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Difficult Employee

lorianaloriana 5 Posts
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down
I am involved in a situation with a difficult employee at the moment and I am not sure how to handle the situation.

The employee filed a formal Sexual Harassment complaint against a co-worker. The complaint was handled immediately and appropriately. However, once this was out of the way, this employee became unbearable to deal with. She is miserable, gossipy and depressed. She says she is bored with her position, but refuses to leave the company. She constantly walks around whispering to everyone who will listen to her negativity.

I would like to discipline this employee, but feel that it may be viewed as retaliation to her sexual harassment complaint.

Any help would be appreciated.


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  • 5 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • HR SurpriseHR Surprise 25 Posts
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    I believe the best way to handle this employee is to look at her job performance. Is she performing as required? If your supervisors monitor attendance and punctuality, is she compliant? Do you have an employee assistance program? If so, meet with her to let her know you have observed she appears to be having some difficulties (and refer to her job performance if appropriate) then suggest the use of an eap counselor. You could also look at the possibility of her creating a hostile work environment for other employees - although this gets a bit more complicated.

    Everything I have learned and read says you are safe from retaliation if you stick with job performance issues and make sure everything is DOCUMENTED! Good Luck!
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  • TheColTheCol 66 Posts
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    I'm sure you have a loyal employee and friend among those that this lady is bothering. Ask as many as you can trust to write you a short memo to complain that their own work is being hampered by the intrusion. Armed with this as exhibits A thru ?, call in problem person and say that good order and discipline is being hampered by her actions. Find something wrong with her work (she has a job description, right?), put the two together, document all the above and wish her a happy journey.
    Congratulations on SWIFT and EFFECTIVE action on the sexual harrassment matters.
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  • Mike Maslanka TXMike Maslanka 236 Posts
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    we see this too often...an employee complains ,and then thinks she is immunized for the remainder of her job tenure...you have to manage the situation,not let the situation manage you...by not taking steps to do so now,you will only let the situation get worse,and if she later sues you for retaliation will make it much more difficult to defend...so,handle her as if she had never filed a complaint in the first place---ask yourself:what would i do if she had not complained earlier?this is a harder road to follow,but the right one...regards from texas,mike maslanka,214-659-4668
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  • Down_the_MiddleDown_the_Middle 771 Posts
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    It's not clear about whether her recent misery is related to the SH investigation----e.g. presumably she was satisfied with the investigation/decision or at least understood it; is not continuing to be victimized by the situation, etc........ I know of no state or federal law that protects employees from being overly disruptive in the workplace to the point of creating chaos. The employer has an absolute right to ensure smoothness of operations, and continuity of business practices, so I think you have a right to be concerned. As to whether her behavior warrants discharge, you'll have to make that assessment. If it is disruptive, I would document the time frame between SH resolution and recent grumpiness and chronologically list the prob's that are occuring, why they are not acceptable and why you've determined something needs to be done. Your concern about retaliation has merits, but can be addressed in the documentation by explaining that you were sensitive to this and still felt the matter needed to be addressed, etc......

    It may only require raising her awareness, but should certainly indicate what will happen in the future if this occurs again.
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  • Mike Maslanka TXMike Maslanka 236 Posts
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    down the middle gives good counsel...but i would not mention in any way,shape ,or form anything about the s.h. complaint in a memo to the employee about her performance...nothing...a good plaintiff's lawyer---or even a not so good one---will get a lot of mileage out of you doing so,and in the minds of the jurors there will be a linkage between the write-up(or ultimate termination) and the complaint ...regards from a cloudy and rainy texas(it's about time),mike maslanka,214-659-4668
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