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My Boss is trying to Fire me

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yerallo

Junior Member
Two days ago at work my manager complains to me about excessive bathroom usage. He tells me that it needs to stop and that if it continues that he will have my HR person make

me bring in a doctor's note. He keeps harassing me about my bathroom usage and then takes off angrily.

Later on in the day I go to HR myself telling him that I do not appreciate my manager harassing me about me taking bathroom breaks (which I only take 1 or 2 of at most during

an 8hr shift) and the fact that he threatened to have me bring in a doctor's note for it if it continues. He then kind of backs my manager and tries to deny the fact that my

manager harassed me and threatened me and tells me that I should work with him and my manager.

The day after this my Supervisor comes up to me telling me that my manager was going to fire me that morning (which another co-worker of mine heard).




My deal here is that HR is obviously not taking this seriously.

I want to know where I go about filing his threats/harassment?
Is it legal for my manager to fire me in retaliation to me trying to report his threats/harassment?
Am I allowed to get a copy of my personnel files to keep?



I live in Wisconsin
 


commentator

Senior Member
If you are in a non-union facility, where you have no one to complain to other than HR, then you have no other recourse. Your HR does not have to take you seriously or make your boss treat you better. You are in an "at will" state. Your employer could fire you for any reason at any time.

But do you have a medical condition, such as Crohn's disease or a urinary issue? If so, it wouldn't be a bad idea to perhaps get your doctor to give you some sort of statement that you need to take regular bathroom breaks due to your health issues.

As for threatening to fire you, that's not illegal. Neither is firing you for complaining to HR about him. You're not a whistleblower, you have no protection under that law just because you complained about him and he fired you. If he does fire you, go immediately file for unemployment insurance benefits. State that you did the job to the best of your abilities, that you were not given any opportunity to correct your behavior (taking too many rest room breaks) and were fired after you had discussed the matter with your HR.
 

yerallo

Junior Member
Under Section 111.31-111.395 of the Wisconsin Statutes an employer is prohibited from retaliating against any employee who files a complaint, attempts to enforce a right permitted by statute, or testifies in a case, or assists in a case under the state's labor standards laws such as child labor, minimum wage, hours of work and overtime, wage payment and collection, and prevailing wage rate laws.

I made a complaint about my manager does this not apply to it?
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Maybe. Not all discrimination or harassment is illegal, and there are no specific state statutes about bathroom breaks.

There is case law at the Federal level, but all it says is that an employee must be given *reasonable* time to use the restroom, and does not say that a manager cannot yell at you for what he considers excessive use. There is also the question of whether you can use a state statute that relates to state standards, to enforce Federal case law.

Is this something new? Has the boss only just started this? If so, what has happened to trigger it?
 

yerallo

Junior Member
Is this something new?
Yes it's new. I have never gotten in trouble for anything I do believe that he just doesn't like me. I scheduled my appointment this Tuesday to take a look at my personnel documents and perhaps make copies of all of them to keep for my own record and for perhaps court if needed.

If so, what has happened to trigger it?
I moved from first to second shift on purpose to try and avoid my manager. Ever since I have been on second shift it started to get even worse. I don't know why because I try not to ever talk to him.

If he was just talking to me about excessive bathroom usage why would he try to fire me the day after? I do believe that he is retaliating for me going to HR that same day.

I know that that my Supervisor wasn't lying about my Manager wanting to fire me because he publicly disclosed it which I also believe is wrong.
 

cbg

I'm a Northern Girl
Okay, suppose he is wanting to fire you to "retaliate" against you for going to HR.

Your problem is, as I told you above, it's doubtful that the statute you quote applies. There are NO state statutes in your state (or most others) related to bathroom usage; therefore, a complaint about the issue do not fall under the statute you quote since it SPECIFICALLY references violations of state statutes.
 

commentator

Senior Member
There is no whistelblower status or protection given to you because you complained against your manager in this situation. Forget the idea you can quit, go forward with this complaint and be the winner in a court case about it. There isn't one. If they fire you, they must show a valid misconduct reason. If not, you can be approved for unemployment benefits. If you have not given them any sort of valid misconduct reason, have in fact tried to work with HR to smooth out your problems with this particular supervisor, then you are going to be more likely to be approved for unemployment benefits if they fire you. Other wise, there isn't anything here that you can sue for and you have no rights that are protected.
 

AJStarr

Junior Member
Doesn't really matter if there is not a valid, written law about bathroom usage.

Trying to fire someone over something they cannot control won't fly with the labor board. I had an employer try that crap once (intended pun.) We would head towards the bathroom, and they would all go; "Oh no no no... you have a break coming in 90 minutes, you can hold it. Someone finally filed a complaint on them, and ever since, if you have to go... you go. If someone in charge finds out you're really not going, and instead goofing around, yeah, obviously they can write you up or fire you. Once we decided to threaten the employer with pissing our pants for the public to see, the attitude changed pretty quickly, cause he knew some people would actually do it JUST to prove a point.

But I'm sorry, no labor worker or person from unemployment is going to tell you that you're on your own because the employer fired you over having to pee.
 

commentator

Senior Member
Some people who answer here are people who found a hat one time, and think this makes them a cowboy. No "labor board" will tell you you are out of luck about anything. They may answer general questions about hiring and firing, but they will also tell you that they deal only with union related issues. They will not come down on your employer if he fires you for excessive trips to the bathroom. If you work in a union facility, you should discuss the bathroom issue with your steward.

No unemployment person will tell you anything, either that you are or are not in luck. They will take your claim, after you file it, and take down the circumstances, as in what the employer told you was the reason that you were being terminated. They will not tell you whether or not the claim is approved. Then someone in the agency will contact the employer. They will ask why the claimant was discharged. The employer will give their reasons, and any documentation they have related to the firing. Then a decision will be made, not by the person who took your claim initially. In training people to take claims, one of the things they are trained NOT to do is indicate to the person whether or not they are wasting their time by filing the claim, or whether or not the claim is likely to be approved.

We have all seen people, if we've worked anywhere for any length of time, who hid in the bathroom when work was hard or boring. The law does NOT protect your right to go to the bathroom at any time during your work day, or detail how many times you get to go. In an at-will state, the employer may fire you at any time, for any reason. If they fire you for going to the bathroom, you are NOT protected by any specific laws concerning this issue.

If you are making excessive trips to the bathroom due to a medical condition, get a doctor's note. You could still be terminated, but it would help your case for unemployment benefits, might cause your employer to be more understanding and not fire you. If you are over using restroom trips to avoid working, stop doing it..
 
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Proseguru

Member
What does your doctor's note state, exactly as the reason for your need to frequently pee ... that you have to pee (duh, everyone does)? ...
 

commentator

Senior Member
I have seen medical statements requesting accomodations for workers who had Crohn's disease or some type of IBS, or bladder issues. Nothing too complicated about that. Essentially that they may need to go more frequently, that they have a legitimate medical condition that might make this believable.
 

Beth3

Senior Member
Under Section 111.31-111.395 of the Wisconsin Statutes an employer is prohibited from retaliating against any employee who files a complaint, attempts to enforce a right permitted by statute, or testifies in a case, or assists in a case under the state's labor standards laws such as child labor, minimum wage, hours of work and overtime, wage payment and collection, and prevailing wage rate laws.

I made a complaint about my manager does this not apply to it?


I'm in Wisconsin and can tell you this statute does not apply to your situation. You are not excercising a protected right when complaining about a manager coming down on you for (in his opinion) too frequent restroom visits. There are no laws that apply her; while I think it would be a very bad move on your employer's part, if the boss wants to fire you for complaining to HR, he can.
 

ESteele

Member
I believe the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”) has a regulation which generally prohibits employers from denying reasonable access to restroom facilities. Denying employees two bathroom breaks during a seven hour workday would likely be deemed as unreasonable.

OP, you may also want to check to determine if Wisconsin has a state labor regulation concerning workers’ access to restroom facilities. Some states have such regulations. Wisconsin may have such a regulation as well. If an applicable regulation exists, then you may want to consider lodging a complaint with the appropriate state agency, e.g., state labor department, which enforces said regulation.

If this issue is not resolved satisfactorily soon, OP, you may want to protect your interests by exploring the possibility of filing a complaint with OSHA and/or the Wisconsin labor department. At a minimum, by lodging a complaint with a government agency, you would likely garner a measure of protection from retaliation for going to the restroom during the course of the workday.
 

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