Harrassment from my Supervisor

[berdonj]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Hawaii
I have been harrassed by my supervisor and have taken all the proper steps to take it to my GM. It's now being handled by HR. What else can I do if my supervisor does not get any consequences for his actions? I'm not able to work with him at this point and time and I've beeen allow to take time off with pay till this matter gets resolved. I'm a Mechanic and very distrubed by this one week of harrassment. I've been with htis company for 2 and 1/2 years now. I have tried everything in my powers to try and work things out with my supervisor, but he is refusing to try to work things out with me.

[cbg]

For the moment, we'll assume that the harassment is illegal, though there are many, many things that the average Joe or Josie would call harassment that are entirely legal.

But even if this is the illegal kind, the employer's SOLE obligation is to make it stop. They have NO legal obligation whatsoever to give him "any consequences for his actions" and NO legal obligation to tell you what action they may have taken. If the illegal behavior stops, the company has met their obligation and you do NOT get to take any further action because you don't approve of the action they take.

If the harassment is NOT illegal, then they don't have to do a thing.

[berdonj]

This supervisor has a pattern of harrassing other workers prior to me being hired for this postion. The othe workers have quit because of his harrassing. This supervisor uses inappropiate language to his co-workers and I. The questions are what if this supervisor keeps on doing it and the sole company doesn't get him to stop his behavior of harrassing me and others. Can there be away of protecting myself? Because it's so bad that the companies he worked for before, there were incidents were he was almost physically hurt. The other question is what is the difference between ilegal and legal harrassment?

[Hot Topic]

Using inappropriate language isn't illegal. Harassing people by making comments about their sex and race (to name two examples) is.

[cbg]

Illegal harassment is that which is based in a characteristic protected by law. If it is not BECAUSE OF your race, religion, national origin, gende, pregnancy, disability, because you are over 40 or because of your membership protected by other Federal, state or local law, it is not illegal.

[commentator]

While you are not sure if the harrassment is illegal or not, and while you are waiting for the company to do something, what you can do is go back to work, resting in the assurance that if he fires you, you will be able to draw unemployment. He probably does not have the power to fire you. So he can't threaten that.

So the harrassment he is doing is probably verbal abuse. If he yells at you, screams at you, accuses you of being lazy, stealing, etc. don't pay any attention. it's not true, his saying it won't make it true, and you don't have to defend your honor or set him straight. Do keep HR informed of each occasion. It would be good to take notes of each time this happens.

If he curses you, tell him quietly that you don't find it acceptable for someone to talk to you that way. Then, immediately, report this incident to your HR department. Tell them again that you do not find this acceptable. Make it clear to them that you are going to press charges against him if he assaults you physically in any way. Tell them clearly but politely that it is their responsibility to make this behavior stop. WHATEVER you do, do not curse or yell back at him or argue with him even though what he is saying is not the truth (Like you deliberately screwed this up, you're no good, your mamma's a bad person).

" It was so bad he almost got physically hurt" In other words, he made an employee so mad they probably took a swing at him and he got to fire them. if you retaliate physically, you'll be fired for good cause. If you quit, that's fine with them, because it was your choice to quit. If you are going to quit, wait till you have another job lined up, because you will not be eligible for unemployment benefits, most likely.

The secret to dealing with verbal harrassment from a supervisor like him is to develop selective deafness. Be pleasant, cool, do your job to the best of your ability, and basically ignore his words. His bluster, his language, all this is his management technique. If it works, then he is a successful supervisor. The company has hired him, it is their responsibility to control his behavior.

If he is calling you a "lilly white old handicapped Catholic male" or something, or telling you you're too old to do this job (and you're over 40) this is maybe going to be EEOC covered harrassment. you can complain to the EEOC while still employed there, and you should tell HR that you plan to do so.

But in any case, it's just words. Don't let him control your behavior, make you angry, or cost you your job simply because he runs his mouth. If he strikes you or assaults you physically, call the police immediately and press charges againt him for assault. Do not pick up a wrench and defend yourself unless your life is actually threatened. you can improve this situation by your behavior. Do not let him be in control. You do have the personal right to be treated fairly and not harrassed. Hopefully, you and your company can work this out in some way. The more mature and dignified you act, the less you let him "occupy space in your mind," the better the outcome will be for you mentally, even if you have to leave and get another job.

[berdonj]

Thank you for your advice!! Thank you for educating me about cursing is not illegal to do in the workplace. I mean this supervisor say's words like "what the **** are you doing"? This supervisor doesn't even like it when I talk to the GM about issue when my supervisor is off on the weekend. But, I have already been asked to write a statement and also my supervisor has been ask to write one too. My GM has sent it to HR and I will wait for the outcome. My GM doesn't understand why my supervisor is behaving the way he is towards me and not the the worker. My supervisor has already had a written warning from HR.

[cbg]

what the **** are you doing"? is NOT illegal harassment.

However, it appears that even though they are not obligated to do anything about cursing in the workplace since it is not illegal, your employer is taking it seriously and taking action about it. This is more than the law requires them to do. And good for them, btw. I wish more employers would take this seriously.

But.

You have NO recourse if they do not discipline him in the way you want to see him disciplined. Nor are they obligated to tell you what, if any, action they take.