Workplace Harassment

[mobbdeep]

What is the name of your state? Arizona

Hello,

On April 6th, I filed a complaint to HR about my Manager. This complaint consisted of a track record dating back to December 2nd, 2019 when it all initially started. Basically, a four paragraph email to HR. To summarize, I was seeing a co-worker who then became Assistant Manager at the time and our Manager knew about it and was okay with it as long as we kept work and personal life separated. The week before Christmas, he decided to take it off. Us working in a mall, that was the busiest week of the year and it left her to work insane amounts of overtime which ended up overwhelming her. She expressed that to him via text which he took it personal and immediately went to our Regional Director and told him we were seeing each other, just to get her moved to another location since that's what would make it 100% possible for him. So, she ended up getting moved and we still remained seeing each other.

It then became a problem where he was continuously bullying me in regards to her. He constantly said hateful things about her and pretty much anything he could say to make me stop being friends with her. I guess that was his way of "looking out for me" as I went to him outside of work about some relationship problems since he was the only person I was close to. Anyway, aside from bullying me, he's made a few sexual remarks to her directly while she worked there and also at a store outing that she made clear both times it made her uncomfortable. He has also explicitly made fun of other employees weight to their face along with appearance in general. This all eventually built up on both of us over time making us finally step forward and report it to HR.

They reached out to her and I immediately and started an investigation, asked for screenshots of stuff that was said by my manager and so on which I provided but she couldn't as it was stuff he verbally said. After about 6 days, I get a call from HR saying that they completed the investigation and while they can't go into details, that they "talked to him." My whole question is that how is it he got away with a slap on the wrist when literally everything that we reported falls under Harassment/Sexual Harassment. Those exact remarks and jokes about other people's appearances are in that category verbatim. Knowing the circumstances and how uncomfortable she is, they also still schedule him to fill in at her store while this pandemic stuff is still going on. I don't get it. I've read about Corporate Lawyers and whatnot and it states the same thing about how serious those offenses are. It appears they weren't taken serious in our situation.

Thoughts?

 

[Taxing Matters]

My whole question is that how is it he got away with a slap on the wrist when literally everything that we reported falls under Harassment/Sexual Harassment.

First, it's important to understand that most things that an employee may view as harassment by an employer are not illegal. In order to be illegal, the comments, etc., must be related to a protected characteristic. Under federal law that means the harassment would have to be related to your race, color, national origin, citizenship, religion, sex, age (if you are at least age 40), disability, or genetic test information. So in general comments about weight, for example, wouldn't amount to illegal harassment because weight is not a protected characteristic. If the comments are only directed at female employees or only male employees, though, that could amount to sex discrimination.

Second, when it comes to harassment, the duty of the company is make the harassment stop once it is informed of it. There is no requirement that the company punish the offending person. It just has to make the wrongful conduct stop. If simply talking to the manager makes it stop then the company has met its legal obligation.

 

[quincy]

The first step is always to inform HR/supervisor/employer that there is a problem. Until a problem is identified and reported, there is no way for HR/supervisor/employer to know that action needs to be taken.

Once you complained, the matter was investigated. Apparently a solution to the problem was found. The manager probably was warned.

 

[cbg]

Has the illegal behavior stopped? If so, the company has done its job. That's all they are required to do; make the annoying behavior stop.

Neither you nor she is entitled to know what discipline was taken. If by "not taken seriously" you mean he wasn't fired, publicly disciplined, or put in a different location/shift than you/your girlfriend, they are not required by law to do any of those things. If you aren't privy to his personnel file, you have no idea how seriously they took it; you just know that he still works there and in the same location/shift. That is NOT anything resembling proof that it was not taken seriously.

 

[mobbdeep]

I want to make it clear that I was not looking for anything to legally be done or even termination. Nor do I want to know what the punishment was. My personal request was to not have to work under him which I should have a right to request as we have 6 other locations here. My concern is that the other person who he was making sexually explicit comments towards is being put in the position to work with him when she made it clear to him numerous times that the sexually explicit comments made her uncomfortable to him and initially to HR. He doesn't have to work at the store she's at. He's choosing to go there because of COVID and has to work at least 5 days to make salary but there's several of our stores opened and he keeps choosing hers, knowing how she feels.

 

[quincy]

I want to make it clear that I was not looking for anything to legally be done or even termination. Nor do I want to know what the punishment was. My personal request was to not have to work under him which I should have a right to request as we have 6 other locations here. My concern is that the other person who he was making sexually explicit comments towards is being put in the position to work with him when she made it clear to him numerous times that the sexually explicit comments made her uncomfortable to him and initially to HR. He doesn't have to work at the store she's at. He's choosing to go there because of COVID and has to work at least 5 days to make salary but there's several of our stores opened and he keeps choosing hers, knowing how she feels.

She will need to make her own complaint to HR then. You cannot do this for her.

 

[mobbdeep]

She will need to make her own complaint to HR then. You cannot do this for her.

Correct. She has reached out to HR regarding this matter today and is speaking with them now as I'm typing this. Thank you guys for your advice!

 

[quincy]

Correct. She has reached out to HR regarding this matter today and is speaking with them now as I'm typing this. Thank you guys for your advice!

I hope there is soon relief from the manager’s harassment.

We all appreciate the thanks, mobbdeep, so thank you.

 

[Taxing Matters]

My personal request was to not have to work under him which I should have a right to request as we have 6 other locations here.

You may request it. But there is nothing in the law that requires the company to grant your request. Note that if the company does grant your request it may do so by reassigning you rather than the manager. In my experience it is more common for the employer to reassign the employee than it is to reassign the manager in this kind of situation.

 

[cbg]

I was going to say exactly that but Tax got there first.

 

[commentator]

I suspect, with this job being, as he said, "in a mall" that in the future, there won't be a problem here, because there soon won't be a job for any of these parties. I also see this friend being much much too involved in his friend's personal situation. I'm hearing that this is how the OP wants the friend to feel, but really, she needs to be the one who requests help and is in charge of whatever happens from here on out.