Help with the guy who thinks he is being harassed!!

tonia

Please bear with me as I'm new at this. I have an employee who has been the transportation supervisor (TS). for 6 years. The VP used to be his supervisor, but the VP decided the Director of Nursing (DON) is to be his supervisor. Since then, the DON has made disciplinary action against the TS in not following proper procedure and insubordination. The TS was given a one week unpaid suspension due to insubordination. Now, the TS has filed a AGE harassment claim against the DON stating that the DON hates the whole transportation department and he feels he is being harassed by the DON. I'm awful afraid that the EEOC will find in the TS's favor.

First, one the TS's own employees came to me with a complaint about the TS, stating hours are being taking from one and given to another due to favortism. When investigated, it showed one party was given more hours and others dropped hours. In a brief statement, it was discussed that the TS was not following another duty. The TS states it's not his job, even after being told it was.

In a confrontation with the DON, the TS yelled at the DON, shaking his finger in his face and telling him to do the duty. When the TS was called to discuss the disciplinary action, he became loud and out of control again. It was at this time that it was decided a one week unpaid suspension was appropriate and any further outbursts would result in termination. It was also decided that upon return, the TS would make meeting arrangements with the DON to discuss further positive improvements. To date, this has not happened.

Since then, the AGE harassment claim has cropped up.

The way I see it is, the TS doesn't like the DON being his supervisor and therefore, retaliated against the DON by filing the claim because he doesn't like being told he is doing his job wrong. He is looking to have the disciplinary action removed and paid for his time. My only other thing is that the VP didn't pay attention to problems before and now that the DON is finding problems, the TS feels he is being harassed.

My conclusion is that the disciplinary action stands, there is no AGE harassment to speak of and it's pure retaliation on the TS's part. There may be some communication issues definitely, but it does not add up to harassment.

I know it's confusion, but I could really use some advice!! Thanks@!

Don D

Your post shows that you have a good grip on the entire issue. I agree with you that the disciplinary action should stand. Sounds like he's been given several chances to shape up but won't. I would not be unduly alarmed by his knee-jerk claim of age discrimination. He's trying to find some nail to hang his hat on. He should be paying more attention to the oil slick (his behavior problem) beneath his feet that is just about to send him sailing out the door. It's fairly common for a new supervisor to come in with both disciplinary barrels cocked when the old supervisor ignored the problem. That's not the end of the world, although unfortunate. As long as the DON's discipline is consistent among staff and in line with your procedures, let him continue with it. If the DON is not writing up younger staff with similar infractions, then you might have a problem. Good luck. x:-)

sonny

Don't disagree with Don, but just a couple thoughts:
Was this first disciplinary action? being the bleeding heart social worker I was.. 1 week suspension seems a little stiff for a first offense..tho perhaps his behavior verged on violent?

My opinion, but I would have the DON be in charge of setting the follow up meeting, not the TS

You mention the communication problem. . is it too late to have a sit down, iron it out, get it all the table meeting?

WT

Courts have ruled that the employer has a right to reasonable respect and chain of command in the workplace. If the employee wants to defy the supervisor, this cannot stand. This is a case where it might be helpful to bring both the worker and supervisor in and have a talk. Make it clear that the supervisor is boss and defiance will not be tolerated. If a supervisor is unreasonable, an employee must complain up the chain of command. This must be done in a proper way. An employee given responsibilities who then refuses to perform them and says "you do it" deserves to be fired.