Harassed waitress stuck in a hostile work environment

[BSJM]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? CA

I work as a waitress in a large chain family restaurant. I have worked here for just over 3 yrs and suddenly I have been having some issues with my General Manager (GM). I strongly feel the GM has it in for me and is trying to build a case against me to have me fired. I feel I am being harassed on a daily basis & it is becoming a hostile work environment. I was a model employee and well liked by others. I was even being considered for management myself, but then I had a baby. It is after the birth of my child that all this started. Not sure if thats related or not. What can I do?

Here are some examples of what I have experienced lately:
When I have been asked to write statements about other employees, the person I wrote about always finds out my detailed involvement. How is that? This is suppose to be confidential! Now that this occurred it has made things very hostile and uncomfortable to work with these employees. When I tried to refuse writing a statement recently the managers told me I could be held accountable &/or terminated for with holding information in an investigation. So I have always reluctantly written one. Is this true, can I actually be fired for not writing a statement for them?

When I went to another manager about the rude and disrespectful behavior of another employee I was then written up for "Conflict of Interest". When all this went down I went to the GM because I did not agree with the other managers actions. I even brought a tape recorder to record the conversation, for my own protection, but the GM would not allow it. I also informed the GM that I have a detailed notebook and I am documenting everything! I also said I was thinking of speaking to a lawyer and to Employees Relations. Since that conversation the GM has told other employees about my notebook, tried to convince certain employees to not hang out with me outside of work anymore and how much He/She wants me gone. This GM has had discussions like this with me in the past about other staff, these employees are all fired now. So I am concerned it will happen to me too. What can I do? Is it legal to discuss HR matters with employees or to tell the employees terrible things about another manager or employees on staff?

In the last few weeks I am suddenly getting written up on a daily basis for all sorts of nonsense. I am well aware of the fact that 3 other recently terminated employees have lawsuits against this GM and I am trying to figure out what exactly I can do to protect myself here? It is hard to go to work lately due to all of this. I feel I can not go to management about the hostility from another employee due to the way they handled things in the past. I am trying to keep this short, but could give great detail if you want more. Right now I want to know what rights I have? What can I do? Can He/She really do all this to me? Is it legal? Any help would be be greatly appreciated!What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[pattytx]

I'm sure it should be confidential, but there is no law requiring that it be; poor management, absolutely. And yes, you could be fired for refusing to write the statement; it's a safe and legal work instruction. Just for curiosity's sake, why are you being asked to write these statements?

Lawsuits for what? Google "hostile work environment". It's not just poor management, getting "picked on", or having a generally uncomfortable working environment.

 

[BSJM]

The employees are held accountable for talking about these types of issues/ personal matters, yet the manager can blab my info to just anyone. That does not seem right to me.
As for the other pending lawsuits. Three other recently terminated employees have cases for wrongful termination, harassment and discrimination.
Would it be in my best interest to talk to these people and their lawyers?
Do I just sit back and wait for this manager to fire me and then take action?

 

[commentator]

This is a clear case of a person who innocently assumes they have more rights and protections on the job than they do. Unless this is a unionized work environment, the employer can do pretty much anything they want to. They don't have to be fair, they don't have to be nice to you, they don't even have to use good judgement or good management principles.

They can fire you if they want to. For just about any reason. It is very rare that you or any terminated employee could sue them and get your job back or be paid a settlement. If they've got a whole chain of incidents and write ups before you are fired, and you are fired for something they've warned you about, and you've repeated the behavior, it will probably be considered misconduct and you will not qualify for unemployment benefits either. If you are fired without their having good cause, you can probably get to draw unemployment while seeking another job, but that's about it. If you quit, it will be much more difficult to draw unemployment, because the decision to leave was your own choice.

I can't see from what has been said here that there'd be any grounds for a lawsuit, since your only grievance would be if you had an EEOC discrimination case, where you could show that your manager's mistreatment of you was because of your sex, race, religious, any of the EEOC categories. I suspect that your state's Employer Relations or Labor Board or any such entity deals mostly with union complaints and grievances. Any good attorney will tell you quickly if you have much of a case here to need an attorney for. Has anyone given you any feedback that the mistake you have made with this company was that you had a baby? That they do not promote women who have families?

A hostile work environment doesn't exactly mean they treat you unfairly or are not nice to you. As someone suggested, you can read up on this on line many places.

But I believe your only recourse here is to go to work each day and do this job to the very best of your abilities. Do not complain a lot about your rights or how you are being treated, as this is obviously causing you a lot of problems. Yes, it is legal for you to complain and tell other co-workers what terrible people they work for, but this will certainly cause you problems and clashes with the employer, and yes, it would be legal for them to fire you for doing this.

You can begin looking very hard for another job, and hopefully can get away from this one before things go from bad to worse. But if you are doing your best to do a good job, and you still get terminated, you've done all you could do, you don't have to feel bad about that. It appears to be in your future, unless you find another job and leave them first.

 

[cyjeff]

By the way, bringing a tape recorder, discussing your notebook of company faults and/or threatening a lawsuit are all career limiting behaviors.

that is my nice way of saying that if I had an employee that was causing this much ruckus and wasn't protected by law for what he/she was doing, they would be kicked to the curb.

Don't have time for this drama.

Threatening your company with a lawsuit BEFORE you have talked to a lawyer about its validity is a really stupid idea.