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Young manager harassing Baby Boomer leads to EEOC fine
Oregon live ^ | 3/7/07 | Brent Hunsberger

Posted on 03/07/2007 2:34:46 PM PST by qam1

What happens when a twenty-something manager tells an older worker to turn up her hearing aid or take an herbal memory medicine? In this Oregon case, it got the employer in trouble with the feds.

Scott and Patty Corp., formerly Woodburn Fertilizer, Inc., agreed recently to pay Carolyn Arzino, a former longtime 55-year-old accounting secretary, $85,000 to settle age discrimination claims brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

The case arose, agency trial attorney Teri Healy told The Oregonian, from the actions of a female manager in her 20s, who criticized Arzino's work, telling her, among other things, that she should take ginkgo biloba, an herbal memory tonic, and turn up the volume on her Miracle Ear.

The manager gave Arzino a poor performance evaluation, withheld her raise and placed her on a 30-day probation before firing her on July 20, 2004, according to the EEOC's complaint. But EEOCs investigation revealed that Arzinos coworkers said she was an exceptional performer.

Scott and Patty Corp. denied liability.

This case, noted EEOC district director Joan Ehrlich, illustrates a phenomenon of today's workplace: It spans four generations -- Millennials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and the last of the Silent Generation born before the end of World War II -- and their members don't always speak the same language or work quite the same way. Employers need to be aware and sensitive to those dynamics.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Extended News; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: babyboomer; genx; lawsuits; tortreform
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To: NittanyLion

Then you imagined more than you controlled.


61 posted on 03/07/2007 6:50:23 PM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: BurbankKarl

20 is the new 10. Trust me, we've hired a couple.

30 is the new 15. Fired a couple of those recently too.

The overarching issue is the outsized expectations for advancement and overdeveloped sense of entitlement, coupled by an unbelievable lack of initiative or work ethic.

Like 9 miles of bad road.


62 posted on 03/07/2007 6:50:55 PM PST by RinaseaofDs (Ignorance should be painful)
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To: Old Professer
Then you imagined more than you controlled.

What do you mean?

63 posted on 03/07/2007 6:51:28 PM PST by NittanyLion
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To: MoochPooch
Actually, I think of 50 as the new 40.

Yeah, look at who the big sex-bombs of Hollywood are according to Time Magazine: Helen Mirren (who confesses she doesn't wear panties!); Susan Sarandon; Meryl Streep; Jane Fonda.

Barf....

64 posted on 03/07/2007 6:52:00 PM PST by Cogadh na Sith (There's an open road from the cradle to the tomb.)
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To: Toggameid; Cogadh na Sith

Look guys, most have us here have a sense of humor; some of us are predatory.


65 posted on 03/07/2007 6:52:56 PM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: Old Professer

"When premenstrual meets post-menopausal the Earth moves..."

Hee hee! Probably every woman over 40 could use a little ginko biloba, LOL!

I remember when I was in my 20s. I thought I was smart stuff. Okay, I was. But I had little patience for more mature coworkers who weren't as "energetic" and "driven" as I was. Now I'm old enough to know I didn't know squat back then! Live and learn.


66 posted on 03/07/2007 6:55:29 PM PST by Abigail Adams
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To: Cogadh na Sith

I'm not sure you're real ... maybe some kind of troll-bot .... Your name is from someone's imagination and your language is stereotype.


67 posted on 03/07/2007 6:55:30 PM PST by knarf (I say things that are true ... I have no proof ... but they're true.)
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To: Cogadh na Sith
Helen Mirren (who confesses she doesn't wear panties!)

At least she never pulled a Britney Spears.

68 posted on 03/07/2007 6:55:30 PM PST by MoochPooch (I'm a compassionate cynic.)
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To: RinaseaofDs
The overarching issue is the outsized expectations for advancement and overdeveloped sense of entitlement

Yeah, they've gotta get used to the fact that the boomers are going to have to die before they get promoted and they'll be 'the kid' in the office until they are 45....

69 posted on 03/07/2007 6:56:28 PM PST by Cogadh na Sith (There's an open road from the cradle to the tomb.)
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To: BurbankKarl

Huh?


70 posted on 03/07/2007 6:58:01 PM PST by oneamericanvoice (Fight Communism, Socialism! Fight the Democrats! Stand up for Freedom!)
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To: Brucifer

Stick around, I'll give you my recipe for dirt. :)


71 posted on 03/07/2007 6:59:13 PM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: Old Professer
Oh okay, I assume you meant that you need sole discretion on those sorts of decisions in order to really manage people. I don't necessarily disagree with you, but at the same time most larger companies I know require disciplinary action to be vetted by someone other than the direct supervisor for legal reasons such as this one.

It certainly does make for a more "challenging" management environment, but that's the world we live in.

72 posted on 03/07/2007 7:00:01 PM PST by NittanyLion
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To: Brucifer
Say, have you two been exchanging autographed photos of John Edwards?

Honestly, that's pretty funny! And, no....

73 posted on 03/07/2007 7:00:59 PM PST by Cogadh na Sith (There's an open road from the cradle to the tomb.)
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To: qam1

20 year old manager: "Do you have a new hearing aid?"

Baby boomer:"Yes I do."

20 year old manager: "What kind is it?"

Baby boomer" "10 O'Clock"


74 posted on 03/07/2007 7:01:26 PM PST by 4yearlurker ("Nothing is true,and everything is permitted"--7 th Satanic vow. Sounds like Liberalism!)
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To: qam1
she should take ginkgo biloba, an herbal memory tonic, and turn up the volume on her Miracle Ear.

None of these things have anything to do with age. I know people at all ages that have crappy memories and are as deaf as board. Maybe this 55 year old should have been less "sensitive" to constructive criticism.

Also, someone posted how can a 20 year old woman be in charge. Did you ever hear of daughter, niece, etc... to the owner?? I have the same problem at my work. The family members of the owners are lazy as hell and dumber than a rock. Yet, they get all the pay, all the credit and all the sympathy from the higher ups.

Without knowing the 20 something woman's side of the side, no one has the right to slam her for what she allegedly did.
75 posted on 03/07/2007 7:04:06 PM PST by antiunion person (Shoot 'em all and let's start over again.)
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To: qam1
"...the last of the Silent Generation born before the end of World War II"

Silence is about the only thing no one has ever accused me of.

76 posted on 03/07/2007 7:07:12 PM PST by norton
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To: Myrddin

As heavy as the sky might be; it predates you and me.


77 posted on 03/07/2007 7:11:07 PM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: onevoter

So what, are you telling me that, when I was 19 and an instructor at a nuclear power plant, supervising officers and enlisted alike (as an enlisted man, by the way) during nuclear power plant operations, that I shouldn't have been doing that simply because of my age? Got it, I will tell the Navy that only older people are allowed to train and operate their nuke plants....they may be able to run one with those requirements.


78 posted on 03/07/2007 7:11:08 PM PST by Laz711 (The Barbarians are in Rome.........CLOSE THE BORDERS!!!)
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To: Cogadh na Sith

I hope your keeper finds the other end of your leash before much longer.


79 posted on 03/07/2007 7:13:14 PM PST by Old Professer (The critic writes with rapier pen, dips it twice, and writes again.)
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To: Cogadh na Sith

That's right. I am not one who would frequent Whole Foods. I shop at the boring old Kroger. LOL!


80 posted on 03/07/2007 7:14:19 PM PST by Miss Marple (Prayers for Jemian's son,: Lord, please keep him safe and bring him home .)
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