Does anyone out there know what the legal rights are of an employee that’s being harrassed by a supervisor?
I’m not talking about sexual harrassment… I’m talking mental and verbal abuse to the point of driving someone to the brink.
Here is the situation:
I know someone (a female) who is being managed by another female. They have a serious personality clash. The company is large enough for the employee to be relocated, but the supervisor won’t allow it, claiming a fear of losing headcount. The employee’s past performance has been documented and has been stellar. The past six months, however (with this new supervisor), her performance was hammered and the supervisor has made some not-too-subtle comments about ‘documenting for dismissal’.
It appears from an outsider (me) that the supervisor is just doing her best to make the employee leave. This will save her headcount while supporting her view that this person was a bad egg.
What is the legal remedy? Can my friend sue the company? There is documentation showing her past performance. There is also documentation regarding her supervisor and her disfunctional personality. The supervisor, sadly, is supported by her management, so the only option I can see right now is a legal one. If she quits due to pressure, can she sue? Can she sue due to a hostile work environment? Can this be taken to court and witnesses called? Could she win any money to compensate for the pain she’s been going through?
I don’t have an answer but a few thoughts and a question. First, she shouldn’t quit. You have less recourse if you choose to leave than if you are “dismissed”, wrongfully. I usually hear of “hostile work environment” in the context of sexual harassment, where there may be no direct harassment but the person must be subject to en environment that is uncomfortable. Even so, I hear people around me talk about “hostile work environment” meaning something broader (having to deal with horrible co-workers and bosses, etc.)
My question is, has her peformance suffered because of her conflict with her boss? Is there anything to the performance reviews being written now? If not, I would assume when she is forced out she can sue for wrongful termination. Just a WAG, though, I am not an expert.
I’m an attorney in Employment Law and the first thing I can tell you is that seeking any sort of legal advice on here is a little shakey. No attorney should give you legal advice if you aren’t a client and if you’re a client, then confidentiality rules apply and this is not a confidential forum.
Basically, your friend needs to contact an attorney - many have free consultations.
Actually, if the person was asking me directly about it, this is what I would offer:
Ask to meet with the supervisor directly, take notes. Subject of the meeting “my job performance”. Directly state, “I wish to insure that my job performance is up to par. In what ways would you suggest that I could improve?” List the ways offered or the statements made. make the suggested changes, monitor results by asking “is this the change you requested I make?” kind of things.
this will do a couple of things: 1. bring any specific issues of poor performance into the open so they can have an opportunity to deal with it. 2. Document the issue.
Employers are allowed to fire for cause. Depending on other issues (right to work laws, union contracts etc) they may have to offer an opportunity to correct behavior. In some places, employers are also allowed to fire “for no stated reason”, however, if the person has been employed for 6 months or longer, they may be eligible for unemployment compensation, if there is no legitimate reason for the dismissal. which is where my advice comes in.
AFAIK, anyone can file a lawsuit about anything or attempt to, but if you can collect ??
I have known of one case where a man was able to collect unemployment compensation after being fired, by claiming that the supervisor created a hostile work environment. Of course, that was nearly 20 years ago and things may have changed.
This is NOT ‘legal’ advice, but is advice from an employment counselor (I work with ex offenders about employment), in order to a. protect the job, and baring that at least b. have some substance to a complaint.
One other small suggestion. If poor performance reviews or any other such records are being placed on your friend’s file and she doesn’t agree with them, she can request to make her comments on them and have them signed and recorded for the file as well. There is, then, some record in the files that the negative reviews were not agreed on.
Given that her prior performance reviews were excellent, this will help her if she needs to argue a case later.
Thanks for your reply. I know that this isn’t the best place to get legal advice, but I do know that some of the teeming millions out here are lawyers, and I was hoping for some general comments/advice. Of course, she will have to consult with a lawyer, but her feeling is that it isn’t worth her time. I was hoping to get some idea of whether or not this is worth pursuing and passing it on to her.
I’m actually a bit concerned. She’s been getting more and more frustrated. I have told her not to quit (as gigi suggested), but she’s at her limit. I’ve never seen anything like this. She took it to her boss’s boss, who dismissed it (she was the one that hired the supervisor), even though she DID agree that others have been having problems with this particular person. And punky, I have suggested she put a review rebuttal together. (I’m not sure what this will do, but at least it’s a record of her disagreement).
My feeling is that she should pursue it legally… no one should have to put up with what she’s going through.
JunrGatr, would you suggest she contact an attorney specializing in Employment law? Or is there another type of attorney that she should contact?
Thank you!
Documentation is the key. Many companies force a strong document trail to be established before terminating someone. Sounds like that’s what they are beginning to do to your friend.
I’m an HR manager with a large corporation and I agree with wring’s advice above with one small addition: Have a third party present, ideally someone from the HR department. From the description of the situation in the OP it would seem that there are certain issues in the dynamic of which the OP isn’t aware.
I would have the employee report the problem to HR. It sounds like this is a large company so there should be a HR Director or Manager. The situation needs to be investigated by that person or the person who addresses employee complaints.