Help ! Could she really sue me too?

rha7771 · February 2003

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 02-19-03 AT 02:35PM (CST)[/font][p]I’ve been working in the HR department for a 65k-person company for the last 9 months. When I started I was doing some paper work for a situation were an ee who claimed that a manager had started emailing a whole bunch of lies about him, told the ee executive management and senior management these lies and the ee eventually got taken off a very high profile project. The EE also said that the manager replaced here with a white person who was not as experienced as she was in the role she was on the project. Well all of what the EE said came out to be true so my supervisor talked to her about the situation and they came to the conclusion that they would give the EE another project as soon as one came about and that the managers comments about her performance would not go against her.Its been three month and it seems that this ee has not recieved a project to that date.

Also she went on FMLA for 3 weeks as a "techincal lead" level 4. The manager informed us that he did some reorganizing while she was out on FMLA and did away with the "techincal lead" role and was now calling them "platform leads". When the EE came back she found out she was no longer a "technical lead". The EE was the only former "techincal lead" that wasn't given a platform because he said there was lack of work for her team. That same day he placed her on a project that was lead by a EE who is a level 3 but still kept her at level 4 and didn't lower her pay. Later on I found out this was done without HRs consent.

Well, the situation goes down hill from there because the EE complains about what she thinks is retaliation for going on FMLA. She also mentions in the complaint that she thinks the manager is retaliating against her for making a complaint about the racial issues above. 2 weeks after the this complaint about FMLA violations she sends a memo to me complaining that the manager gave her a poor performance review (she’s never been given one before) because of the FMLA complaint. She was also given a Letter of Verbal Warning (one that would not go in her permanent files) the same day and in the memo she sent me and it seems to refute a lot of what the manager says about her performance. She corroborates her refutes with emails, for instance in one point of the Letter of Verbal Warning the manager said she DIDN’T complete a task and she attached an email were she DID complete the task AND he thanks her. Well I gave this letter to the head of the legal department the day I got it, the day after she was laid off.

Two days after she was laid off the same manager hired another male minority EE that was one level lower than her. The same day the manager hired the level 3 EE he was transferred to another dept. The manager that came over to replace him brought over 5 additional employees with him (3 were level 4 same as the EE who'd been laid off but they were doing different tasks (Project management instead of engineering) ).

Is there a good chance the company can win this case? The lawyer for the company doesn’t think we should settle and he thinks we have a good chance of ending this case at summary judgement. The lawyer also says that we should stick together because a tear in our responses could indicate a division "amongst the team". He concludes by saying that she could sue all of us if we don’t stick together. This lawyer seems to be building us up with more rhetoric than facts so I don’t want to be involved with him, overall I don’t trust him.

Should I get my own lawyer? I'm rather confused in this case, don’t really know what to do and I don’t trust the company right now. There've been to many Enron like situations were the company hasn't been the good guy.

Don D · February 2003

WOW! Where to start. You don't like or trust the company lawyer and you distrust the motives and actions of your company. If that's true you should leave. A manager should never (in my opinion) subvert or refuse to follow the decisions handed down by the company attorney if he has the authority to chart the direction of the company's responses to charges. This is where that vague and subjective term 'team-player' pops it's head into the room and I don't see you meeting the definition, whatever the definition is, and I'll bet your company executives have one. On another front, sounds to me as if the facts or comments you lay out indicate a good case for retaliation on several fronts. Let the lawyer handle it. That's what he's paid to do. He's not exactly a potted plant in the lobby after all. I think in this scenario, you are a gatherer of facts and a presenter of documentation and all of it should be organized, packaged and presented in professional fashion to the attorney.

rha7771 · February 2003

I really do think they will expect me to lie under oath. Also just today the attorney told the “team” that he’s has been informed that she’s tape-recorded all of the meetings she’s been in with HR for the last 4 months including her performance review. After that tidbit of information about the tapes the first manager confesses that he admitted to her in the performance review that some of his performance accusations were wrong and he told the EE that he’d take them out but never did. I don’t see how this attorney or the manager expects us to have a “coordinated front” unless he shares with us all of the information so we can make a well-informed decision. I am the type of person to fess up if I’ve done anything wrong (in moderation) but should I be expected to lie, under oath mind you, just to stay with this team and end up getting sued anyway? I really don’t see how I’m exposed especially if I wasn’t involved with the decisions to do anything to this employee. I just want to know what my options are and getting a new job these days isn’t like it was even 6 months ago. Thanks for your input.

Gillian · February 2003

This isn't good. Yes, she can sue you too, but that is probably just a formality. Company representatives often are but in 99.9% of the cases, the employees bills are paid by the company and eventually they are dropped from the case, unless of course you have a lot of money that is available. What really bothers me is your company attorney's response. To suggest, even though it is oblique, that employees should stick together, read - come up with the same story, is unethical in my opinion. When you are under oath, your obligation is to tell the truth, and the company is far better off knowing ahead of time what the pitfalls are and to strategize around them than to have the bad news show up in unexpected places and unexpected times.

Balloonman · February 2003

You are correct that finding a job is difficult nowadays. It is even harder if you have a perjury convition you have to list on your application.
When under oath you swear to tell the whole truth to the question that was asked. Never lie. Never give the opposing counsel one bit more of information then they asked for. Do not answer what you think they are asking, only answer the question asked. A good practice after being asked a question is to pause and think about your answer prior to giving it. Do this consistently not just on the tough questions. If you honestly don't remember something say so.
Also try to avoid being deposed prior to any trials, as there is then a record of testimony that can be used against you if you make a mistake and misspeak on something during a trial.
If you honestly are not comfortable with the morals of management start your job search now. They will probably not term you as long as they don't percieve you as a problem, because if they term you, quite honestly you are then a danger to them in this case due to your knowledge. So you have some time to look for a soft landing, do not delay the job search. You must give long and hard thought to how to answer the question, "Why are you looking to change jobs?" so you can answer it in a way that will not cause the person interviewing you worry.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Mentel · February 2003

I wouldn't worry about her suing you. You were not a decision maker in any of this. The manager that pulled the change of title during FMLA is in deep trouble. Just recently, in the 7th District, two supervisors were found to have retaliated for an employee taking FMLA and each owes the complainant $450,000 out of their own pockets! Your attorney is fooling himself about this case. If I were him, I would be more interested in getting the facts than in putting up a united front. Put all your information together. This should include dates of conversations held with the ex-employee, your boss, the managers involved, and the attorney. Get copies of emails, reviews and other paper records. Be sure that your IT department does not try destroy records like emails. This is the kiss of death in a lawsuit. After you have everything put together, take a copy home for safe keeping. Go to see your department head with the other copy. Tell him or her of your concern over this case and how it is being investigated. Lay out the information you have and tell your boss that this is the way the facts have presented themselves to you. Let your boss clear up any problems with your information that are legitimate. If they ask you to change your story (lie) tell them that you will not do that. If they fire you for it, they just landed themselves another retaliation case because you can't fire someone who refuses to lie. Even if all of this goes OK, I would still be watching the want ads, internet employment sites, etc and start looking. If the attorney is representative of management's attitude toward the employees, then you have your answer.

rha7771 · February 2003

Has anyone been involved with a situation where there were tape recordings involved? I wasn't a decision maker on this but maybe I can get the facts straight with the attorney. He said in this state (MO) you have to have the consent of the other person before you make a face-to-face recording of a conversation. But I've seen some of the local news channels do investigation stories on some unscrupulous storeowners and the news channels haven’t been sued before.

Also on the FML situation the attorney says that she wasn’t truly demoted. He said that she was given back the same job level and the same pay. But from my understanding you have to have the same responsibilities and roles etc. given back to you when you return from a leave.

I really don’t trust this lawyer because he sounds like he is telling management what they want to here (per department culture) on a case that seems pretty shaky on our (the companies) part.

I will seek my own counsel but I don’t know how much I would have to pay out of pocket to get an attorney on retainer. In the meantime it looks like the job search has began because I don’t know how much transferring to another dept will help me. Thank you very much for you advice so far.

Balloonman · February 2003

Mentel has some excellent advice about making a set of copies to take home. I have done this before and while I ended up not using them, I had the comfort of knowing that items would not just disappear from the file.
That is the other good thing about outlining everything for your dept. head, now there is a set of documents floating around that they will be aware of. So they know the facts, and know you know, makes it harder for them to lie, more likely to do the right thing.
My $0.02 worth.
DJ The Balloonman

Theresa Gegen TX · February 2003

If you are being sued individually and are not comfortable with the company attorney, you need to get your own attorney. You can ask the company to help pay for your own attorney and many will. Also, if you are being sued individually, you need to send a copy of the lawsuit to your homeowners insurance company. Sometimes allegations in the lawsuit can trigger coverage, so the insurance company may provide you with an attorney.

If you are not being sued individually, then you might just want to meet with an attorney for consultation for your own peace of mind. You will not need an attorney representing you in the proceedings unless you are sued.

Good Luck!

Cotterwood · February 2003

I can tell you without hesitation that in California those tapes are the 'hanging rope' for your 'management' (what a group of buffuuns!)
You can call the lock Dist. Attorney's office and find out if they will be allowed in court.

In California, if you are being deliberately 'hurt' by somebody lying, defamation of character, etc. - which it appears has happened to this individual - those tapes are as valuable as Gold Bars.

Again, it appears that you have not hurt this individual, so you should be alright. I hope you have been taking notes of EVERYTHING ,,, AND TAKING THOSE NOTES HOME, or at the very least - keep the original hand written notes at home and use copies if needed at work.

The victim is after the 'decision makers'.

John Vering MO · February 2003

Tapes frequently are admissible. If you think you need legal advice ask the Company to pay for an indepenent attorney for you and if they won't get your own legal advice. You will probably sleep better at night.
John Vering
Mo. co-editor

Don D · February 2003

I can tell you that a conversation with an attorney never made me sleep better at night. Upon what did you base that speculation? Invariably I either stay up all night (1) wondering if the advice was good, (2) wondering how much he will charge and how to get it past the CFO, or (3) trying to figure out how to reverse the action he admonished me about. x:-)

rha7771 · February 2003

Well it helps me sleep better at night that most likely she wont be going after me. A friend of mine said this ordeal will turn into a second job for almost a year for management. Thanks all for your advice

Help ! Could she really sue me too?

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