Harrasment in the workplace

[LauraLey]

I would like to raise an issue that is not often talked about. We are so often dwelling on the terrorist attacks. Have we forgotten about the terrorism that happens here at home. Every day in every class of employment there are victims of one form of harassment or another. Harassment in the work place is becoming more prominent every day. It comes in many forms it could be by another employee, management, of customers. There are not enough laws governing these issues. To protect the employee from this type of "Home Front Terrorism". The EEOC has set standard guidelines that are adopted into the court system but there are very few actual laws.
If you were to take a poll, I'm sure you would find that more people than ever are trying to function in their daily lives dealing with this issue. We spend so much time dealing with the outside terrorism, our government has forgotten to take care of its own. I think its time to raise the issues, beyond saying that "He or She has gone Postal". There are legitimate reasons out there for someone to do just that. I know because I myself am a victim of such attacks. The very large corporation that I worked for have blamed myself during my four months of such acts and are now trying to move beyond and ignore it. Their solution was to terminate me. Now that I have raised the issue they do not want to answer my questions, or say that it took to long for them to take action or that the action they took against me was wrong. They say they are not to blame. In the mean time I'm jobless, going to be homeless. How do I explain that to my son? Further more what is it going to be like for him in the future when he goes to work? We need to let our employers know that this will not be tolerated any longer and raise the issues to our local and federal governments.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Unfortunately, harrassment is not something uncommon to many large corporations. As they have money to hire people that are knowledgeable, frequently the companies will try to shield important employees so as to protect the corporation from liability. I'm not saying it's the right thing. The only answer I can give people is to try to document harrassment as much as possible. If you are harrassed or need something to stop, send an e-mail to the human resources department. Do what you can do to protect your rights in a potential lawsuit.

 

[HardLife]

...The only answer I can give people is to try to document harrassment as much as possible. If you are harrassed or need something to stop, send an e-mail to the human resources department. Do what you can do to protect your rights in a potential lawsuit.

How do you document and make a case about what is going on when it is all behind your back?

I have worked at the same place for the past 10 1/2 years. I am compensated well and have a good supervisor. The work is varied and interesting and although I do not like the high school atmosphere, I feel the organization has been good to me and I have produced good results. I have received employee of the quarter and get good performance evaluations.

I have a skin condition that has left me with facial scars. Thanks to dermatology and the cinema, people with scars like mine are deemed sinister and evil in the media. I have been made fun of for years because of my skin problem and have been left with a low self esteem. I recognize I am an easy target and have become very thick skinned in dealing with it. It still hurts me very badly though.

Consequently I believe some malicious lies about my integrity have been spread behind my back at this organization, but I have no proof. I do not want to open pandoras box by asking co-workers what they have heard about me, so I have chosen to be dignified and to ignore the false witness that I believe has been bore against me. This approach has hurt me because my silence has only made people gossip about me more.

The most recent and really unbarable insult to my character has been over the past 2 years. Gossip was the spread that I smell bad by a man in the cubicle next to mine. I shower daily, wash my clothes, use deoderant and have never before been told by anyone that I smell bad. I do agree the office has some toxic air. My cube is located near the kitchen and food smells waft down the hall. We also have overhead vents that bring down toxic air from the bathrooms. I just dealt with it because I am not a complainer.

Now that this person has vocally spread the idea that I smell bad, I am harrased almost daily by people holding their nose, clearing their throat and other rude comments as they walk past my cube. I am now reduced to the equivalent of spoiled milk. It is similar to when someone asks you "does this milk smell bad". Even if it doesn't, the idea is planted in your head that the milk is bad so inevitable it does smell bad. I really believe these people do not like me because of the way I look but do not want to admit it. In order to justify their need to dislike me they have come up with this and other lies.

Because of this most recent harrassment I turned down a lead position (and higher salary) offered by my supervisor. I just knew that I could not be effective when people on my own team were rude and disrespectful behind my back. I did however make a comment on a (supposedly anonomous) survey about the need to address work place harrassment.

The worst and even more painful part of he story is that I overheard bits and pieces of conversations that meetings have been heald by HR with other employees about me and the smells. The outcome (again overheard) was that the smellyness wasn't me.

I was not invited to these meetings or even told about them. I cannot believe that it is wise or legal to do this, as this is a very large organization, but it was done. I am now at my wits end about what to do and what type of documentation to get or create.

I have been aggressively applying on-line for jobs to get away from this circus but, at 49, I have gotten very few interviews. I am worried that reference checks with some of these sophmoric clowns by recruiters have ruined my chances forever.

Part of me wants to get evidence of this maliciousness and take legal action (even though I'm really not a vindictive person) because of the principal of it all. I treat people nicely, am cordial and try to be helpful... but still get the cold sholder at work. I have no sinister or evil anything in my background and am one of the most honest and moral people that they will ever meet. And I am still nice to these bearers of false witness, except to the person that started the rumor. I do not acknowledge or speak to him.

I have thought of asking personnel to transfer me out of this department as I am sure there are other jobs I can do, but without real concrete evidence of harrassment I'm not sure if that might end up ruining my career. Usually I can come up with a solution but this harrassment situation has so worn me down I just feel like quitting, but I know that I can't.

 

[Beth3]

I would like to raise an issue that is not often talked about. We are so often dwelling on the terrorist attacks. Have we forgotten about the terrorism that happens here at home. Every day in every class of employment there are victims of one form of harassment or another. Harassment in the work place is becoming more prominent every day. It comes in many forms it could be by another employee, management, of customers. There are not enough laws governing these issues. To protect the employee from this type of "Home Front Terrorism". The EEOC has set standard guidelines that are adopted into the court system but there are very few actual laws.
If you were to take a poll, I'm sure you would find that more people than ever are trying to function in their daily lives dealing with this issue. We spend so much time dealing with the outside terrorism, our government has forgotten to take care of its own. I think its time to raise the issues, beyond saying that "He or She has gone Postal". There are legitimate reasons out there for someone to do just that. I know because I myself am a victim of such attacks. The very large corporation that I worked for have blamed myself during my four months of such acts and are now trying to move beyond and ignore it. Their solution was to terminate me. Now that I have raised the issue they do not want to answer my questions, or say that it took to long for them to take action or that the action they took against me was wrong. They say they are not to blame. In the mean time I'm jobless, going to be homeless. How do I explain that to my son? Further more what is it going to be like for him in the future when he goes to work? We need to let our employers know that this will not be tolerated any longer and raise the issues to our local and federal governments.

There are laws that prohibit discrimination and harassment in the workplace and they have been in place for quite a few years now. Not every form of harassment is prohibited though. Since you have provided no information as to why you were being harassed and what form it took, it's impossible to advise you whether anything illegal took place.

As to whether the government should regulate all forms of behavior in the workplace, that is not the government's role nor should it be.

 

[calalily]

Response to HardLife

You should have taken the job. Then they would see the problem wasn't you. If HR had meetings about you then they already know there's a problem and should be willing to transfer you. How about getting that vent overhead closed so the smells can't come through it. OR be bold and hang an air freshener from it to make a statement. Ask to have your desk moved to somewhere else away from the smelly vent and kitchen. Also, talk to your supervisor about what is going on and how you feel about it. If they were willing to promote you then they may be willing to help you get through this difficult time. Ask them to speak with the other employees. You can even request that you be there when they do. Contact your HR office if your supervisor is unwilling to help you with this problem. Document everything you do through email and save hard copies to a file. For example, after you speak to your supervisor follow up in email saying thank you for speaking with me today about......I will take your suggestions into consideration, (name suggestions). Send the email with a notice that the person has received it and opened it. Print out confirmation, print out hard copy of email and keep in a file. Do this every step of the way. Even when you contact HR. Good luck.

 

[calalily]

What I mean by email notice

What I mean by email notice is that your email should have options or features on how you want to send an email. You want to be notified that the email your sending has been received and opened by the recipient. That is for your records and documentation. Hope that is clear.