Another Interesting Problem

LindaS

I tried posting this before so if this is a duplicate, I apologize.

I recently received a formal complaint from a male supervisor that informed me our female janitor, employed at our company, engages in the practice of entering the men's restroom without announcing herself and "goes about her business" while the men are going about theirs. My understanding is that this happens on a fairly regular basis although this is the first time it has come to my attention.

My response to the complaint was to have the supervisor talk to her and inform her this behavior was to stop IMMEDIATELY and in the future she is to announce herself, in a clear voice, before entering the men's restroom at all time. The supervisor did this and she agreed, although my understanding was that she "kind of laughed" when she was talked to.

I responded to the complaint in a formal manner informing the supervisor of the steps I took, making sure everything was documented. The supervisor informed me that there is a male employee who is very agitated and informed him (the supv) that if it happens again, he will take additional measures (he did not state what those would be) without informing management, to ensure it doesn't happen again.

My initial thought was that I handled this properly based on the fact that this was the first time I had been made aware of the situation but now I'm wondering if there should have been additional action taken and if so, what?

Any suggestions?

ray a

What you did sounds good to me. If she does it again, then I would probably suspend her for 3 days. We have a progressive disciplinary process, but for more severe infractions will skip over lower levels of discipline.

I'd be concerned about the male employee making threats to take matters into his own hands. He should be warned that if he crosses a line, he is subject to disciplinary action and possible discharge. As in sports, often the one who retaliates gets the worst punishment.

valentine

The employee who threatened action may be thinking of going for a harassment suit. That would be the logical step, I think. If you have documented everything, and it appears you have, and you have disciplined the employee then you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Parabeagle

Don't see how you handled any part of the process inappropriately. Sounds like you acted immediately upon being informed of the problem and dealt with it. If the female janitor does it again, follow your disciplinary process, whatever that might be. As far as the other employee promising to "draw outside the lines" if it happens again, I agree with the previous poster -- retaliation or unilateral action of an employee to deal with the situation is WHOLLY inappropriate and he should be made aware of that.

sandra_d

Where you may have the problem is the supervisor who reported it to you ... as a supervisor of the company, he is responsible for addressing or attending to inappropriate activities - unless he never knew it was happening either, he (and therefore the employer) could have some liability for not having addressed it earlier.

LindaS

The supervisor who reported it was not the offending employee's sueprvisor. The defense the supervisor had for dealing with it in the way he did was that he wanted to "cover his a**". This issues with this supervisor are too long and detailed to go in to but suffice it to say we are handling those (or at least trying to)as well.

sandra_d

Regardless of who this supervisor who reported this to you does or does not supervise, supervisors and managers are considered "the employer" in virtually every aspect of employment. If a supervisor knows, even if it isn't "the" supervisor, the company is considered to be on notice of the situation. "Did the employer know, or have reason to know about, xyz (fill in the blank with any event you want -- employee out with a qualifying FMLA illness, employee going through a divorce who wants to drop their spouse from their insurance, employee requiring/asking for an accommodation, whatever). It is not "does the CEO know" or "does Human Resources know", but does the EMPLOYER know or should have known. Your supervisors are "the employer" in this circumstance as in most. Trust me - learned this the hard way.

ritaanz

After reading your post and the responces that followed, I still felt something more had to be said (written?). Isn't there a concept called common sense or common decency? This female knows exactly what she is supposed to do and blatantly ingnores it. To have to tell her what NOT to do is idiotic. Me thinks you have a female pervert on your property.

Parabeagle

Good point. Unfortunately, in matters of the law, common sense and common decency are not necessarily key ingredients. x;-)

pecohr

Don't know who said it first but it seems appropriate here "common sense is not common"x:-(

System

Could I make a practical suggestion concerning the lady janitor.....why can't she have a posted time to do her cleaning instead of "just barging in?" She should be formally counselled and written up for her infractions and if she does it again (after the posting schedule) she should be terminated. A memo to the staff should be done to announce the time the restrooms (men and women) will be cleaned. Perhaps this will diffuse the situation some.

lorrie

I like winebarger's suggestion. Nice way to be proactive.