store went to hell in a handbasket. When he realized he could not do her job, he became very angry and took that anger out on her by accusing her of doing things that were untrue. Her boss at the time did nothing about it. She "thought" she worked through the issues until just recently.

Al has taken to drinking a lot. He admits to the employees in the store that he needs to drink an entire bottle of wine to fall asleep at night. My wife has found his job performance to be readily slipping and has had to correct him more and more on simple tasks. This has caused him to become outraged again. She also found out that, even though she told him to cut it out, he had been talking about other employees to another behind their backs and saying things that could constitute harassment (calling them stupid, ********, old, senile, etc) She had the employees that approached her write statements and called her boss about it who took it to HR. She was instructed to write him up and her boss to be present and if he ever says a word like that again, he is gone.

In the process of waiting for the time that the boss could be there with her (she lives in another town) several employees approached my wife and told her to be careful and watch her back. When she inquired further, they admitted that he is telling everyone that he will do whatever it takes to have her fired. She found out that he has been reporting her to loss prevention and to her boss for random things and all of them have been absolutely unfounded. To the point where they never even told her that he had accused her of these things. They also told her that he refers to her in derogatory terms when mentioning her to employees (word that rhymes with witch). He gloats behind her back that he will make sure that she loses her job if it's the last thing he does.

When my wife told her boss that she was upset that he was allowed to constantly make unfounded accusations against her and that she considered that harassment, she was told that the company won't tell him to knock it off and that he can say whatever he wants to about her. Basically they feel it is okay that he can play his little witch hunt game and allow her to feel scared that one of these times someone might actually believe his lies and fire her.

After the meeting with the write up happened, it only inflamed him. He is going from person to person telling them that my wife got him in trouble by calling anonymously to the corporate office and telling lies about him and that he will get even. He is constantly trying to one up her - butting between her and customers, telling employees not to talk to her about things, etc.

To me, this company is allowing this to become a hostile workplace for her. As I mentioned, she has a rare autoimmune disorder that is greatly affected by excessive stress. Just this monday she was in so much pain she could barely walk and was having fever spikes from 100 degrees to 104 degrees in a matter of 5 minutes, but she continued to do her job out of fear of what he would say. I'm afraid that this nut, if he doesn't manage to get her fired, will kill her from the stress. She already has a weakened heart due to the autoimmune disease and I really don't think that the fever spikes coming that drastically is doing her any good.

I did a tiny amount of research regarding hostile workplaces and saw this website - http://www.itstime.com/apr97.htm#update

Are any of you out there versed in this type of problem? Any advice on what we should do? I almost feel like I should tell her to talk to a lawyer.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Bump - anyone?

 

[luvwinnie]

I am so glad you posted. I PMed Lauri today to check on her and hadn't heard back. I am so sorry to hear all this. I am not an expert, but I think I would talk to a lawyer specializing in this kind of problem. It is shocking that her company allows this. I do not understand why. She is obviously a dedicated and talented employee. Allowing her to be subjected to this is ludicrous.

Please give her my best.

Michele

 

[kidzmom3]

I don't have any experience in this matter, but I am sure sorry for her! I found this online maybe it will help point you in a direction.

ninger v. New Venture Gear Inc., 7th Cir., No. 03-1632, March 19, 2004.

Cooper-Schut v. Visteon Automotive Systems, 7th Cir., No. 03-2205, March 17, 2004.

In two recent cases, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals concluded that the employers involved acted promptly and reasonably on the employees' "hostile work environment" complaints and that such action absolved them from liability.

An employer violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 if it engages in unlawful discrimination by maintaining a hostile work environment. To prove a hostile environment claim involving coworkers, an employee must show that she was subject to unwelcome harassment based on a protected characteristic and that the harassment was severe or pervasive enough to create a hostile or abusive working environment. In addition, the employee must show that the employer knew or should have known about the environment and failed to act promptly to prevent or end the harassment.

The first case involved Joella Wyninger, a probationary supervisory employee at New Venture Gear (NVG), a manufacturer of manual transmissions and automobile driveline components. During her initial 90 days of employment, Wyninger failed to meet certain performance expectations. During the same period, she complained to the company about other supervisors' vulgar language, an anonymous phone call that she viewed as "obscene" and an incident in which co-workers discussed oral sex with her. NVG gave Wyninger time off with pay while it investigated the incidents. The company determined that the vulgar supervisors did not harass Wyninger because of her gender, but were "crude individuals" who did not interact any differently with Wyninger than they did with male co-workers and subordinates. In connection with the anonymous obscene phone call, the company placed a monitoring device on Wyninger's phone.

Unable to substantiate Wyninger's account of the alleged discussion about oral sex, the company took no further action on that claim.

At the end of the probationary period, NVG, citing Wyninger's performance problems, did not continue her employment. Wyninger sued NVG, claiming multiple violations of Title VII, including a hostile work environment claim. The district court's dismissal of the case was up-held on appeal, based primarily on the company's prompt response to Wyninger's claims.

Tanya Cooper-Schut, a black woman who had been employed as a supervisor with Visteon Automotive Systems, brought the second case. In her supervisory role, Cooper-Schut had trouble with some of her subordinates, who treated her with "hostility" and "intimidated" her. At one point, Cooper-Schut found a derogatory caricature, which included a racial slur, taped to a refrigerator in her work area. Cooper-Schut reported this incident, along with the other hostilities, to the company's human resource manager, who ordered an investigation.

Before the investigation was complete, Cooper-Schut resigned from her position and filed claims under Title VII. The 7th Circuit upheld the trial court's dismissal of the claims, finding that although the incidents complained of may have been "severe or pervasive," there was no basis for employer liability. Visteon had responded promptly and reasonably to issues that may have violated Title VII, and many of the issues Cooper-Schut had raised were simply "friction" with her coworkers as opposed to race or sex discrimination.

Online Resources

New cases are posted online each week. Visit the online version of Court Report at www.shrm.org/hrnews.

RELATED ARTICLE: Professional Pointer

These decisions provide a road map for employers to avoid liability in co-worker hostile work environment claims: Once on notice of alleged harassment, respond with a full and prompt investigation, making reasonable efforts to stop the harassment and to prevent further occurrences. Regardless of whether the hostile environment is based on a protected category, full and objective documentation is vital. Supervisor training in investigatory techniques is critical.

BY MARIA GRECO DANAHER, AN ATTORNEY WITH THE LAW FIRM OF DICKIE, MCCAMEY & CHILCOTE IN PITTSBURGH.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Society for Human Resource Management
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I would think that something along the lines of him being slanderous is certainly persuable.

 

[Lyn5]

I don't know the entire story, only what was posted in this and the other thread...but unfortunately I would say that she should leave the job. She can be right, she can be the best person for her position and she probable did wonderful work in her job and has many years invested, but it won't matter if "nut case" looses it. Her leaving the job is better than her been injured, either by the emotional stress and health side-affects or directly from the nut case. For me, it wouldn't be worth it to be scared in my home or walking to a car or anything else. I fear that if he is fired that would worsen the problem and not lesson it. My sister was in an uncomforable situation years ago as well as a few other woman in her workplace. A retraining order to them meant that legally the nut case couldn't enter where they were, it didn't mean he didn't enter! Fortunately, her nut case moved on. Just my thoughts, good luck and prayers your way.

 

[eeyore kelly]

I am sorry to be the bearer of Bad news. I have a retail management background. Retail encourages employees tattling on employees. Most companies have some kind of reward system (usually $$) that goes hand in hand with no concequences for unfounded accusations. It is so part time employees will turn in managers for underhanded behavior, but assistant managers can take advantage of the policy too.

I can't tell you how to combat it. I left retail because of those policies. I think they are unfair and promote backbiting.

I know your DW documents everything and if I was you, I would encourage her continue to do so. I wish I had better advice for you.

 

[JKLLady]

The first thing you need to do is check with HR to see if they have a policy on hostile workplace. I'm an HR mgr. in NJ & we have zero tolerance, and a policy in place that all employees must sign for; a copy of the signature sheet is kept in their HR file. If her employer does have a policy, she needs to follow it to the letter.

Next, what you need to realize is that the law protects the "underlings" more than supervisors/managers. Your wife needs to make sure she has documentation of all of "Al's" transgressions, including witness statements of all incidents. She must be careful here, as some employees may later claim that she "coerced" them into writing statements; only deal with those you know you can trust. She should keep a spiral-bound (must be spiral-bound, pages can't be added) notebook of daily goings on; each entry should start just below the one before it, then no one can claim she added stuff in later on.

Finally, if her company does not have a policy in place, contacting a lawyer is probably a good idea. However, you must make sure that it is a lawyer who specializes in employment law. It is a difficult field and you don't want someone inexperienced in this area handling her case. The lawyer should be well versed on Hostile Workplace law, the ADA, and experienced in EEOC complaints.

I'd also suggest that you review VA's state website for the state Dept. of Labor & see what they have to say about Hostile Workplace legislation & enforcement in Virginia.

Good luck!!! I know it's hard, I'll keep you both in my thoughts.

 

[halestrm]

If he has had a change of direction written up and it states he will be fired if he continues this behavior, he should be fired.

I need to confirm two things.

1. This behavior has been documented.
2. He has recieved written notice that his behavior is unacceptable.

I am unsure the company she works for, but as a manager, I am forced to "put up" with certain behavior to make sure it is documented prior to a termination. That is why I am asking.

Phone conversations, unless recorded as part of the company policy, are no good. She should be emailing her concerns to her supervisor. She needs to document her concerns about the employee but now also her concerns about the company.

I would not go to an attorney yet. I hate to say this, but that would make her more difficult to be hired by another company. No one wants to hire a troublemaker. Sorry, but that is a concern.

 

[tnhillbilly]

Bump!