I feel like Ive been harrassed, though I could just be a baby...

[justsomebody]

Im from wv

Ill try to explain my situation
Ive been working in a big box toy store for going on 2 years, and feel harassed by an employee Ill nickname Amber

I am trained in allot of positions, but not service area, which amber is the supervisor of.

I often visit the service desk to look at my schedule (only place where it is actively posted)
One night I noticed Amber went into the office and a guest was at the service desk. I felt the need to go up into service desk to greet the customer and explain to her that I would try to locate someone who was capable of handling returns. As I attempted to grab my walkie, I was told for the first time by amber to get out of the service desk. she said so harshly, and I felt a bit embarrassed infront of the guest.

My next experience happened a few weeks later, she again left the area she was supposed to be in, and my job was to go up to the service desk and get all the items in a bin under the desk that was marked "reshop". as I grabbed a few items, from the bin I greeted another employee and talked about how slow the store was at the time, Amber walked out from the office and asked me harshly what I was doing in the service area. I responded almost immediately though I did not mean it sarcastically "my Job" she fliped out and I left the service area after feeling rather embarrassed being chastised infront of a coworker. I went to put the items I had back on the shelves.
a manager came up to me a while later and asked me what I was doing to get yelled at, I explained I was getting reshop. he told me that he didnt know what was wrong with amber and just stay out of her way.

A few weeks later I was working near the service desk while Amber was not working evening -she worked that morning-, helping a guest. I then took the guest to the service area to use the computer to secure an order with her online. I was about halfway through when Amber showed up (she accidentally took the register keys home with her 4 hours before that, and still was in uniform) she said in a very demanding voice to "Get out of the service area" I didnt say anything and focused on my guest.

When I ask for my pay check she will do the entire transaction making it obvious she isnt looking at me.

Most recently (today) I asked her for some spiderlocks I was looking for that she was holding, she turned her head, lifted her hand above my head and dropped them (which I stumbled to catch) saying nothing or even bothering to look at me.

I remember working with young girl who was a temp employee, hard worker but had recently lost both of her parents -I horrible for her- I noticed she had just quit out of the blue. I was working a few nights later and heard the HR talking to another employee and Amber about replacing her shifts, and I asked the HR why she quit, in which case she told me she quit because she felt that noone liked her. To which Amber responded "well its ture" I was enraged by amber so I turned and left.
Amber has been caught boosting her numbers when a guest doesnt want to sign up for loyalty swiping an empty card.
A manager also told another employee to complain about Amber via email to the home offices about how Amber posted on facebook that she had just received her evaluation from the toy store Name and got a bad mark for not playing well with others for the 10th year in a row.

I have talked to my HR lady about this lady on numerous occasions but have gotten no where. And I talked to my manager (not the store manager) and asked how I would go about filing harassment. She responded by saying they would rather handle it on a store level with the store manager Amber, and myself in a meeting first. I dont like complaining too much, especially about people, and asked my manager if she would come up with me next week as I attempt to clear some air and have her there to make sure everything said is reasonable and verify Im not over stepping my bounds.

I have a video camera pen which I plan on taking with me during the whole exchange, as I feel no matter how hard I try, she will still flip out. I dont know if the manager would be willing to back up what happend if I did file harassment

I got logged out so this is me retyping everything, probable forgetting quite a bit. If there is any gaps you want filled or anything ask away.
I have no documentation, or anything. is there something I should be looking for in the future?
So bottom lines:
Do you think this is harassment?
What do I need to file harassment?
Is there anything I should say during the confrontation?

thanks so much -someone who wishes to keep everyone nameless

 

[LdiJ]

Im from wv

Ill try to explain my situation
Ive been working in a big box toy store for going on 2 years, and feel harassed by an employee Ill nickname Amber

I am trained in allot of positions, but not service area, which amber is the supervisor of.

I often visit the service desk to look at my schedule (only place where it is actively posted)
One night I noticed Amber went into the office and a guest was at the service desk. I felt the need to go up into service desk to greet the customer and explain to her that I would try to locate someone who was capable of handling returns. As I attempted to grab my walkie, I was told for the first time by amber to get out of the service desk. she said so harshly, and I felt a bit embarrassed infront of the guest.

My next experience happened a few weeks later, she again left the area she was supposed to be in, and my job was to go up to the service desk and get all the items in a bin under the desk that was marked "reshop". as I grabbed a few items, from the bin I greeted another employee and talked about how slow the store was at the time, Amber walked out from the office and asked me harshly what I was doing in the service area. I responded almost immediately though I did not mean it sarcastically "my Job" she fliped out and I left the service area after feeling rather embarrassed being chastised infront of a coworker. I went to put the items I had back on the shelves.
a manager came up to me a while later and asked me what I was doing to get yelled at, I explained I was getting reshop. he told me that he didnt know what was wrong with amber and just stay out of her way.

A few weeks later I was working near the service desk while Amber was not working evening -she worked that morning-, helping a guest. I then took the guest to the service area to use the computer to secure an order with her online. I was about halfway through when Amber showed up (she accidentally took the register keys home with her 4 hours before that, and still was in uniform) she said in a very demanding voice to "Get out of the service area" I didnt say anything and focused on my guest.

When I ask for my pay check she will do the entire transaction making it obvious she isnt looking at me.

Most recently (today) I asked her for some spiderlocks I was looking for that she was holding, she turned her head, lifted her hand above my head and dropped them (which I stumbled to catch) saying nothing or even bothering to look at me.

I remember working with young girl who was a temp employee, hard worker but had recently lost both of her parents -I horrible for her- I noticed she had just quit out of the blue. I was working a few nights later and heard the HR talking to another employee and Amber about replacing her shifts, and I asked the HR why she quit, in which case she told me she quit because she felt that noone liked her. To which Amber responded "well its ture" I was enraged by amber so I turned and left.
Amber has been caught boosting her numbers when a guest doesnt want to sign up for loyalty swiping an empty card.
A manager also told another employee to complain about Amber via email to the home offices about how Amber posted on facebook that she had just received her evaluation from the toy store Name and got a bad mark for not playing well with others for the 10th year in a row.

I have talked to my HR lady about this lady on numerous occasions but have gotten no where. And I talked to my manager (not the store manager) and asked how I would go about filing harassment. She responded by saying they would rather handle it on a store level with the store manager Amber, and myself in a meeting first. I dont like complaining too much, especially about people, and asked my manager if she would come up with me next week as I attempt to clear some air and have her there to make sure everything said is reasonable and verify Im not over stepping my bounds.

I have a video camera pen which I plan on taking with me during the whole exchange, as I feel no matter how hard I try, she will still flip out. I dont know if the manager would be willing to back up what happend if I did file harassment

I got logged out so this is me retyping everything, probable forgetting quite a bit. If there is any gaps you want filled or anything ask away.
I have no documentation, or anything. is there something I should be looking for in the future?
So bottom lines:
Do you think this is harassment?
What do I need to file harassment?
Is there anything I should say during the confrontation?

thanks so much -someone who wishes to keep everyone nameless

This probably doesn't qualify as harassment. Its Amber not playing nice with others, its also Amber being a bad employee in my opinion, but its not harassment.

 

[Ohiogal]

Also Amber might not actually be a supervisor.

 

[swalsh411]

Tell Amber's supervisor she's being a meanie. Nothing you described is illegal.

 

[commentator]

The law is not going to do anything for you in this situation. You may believe you have rights and protections under the labor laws concerning your right to fair and kind treatment by co-workers, but you do not. My suggestion is that you develop a tougher skin, work on becoming more assertive. Amber is a bully, but just yet, there are no laws against bullying others in the workplace if you can get by with it. You are an easy victim for her, since you are not going to stand up to her, and she is able to easily hurt your feelings in an obvious way. Since you have already talked to your supervisor about it, and even threatened to file a harassment suit (which you do not have, by the way, unless you could demonstrate that you are being harassed for an EEOC protected reason, in other words, that her harassment was solely on the basis of your race, national origin, religious affiliations, etc.) you've done all you pretty much can do except tough it out.

Tell Amber to leave you alone. Or ignore her and how she is treating you. She has done nothing as definite as striking you, or cursing at you or assaulting you in any way. She has just made you "feel bad" or "be hurt" by her abrupt and discourteous and unsympathetic ways. You must grow up and get past this if you are every going to be able to work in any sort of challenging environment. All the people you encounter in your jobs are NOT going to be nice to you, are not going to like you, or treat you in a professional way., twenty years from now you will look back on this posting and say, "Oh my goodness, I was so green! Why, if this happened to me now, I'd not pay a bit of attention to it!"

 

[justsomebody]

Gender is a valid reason, right? there are quite a few employees there and she seems to be friendly towards all the females, but against all the male employees (Ive noticed she is more likely to reject a return if a male is doing the transaction)
Thanks for the responses though, I dont want to make myself look like a fool shouting harassment.

I also forgot to note. My Father is Native American, on his drivers licence he had I under race. Does that make me a minority? lol I know thats a stupid question\

 

[swalsh411]

You would have to be targeted because you were in a protected class, not just that you were in a protected class. And even if that were so, you have to give your employer a chance to remedy the situation which means reporting the problem.

 

[commentator]

No, though many people have the confused idea that they are protected from harassment in the workplace because they are a member of a protected class (which really, everyone is a member of some class in EEOC) it is not going to be a valid complaint you can lodge. "I am 100% Native American, and she's being mean to me," or "She treats women better than she treats guys on the job!" are not going to carry any weight. It would have to be shown, decisively that she was mistreating you or harassing you specifically because you were a male, or because you were a Native American.

And you'd have to have proof that there was pretty much a companywide general practice or pattern of such discrimination. And that you'd complained to management of this situation and they'd not been willing to take any corrective actions. The EEOC would take a complaint from you, and do an investigation, and if they believed your complaint had any merit, that you were actually harassed at work because of being a member of a protected class, they would eventually give you something called a "right to sue" letter. Once you got this, you'd have to find an attorney to take your case and begin the process.

In spite of what someone is fond of saying here, that it will be a judge who will decide if this is fair, legal, discriminatory, etc. actually, if there is no law being violated, and there is no legitimate complaint, it's never going to be taken before a judge. This is a work place personality and practices issue, not any kind of illegal harassment that you can sue anyone over. It's just something you need to work out between you and your supervisor and this co-worker who is being hateful to you.

And do remember that if it becomes too much of a problem, if the higher ups get tired of listening to you complain about how you're being treated, they very well could terminate your employment. Without any good reason. Because you complained so much about your co-worker and they're tired of it. Any reason. Fairness is not required. Do your best to work this issue out and move on without too much drama. Ignoring obnoxious people works quite well.

 

[Shadowbunny]

Of course, there's the "kill her with kindness" tactic. Not in the saccharine sweet, cloying way, but as a showing that she's not getting under your skin.