Posted on 08/19/2016 8:36:06 AM PDT by ConservativeMind
I have someone close to me who was let go from her job for reasons that were not valid (for what was given as that reason). She is in an At Will state. Her manager has been bullying her for quite a while, but she hadn't contacted HR.
She has a log of contacting other management with her concerns over the past months.
Should she contact HR now, an attorney, or let it go?
HR is not the friend of the employee nor middle management.
I’ve had two guys “claim” They were going to “Hurt you” or “Beat your assistance, Old Man” where I currently work.
I laughed my ass off while they ranted on and on, telling them “You can’t fight sleep” and a few other super nice ways of letting em know I don’t take them seriously.
I went to management and informed them. They then asked those witnessed each incident and was informed I did nothing wrong.
I told they might want to warn the aggressors they would be making a grave mistake to take on my pretty boy looks.
Got 3 younger Brothers. Used to best their ass all the time and we are all athletic with experience in martial arts and actual bar fights, which we always prevailed.
He said he understood.
Strangely, neither one works here anymore.
Missed quota the next month and they didn’t say a word.
Not to impress you but, to impress upon you not to take everything seriously but, stand up for yourself, inform management to protect yourself and alert them they are at risk as well.
I would definitely call them out on this.
Yup.
Unless she has great documentation recorded as things happened and a willing witness or two. It is likely best for her to simply move on to BETTER things. Make the most of the future. Something like this can drain the life out of people.
BTDT. It’ll cause her more grief to fight it. Let it go.
This would become an involuntary separation.
It depends on what she means by “bullying her”. There is no law preventing a manager from being an obnoxious a-hole or just being “a mean SOB”. It would be a different matter however, if there were threats of physical violence, sexual harassment, if the manager was openly violating company policy or the law or telling her she had to or that she had cover for his or her misdeeds and threatening her with retaliation, etc. But just being a “bully”? There is really not enough information to go on to say one way or another.
If she had concerns that she was somehow being singled out for mistreatment (particularly if it was based on her gender, age, race, etc.), being written up for things she shouldn’t have been, i.e. petty reasons and that which were not applied equally to others or that her performance reviews were unfair/inaccurate, then IMO she should have taken it up with HR.
Yes, I know, there are quite a few here who are saying that HR is the Devil Incarnate and perhaps that’s their own experience and perspective, but that’s not the way HR works at all companies. If anything having a sit down with HR (along with her manager and perhaps that manager’s manager) would probably mean her complaints and their responses were going to be put in writing. For better or for worse, at least she’d have written documentation.
I know that in all the years I’ve been in HR (although most of my roles have been more on the PR, HRIS admin and benefits side), I’ve also been a manager, but an employee bringing a complaint to HR at just about any company of any size that I’ve worked for, would be documented by a “record of conversation” with all the participants given an opportunity to read and add additional comments if there were disagreements as to the facts – it would be signed by everyone participating and the employee would be given a copy with the original going in their file. That’s not to say however, that’s how all companies operate.
She has a log of contacting other management with her concerns over the past months.
That really doesn’t help her unless there was written documentation as to those conversations. Just going to other management (or for that matter co-workers) and saying “my boss is mean to me” or “bullying me”, “treats me unfairly”, even if she has a “log” with dates and times and who she spoke to, it doesn’t mean much unless those she spoke to are willing to corroborate those conversations. And I would also point out that it seems that contacting “other management” didn’t seem to help the situation.
And it would IMO make a difference who those other managers were. Going to a different manager not higher up in her manager’s chain of command probably wouldn’t hold as much weight as going through the channels that are typically outlined in an Employee Handbook as to how to make a complaint – although not always the case it usually goes something like – discuss with your manager > if no resolution, go to the manager’s manager > if no resolution, request a meeting with an HR rep and so on, some even allow and encourage unresolved issues be brought to the attention of a President or VP. Some larger companies even have a hotline to call at the corporate headquarters, my last employer did.
Should she contact HR now, an attorney, or let it go?
Again, not enough information to say. Since she was already terminated, I very much doubt HR will discuss the matter with her now and in fact they would be stupid to do so now.
“At Will” means just that. The employer can let you go for pretty much any reason they want, even something as vague as “being a poor fit” or “being difficult to work with”, as long as it wasn’t based on reasons that would fall under “discrimination”.
http://labor-employment-law.lawyers.com/human-resources-law/at-will-employment.html
If she goes to an attorney she needs to be aware whether or not she will be billed for a consultation and at what rate, whether it is on a contingency, etc. and she should not enter an attorney/client agreement without understanding those, but she needs to be aware that it could be difficult to prove and may not be worth her time and effort or possible expense. And if she opts to go that route, she also doesn’t what hire “My Cousin Vinny” or the guy who handles car accidents – she would want to hire an attorney or firm specializing in labor law.
IMO, she should file for unemployment which will not be denied unless the employer claims she was terminated for “Gross Misconduct” or falsely claims she quit, in which case she can appeal, and trust me, unemployment more often than not will side with the employee unless there is extensive documentation from the employer. Next she should update her resume and start looking for a new and better job.
Although she may not see it now, this actually could be a blessing.
“...unemployment more often than not will side with the employee unless there is extensive documentation from the employer.”
You mean that unemployment won’t side with the employer, or employee?
Her situation is definitely not “gross misconduct.”
Tell her not to sign ANYTHING (from employer) until she talks to an attorney...if that is the route she’s going to go.
Still, you say:
“She has a log of contacting other management with her concerns over the past months.”
So, she may very well have a case that puts them in some jeopardy and she should inform them.
“At Will” isn’t some blanket immunity.
Contact an attorney t see if she has a case. Couple things might happen:
The company might provide a generous severance package in exchange for her waiving rights to future action. Consider it a “settlement”.
She has a case and can get a judgement.
My guess is the former.
Absolutely. They serve upper managements interests alone. I’ve seen it in $20 million companies and $70 billion companies.
In my experience unemployment more often than not sides with the employee over the employer.
I have been involved in some cases were the employee was let go for cause, not for “performance” but for misconduct or things like not showing up for work (no call/no show), repeated instances of tardiness and unless we had a long list of documentation including progressive disciplinary records, documentation that they had received a copy of the specific SOP or policy or the EE handbook with their signature on it, more often than not unemployment would side with the employee, saying that we hadn’t proved our case.
We could have an employee who was a total screw up at work - very poor performance, low quality work, repeatedly written up for not following SOP’s or procedures or company policies and even being confrontational or hostile to their manager or co-workers (short of a physical assault) and we typically didn’t even bother contesting their unemployment claim. Some employers are more aggressive in contesting claims but we felt it wasn’t worth our time and effort unless we were very confident that we would win.
One of the few times we won an unemployment appeal was in the case of an employee who was sent for and failed a drug and alcohol test under reasonable suspicion (he was disoriented, slurring his words and his manager and a co-worker smelled alcohol on his breath). We sent him to our EAP and he had to enter outpatient treatment before and as a condition of returning to work. He completed six weeks of counseling and weekly drug and alcohol tests and returned and a week later he nearly electrocuted himself by bypassing a safety on the machine he was working on and failed yet another drug and alcohol test at the hospital.
Does she happen to have just passed 59 1/2?
Get a labor lawyer. Contact HR. Even the work hours are against the law. Hostile work environment. Tell her to go for it
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