Does Your Boss Harass You Like This?

One of the most frequently recurring patterns of conflict in the workplace is when a New Supervisor joins a department and ruins everything the senior employees liked about their jobs.

Company Executives often assign the New Supervisor the task of “clearing out the dead wood” or “cleaning house.” Excited to have his or her first supervisory job, the New Supervisor charges into the task of “cleaning house” with all the delicate subtlety of a pro wrestler.

Is the New Supervisor just doing their job, or buying into a company policy and practice of age discrimination toward older “dead wood” workers?

True Story: A New Supervisor at Best Buy bought into the task of clearing out 54 year old Jolyn McDonald, big time.

McDonald worked at Best Buy for 17 years before the New Supervisor, Ed Stald, arrived.

1. The first thing he did was tell all the employees they now had a “clean slate”;
2. The second thing Stald did during his initial meeting with the store management team was to brag that he could fire any employee “with documentation.”
3. Third, Stald immediately put McDonald on a “Performance Improvement Plan.” Stald did this before he had even worked with McDonald.

After Stald did begin working in the store full time (for a period he split time between his previous Best Buy store and his newly assigned store where McDonald worked) Stald called McDonald “Grandma.” He did this in front of other employees and other members of the store management staff. He also referred to McDonald as “Grandma Jo” and “Grandma Jolyn”.

For McDonald, Stald was harassing her and turning her world upside down. She had 17 years of experience, had been promoted into the store’s management team as the “Customer Service Manager,” and had a history of strong performance appraisals.

None of that appeared to matter to Stald or the Best Buy brass.

Best Buy had begun a new “customer focused” operating plan that required Customer Service Managers, such as McDonald, to change many aspects of their jobs.  Best Buy claimed that “more tenured” employees had difficulty adjusting to the new system.

McDonald felt that “more tenured” was code for “older.” From her perspective, she had loyally served Best Buy for nearly two decades, but despite that the company decided that older workers couldn’t succeed in the new system.   And Best Buy decided this before even giving older workers a chance to show that they could perform in the new system just like they did in the previous one.

Feeling harassed by her boss, and believing the company was “building a case” to terminate her, McDonald left on vacation for a week to get away and decompress.

When McDonald returned from vacation she was demoted.  Stald told McDonald that while she was on vacation her staff had dealt poorly with some customer service issues.

Rather than accept her demotion, McDonald quit.  Then she filed an age discrimination lawsuit under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) against Best Buy.

Best Buy made a number of arguments in it’s defense. Maybe you have heard some of these arguments yourself?

Best Buy claimed that McDonald’s performance really had gotten worse, despite 17 years of great appraisals.

The court rejected this argument, saying that Best Buy wrote up McDonald for nebulous, unprovable things like “failure to manage labor.”

Best Buy claimed that its statements that the new company operating plan was difficult for “more tenured” employees did not mean “older” employees. Best Buy claimed that “more tenured only meant people who had been with the company many years, and that people under 40 could be with the company many years and also have a hard time with the changes.

The court rejected this argument too. The court said that because Best Buy never came forward with actual examples of employees under 40 years old who had been with the company for many years and who were having a difficult time adjusting to the new system, Best Buy’s argument was suspicious at best, because there was no denying that it was implementing “a business model that results in the demotion or termination of “more tenured” employees is an effective artifice to push older employees out the door.”

Best Buy actually argued that calling McDonald “Grandma” was not an age related comment. Best Buy claimed that since it’s possible for people under 40 to be grandparents, all the times Stald called McDonald “Grandma” or “Grandma Jo” should be disregarded by the court.

The court said that Best Buy’s argument “does not stand the test of logic.” The court continued to rip into Best Buy:Simply because a racial epithet could beused to refer to a person outside of a protected class does not mean that a racialepithet is not race related and is acceptable in the workplace. What matters is the commonly accepted meaning of the word. In this case, a woman who is labeled
Grandma” is unquestionably labeled with the moniker because of her age or personal characteristics popularly associated with persons of an older generation.

Conclusion: Multiple Bad Acts = Mosaic of Age Discrimination

In the end, the court said that no one piece of evidence was enough to get McDonald to a jury trial.  But, “when considered in combination, they present a mosaic that could convince a jury that Plaintiff’s termination was the product of a new corporate culture geared toward putting older employees out to pasture.”

Take Away Tips From The Undercover Lawyer:

1. Courts Care About the Common Everyday Meanings of Words. If your company engages in corporate doublespeak like Best Buy, rest assured that in a court of law this type of talk won’t fly.
2. A Decade of Positive Appraisals DOES MEAN SOMETHING. However much your employer may try to convince you that “that was then and this is now” courts are persuaded by a history of good reviews.
3. Companies Should Not Push New Systems That Push Older Workers Out the Door.
4. Courts Consider All the Facts Of A Hostile Workplace Together as a “Mosaic.” Usually, no single factor will determine the outcome either way. But the law will consider all of the facts together, and look at “the big picture.”

Does your employer stop short of blatantly discriminating against older employees, but does it engage in lots of discrete negative actions that — when taken together — push older employees out?  If so, here is a link to the full text of the case, so you can print it out and have ready to include in a letter to your own boss or company H.R. Dept:

(McDonald v. Best Buy Co., U.S. Dist. Court, CDIL, 8/28/08)

Hostile Workplace Podcast #5: “I Don’t Know What FMLA Is, But I’m Sure YOU Don’t Qualify For It”

Have you heard a supervisor admit they don’t know about something with one breath, but then proceed to tell you what you should do about that thing in their next breath?  Listen to one of my readers, Vicki, tell her story dealing with that exact scenario.

Once Vicki used FMLA, others at her work wanted to use FMLA leave too.  This angered her supervisors, who launched a campaign to “get” her.

Listen to Podcast Episode #5 now to hear how Vicki has fared against her company’s attack (and don’t expect a nicey nice happy ending).

You can listen to Podcast #5 through the player here on UndercoverLawyer.com.

Or, if you have iTunes you can click on the link below to listen there and subscribe to the podcast for free:

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=284065741

The Quick Tip for this episode is an update on the subject of Male to Male sexual harassment. New cases are being filed against restaurants you’ve heard of.

Finally, the Hostile Workplace Podcast now has a listener comment line: (360) 450-5750.

After listening to the show call in and let us know what you think of Vicki’s story, or call in and share your own workplace story. You may find yourself on the front page of the iTunes “Careers” section!

Tweeters Hate Working, Especially on Mondays

Tracking comments on Twitter about work related topics has been like getting to see all the morning drive-time auto collisions, all across the country, all at once.

People on Twitter like to gripe, and they like to gripe about work.  The following comments come from tracking the words “Hate work” over the last 48 hours, which includes the weekend!  You would think there would be less anger expressed toward one’s job on the days most people are off work… but, maybe those who are forced to work weekends are especially vocal with their angry dismay over laboring away while their friends play (one Tweet said almost exactly that).

Without further ado, here’s the best of hating work from Twitter posts during the last 48 hours.  (If my readers find this “best of Twitter” concept interesting, I have a nice collection of posts on peoples’ feelings toward their “boss” and “job” that could also become a blog post).

• I hate the feeling of a hang over and being drunk yet again and having work tomorrow. It freeking suxxxxx afsfgshjsjdjdj
• Missing my small group peeps and my Sunday night dinner date with friends. I hate work.
• I can’t sleep! I have to be up at 5. I hate going back to work after vacation!
• dreading work in the morning!!!! i hate mondays
• Headed to work in a dumb smiley happy fog. I hate people like me.
• I hate it when I arrive at work thinking there’s nothing big on today, then remember I’ve an important presentation.
• Woke up from possibly the best dream ever. Sometimes I hate having to work because it means getting out of bed.
• I hate those work nights when you have to force yourself to go to bed. I’ll be visiting an apothecary come morning for a caffeine potion.
• oh work. I hate Mondays.
• At work, hate monday’s!!!
• I hate Monday mornings, up and getting ready for work - gah
• I hate hate hate Mondays! I am dreading work
• Ahh Monday, I hate Monday. Back at the work, starting the week all over again. Is it Friday yet?
• On my way to work…I hate Mondays
• Another Monday at work and I hate it. I want to play!
• On the train to work I freaking hate Monday mornings
• class and work. i hate mondays
• happy monday, indeed….my interns hate me, my attendings don’t like me….life at work is awesome!
• Monday Morning 5:22!!! I hate work
• Hate missing work, always come back to a messy desk and everyone is mad at you for missing one day.
• I hate when people walk behind me while I’m at the computer at work. @_@;;
• I HATE when people have music on their sites that autoplays-it causes much stress in my marriage since I work in the office with my husband.
• No more wearing sandals at work It’s still summer! I hate dress codes….
• off to do two things I hate: work and homework. sweet. someone do something rebelious for me.
• i hate my new hours at work, i might as well just live at the store.
• I hate people bitching about things at work, because it cause me to bitch about them bitching…
• Have I mentioned yet today how much i hate work?
• managed to survive the day. only five left. few issues at work ontop of the usual shit. hate not being at meetings. gah
• I hate doing this work that I don’t care about only out of fear of not getting accepted anywhere outside of AZ when I graduate.
• LOL I hate math with passion but I work for finance =\
• Blahhh I hate weekends where I don’t work. Maybe I will try to get a part time position with mac when girl scouts is over
• wtf. i hate work and wwe atm.
• The older I get the more I grow to hate the little pukes that work at Dairy Queen.
• I hate the stupid white lights at work! How the hell am I going to cope with this until the end of the month when we move office?
• I hate work. I just want it to go away. I can’t stand the little freshmen with their friends thinking their all cool.
• i hate work! the only good part is the free sandwich and cookies. and the aychecks of course…
• I hate working Izea fest will be going on 8 miles from my job and I can’t even go because I have to be at work next week
• I hate work. and the male species.

The Dumb Money is Betting On Sunny Skies

FRIDAY UPDATE: “The U.S. lost more jobs than forecast in August and the unemployment rate climbed to a five-year high of 6.1 percent, a sign that the economic slowdown is worsening.” (Full Article).

“Foreclosures accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three decades during the second quarter as interest rates increased and home values fell, prompting more Americans to walk away from homes they couldn’t refinance or sell.”  (Full Article).

Betting on Sunny Skies?

If you need a job in order to pay your bills, this isn’t the best of times.  Today the federal Labor Department announced that unemployment claims increased more than the “experts” had expertly predicted.  Other cheerful facts about the state of the U.S. economy:

• Unemployment rolls are at a five-year high
• 3.4 million Americans were collecting unemployment last week
• U.S. companies cut 33,000 jobs in August, 2008.
• Today’s Dow Jones average plunged 340 points, sending the S&P 500 into it’s longest losing streak since January.
• Wall Streeters are starting to talk about a “financial tsunami.” (Full Article)

Now if you’re like me, you have about $1.27 invested in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds.  So what does all this Wall Street hand-wringing matter to people with microscopic portfollios?

WHY DOES WALL STREET MATTER TO NON-WALL STREET PEOPLE?

It matters because these hand-wringing wall street types are the ones who say “Ford could save a Gazillion dollars by laying off 3/4 of their work force.”  And big industrial companies listen to Wall Street.  And then every day working people start getting “non-retained.”

The extra hand-wringing today, Thursday, is because tomorrow the Labor Department announces the August employment report.  Before today, the expectation for the August Employment report was glum.  After today’s news the outlook is more akin to economic suicide.

One report ended with this sunny summary: “Households may cut spending as employment prospects dim, property values decline and credit becomes harder to get.” (Full Article)

IF YOU HAVE A JOB, NOW’S THE TIME TO KEEP IT

Protect your job from desperate bosses and harassing managers who want to appear cost conscious by finding any excuse to cut people from your organization.  Sign up for my 7 part mini-course and you’ll receive 7 work law secrets via email, all of them straight from my authoritative eBook, “Work Laws Exposed.”  Sign up in the green box on this page.

Does Your Boss or Co-Worker Create Problems To Solve and Take Credit For the Solution?

Many of the people who contact me for help with a stressful workplace are dealing with a new supervisor who is causing chaos in the employee’s formerly peaceful workplace.  Why does a new supervisor feel the need to upset everything and everyone?

To look good.

That’s right, to look good by fixing a big mess.  And don’t think the supervisor will take responsibility for causing the big mess.  The employees who “can’t accept new ideas” will get the blame.

New supervisors are under a lot pressure to look good fast; they need to demonstrate that they deserved to be hired or promoted; they desperately want to show their own boss that he/she “made the right decision” in choosing who got the open management spot.

A Wall Street Journal article touches on this scenario (the WSJ piece describes everyone who creates problems to solve as an “employee,” and does not describe the ‘new supervisor’ phenomenon I so frequently see).

The article described a plant manager at a Louisiana-based chemical company who spread layoff rumors, then later informed his employees that HE had saved everyone from being laid off.

In another case, a woman claimed she had “fixed” broken working relationships between other members of her work group.  A consultant discovered that this woman actually caused the problems, by telling two of co-workers each that the other one could not be trusted.

New supervisors often fancy themselves as a “turn around specialist” whose mission is to fix a bunch of problems — real or imagined — and fix them fast.  One executive coach in the WSJ article spoke of turnaround specialists “confessing boredom when things turn quiet.”  His conclusion?  “If there’s no mess, those people can be very dangerous.”  The dynamic is the same for new supervisors who envision their new role to be a kind of junior “turnaround specialist.”

A final type of sabotage is displayed by the boss who knows that he or she should delegate work, but can’t stand to give anyone else control.  What happens is the boss will undermine their own workers, and then rush in to fix the “problem.”  In the boss’s mind, nothing can be accomplished without them, and the boss desperately wants everyone else to agree.

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Get Started Finding Solutions to New Supervisors, Desperate Bosses, and Co-Workers Who Create Problems To Solve, by signing up for my 7 part mini-course.  You’ll receive 7 work law secrets via email, all them straight from my authoritative eBook, “Work Laws Exposed.”  Sign up in the green box on this page.