Hostile Working Environment

slewis

I am just getting slammed this week with all kinds of crazy things happening! I have an employee who has complained several times that the other workers in the warehouse don't like him and have been making jokes about him, etc. He has never heard these so-called jokes, and has never given us names or exactly what was said. We have investigated all his allegations and most of the time it turns out to be him misinterpreting someone laughing or whispering to be about him. Anyway, today at the 2pm break a group of 4 employees was outside smoking and laughing and he walked out the door to them laughing. One of the employees that was standing there he turned to and asked what was so funny and the employee returned saying nothing. He then walked on a ways and turned again to the same employee and said, "Are you going to be a N***** all your life?" The employee that was laughing came in and told the warehouse manager. I pulled in the people involved and all 4 of the people laughing had the same story and claimed they were not even laughing at him, they were talking about a TV show when he came out. When I asked the employee that allegedly made the comment he denied he said anything and was very uncooperative, I had to pry information out of him. He then proceeded to tell me that he too had been called that N-word a while ago and nothing was done then. I asked him if he brought it to anyone's attention and he said no but he had a tape recording of it in his car. I told him that he needed to tell someone in order for something to be done. I am afraid to write this guy up. I am afraid to fire him for what he did. I will be meeting with him tomorrow morning to see about this other incident he has recorded. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cinderella

Let me get this straight - the ee that has complained about others allegedly not liking him and talking about him (but he's never heard them actually DO it) in the past has now called someone a racial slur and says that he's been called that same name before and has a tape recording of it? Although I suppose all of this is entirely possible....it sounds a little off to me. Sounds like the ee may be paranoid in a "medical" way. However, you still have to deal with the issue at hand. I would write him up for the incident. Just because someone has allegedly called him a name in the past and he didn't report it doesn't mean he has a free ticket to start calling others names.

Parabeagle

Sounds to me like he enjoys playing victim while actually being the aggressor.

Write him up. He has presented you with no substantiated evidence that he is being picked on, just his own unfounded (and IMHO slightly loony) fears. Conversely, you have a documented, substantiated case in which this "victim" used a racial slur toward another employee.

I wouldn't hesitate to whip out my pen and write this one up! Good luck.

mwild31

Write him up - don't hesitate. You have four witnesses that heard him say it and are willing to say they heard him say it. Write him up. His concerns about hearing it in past are just that - the past. Tell him that in the future if he hears anything else that's derogatory or discriminatory that he is to report it & those folks involved will also get written up. Quite frankly, a write-up is a gimme, at my place he would have simply been fired.

This may be over the top, but I'm concerned about the ee's behavior as mentioned in your post. To me, he sounds unstable. I would review my company's violence policies & make sure the the managers/supervisors are up to speed on what to do in case an incident happens. Whatever you do, document, document, document. The sooner you can get this ee out of your place of employment (with care and dignity) the better for all. Just my thoughts.