My Company's (not the owner) HR Rep: Need advice...
Scott_Schmidt
1 Post
Hi folks,
I'm looking for a bit of advice here. I work for a business in Seattle, which began it's HR department with a bit of a personal twist. One of our Vice President's has a wife which worked as an outside HR consultant/job counselor. The company was growing at such a fast pace, that our office manager could not keep up with all of the HR files and issues, so we brought in this 3rd party (VP's wife) to get things in order.
She's done some great things, and all in all has been a good addition to the company. Here's the catch: This woman has a horrible temper, and in the past I have personally seen her degrade employees that she does not like, and also talks about personal employee issues with other staff. Until yesterday, I have considered myself on the good side of things, however she and I ended up in a confrontation yesterday. To make a long story short, I have a hard time with people interrupting me when I'm trying to speak, and she would not let me get a word into the conversation. I lost my cool (which I know is completely wrong) and yelled at her, "Stop !!&%* talking, and let me speak!". Now, I understand that this comment has the ability to shock anyone into listening mode, but her response just completely blew me apart. She went on to call me "a little **&%", and tell me that I had absolutely no right to speak to her in that tone. She ended up lowering her voice to the point that that she thought the rest of the office staff would not hear, but many of them did.
Now, I mentioned that this is not the first time she has gone off the wall on an employee, and this is by far not the most heated conversation she has had. I have no intention of taking any legal action or even escalating this to my boss's (the owners), but I would like to know from you folks specifically what this woman would encounter if legal action was taken by another employee. I see this as only a matter of time before she really puts herself and the company in a situation where they may be held accountable for her temper.
Feel free to pop questions and comments!
Thanks,
Comments
It's not illegal to be a jerky boss, even one who screams, interrupts or has a horrible temper. But it is not best business practices either.
Unless she is discriminating based upon a protected characteristic (i.e. she only screams at men or asians, etc) then she seems to be an equal opportunity bully.
Even "hostile work environment = when an employee experiences workplace harassment and fears going to work because of the offensive, intimidating, or oppressive atmosphere generated by the harasser based on race, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or, in some jurisdictions, sexual orientation, political affiliation, citizenship status, marital status, or personal appearance..."
The only confidentiality that truly applies under the law is HIPAA and ADA violations. Health information that is learned via either laws must be held confidential. While it is not smart for an HR person to talk about other employee matters, it isn't against any laws.
At this point you have three choices:
(1) continue to work there and learn to control your own behavior (because your comment was WAY out of line regardless of hers)
(2) Go to the owners with your experiences understanding that you may be knotting your own rope to hang yourself with
(3) Start searching for a better position
And honestly, I would suggest changing your user name to something that doesn't identify you quite so much. Did you happen to attend DeVry?
I agree it's not illegal to be a jerk, becuase if that was the case we would all owe somebody something. But the thing to keep in mind, wheather or not it is illegal; it costs a huge amount of money to defend yourself in court. <?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
She may not be personally legally sanctioned for screaming at people or talking about their personal information, but she could cost the company a great deal of money in legal cost to defend her practices.
Not only will it cost the company money in legal fees but it will also potentially cost them community goodwill. If the company is hit with multiple lawsuits for mistreating their employees, your clients will start to distance themselves in fear of being lumped in with them.
I also agree that your comments were out of line and will hurt you in the long run if you bring her practices to light. I'm saying you shouldn't, but be aware that a few fingers will point in your direction.
As usual, I agree with HRforME and Pam. The question I have for you is this: who is responsible for employee relations? If it's not her, tell that person. If it's her, you are in a bit of a pickle. In the latter case, you need to live with ir ot take it over her head. In either case, you need to watch you own behavior so that she can't distract from her own performance by pointing at yours.
On the legal front, I don't really think she could cost the company a lot of money given what we know at this point. The company would easily obtain summary judgement. However, if someone makes the claim that she only talks that way to people because they are X and X is in a protected category (e.g., sex: maybe she only gets that way with men), even if it is not true, summary judgement will be harder and more expensive to obtain. Of course, loss of the summary judgement means trial, which typically means settlement which typically means cha-ching ($$).
Aren't we losing perspective here? Scott, I can tell by the length and tone of your posts that you are overly agitated by this situation. And your use of profanity in the workplace shows your emotions are out of control.
If the woman is sued, it is not your personal problem.
Go take a walk outdoors at lunchtime. Things will blow over in a few days if you let it. If not, take HRforMe's advice and start looking for another job.
I learned from experience that it's not wise to get emotionally involved in your job--especially in HR.
All the best.
[quote user="IrisD"] I learned from experience that it's not wise to get emotionally involved in your job--especially in HR.[/quote]
Scott's not in HR, he's being abused by someone who is. That can be a pretty emotional experience but the reality of the situation sounds like she's in charge so he needs to be really careful.
While it's well and good to suggest that someone just go get a new job when they are confronted by something that's difficult to address for all the wrong reasons, that's really not a casual undertaking for a lot of people. The papers have been saying for about 3 years that we're having a jobless recovery from a prior non-recession but now we're in an actual bona fide recession according to some economists. Depending on what Scott does, a new job may mean a 6 month search and/or re-location. I think it's a good plan for most people to be engaged in a constant search (from passive to full-time active in intensity depending on the situation) so they are prepared for situations like this but job mobility isn't guaranteed. Also, speaking from experience, you can end up out of the frying pan and into the fire. Running away isn't always the cure.