Thanks for the link, Violet, I’ll check it out.
I’ll give you all the specifics, and try to be brief and to the point, but it’s still kind of a long story.
A few weeks ago, Secretary A fell at work and hurt her back. She went to Employee Health for treatment, who sent her to the Emergency Department (we work in a hospital), where she was given narcotics injection for pain and told to go home and stay home for a few days. Groggy and doped up, she couldn’t drive home, and so she went to lay down in the employee break room until she was okay to drive, forgetting to clock out. She punched out before she left to go home, intending to change her time when she came back to work the next week. The Boss instructed Secretary B to find out when Sec A was admitted to the ED (violating the privacy of her medical records) and change her time to the time of admission to the ED (against company policy since the employee’s treatment for an on the job injury is supposed to be paid time). Sec B objected, but the Boss told her to just do what she was told, and to keep it secret from Sec A (ludicrous, since Sec A has access to the time sheets, and ??illegal, can you change someone’s time and keep it a secret from them?). Sec A found out, of course. The Boss was angry that Sec B had “violated confidentiality” and had an angry confrontation with Sec B. Sec B got angry at the Boss’s tone of voice, asking that she not be “treated like a 2 year old” but the Boss persisted, until Sec B lost her temper and said, “I don’t need this, kiss my butt, I quit.” They went into separate rooms, cooled off, came back, apologised to each other, hugged, and made up (Sec B thought). The next day, Sec B came to work and was told that her verbal “resignation” was accepted, and to clean out her desk. She tried to fight it, to talk to HR (who said her profanity violated HR professional behavior policies) and the Boss’s Boss, but none of them would permit her to even try to explain herself. By saying she resigned, they don’t even have to pay her unemployment.
Keep in mind that the Boss curses like a sailor as part of her daily behavior, in front of and in conversation with the employees, although not to administration. Sec A tells me that the Boss has even told her, “F*** you, B****.” She’s never reported it because this level of viciousness is never in front of witnesses. However, almost every employee has heard her using the eff-word on a regular basis. I asked her how she could possibly discipline an employee for profanity when she curses all the time, and she said, “That’s different.” Whatever.
I’m quite sure that HR and Boss’s Boss don’t know the full story, that Sec B was termed for use of “profanity” that the Boss models as a standard of behavior within the department, or that their argument came from the situation of her having been instructed to do something illegal and unethical to begin with.
I’ve asked a few questions anonymously of the ethics department, who tell me that there’s certainly grounds for investigation, and that they would like to investigate if I will give them specifics.
If there’s a formal investigation, most (but not all) her employees will talk. I can count on at least 3 of them to back me up, and all but maybe 3 others to at least be neutral and answer direct questions honestly. I think. Most of them are pretty scared of her. Half of them are already looking for jobs elsewhere.
In a sense, this is none of my business, since I’m not directly involved. But I feel it wouldn’t morally be the right thing to do to not try to get a little justice for the employees involved. If I do this, I will certainly be targeted for retaliation, but I’m an RN and can get a job just about anywhere, I don’t have to work for someone I don’t respect or trust or who treats me badly. I’m not too worried about having to live under a bridge if I’m fired, and don’t care if it makes me non-promotable. I’ve already been in hospital administration, and have never been happier since I resigned. The politics and games-playing is not the reason I went into healthcare.
The company has very specific policies stating that if someone reports a violation of company ethics in good faith, retaliation is prohibited. I’m not naive enough to think that the company can prevent the Boss or Boss’s Boss from making my life a living hell if they want to, though. If I report this, I plan to give them my name, because I feel I will at least be protected by company policy, and will have a paper trail for an employment law attorney, if that becomes necessary. If I don’t give my name, the B and BB will figure out who called, anyway, and then I can’t claim protection under the Ethics policies. As far as I’m concerned, it’s an all-or-nothing deal. Either I call and give them all the information they need to do it right, or I don’t call at all.
So, should I mind my own business, or report it? What is the likelihood that any justice will come of it, or would I just be making trouble for myself only to accomplish nothing positive?
Sorry for the length, but you asked for the details… 