Can he do that?

mwhitedwhite · May 2004

I will try and make this brief by giving as much info as I can... Our new "boss- and highest ranking person in our business" has been making comments to various employees and although the comments are meant to help the employees (according to the boss) employees are very offended by them. Ex: Our boss was getting heat from our parent Company that one of the mangers in our office was being too pushy. (This stemmed out of jealousy for a job well done by a certain high up in Corporate) Our boss asked the employee to "act blonde and dumb down a bit"- Of course this offended the manager who sent him an email calling him on it. We had a meeting and discussed the true meaning behind his statement (that the boss was trying to protect her from Corporate and used a poor choice of words- thinking that they had that sort of relationship). They all agreed to move forward and put it behind them. Now he is asking me to have her write a follow up email stating that she did not mean anything by the early accusations that he is showing favoritism to other employees by praising them on a job well done while she is being asked to "dumb down". The employee does not feel comfortable with this and I am between a rock and a hard place because as I mentioned earlier- he is the highest ranking person in our office.

amwkim · May 2004

Can he do it? - Sure

Is it ethical? - No way!

Sounds like a text book case of harrassment to me. I question why the "boss" would want the employee to write another email "clearing" him. He knows he screwed up. Sounds like the boss needs harrassment training. The employee shouldn't do anything she is uncomfortable with.

Gillian3 · May 2004

He's the boss so yes, he can ask. These are the options - you can tell him ask her himself since the issue was between the two of them, you can ask her and tell then you tell the boss that she is uncomfortable writing a memo so he should contact her himself, or you tell him that forcing the employee to write such a memo is digging his hole a little deeper and you recommend that he puts the shovel away and leave it alone.

mwhitedwhite · May 2004

I am thinking that he is digging himself a huge hole since this is not the only incident out there (just one of many)... I guess from a "cya" point of view what should be my next step? Should I contact our Corporate HR or am I just opening up a new can of worms all together? I am afraid that the boss may contact corporate without me and I feel this is an HR issue although he has asked me not to notify Corp just yet...

Rockie · May 2004

He knows he screwed up and that's why he doesn't want you to contact corporate HR "just yet". He is trying to find some wiggle room out of this mess before they find out.

If they all agreed to move forward and put this behind them, the manager should not be asking the employee to send any kind of email to him.

I'd advise this guy to put this matter to rest.

Don D · May 2004

Who do you report to? If it's corporate HR, even with a dotted line, yes, you should tell the Corporate HR Director or VP the details, especially now that you've revealed the man asked you not to notify them. It's time for a little of that CYA you eluded to. Often, if we don't 'CYA' someone else will 'BYA' (bury).

Whatever · May 2004

I would love to be attorney for the ee on this one. Can just picture the questions ( "If you did nothing wrong, why did you try to cover it up?") You have no choice at this point but to notify corporate.

System · May 2004

I'm not getting the same 'vibes' as everyone else. What I gather is the Boss didn't have a secure way to tell this manager to tone it down. He made a stupid remark - was probably trying to be funny or friendly - and didn't expect it to be taken with offense. Yes, it was careless. Now, an email documents his tasteless remark and he fears 'harassment' or some other claim. He thinks he can clear himself with another email document. Why do we need to start talking 'attorney?' Why can't the manager send another email saying 'glad we cleared up your, tastless, careless, a**inine remark.' ??

Balloonman · May 2004

You could go either way with this. Comes down to it is a new boss, and you have not established the type of relationship with them where you feel comfortable going in there and having this conversation. If the employee who he made the remark to is cool with where things are now, I would do the following:
Go sit down with him and run through the how it looks asking to send email to cover it up. What is done is done, but if you do this for him is brings the whole issue back up. Point out that an attorney would jump on this, that the request is almost like admitting guilt and really it was just a poorly chosen whey to get a point across. I bet he sees the light and let's sleeping dogs lie.
My $0.02 worth!
DJ The Balloonman

Don D · May 2004

SM: Assinine is not an inappropriate word.

Pork · May 2004

mwhitedwhite: As the HR you can put a memo for record in the files, which covers the basic information of the incident, lays out the facts and the admissions, have both parties sign the memo that this has happened and it is resolved now and forever more. That is until someone within the the group is interested in bringing the matter up for re-address. 99 times out of a 100 the issue will be filed and nothing else will be heard of this screw-up by the boss, which penetrated the thin skin of the ee/manager. His intent was to help the manager, no-one can deny that based on your posting! Write it and file it, go on to more HOG-WAsH! IF IT WAS TO RAISE ITS UGHLY HEAD YOU HAVE THE ACTION TAKEN BY THE COMPANY WITH REFERENCE TO THIS ISSUE. YOU INVESTIGATED THE INCIDENT, RESOLVED THE ISSUE, AND FILED IT NO ONE NEED BE UNCOMFORTABLE!

PORK

HR in Okla · May 2004

I agree with Pork, document the actions taken and move on.

ritaanz · May 2004

You called a meeting. The topic was discussed, explained and as you say, agreed to move forward.

That is exactly what you should put in memo form and then file it. I can understand the manager wanting something in writing. It does not have to come from the person who was offended.

You are the one in charge and you should be the one to wrap it up.

Can he do that?

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