Ahem.
I don’t quite agree that it was a mistake. If my take on the situation is right, it was the least-stupid course of action available to them. As soon as James found out about the retaliation memo, he HAD to act to distance himself from it, or by virtue of his position he becomes complicit, regardless of his ignorance of the writing and giving of said memo. Likewise Angie. (At least, that was my understanding back when I was in HR; HR and management have a positive duty to stop such things, not merely not to perpetrate them.)
Now, what James and Angie don’t know is whether my wife is aware of how potent a weapon DW and Jimmy have (literally!) handed her. If she’s not aware of it, they must retrieve that reprimand without tipping their hand and without breaking the law–in other words, they only dare ask for it. If she is already aware of it, Jimmy (and probably DW) are both screwed no matter what they do, but James and Angie can minimize the company’s exposure and their personal exposure by disavowing the memo. But if they do that, they must say as little as possible, because admitting that the memo was legally wrong implies that they should have acted earlier to stop the harassment.
Practically thinking, of course, they should also apologize. You accomplish a lot with apologies.
Anyway, that’s what I think. I’m sure someone smarter than I will chime in soon.
:: shrug::
Skald, in the OP you said that your wife started working there earlier this year. The fact she is a recent hire should work in her favor. In the short time that she has been there, has she been trained in the company’s harrassment policy? If she has been there less than four months, then I think she pretty much HAS reported it immediately, even if HR thinks that she only has five minutes.
Which is exactly the sort of thinking that I’d expect from adults.
Which is why I’m not about to hold my breath waiting to hear about your wife having received an apology.
IANAL.
As I understand it, the first memo came from her superior, and the second from higher-ups.
The first memo is evidence of retaliatory action by an agent of the employer, even if it doesn’t alone prove anything. Also, the fact that the second memo was not from the same person as the first is almost in itself an acknowledgement that the details of the first memo constitute Bad News. In Florida at least, pretty much any communication which clearly comes from an agent of the employer is an action on the employer’s part. The law says, essentially, that if you’re going to write something down, either in an email, file note, office memo or whatever, you better make damn sure you mean it.
Were I the employer, I’d have a settlement offer on her desk tomorrow morning, before she retains an attorney, no matter how well my ass is covered.
I think the second memo is Angie and James minimizing their personal exposure.
You know something? I don’t really care about money, and I don’t think my wife does either. She wants to be free of DW’s harassment, and not to worry about losing her job, and for the company to acknowledge this was wrong.
Of course, so item number three will only happen in Narnia. No, scratch that. The whole thing would never have happened in Narnia, as Aslan would have solved DW’s issues with a quick eating.
Does she have both memos, or did she give the first one back?
I have both memos. She gave them to me when she got home, as I am not a 5 foot, 100 pound woman whose boss and his friend are trying to intimidate, and yes, I am struggling not to find DW and kick his teeth in.
Do you happen to live in the South? “He had it coming…” is a valid legal defense.
I do, and it’s not.
Oh, I’m sure you can come up with a much better revenge than kicking his teeth in, and it involves a dollar sign.
Is she going to call a lawyer? How tied is she to this job? Is it her career? Can she find work at a similar place of employment?
[Mr Duval] Oh, hell, no–I didn’t leave the south side for this![/Mr Duval]
Contact the EEOC asap. My mother filed a claim (suit?) with them back in the late 1970s for sex discrimination and won. Keep the memos; keep the porn. She should be making notes of every interaction she has with DW.
I say let 'em hang and take 'em for all they’re worth. I’m not litigious, but Bubba and Roy need a sharp lesson in how to treat employees, no matter their gender or race.
I’m so glad I came back to this thread. I was bored by the hi-jack but now back to the real story.
The questions for me are;
Did Angie reprimand Jimmy in any way?
Has Jimmy be relocated?
Did they call in the sexual harrassment panda?
It would be better for DH’s uncle to just give him an allowence and not have him report to the office.
It’s a joke. I just forgot to add the 
Um… you realize the updated stuff happened yesterday, right?
S’alrtight.
I have the memos. She still has the porn that broke the camel’s back, but not the stuff from the previous weeks. No interactions with DW yesterday. Happily she keeps a diary and so she can create notes from before.
[/QUOTE]
You may want to wait and see how much money it is before not caring about it. It could be enough to finance searching for a better job. Odds are no matter what the outcome, working there will be less pleasant than before.
Good luck!
Sexual Harassment Panda = South Park Episode
How were her interactons with Jimmy today. I imagine that Dick Less will not be around but her imediate supervisor surly was around today.
[minor hijack]
milk them for mega-bucks, and put it towards the SDMB servers!
[/minor hijack]
Kudos to you and the Mrs for hanging in there.
If you do settle, her resignation will almost certainly be required as a term and condition of settlement. Otherwise, once she went back to work for them, she’d be more or less immune to being fired for a good six months because then she could sue for retaliatory discharge.
If you settle she will certainly be required to release any claim for retaliatory discharge but obviously that wouldn’t include claims arising after the fact.
How about friends memo? Does it still exist anywhere?