hostile work environment

neveradull

I have received a two week notice resignation letter from an employee who alleges as the reason for leaving "hostile work environment". In a six page attachment she states that she doesn't trust her supervisor, her evaluations listed minor performance issues and her supervisor micro-manages her. My understanding of "hostile work environment" is it must be in conjunction with an alleged violation of the law, ie. rase, age etc.. However, I can't help wondering if she isn't setting us up. I have documentation on all her many performance problems and counselling sessions and she says she has her own documentation,which she won't share, from the day she started work. I really don't want to talk to this person anymore or do another investigation but should I?

Down_the_Middle

While I believe the short answer is probably, YES, I think you would benefit from a short conversation with your legal counsel. The fact that you know of this allegation obligates you to determine whether it has merit. Failure to do anything and later realize that a genuine problem exists, will not work in your favor. Direct liability may certainly be imposed vs the employer and its supervisors for your failure to act now.

Margaret Morford

Be sure you make a request to see her documentation in writing, explaining that the company takes very seriously any allegations of hostile work enviroment, that if they prove to be true, the company has always dealt with these situations swiftly and strigently, etc. Let her refuse in writing or send her a further memo or letter stating that while you're concerned about these allegations, her refusal to share this information with the company ties it's hands to investigate and deal with the situation, etc. Build your file. I know you would rather not deal with this employee, but use written requests to make it easier on you. If you have any questions, call me at 615-371-8200.

Margaret Morford
theHRedge

Gillian

You are correct in that a "hostile work environment" in a legal sense must apply to sexual harassment, race harassment etc. The employee is probably using the words in the sense of "my supervisor is harassing me" when the supervisor is trying to get some work done. Of course, we know that sometimes supervisors don't do this appropriately so that the perception of harassment (generic) on the part of an employee may be logical.

You won't know, unless you talk to the employee, whether the harassment is the legal kind or one which fits the generic definition. It is necessary for you to talk to the employee, if for no other reason, that to ensure that you are not facing the legal type. Further, you may find out about some sort of interaction that has occurred between the employee and the supervisor which needs to be talked about with the supervisor. While it is easy to blame the employee, problems are often a two way street.