What is the name of your state? Florida.
My partner and I worked together at the same company. I am going to call him John. He is 24 years old. John was with the company for 1 year and 7 months. He was a valued employee who was quickly promoted into a supervisor position. He was very respected by our co-workers and superiors. He was good at what he did, and it was recognized. He was on good standing, and was never on any type of corrective action until a few weeks prior to his termination.
John had a subordinate who I will call Bob. Bob began to confide in John more and more, and started providing him with personal details. Bob told John that he had Bi-Polar, but was not taking medication. Bob also told John that he was arrested for stealing prescription drugs from a pharmacy that he worked at, and violating probation, which led to him being on _house arrest_.
John felt that Bob was someone he could help both personally and professionally, so he would often listen to Bob, and provide him with guidance. The only time they conversed was at work, and minimally on the phone, they never met outside of work.
Bob would sometimes have inappropriate outbursts at work, and was not always a reliable employee. Because John was Bob_s supervisor he was responsible for making sure that Bob was doing his job correctly. On one occasion John reprimanded Bob at work for disobeying instructions and not following company guidelines. Bob became extremely defensive and started to become unprofessional and irate in front of coworkers. At this point John felt that Bob_s behavior was unacceptable, so he went to his superior to report Bob_s behavior. John_s superior then called Bob to his office to discuss his behavior and took the appropriate action at that time.
Once Bob left the office he went directly to John and began to become unprofessional again, stating that he was upset that John went to his supervisor. John asked that Bob not continue to act this way and tried calm him. Bob continued so John took Bob aside to discuss the situation with him in a more private location.
John_s supervisor saw that the two were talking, and intervened. John_s supervisor advised Bob to calm down, and asked what was going on.
Bob then said that he wanted to speak to someone in HR as he felt that John was sexually harassing him. Bob claimed that John made inappropriate comments about his 4 year old niece, talked about inappropriate situations at work, and would often touch him on the back of the head, which made him feel uncomfortable.
HR began and investigation, and informed John that they would take into consideration that Bob had made the accusations based on retaliation. Two days later John was informed that he was going to be placed on corrective action for sexual harassment.
One week later an employee made claims that John was using the internet for unauthorized purposes. John was called to his supervisor and was advised that they were going to add the incidence to his action, rather than terminate him.
One week later John was called to HR and terminated. HR stated that an employee made a claim that he was eating at his desk, which is against company policy. Since he was already on corrective action this incident was cause for termination.
Unauthorized internet usage and eating at the desk are both common and accepted practices among the majority of both supervisors and employees, although both activities are against company policy.
I feel if Bob had not retaliated against John with a sexual harassment claim, none of the other incidents would have been a cause for discussion, and John would still have his job.
So much for confidentiality, because I left work for one hour to take John home, and when I came back it seemed as though everyone knew all of the details of the entire situation, and both John and I were not there to discuss anything with anyone.
I still work for the company, and I have to listen to all of the disgusting ridiculous rumors that are being spread about John. I guess that all I want to do is clear his name, and make things right.
--- Is there any type of protection for supervisors who are retaliated against?
--- Is there anything that can be done about the sexual harassment allegations?
--- Does an employer not take credibility into consideration when investigating a sexual harassment case?
--- Are the allegations even considered sexual harassment?
--- Since Florida is a _right to work_ state, does John have any sort of case against the company?
Any input on the situation would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Katy
My partner and I worked together at the same company. I am going to call him John. He is 24 years old. John was with the company for 1 year and 7 months. He was a valued employee who was quickly promoted into a supervisor position. He was very respected by our co-workers and superiors. He was good at what he did, and it was recognized. He was on good standing, and was never on any type of corrective action until a few weeks prior to his termination.
John had a subordinate who I will call Bob. Bob began to confide in John more and more, and started providing him with personal details. Bob told John that he had Bi-Polar, but was not taking medication. Bob also told John that he was arrested for stealing prescription drugs from a pharmacy that he worked at, and violating probation, which led to him being on _house arrest_.
John felt that Bob was someone he could help both personally and professionally, so he would often listen to Bob, and provide him with guidance. The only time they conversed was at work, and minimally on the phone, they never met outside of work.
Bob would sometimes have inappropriate outbursts at work, and was not always a reliable employee. Because John was Bob_s supervisor he was responsible for making sure that Bob was doing his job correctly. On one occasion John reprimanded Bob at work for disobeying instructions and not following company guidelines. Bob became extremely defensive and started to become unprofessional and irate in front of coworkers. At this point John felt that Bob_s behavior was unacceptable, so he went to his superior to report Bob_s behavior. John_s superior then called Bob to his office to discuss his behavior and took the appropriate action at that time.
Once Bob left the office he went directly to John and began to become unprofessional again, stating that he was upset that John went to his supervisor. John asked that Bob not continue to act this way and tried calm him. Bob continued so John took Bob aside to discuss the situation with him in a more private location.
John_s supervisor saw that the two were talking, and intervened. John_s supervisor advised Bob to calm down, and asked what was going on.
Bob then said that he wanted to speak to someone in HR as he felt that John was sexually harassing him. Bob claimed that John made inappropriate comments about his 4 year old niece, talked about inappropriate situations at work, and would often touch him on the back of the head, which made him feel uncomfortable.
HR began and investigation, and informed John that they would take into consideration that Bob had made the accusations based on retaliation. Two days later John was informed that he was going to be placed on corrective action for sexual harassment.
One week later an employee made claims that John was using the internet for unauthorized purposes. John was called to his supervisor and was advised that they were going to add the incidence to his action, rather than terminate him.
One week later John was called to HR and terminated. HR stated that an employee made a claim that he was eating at his desk, which is against company policy. Since he was already on corrective action this incident was cause for termination.
Unauthorized internet usage and eating at the desk are both common and accepted practices among the majority of both supervisors and employees, although both activities are against company policy.
I feel if Bob had not retaliated against John with a sexual harassment claim, none of the other incidents would have been a cause for discussion, and John would still have his job.
So much for confidentiality, because I left work for one hour to take John home, and when I came back it seemed as though everyone knew all of the details of the entire situation, and both John and I were not there to discuss anything with anyone.
I still work for the company, and I have to listen to all of the disgusting ridiculous rumors that are being spread about John. I guess that all I want to do is clear his name, and make things right.
--- Is there any type of protection for supervisors who are retaliated against?
--- Is there anything that can be done about the sexual harassment allegations?
--- Does an employer not take credibility into consideration when investigating a sexual harassment case?
--- Are the allegations even considered sexual harassment?
--- Since Florida is a _right to work_ state, does John have any sort of case against the company?
Any input on the situation would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance!
Katy
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