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I have a friend who recently lost her job through no fault of her own.
For many months her boss refused to speak with her unless cornered,
always wanted things either emailed or put into his mailbox, wouldn't
say hello or goodbye, and whenever she went to his office, if he was
joking around with others (most of the time), he would immediately
stop, glare at her and say "what?" in an icy tone. He told her that he
didn't like her and "to keep as far away as possible" from him, and he
gave everybody else in the department a Christmas bonus except her.
His final hostility was getting her laid off - even though they still
need her services and are getting others to do her job. It's a "free
will" state, but they are waiting for her to sign a document stating
that she will never sue them for anything or utter a nasty word about
them so that she can get severance pay. Then, they will hire someone
else. They have done it before. Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"? Any
information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
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I have a friend who recently lost her job through no fault of her own.
For many months her boss refused to speak with her unless cornered,
always wanted things either emailed or put into his mailbox, wouldn't
say hello or goodbye, and whenever she went to his office, if he was
joking around with others (most of the time), he would immediately
stop, glare at her and say "what?" in an icy tone. He told her that he
didn't like her and "to keep as far away as possible" from him, and he
gave everybody else in the department a Christmas bonus except her.
His final hostility was getting her laid off - even though they still
need her services and are getting others to do her job. It's a "free
will" state, but they are waiting for her to sign a document stating
that she will never sue them for anything or utter a nasty word about
them so that she can get severance pay. Then, they will hire someone
else. They have done it before. Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"? Any
information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
Not unless your work environment was made hostile because you rebuffed
sexual advances (or similar circumstances), or because of your gender, race,
age, religion, etc (protected classes). If your work environment was made
hostile because your boss did not like you, or because he did not think your
work was acceptable, or you did not get along with others, etc, then it is
unlikely that you have any recourse.
BTW, all states allow "free will", although some residents may choose to
believe in determinism. But not all states have "employment at will"
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"Parysia" <Parysia@aol.com> wrote in
news:ntev219aa5kqa8ua6f5rnv2skj46lq6f80@4ax.com:
I have a friend who recently lost her job through no fault of her own.
For many months her boss refused to speak with her unless cornered,
always wanted things either emailed or put into his mailbox, wouldn't
say hello or goodbye, and whenever she went to his office, if he was
joking around with others (most of the time), he would immediately
stop, glare at her and say "what?" in an icy tone. He told her that he
didn't like her and "to keep as far away as possible" from him, and he
gave everybody else in the department a Christmas bonus except her.
His final hostility was getting her laid off - even though they still
need her services and are getting others to do her job. It's a "free
will" state, but they are waiting for her to sign a document stating
that she will never sue them for anything or utter a nasty word about
them so that she can get severance pay. Then, they will hire someone
else. They have done it before. Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"? Any
information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
This will depend a lot on what state she's in. Her best bet would be to
find an attorney experienced in employment law and that offers a free
initial consultation. He should be able to tell her if she has any chance
of prevailing in a lawsuit.
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In article <ntev219aa5kqa8ua6f5rnv2skj46lq6f80@4ax.com>,
"Parysia" <Parysia@aol.com> wrote:
Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"?
Not likely. You can always have your friend spend an hour
talking with an attorney. It would probably be far more
profitable to sign the document, take the money, and then
think bad thoughts about this company. The problem is that
the hostility was just not liking the person, and it wasn't
due to grounds on one of the protected classes of discrimination.
There is no law against simply not liking someone else.
-john-
--
======================================================================
John A. Weeks III 952-432-2708 john@johnweeks.com
Newave Communications http://www.johnweeks.com
======================================================================
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On Wed, 09 Mar 2005 22:24:33 -0500 Parysia <Parysia@aol.com> whittled these
words:
Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"? Any
information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
The facts show a very unpleasant work environment, but that is not what is
meant by "hostile work environment." That term applies to special
protected situations e.g. sexual harrassment. Advise your friend to
celebrate the fact that she actully gets paid to be relieved of a
miserable job. Being ou of work is scary, but chances are she will get
something even better.
--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/
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Parysia <Parysia@aol.com> wrote:
I have a friend who recently lost her job through no fault of her own.
For many months her boss refused to speak with her unless cornered,
always wanted things either emailed or put into his mailbox, wouldn't
say hello or goodbye, and whenever she went to his office, if he was
joking around with others (most of the time), he would immediately
stop, glare at her and say "what?" in an icy tone. He told her that he
didn't like her and "to keep as far away as possible" from him, and he
gave everybody else in the department a Christmas bonus except her.
His final hostility was getting her laid off - even though they still
need her services and are getting others to do her job. It's a "free
will" state, but they are waiting for her to sign a document stating
that she will never sue them for anything or utter a nasty word about
them so that she can get severance pay. Then, they will hire someone
else. They have done it before. Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"? Any
information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
I see too problems here: her severance pay and the definition of a
hostile environment.
If this severance pay is an entitlement, then she has two options:
(1) negotiate for more money, e.g., if they are giving her one
month's pay, she asks for six months since she is giving up rights
not normally associated severance, OR (2) she contact the State Dept.
of Labor.
What is a hostile environment? My best guess is that a hostile
environment is whatever an attorney is able to convince a Judge
and/or a jury is a hostile environment.
I'm not sure a hostile manager constitutes hostile environment.
If it did, several hundreds of thousands of employees would be
filing law suits. However, being singled out for hostility may
be another issue.
Dick - I never was an attorney
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Dick Adams wrote:
What is a hostile environment? My best guess is that a hostile
environment is whatever an attorney is able to convince a Judge
and/or a jury is a hostile environment.
My friend has tried calling a couple of lawyers already but the first
one said she was too busy and seems to prefer sexual harassment cases.
The second one said he would call but hasn't. Neither lawyer has said
that she doesn't have a case. If the lawyers don't have much confidence
in this, there's no point in bludgeoning somebody to represent her.
One can always find a lawyer, but their reticence is rather worrisome.
And yet, from what she's seen, she's eligible! She really thinks that
she can make a good case against the manager. The whole damned company
can make a good case against him. She found the following quote:
Extreme and Outrageous Conduct
"There are times when the manner of termination or the employer's
conduct otherwise is so outrageous in character and so extreme in
degree that a reasonable person would consider the conduct atrocious
and going beyond all bounds of decency in a civilized society. It is
under these circumstances that a claim for outrageous conduct will
arise."
If his conduct isn't outrageous, then what is? Hitting people with
rocks? Knifing them? She is at a loss to figure out what is going on.
She is in a "fire at will" state, so if she doesn't have a case then
why are they terrified that she is going to sue them? They won't even
let her on the premises now unless she signs that document waiving her
rights.
Many thanks to all who responded.
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Parysia wrote:
Dick Adams wrote:
My friend has tried calling a couple of lawyers already but the first
one said she was too busy and seems to prefer sexual harassment cases.
The second one said he would call but hasn't. Neither lawyer has said
that she doesn't have a case. If the lawyers don't have much confidence
in this, there's no point in bludgeoning somebody to represent her.
One can always find a lawyer, but their reticence is rather worrisome.
And yet, from what she's seen, she's eligible! She really thinks that
she can make a good case against the manager. <snip>
Just a thought, and maybe an attorney here can comment.
She's called some attorneys but hasn't paid for a consultation. It seems
to me that a declartion that she has no case would amount to specific
legal advice, and if that were to be given in good faith, it would
require spending the time to get all the details and perhaps some
research. I would not expect an attorney to give her specific
information about whether or not she has a viable case without doing the
work to insure that the answer was professionally correct.
It does sound, though, like they think much of the idea. But I suspect
she's not likely to get an answer she can depend upon without paying for
the time.
--
Gerald Clough
"Nothing has any value, unless you know you can give it up."
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I have a friend who recently lost her job through no fault of her own.
For many months her boss refused to speak with her unless cornered,
It sounds like he was trying to avoid her and perhaps worried about some
frivolous lawsuit.
always wanted things either emailed or put into his mailbox, wouldn't
say hello or goodbye, and whenever she went to his office, if he was
joking around with others (most of the time), he would immediately
stop, glare at her and say "what?" in an icy tone. He told her that he
didn't like her and "to keep as far away as possible" from him,
He may have been worried about a sexual harassment lawsuit and thought it
best to stay far away from this female.
and he
gave everybody else in the department a Christmas bonus except her.
Did she deserve a bonus?
His final hostility was getting her laid off - even though they still
need her services and are getting others to do her job. It's a "free
will" state, but they are waiting for her to sign a document stating
that she will never sue them for anything or utter a nasty word about
them so that she can get severance pay.
Yes, they apparently recognised the symptoms of a female looking to file a
frivolous lawsuit and are being careful. They just want to get rid of this
trouble maker.
Then, they will hire someone
else. They have done it before. Would this be considered an
actionable case of "creating a hostile work environment"?
No. It's not illegal to dislike someone. Her feelings are irrelevant.
Any
information would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.
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