Re: Intimidation and harassment

["D. Margulis" <ampersandvirgule -at- WORLDNET -dot- ATT -dot- NET>]

Sybille Sterk wrote:
>
 I therefore think it is important to find out if other
> colleagues are being harassed by this one person, too, and then do
> something about it together. You are in a much stronger position then and a
> boss is much more inclined to help you and do something about the
> harassment, if there are other people to back up your story.
>


Chiming in, Dick adds his story:

I am not easily intimidated or harassed. I have a large presence and am
all too ready to speak truth to power (generally getting myself in
trouble in the process). I worked, however, for a person with short
man's disease who had a long-established pattern of abusing
subordinates. When he attempted to spread false accusations about me,
leading to a warning letter from my contract agency,  I calmly presented
the facts as they were, got written confirmation from the department
manager that I had done nothing wrong, and then lay in wait for my
boss's next sneak attack (which came as predicted).

However, one of my coworkers had up until then led a charmed sort of
life in which she had never had to work for a jerk. So she took the
boss's attacks personally, to the point that she needed ongoing medical
attention for severe hypertension (never suffered from it before, didn't
suffer from it when the boss was on vacation, has not suffered from it
since moving on to another job).

So when she was called in by the contractor representative for a
"warning interview" and informed that any more misbehavior on her part
would lead to her dismissal (based, again, on total fabrication) she
informed the representative that the allegations were false.

The representative (who was charged with being the company's contact
point for all contractors, regardless of agency) believed her (up until
then she had generally presumed that managers tell the truth and
contractors will lie to save their butts; this experience changed her
perception). The representative then contacted a senior person in the
company's HR department. The two of them conducted interviews with the
victim and all of her coworkers (we all volunteered) to establish the
boss's pattern of behavior.

The company could not fire the guy (fear of litigation, based on age,
credentials, national origin) but they did take action: they stripped
him of the right to hire, fire, or communicate directly with agencies.
And he will never again have any supervisory role in the company. They
also reevaluated all of the people the guy had previously dismissed with
prejudice and reinstated them so that they could be engaged again. The
coworker was allowed to leave because of headcount reduction rather than
being dismissed with prejudice, and she is now back working at the
company for a different manager.

The department manager, who was aware of the misbehavior, felt that he
was in a bind, for a couple of reasons, and could not dump the guy; but
he made sure that he was not in a position to do any more damage. After
the project ended and everyone had to be reassigned, the person in
question was given a desk and a phone and no duties. As far as I know,
he is there today, just collecting his check, doing busy work that does
not impact other people, and waiting until retirement age.

The moral: If you handle it right, you may not achieve a perfectly just
outcome (hanging the person by the thumbs, perhaps?), but you may get
substantial relief from the immediate cause of your distress.


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