Hospital sold assets, my wife is a corporate employee, and she must stay.

[huge2na]

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


My wife is a corporate worker for a hospital that sold some assets (hospitals). She is the only employee that is corporate at her hospital other then my wife's boss that oversees 5 other hospitals in the area.

My wife was aware that the hospital was being sold and they told her originally that she would be laid off and that she would receive a severance. (She does not care about the severance but it was offered). My wife has this in writing.

They distinguished her as this different classification on many occasions. When she tried to use her card in the lunch room it was not on the same system as the regular employees since she was corporate. And when she had issues with employees taking inappropriate photos of her (upskirt) at the hospital she could not go to the hospital human resources she had to go to the corporate human resources in Tennessee (we are in PA). Also her health insurance is through Tennessee as well since she receives corporate health insurance. My wife also was not allowed to order supplies or even use the hospital IT department because they said she was corporate.

She was told 2 months ago that her hospital was being sold and she would receive severance pay. The date was never finalized and today they had a meeting. My wife was told she has been offered a job with the new company and she must take it and no severance will be offered. My wife's company still exists they only sold a few PA hospitals.

We feel she is being misclassified and sold to the new hospital much like a copy machine when in fact she does not work for the hospital as they have stressed many times in just the last 2 years.

She just wants a clean break, she does not care about the severance but really just wanted to part ways at this juncture. Does she have a leg to stand on to get laid off like they originally said they would? When we were first told of her impending layoff we sold our home and purchased another out of state. Her boss who is also corporate was not given to the hospital and she is allowed to stay on.


Thanks

 

[FlyingRon]

She can't force the employer to lay her off. If she wants to make a clean break, she should resign.

I won't bother addressing the other points since she seems to just want out rather than to address things as an employee.

 

[Zigner]

I *WILL* point out, however, that reporting the improper conduct ("upskirt" photos) of hospital employees to the hospital HR department was entirely correct.

 

[huge2na]

I *WILL* point out, however, that reporting the improper conduct ("upskirt" photos) of hospital employees to the hospital HR department was entirely correct.

This is the primary reason for her not wanting to stay on. It was never handled correctly and the person is still there. If she was forced to stay it would also put her on an even playing filed with the person that took these photos. In the past my wife had some insulation her own office etc. due to her corporate title.

 

[FlyingRon]

This is the primary reason for her not wanting to stay on. It was never handled correctly and the person is still there. If she was forced to stay it would also put her on an even playing filed with the person that took these photos. In the past my wife had some insulation her own office etc. due to her corporate title.

Ok, we're back to her staying. A LEVEL PLAYING FIELD is not a legal requirement. They are allowed to treat her differently because she is employed by a different organization. However, there indeed are requirements for them to address the misbehavior or the other employees as Zig indicated.

 

[xylene]

Your wife needs to consider a lawsuit to address the hostile workplace environment and unaddressed sexual harassment.

 

[Zigner]

Your wife needs to consider a lawsuit to address the hostile workplace environment and unaddressed sexual harassment.

To be fair, we don't actually know that the behavior wasn't addressed, nor do we know when the behavior occurred.

 

[huge2na]

To be fair, we don't actually know that the behavior wasn't addressed, nor do we know when the behavior occurred.

It occurred almost one year ago. Her workplace claimed they did not have the photos in question but a fellow employee forwarded her the photos 3 weeks after the incident. Her workplace played the blame the victim game (my wife) and the person that took the photos is still employed at the facility in the same capacity (a nurse). My wife went through grueling questioning about her attire when they had the photos the entire time. My wife has been a trooper through all of this. again she just wanted the clean break without causing too much of an issue.

 

[Zigner]

It occurred almost one year ago. Her workplace claimed they did not have the photos in question but a fellow employee forwarded her the photos 3 weeks after the incident. Her workplace played the blame the victim game (my wife) and the person that took the photos is still employed at the facility in the same capacity (a nurse). My wife went through grueling questioning about her attire when they had the photos the entire time. My wife has been a trooper through all of this. again she just wanted the clean break without causing too much of an issue.

Has the behavior stopped?
Termination of the accused employee is not a requirement.

 

[huge2na]

Has the behavior stopped?
Termination of the accused employee is not a requirement.

There is still harassment taking place, it stopped for a long period of time then began to come back ever so subtly. When new ownership comes it will most likely be full blown again.

 

[cbg]

There are no circumstances whatsoever in which the law requires an employer to fire an employee. There are circumstances in which it might be the wisest thing to do. There are even circumstances in which they might face some liability if they don't and something happens in future. But the fact that the person in question was not fired is not, in and of itself, evidence that things were handled improperly.

When and if any illegal behavior starts up, she can come here and we can evaluate her best options, which will be situation specific and not to be determined in a hypothetical. Until then, it's up to her. No one is stopping her from quitting if she wants to quit. She won't get unemployment if she does, but she can quit any time she wants to quit. But she cannot force them to lay her off.