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.”