# Zero Tolerance gone mad again! - or - I'm in trouble **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 16, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769 "2008-01-16T19:23:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/81 "2008-01-17T01:37:07Z")
[QUOTE=Rick] I would suggest that as a matter of course you always carry booze in the trunk. [/QUOTE] Oh, that’s just great. You know, there’s such a thing as carrying a protest too far. Suggesting that everyone always carry booze in their car is probably going overboard. Sheesh. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/82 "2008-01-17T01:54:45Z")
Having a written record of a verbal warning is standard practice in the US Postal Service, as per my postal worker husband. The reason is to document that such a warning has been given, and the reason why; this is because after a certain number of verbal warnings, it escalates to formal written warnings. Verbal warnings there can “go away” after time and no further problems, and the documents are literally removed from your file, while this does not happen with written warnings. In a sense, this also protects the worker - otherwise a vengeful supervisor could claim you’d received all of these verbal warnings previously and escalate the situation. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/83 "2008-01-17T02:01:58Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Oh, that’s just great. You know, there’s such a thing as carrying a protest too far. Suggesting that everyone always carry booze in their car is probably going overboard. Sheesh. 😃 [/QUOTE] ::: Shakes fist::: 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/84 "2008-01-17T02:27:07Z")
[QUOTE=Left Hand of Dorkness] I temped in a temp agency over the summer, and because I wasn’t a total reject, they adored me. (It’s really eye-opening to see who comes to work at a temp agency: as the front-office guy, I had to tell about three or four people a week that their felony record made them ineligible for work through us). [/QUOTE] Tell me about it! I worked as a temp for about five years, and I was adored by every client just because I actually showed up and did the work I was supposed to do without completely fucking up their entire filing system/computer network/phone lines/client satisfaction. **Otto** , that sucks. And not in the good way. ---
**Author:** ![SomeUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e480ec/32.png) [@SomeUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SomeUserName)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/85 "2008-01-17T11:27:28Z")
[QUOTE=Sophistry and Illusion] I’m trying to decide who is the bigger douchebag–the person who reported it, or the person who got the report and decided to write you up. I think either would be more useful to humanity as dog food. [/QUOTE] Hey leave to poor puppies out of this 😛 Maybe they are the same person? That is all kinds of fucked up. At this point you have to decide if you want to fight it or let it go. Are there other issues at work that you are involved in that they feel they need to give you a warning about but technically can’t so they made up this shitty verbal warning as a way to scare you into dropping the other subject? This is what happened to me. In April of last year my boss was let go and I and several others got a new boss. Now I like her quite a bit but she is very anti-smoking. She has five employees, four are smokers. After several months as our boss she sent out an email that was a reminder that “company policy was that if you smoked and intended to take smoke breaks that your lunch should be reduced by half to make up for the smoke breaks” I researched and there is no company policy on smoking. The only thing the handbook states is that there is no smoking in the building and only allowed in the outside designated smoking area. There is no other policy and all of the other managers don’t give a squat about their employees going outside every hour or two for a seven minute smoke break. Hell people spend more time gabbing in the halls then I take having a smoke. I brought the issue to HR who claims they discussed it with management and they were reviewing the smoking policy. A month later I was dragged into the bosses office for a private meeting to discuss my attendance. By this time it was September and I still had three sick days and four vacation days left. Sure I had called off when I was sick but I still had plenty of time left. They give us 10 paid sick days a year. It was a verbal warning only, I did not receive any paperwork about it and nothing was placed into my employee file. Oh and she reminded me of the smoking policy while I was in her office. The point was to intimidate me into dropping the smoking policy issue. I have been there over fifteen years and at this point do not want to start any rifts in my employment so I dropped it. I never went back to HR about it nor did HR get back to me as they stated they would. I still take an hour lunch as the handbook claims I get as a full time salary employee and I still take the same about of smoke breaks as I always have. I feel in a way I won but I now have an attendence warning hanging over my head. Anyway, is there something else going on? Is there some other issue you are involved in or they think you are involved in? Are there some bad feelings going on between you and another co-worker? If there is nothing then I would think that someone has it out for you. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/86 "2008-01-17T13:26:48Z")
Ah, the drinking at work contest! Finally, an SDMB competition I can win! But I have an edge - I live in Eastern Europe. My coworkers regularly bring in their homemake rakia (I think it’s the same as whiskey…either way, it’s STRONG) to drink during our 30 minute break - at _9.30 in the morning_. Yeah, just what I need to get the day started. My coworkers now think I’m some kind of prude because I always turn it down. And this is a _school_. We’re _teachers_. **Otto** , that’s just bullshit. Good luck getting your supervisors to realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/87 "2008-01-17T13:53:17Z")
Sounds like some HR clerk got a bug up their ass and wants to power trip. HR depts are typically staffed by vultures. They probably got a paper in Otto’s super-secret folder that documents how many wads of chewing gum are stuck under his desk. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/88 "2008-01-17T14:01:39Z")
Definitely fucked up. This is how I imagine, in my own little world, how verbal warnings should go. Your superior comes into see you and verbally warns you, “Otto, you have a severed head in your car, please remove it and don’t do this again. Consider this a **verbal warning** ” He then produces a piece of paper that has a date, time, and brief outline of what you were warned about, you sign the piece of paper to acknowledge that you’ve received a verbal warning. The paper is then placed in your file. Did you even GET a verbal warning? Or was it ONLY a written warning with the word “verbal” on it? We have a beer fridge at work, come around, anytime. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/89 "2008-01-17T14:59:25Z")
I went to my boss this morning. Usually bosses here are about as useful as tits on a boar, but for whatever reason this pissed him off. We went down to HR and he made them write, on the original warning form: > [@HR toady](#): > > This warning was issued in error and is rescinded. [Otto] did not have alcohol in his possession and he did not have alcohol in the building. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/90 "2008-01-17T15:01:41Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] … but for whatever reason this pissed him off. [/QUOTE] Probably the bottle of scotch he has on the back seat of _his_ car. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/91 "2008-01-17T15:02:49Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I went to my boss this morning. Usually bosses here are about as useful as tits on a boar, but for whatever reason this pissed him off. We went down to HR and he made them write, on the original warning form: [/QUOTE] Wow. A boss doing something useful. How unexpected and how great. Congratulations. ---
**Author:** ![Foxy40](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a9a28c/32.png) [@Foxy40](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foxy40)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/92 "2008-01-17T15:10:20Z")
Well, good for you. The entire thing was absurd. I can’t help keep going back mentally to that fucktard that had nothing better to do than not only look in people’s cars but look in people’s cars to find something in which to create drama within the office. I am wondering if you have enemies or there is such a person that randomly stirs the pot like this? ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/93 "2008-01-17T15:14:07Z")
Ah, the sweet, rare sound of common sense among management: how pleasant! Sounds like HR had already annoyed your boss with pettiness before. Good deal, **Otto.** Now watch out, lest Mr/Mrs Stoolie decides to take it personally. And **Kyla** , having some very small exposure to the school experience, all I can say is that it would not surprise me if a LOT of teachers everywhere wish they could take a good strong belt by mid-morning 😃 ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/94 "2008-01-17T15:14:28Z")
We have a full bar on the 5th floor 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Santo\_Rugger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Santo\_Rugger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santo_Rugger)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/95 "2008-01-17T15:14:51Z")
[QUOTE=Otto] I went to my boss this morning. Usually bosses here are about as useful as tits on a boar, but for whatever reason this pissed him off. We went down to HR and he made them write, on the original warning form: [/QUOTE] Awesome dude, glad to hear it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/96 "2008-01-17T15:42:27Z")
[QUOTE=Frank] Probably the bottle of scotch he has on the back seat of _his_ car. [/QUOTE] Seriously, though, for HR to discipline one of his staff, on a non-urgent and debatable matter, on a day he was away, showed him a lot of disrespect, and it makes sense that he would be angry at that, even if he doesn’t give a damn about **Otto**. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/97 "2008-01-17T16:09:45Z")
That’s great news **Otto** ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/98 "2008-01-17T17:43:03Z")
[QUOTE=Kyla] My coworkers regularly bring in their homemake rakia (I think it’s the same as whiskey…either way, it’s STRONG) [/QUOTE] Rakia is distilled from fruits and usually translated as “brandy.” Whiskey is distilled from grain. Slivovitz (plum brandy), for a popular example, is a type of rakia. And, yes, it’s strong (I’ve had rakia up to 140 proof). ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/99 "2008-01-17T18:07:59Z")
I would like to modify my prior suggestion. Instead of the bribe you should give your supervisor a bottle of vodka as a thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2008, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769/100 "2008-01-17T18:22:21Z")
[QUOTE=Foxy40] I can’t help keep going back mentally to that fucktard that had nothing better to do than not only look in people’s cars but look in people’s cars to find something in which to create drama within the office. [/QUOTE] I would make it my mission to have an oral warning written up (;)) and placed in the files of both the asshole who provided the tipoff and the HR toady who followed up on it advising them of the seriousness of making false accusations against fellow employees. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/zero-tolerance-gone-mad-again-or-im-in-trouble/433769.md?page=6)