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Hostile Work Environment

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V

van

Guest
I have been working at a company in FL for 5 months and I am appalled at the behavior I have witnessed from many of the employees, including the management and Vice-Presidents. I believe there are several issues that may warrant legal action.

1. Sexual harrasment: Example 1 - I was given the task of hiring a receptionist. I interviewed many candidates and made a recommendation to the VP. The particular candidate I recommended was an older woman who more than met the qualifications, looked and sounded professional enough, and was what I thought was a perfect fit, but was not young and attractive. The VP said he would not hire her because she was "not dressed professionally enough". Understand that the dress code in our office is casual (khakis & sometimes even jeans). So, round two of interviews - I narrowed the candidates down to 3 all with the right qualifications. I presented them to the VP and he hired the youngest most attractive of the 3. The kicker: As the candidates would leave, the managers and other male employees would watch the women leave behind tinted glass windows and "Rate" them. Example 2 - many of the male employees, including the Vice President have made very inappropriate comments to female employees regarding their bodies and sexual acts. (I could give many examples.)

2. Discrimination: Based on Age: The VP passed over a woman's resume because she stated that she had been married over 33 years and had a 29 yr old son. The VP said that this shows that she must be pretty old.

3. Verbal Abuse: The VP constantly yells at employees & has a short fuse. He has told employees that they must be stupid for forgetting things or for not doing a task to his liking (which is never less than perfection). Example: a co-worker was asked to put labels on tabs in a booklet. Apparantly the VP thought the lables were not perfectly straight so he yelled at her, tore the tab pages out of the book, threw it across the desk, and made her do the entire booklet over. He sets unrealistic goals and punishes employees for not meeting them. Example: He asked an employee to make 15 copies of a very large proposal package and to have it done by the time he returned (1 1/2 hrs later). When he returned and she had not finished, he screamed at her that she was obviously goofing off while he as gone and wasn't doing her job. It ended up taking 3 of us more than 5 hours (including overtime) to complete the task. Another of the VPs advised a woman that her job was in jeapordy because a man who had been promoted to management did not like her. His advice to her was to "lick his ass" or she may lose her job.

Several people have reported this man to HR, but so far, nothing has been done to stop him. Three of the women were advised that their only hope may be to find other jobs. Many employees are miserable, even those not directly involved because the situation creates such tension in the work place. Any advice?
 


I AM ALWAYS LIABLE

Senior Member
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by van:
I have been working at a company in FL for 5 months and I am appalled at the behavior I have witnessed from many of the employees, including the management and Vice-Presidents. I believe there are several issues that may warrant legal action.

1. Sexual harrasment: Example 1 - I was given the task of hiring a receptionist. I interviewed many candidates and made a recommendation to the VP. The particular candidate I recommended was an older woman who more than met the qualifications, looked and sounded professional enough, and was what I thought was a perfect fit, but was not young and attractive. The VP said he would not hire her because she was "not dressed professionally enough". Understand that the dress code in our office is casual (khakis & sometimes even jeans). So, round two of interviews - I narrowed the candidates down to 3 all with the right qualifications. I presented them to the VP and he hired the youngest most attractive of the 3. The kicker: As the candidates would leave, the managers and other male employees would watch the women leave behind tinted glass windows and "Rate" them. Example 2 - many of the male employees, including the Vice President have made very inappropriate comments to female employees regarding their bodies and sexual acts. (I could give many examples.)

2. Discrimination: Based on Age: The VP passed over a woman's resume because she stated that she had been married over 33 years and had a 29 yr old son. The VP said that this shows that she must be pretty old.

3. Verbal Abuse: The VP constantly yells at employees & has a short fuse. He has told employees that they must be stupid for forgetting things or for not doing a task to his liking (which is never less than perfection). Example: a co-worker was asked to put labels on tabs in a booklet. Apparantly the VP thought the lables were not perfectly straight so he yelled at her, tore the tab pages out of the book, threw it across the desk, and made her do the entire booklet over. He sets unrealistic goals and punishes employees for not meeting them. Example: He asked an employee to make 15 copies of a very large proposal package and to have it done by the time he returned (1 1/2 hrs later). When he returned and she had not finished, he screamed at her that she was obviously goofing off while he as gone and wasn't doing her job. It ended up taking 3 of us more than 5 hours (including overtime) to complete the task. Another of the VPs advised a woman that her job was in jeapordy because a man who had been promoted to management did not like her. His advice to her was to "lick his ass" or she may lose her job.

Several people have reported this man to HR, but so far, nothing has been done to stop him. Three of the women were advised that their only hope may be to find other jobs. Many employees are miserable, even those not directly involved because the situation creates such tension in the work place. Any advice?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>


My response:

Yeah, I have a suggestion. Try to convince all those involved to see an attorney, together. This is an absolutely HUGE case. The attorney will also instruct you as what what you have to do from an "administrative" standpoint; for example, before a lawsuit can be filed in California for work related matters, a complaint must be filed with the EEOC. And, I've got to tell you, with a summary as good as you've laid it out, you should go to, if for nothing else, as their spokesperson!! Van, you are terrific !!




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