Update on my wife's work situation

[pixiemomma]

to you and ML.

 

[barkley]

let your wife know i think of her often.

is there any chance that the mall where the store is located can take out an order barring him from the property? i ask this because since he went off on the customer, he is a potential danger to the public at large (and it no longer becomes a personal issue with him and your wife)-i would think that if the customer he went off on contacted the mall managment and reported the situation they would contact your wife's company and press taking action-including pointing out that most bsns. contracts include provisions for maintaining a safe environment for customers. i know if i were the customer, and i found out that this person ever injured someone (after i had reported it to the store managment) i would do everything in my power to assist the injured party in pursuing a major claim against the parent company for failing to prevent a known and documented dangerous situation.

best wishes to you and dw-please keep us updated (and i agree that dw should not be there when he is interviewed. just as an aside-since it seems all of the other employees are fearful of this individual are there any plans to interview them and document their observations regarding his bahaviours and how it is affecting them? i would think that there is the potential for some of them to suffer from the hostile work environment as well-it would be interesting to see if anyones work attendance has suffered due to the impact these types of situations can have on physical and mental health).

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Seems that going after a customer would be reason enough to fire him. Maybe that customer should threaten to sue--that would make the company suddenly care enough to get rid of his sorry rear end, to put it nicely. I wish I lived closer and I'd come down and provoke him. So sorry this is still going on and that it's taking such a toll on her health. I'm sure that stress must be the worst thing for her health.

 

[Rajah]

OMG, I can NOT believe this is *still* going on. And that they *still* haven't fired him???

I'm very tempted to call her boss and tell her that I am going to call DW's Rheumatologist and tell him what is going on and have him put her in the hospital for a day or two if he has to. I think it would be better for her if she wasn't even in the store when the company takes the road trip down to visit this idiot.

I think that would be a very good idea, personally.

 

[Keggy]

You and your wife need to contact an Employment Law Attorney. Is Virginia not an Employment at Will state? There is no reason that this company has not fired this man. Absolutely no excuse.

I wish your wife well, and lots of luck...

Kelly

 

[Alicnwondrln]

This is what really concerns me about the whole thing. When this guy is finally fired, will she be safe? If something does happen can the company be held liable for anything considering how long they've allowed this to go on? I'm not a big one for suing over nothing but it seems to me that the situation has been allowed to escalate so far out of control she ought to have recourse should anything continue after he's terminated. This is a sick, sick individual and I don't think a piece of paper is going to stop him if he really sees her as the cause of all his problems. I'm suprised her other employees have stayed on. I'd have walked out. I do understand her motivation for staying though. I have a job that I really should quit due to health reasons but I just can't. I wouldn't be at all suprised to learn that her health has declined so much due to the extreme stress at work.

this is so true

 

[DemonLlama]

No words, just hugs and prayers for you guys.

 

[Mom2Ashli]

 

[bigsis1970]

Sounds just horrid for your DW .. I am just sending a big ole' and bunches of to keep her safe from the guy buggin her!!!
seriously - she is in my thoughts.. Michelle

 

[JimB.]

If the "hostile work environment" has been verified, why is this guy still there? Probably the "fear of lawsuit" mentality of your wife's employer.

It MAY (& I say MAY) be appropriate for your wife to notify her employer (most likely via an Attorney) that if THEIR failure to promptly and appropriately deal with the situation at the workplace causes any more mental stress or (God forbid) results in physical harm to your wife, then they can expect to be civilly accountable by yourselves.

It sounds like they are avoiding making the hard, yet appropriate decision about the aformentioned nut case. If the heat is turned on them some by yourselves, it may help matters along.

Good luck.

 

[hiwaygal]

You and your wife need to contact an Employment Law Attorney. Is Virginia not an Employment at Will state? There is no reason that this company has not fired this man. Absolutely no excuse.

I wish your wife well, and lots of luck...

Kelly

I know I'm jumping in late...but I have followed a good bit of the story (but not all the details)...

yes, Virginia is a "employ at will" state. But, from what I've personally seen, that isn't good enough. There is still an amazing amount of documentation that is required to terminate someone...and I would think even more so when someone is so manipulative and conniving.

There was a guy I worked with once who literally hated me (even though I started after him, I had more skills and knowledge). He would talk about his gun collection, etc. After some crazy person came into another office in the area and shot and killed a bunch of people, several people sent me the news story saying how much this person sounded like the guy in our office. They urged me to "be careful".

My friends and I had a bit of a "sick" sense of humor and used to joke that if he ever decided to play "shoot 'em 'up" the first bullet would have my name engraved on it...

ANYWAY...several people in the office were TERRIFIED of this guy! One girl had even set up space under her desk to hide if he ever did finally snap...isn't that sad???

The office NEVER once said a word to him. He actually went to a lawyer and apparently considered filing a "hostile work environment" lawsuit agains our company, naming me as a prime reason...

A few months later, he decided to leave the company on his own...he was stealing company documents and electronic files RIGHT IN FRONT OF EVERYONE!! And no one said a word...

Sorry for the long story...but to the OP...I have to agree that your DW is putting up with a lot...and that is so sad!! I hope something works in her favor VERY SOON!!

But I was wondering if the other employees (who are so scared) would go to a lawyer and find out about filing a hostile work environment charge...it seems this whack-job is making a hostile work environment for them. If so many employees were to do this, and contact lawyers and such...and corporate was to hear about it...well, maybe they'd re-evaluate their policies??? Just a thought...

 

[ead79]

Oh goodness, I am so sorry to hear that he is still there tormenting your wife and others. I will pray that the supervisors will see through his act and will terminate him based on the incident with the customer (I’m hoping the cameras were at a good angle to really show what he acted like). I’m so sorry that they haven’t fired him already. No one should have to work in an environment like this. My prayers are with your wife’s health situation as well. Please give her some extra .

 

[KrnB]

All I can say is "wow". My heart goes out to you and your DW, as well as all her coworkers that have to put up with this nutjob. I hope that she and they are able to stay safe - this guy sounds really scary, definitely unstable.

It sounds like the company is being very careful to do everything by the book before they can this guy, at least now that they know that he went after a customer (not that that is any consolation to any of the employees or to you). I haven't kept up much on this story, but it does sound like they didn't take this very seriously until now. In any case, I bet they are doing the interview to show that they are going to listen to his side of the story so that they are legally protected when they fire him (at least I certainly hope so). It's not easy to fire people anymore without the risk of getting sued - and I'm sure this guy would be more than happy to sue.

I too would be worried about what this creep will do once he finally is canned. The more information your DW can give the cops about him, the better.

Your poor DW - she's been through so much! The last thing she needs to worry about is all of this.

 

[RUDisney]

I'm so sorry to hear that this is still going on.

Have any of the coworkers, who know that he is unhappy, asked him why he continues to work there if he hates it so much? It's not the only game in town for him to play. Especially with the economy looking up and the seasonal needs of so many employers, it shouldn't be hard for him to find another retail job.

Otherwise, maybe she needs to have some air marshall's come to the store, have him act crazy so they can shoot him. (No flames... this is a bad joke, I know.)

 

[chrissyk]

I keep thinking that this just can't be the first time that this guy has behaved this way. Is there any way of finding out his job history? What about his history of criminal behavior? Does he have a record? That would be public knowledge, right? I'm thinking that if your wife's employer can demonstrate a pattern of behavior, it may be that much easier to get rid of him w/o fear of a lawsuit. Also, establishing a pattern of behavior would help your wife to show the police what she is up against.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Thank you so much for all of your wishes and replies.

To answer one question, yes, VA is an "at will" state. Here is the problem though. The company is headquartered in another state and for some reason refuses to adapt the policies and laws surrounding each outlet for that one particular outlet. For instance, the labor laws with vary by state with how long you can work before you get a break, etc - they just adapt the policy of whatever state has the strictest policy that will cover all the states they have stores in and that becomes their policy. It's frustrating for my DW because she has to do more legwork in hiring (they won't let her hire anyone under 18 because in some states it means you have to have special work permits. Even though you do not need a permit to work in VA once you are 16, they would still expect DW to obtain this permit for someone 17 because another state requires it). So I'm assuming that their termination policy is stemming off of whatever state has the strictest regulations.

They even use this mentality in purchasing product for their stores. There is so much money to be made in college specific product, especially in VA right now, yet they refuse to purchase anything that cannot be sold at every single store. So even though my DW could sell a ton of UVA or VATech product, since the Hawaii store can't sell it, they won't bring it in. Completely the opposite of how the independant company that used to own her store operated. If you ask me, that whole nonsense is just laziness.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I keep thinking that this just can't be the first time that this guy has behaved this way. Is there any way of finding out his job history? What about his history of criminal behavior? Does he have a record? That would be public knowledge, right? I'm thinking that if your wife's employer can demonstrate a pattern of behavior, it may be that much easier to get rid of him w/o fear of a lawsuit. Also, establishing a pattern of behavior would help your wife to show the police what she is up against.

I asked DW about this. She said that she knew this person prior to him working for her because he worked in 2 other stores in her mall. Both of these companies have since gone into bankruptcy and are gone. Even then she said that while he was always obsessed with himself and had an ego the size of Montana, this behavior recently is under a year old and thinks it's either due to substance abuse, a psychological problem or some kind of midlife crisis.

Heres something to roll your eyes at. Currently he is taking night classes to get a license to sell Real Estate. Can you imagine him as your Realtor? Of course DW said that will probably go the way of his college degree in Psychology and his license in massage therapy that he never did anything with.

 

[Pop Daddy]

if that nut is reading this, I hate you

 

[Chicago526]

I'm so sorry you are both going through this. I'm assuming since she hasn't done so, quiting isn't an option? I can't imagine anything so important to STAY in a situation like this, though.

Best wishes to both of you!!!

 

[RUDisney]

If you ask me, that whole nonsense is just laziness.

BINGO! Plus it's easier to be several states away and be the devil's advocate than to be in the heart of the situation, suffering because of it.