I have a new employee who curses loudly and excessively at my workplace (a big box home improvement retailer). Literally hardly a single sentence that comes out of his mouth contains a profanity (the “F” word and all it’s conjugates being his favorite.
I am hardly a prude, and I’d be lying if I never cursed out loud at work, but this is next level. I’ve mentioned it several times before, but yesterday I was a little more stern, letting him know it was unprofessional, inappropriate, and needs to stop. He then tells me that he had a TBI (traumatic brain injury) when he was younger and it damaged the part of his brain that regulates his ability to control it, and has documentation to prove it.
He’s mentioned the TBI in passing before so I don’t really doubt that part is true, I’m even willing to concede that it may be partially or wholly responsible for his colorful language. My real question is “So what?”
I don’t want to be insensitive to someone with a disability, and there are certainly legal protections involved (reasonable accommodations and all that) but would that really apply here? Do employers have a right to expect a certain level of decorum and professionalism from employees? If they are unable for whatever reason not able to comply, does that not mean they are unable to fulfill the essential duties of the job? ADA protections are comprehensive but not absolute. Will his document on of the nature of his TBI (if it even actually exists) be problematic?
I am the direct supervisor of this employee, responsible for training and coaching but not authorized to actually implement any binding disciplinary action. I will be discussing with my manager ( who is authorized), but I was just curious if anyone had some input into this situation (or similar experience).
Isn’t there an HR department to deal with this? You’re likely not up on all the regulations you have to follow to not have the company liable for discrimination.
He is very customer facing (sales). I think he tries to be careful around customers, but not sure how well he succeeds. Customers may or may not be particularly offended, and may or may not choose to say something.
Yes, of course we have an HR department. I was just wondering how things might play out. I chose this forum over FQ specifically to get peoples laymen’s opinions on the matter, especially if they’ve dealt with similar issues.
I was known to swear at my computer from time to time and one day a younger 1st year out of college lady complained about it. Our supervisor asked her if my cursing was directed towards her and she said no, that I was nice and courteous to her. To which he responded, if we wrote up everyone around here that cursed at their computer there would be a line out of HR’s door and down the hall everyday
Sure enough, not much longer she was cursing at her computer like everyone else.
I wonder if his condition is covered by ADA. From what I’ve heard it matters if his condition is directly affecting his ability to do his job. If it is, maybe he can be moved to someplace where it doesn’t. But HR needs to decide that. This may be a case where the needs of the company and his needs might be in alignment.
Bullshit. A TBI can certainly cause a broad number of behavioral regulation and inhibition issues (in addition to memory and genera cognition problems) but the notion that it can be localized to a specific part of the brain for regulating cursing is nonsense.
In terms of federal employment law, the Americans With Disabilities Act requires that employers make “reasonable accommodations” for disability conditions, which can include adequately documented and certified instances of traumatic brain injury, and some state laws are even more expansive. This doesn’t mean that your employee in a customer facing position is allowed to curse freely and without restraint. You mention working for a big box retailer so they definitely have an HR department and extensive policies regarding various disability conditions. Since you are the direct supervisor but do not have any binding disciplinary authority, you should refer this to your supervisor with a written record of your attempts to counsel the employee in question as well as any customer complains or reactions, and let him or her take it up the chain to management and HR.
Well, you’re no fun. Those are the best part of “management retreats”.
There’s a word for uncontrolled swearing, “coprolalia” (which I think means literally “talking shit”). It is apparently associated with Tourette syndrome and other neurological conditions. That might conceivably be covered by ADA, but it defies common sense that a person with that kind of condition could usefully work in customer relations or sales. Whether customers complain is less of an issue than whether they find it unpleasant and decide to shop elsewhere for that reason.
I handle ADA accommodations at work. Employers are required to make reasonable accommodations allowing their employee to perform the essential functions of their job. What constitutes a reasonable accommodation varies according to the essential functions of the job, the work environment, the size of the company, etc., etc. In my opinion, maintaining a professional demeanor in a customer facing position is an essential function of the job.
As soon as an employee makes you aware they have a disability that impacts their ability to perform the essential functions of their job, it’s your responsibility to start the ADA accommodation process. If the disability isn’t readily apparent, the employer is within their rights to request documentation outlining the functional limitations the employee’s disability imposes. Usually the medical professional will include some ideas for accommodations but these aren’t necessarily reasonable.
Once you have that documentation, make a good faith effort to see if you can accommodate the employee somehow. Do they need more frequent breaks to mentally reset? Can they work in places out of earshot of customers? I’m spit balling here because I’m not sure what kind of accommodation you could make for this person.
If your employee refuses to participate in the accommodation process, you should start the progressive disciplinary process by issuing a warning and working your way up from there. But the first thing you should do when you get to your next shift is call HR and tell them you have an ADA situation.
All good advice; I’ll only add that you should document your interactions with the employee in question, with your direct manager who should be handling the disciplinary actions as necessary, and any interactions that you have with HR. The documentation should be in writing and dated, and if there is any question about interpretation or if you get any sense that your manager or HR is inclined to protect the employee or shield the company from liability (which is the primary function of the HR department), you should follow up with interactions with an email clearly and succinctly restating your position and interpretation of direction from management/HR.
I’ve got some clients with disabilities who do this. Every one of them has lost a customer-facing job because of their habitual cursing. I feel sad to think about it but there’s not usually a chance of stopping cursing and saving their jobs.
It doesn’t sound like Tourette’s to me, since it sounds like he is speaking in sentences that contain curse words, rather than involuntary curse words that occur somewhat randomly and would be likely to interrupt normal speech. It would also likely be accompanied by muscle twitches and tics. On the other hand TBI can cause Tourette’s and can cause post-TBI inhibition, which is probably what he is claiming.
Was he able to get through the interview without cursing? If so, he could (probably) control himself while he’s at work.
I have personally known several people who had diagnosed Tourette’s syndrome, and several others who to my knowledge were not diagnosed, and none of them had coprolalia, which is involuntary cursing. One woman cleared her throat every few minutes in a manner that sounded like she was trying to hack up a lung, another had a peculiar shoulder-shrugging motion he did every few minutes, yet another had a persistent eye twitch - things like that.
I do remember a college boyfriend who told me about being at a bar with some friends, and there was a group of men at the next table, one of whom would yell “HEY!” every few minutes. They’d had a few beers and started doing that themselves, and then one of his companions explained the real situation. They apologized and asked if they could buy him a beer, and the two tables merged. He said that man was a really cool guy, who happened to yell “HEY!” every few minutes.