I actually posted comment #77, but I looked at it and I forgot to write what I got written up for. well, we all did in our department for not smiling. can you believe this stupid reason?

Well what I feel this new administrator is trying to do, is to get rid of all employees who been there long enough somehow so that they can get new people for less pay due to the reason us oldie employees earn a decent, well deserved pay. our department is clean and they can't really find anything wrong going on in our department because we try our best to do what we are supposed to do.

somehow it seems as if they want to force something in our records to somehow slowly get rid of us and avoid paying unemployment benefits and save money. the root of all this is money due to the economy and the crisis that this nursing home is going through, plus this new administrator is trying to appear as a big shot at us.

honestly I believe that 90 percent of all employees feel stressed and under pressure. we take all this hostility due to the economy crisis but enough is enough when they try to play us dirty.

like I said, I've been working for this nursing home for seven years and when I started working there I woke up feeling happy to work there and I did my best to grow within the company. I stepped up from one position to becoming a manager for my department.

tell me, how do they expect us to smile with things like this? what do they know about our personal lives? what if, god forbid, something terrible had recently happened in my life or I feel bad for some bad news of a friend or coworker?

I have already made my best effort in attending work and being with the residents and faking as much possible a smile and performed my job as best I can and maybe they caught me one day for a minute not smiling. maybe I was worried or thinking what do. they don't know what was going through my mind at that moment.

I am human and I feel just like anyone else. what do they expect me to do -- glue my smile from cheeks to ears to keep the management happy so that every second they look at me I'm smiling? this makes me feel pressured and stressed and I can't even sleep.

honestly, I'm going through a lot in my personal life. I've been married for seven, almost eight, years and I am recently separated.

I went trough psychology because I tried to commit suicide and then my dad lost his job after 28 yrs of working at one place. my mom and I are trying to help out with house payments and I'm now a single mother, plus my baby's father doesn't really help me financially and I struggle with babysitting, plus I got a weekend temp job to support all this and I put up with all of it. plus I truly believe I am a damn good worker and I do my best. even during my write up they told me I do a great job but I need to smile.

residents comment on my smile all the time, as how my smile makes their day, and how beautiful my smile is, which is what matters more than anything -- how the residents feel about us employees and now this new manager comes in and starts judging by first impressions.

seriously, it's crazy how all this is coming down. I feel very stressed over this because I have tried my best to keep my record clean and for this new manager to come and mess it up with the most stupid and insane reason, I don't know what else to do.

I'm not the only one that feels this way, but somebody has to do something with this unfairness and hostility.

Please, please help us.

I currently work for a nursing home in elmhurst illinois. i've been working there for seven years and i've seen managers come and go.

when i first started working there everything was going ok. we had a few issues here and there nothing huge. well, within a few months all that changed in this year. not so long ago about a month or so they fired our administrator who had been there for about three or four years. the reasons aren't clear but the thing is that the very next day they had a new administrator.

well after this administrator came in he has been creating what i came to learn by this article a hostile work environment.

This new administrator, two or three weeks after he started working here, he came to our department and threatened us with writing us up if we don't smile every day all day if he caught us not doing so.

Well today all of our department got writeen up for this stupid reason. plus not only our department has been affected by this, but also other departments. he fired a manager and her assistant for a gossip that two co-workers created without listening to the manager and her assistant's side of story. plus he also threatened the employees of that department by firing them if they didn't agree with working the schedule that he set up for them three days after telling them when i believe he should have given them at least a two week notice of all changes, especially considering those who needed to make babysitting arrangements and for those who don't use public transportation to go work. But he didn't consider the impact that would make on the employees' lives when these employees after so many years working the same schedule had their personal lives working out by that schedule along with their personal lives.

my whole point here is this new administrator comes in starts moving around things and threatening with the little knowledge of how things been running there. to me he is just a new person coming in moving around trying to make all these changes to our work environment without getting to know it just so that he can feel like a manager.

back then we all (employees) used to feel happy coming to work and served our seniors the way they deserve. we were happy employees. now with all this pressure and threats we aren't working comfortably. i've already heard so many employees in all departments saying they want to quit. i've seen employees cry and walk out and i really believe something needs to be done with all this hostility and unfairness.

Please help us, I beg you!

I work at a major retailer. I have been employed with this company for 18 years. At present I am a supervisor for this company. We have a new assistant manager that started with the company less than a year ago and has been at our store for about six months.

Since this assistant manager arrived at our store there have been several team members including supervisors that have been targeted by this assistant manager with unnecessary write-ups, which has forced some into resigning.

This assistant has told other supervisors that I am a b**** and has left emails to my store manager stating that I am emotionally unstable. Which apparently my manager and assistant manager have discussed, by what I surmised by reading the e-mail he left open and I happened across.

I printed a copy of this e-mail when I discovered it because I knew at this time this was inappropriate behavior on the part of my management team. I know this because I am the human resource supervisor.

I have tried to have conversations with the manager of my store and he has not helped me out. I know that I and another long term supervisor (16 years) are being targeted by this assistant manager and we feel are being pushed to resign or will soon be fired because of the treatment we are receiving.

Every day when we arrive at work there are new rules. I believe this is creating a hostile work environment for us.

I work for a retirement community where I reported a situation. I came in to work to show a video of a trip that me and a fellow co-worker took. When I went to review the video tape, I noticed that my recorder had been recording. I left my recorder in the office where my boss and a manager in training were sitting and having a conversation but then I noticed that the conversation had turned to be about me.

I was very confused, but in this conversation my boss stated that if I weren't there then things would be much better off. He said he spoke to the director of HR about this and seemed upset that there was no action taken. Well than the conversation turned for the worse when the manager in training said, "If that b**** wasn't here then all we would have to put up with were two other female employees."

I was very upset with what I heard and went to the HR director right away. Well long story short they suspended me and stated that I meant to record this video and it was against company procedures. Ever since my director has been treated me very unfairly and wrote me up two months later and this right up stated that the next time that I would be fired. I don't know what to do. Please help!

I worked at McDonalds in Nevada and was constantly called stupid by the manager. I finally quit and had to apply for unemployment since I have a family. I would like to file a complaint but not sure who to report this to.

Thank you.

I am a Clubhouse/Activities Coordinator for a CDD community in Florida my was hired by a 5 member board for this position 1 year ago and everything was just great. The Board had asked the Chair to supervise me until my probationary period ended. The Chair for the past 10 months has been on a power trip. He has changed my time sheet to remove and refuse to pay overtime hours. He has mad derogatory comments regarding my hair color etc. He has yelled at me in the presence of residents. He has threatened me with "at will" employment and has threatened to present to the board on 2 occasions that I be terminated. He has answered my emails in a a derogatory manner to residents. I have asked him on 3 separate occasions to work thing out and start fresh, each time he apologized and within a week at most he was back to his belligerent self.

While I was on a 3 day vacation during the time of a monthly board meeting, he presented to the board that I be terminated along with the Management company who he had developed a dislike for when they refused to fire me months earlier.

Fortunately, the rest of the board are of ethics and morals and requested he no longer be my supervisor and asked another board member to take over. I thought everything would be fine and it was until the chair began harassing the supervisor in charge of me. She received screaming phone messages and constant e-mails still trying to be in charge over me. She could no longer take his constant harassment and she resigned from the board.

I was then given another board member to supervise me and she has been great. She refuses to allow him to manipulate her or micro manage any aspect of my job. The board has ordered him to leave me alone and stop harassing me, he still finds ways to do so behind the scene..

I was injured in a slip and fall accident on about a month ago while shopping at a local grocery store for an event that evening at work. I was paid for my visit to the emergency room and was told when I went to the specialist needed for my injury that I would be paid. The chair changed my hours and took a sick day from me for payment of that day.

Other than those two ER and Dr visits I worked everyday after my accident until the 7th of October when the chair put me on forced medical leave until I could obtain a work release letter from my Dr. It took two 1/2 days before I was able to speak with my Dr. PA and have the letter faxed. (My specialist is a 3 hour drive from my residents.)

I had chosen not to engage workers comp because I was afraid of further retaliation from the chair and I had heard that if a settlement is made with workers comp you must vacate your employment.

However, in order to be paid from these missed days and the chairs involvement in the forced leave, I had no alternative but to engage with workers comp. I then missed more time from work when sitting at the workers comp Doctors office (a walk in clinic) for 4 1/2 hours.

The workers comp Dr. stated I was receiving treatment from the best possible facility in Florida and he recommended I continue with the "Florida Spine Institute" in Clearwater.

I understand I have gone into two separate scenarios starting with the harassment issues and going into the workers comp issues, however my main concern is the harassment. Is this considered a hostile environment? and what are my rights? What should I do to protect myself?

I do have three of the 5 board members on my side but until the chair is removed from the board I do not feel safe. I forgot to mention that as a CDD board member, legally he is not to hold office hours (statute #190) and the majority of what he does in the office is about 1/3 to 1/2 of my job description. Please help! Thank you

I work as a school bus driver for a county school district. We employ about 45 people. One of the drivers gets special treatment from the boss. She used to work for him many years ago. After many complaints about her by lots of other drivers we think they are having an affair because nothing is ever done. It is against policy for him to fraternize with subordinates. This week we found a cell phone on a spare bus she used. Guess what? Explicit text including pornographic pics of her sent to him. Are we working under a hostile environment because she is treated with kid gloves and never reprimanded for anything she does?

I work for a private company and went on a work outing and the boss wanted to go to a strip club and I said no but others went. I work in the financial world and this is not looked at well from upper management. Since then he has made my life at work a nightmare and I'm breaking down. I'm not comfortable being in the group any longer and the stress is killing me. What actions can I take to sue this company for this? This company is a very prominent company in the investment world and has 44,000 employees. Please help.

Today I was confronted by the owner of my work who told me i was fired. When I asked what the reason was he explained that he didn't like my answering machine message. He saw me hand my fiance my paycheck so that he could deposit it into our joint bank account because i was stuck at work saturday and bank was closed sunday. Boss said that he pays me and not him. He told me to stay away from my friend or i was going to be fired. Obviously I wasn't going to stay away from a friend. my fiance owns a social networking site for gamblers. he said he wants nothing to do with gamblers and that we were low life scum. This one i was shocked by.

I recently switched shifts at my job and a person who has been given some responsibility and power before I switched has been really unprofessional. She repeatedly asks me If I know what I'm doing, going to far as to stand behind me and watch what I'm doing, waiting until I go to the bathroom and break to go over to my computer and look at what I'm working on. Finally the other day she comes out to me in the break room and yells at me in front of about five other employees. To be clear this person is *not* a supervisor, but is friends with one. She has not even been working for the company as long as I have and is just being a rude person. I've been told she doesn't like it that I'm there and doesn't want me there. She also doesn't seem to like it that I'm getting along with other people in the department. I've talked to my supervisor and she's told me she'll have a solution tomorrow but I'm afraid for my job. I've worked here for nine years. I'm a single mom, and the ice cream on the top of the cake is she's talking about moving so she's not even going to stick around.

I am in a quandary about what to do. As I work for an orthopedic firm in Sarasota, I have become all too familiar with the term "hostile work environment". Not only am I threatened with being terminated every day I come to work, but instead of taking me aside, my so called "boss" not only wrote me up but reprimanded me in front of other employees. I would love to know what course of action to take.

I just recently quit at a daycare center I was working at. The director was a bit harsh at time but I dealt with it from March to September. I submitted my two weeks' notice to be considerate of the position. I was asked to stay, it was only for three days and during that time I was told that the cost of the children's toilet paper and paper towels would be removed out of my paycheck as well as other items for the classroom. During the summer I was asked by the director is I had planned a schedule, I said yes. She said that I didn't need to because it was summer and basically to live a little. State came and my schedule was wrong due to this change. I was reprimanded with a slap from the director on the hand. If she was not so hard to work for I would have stayed. I loved the kids and the fellow workers. i am still unemployed and looking but having a hard time finding something. Can I draw unemployment until I find something?

Hi, I am a cashier in a retail store, I have been working for this store for twenty years, and a new employee, who is a friend of the store manager is always watching what i do at my cashwrap. this is making me feel very uncomfortable, I believe that he makes false reports to the loss prevention because they watch me indirectly also. I am feeling so very uncomfortable, I went to the store manager and told her what was going. he stopped for about a week, but he has started doing it again. when I am checking my customer out he walks by and watches and then he gets on the phone. I am a mature honest woman. why should i be treated that way? Please advise how to handle this problem.

I would like to see the answer to one of the previous questions as I am in the same situation. How do I find out what to do? My question concerns a hostile work environment created by the supervisor of a county work place. This job is an at will job, and she holds that over my head. What used to be a great place to work is now one where I come to work not knowing what to expect. The supervisor was caught having an affair and she blames me for it. She continually is trying to have me fired. She makes the department very hard to work in. I also have letters to friends stating she wants me to die. What do I do? She is also aware that I have seizures due to a surgery and I believe she is trying to make sure I quit because of my health. What do I do? It's a hard place to work but I need my job.

I have a union steward who is going around spreading lies and rumors about me and my intentions simply out of spite. Now I'm being threatened by other co-workers. I have received death threats as well as threats against my person and property. Does this constitute a "Hostile Workplace?" And if so what should I do? What are my rights?

My question concerns a hostile work environment created by the director of a county work place. This job is an at will job, and she holds that over the head of all the workers. What used to be a great place to work is now one where people come to work not knowing what to expect. The director will ask if there are any questions on some new policy and if you do question the policy you are brought in to the office where she goes ballistic. One employee was written up for asking a question about a policy. Is the at will a dead end for the workers? We don't trust our human resources person to keep anything confidental. We are all at our wits' end. Any suggestions?

I was working for a US MNC which was having its branch outside US. My manager was involved in financial misappropriation of funds. He purchased sub-standard items and made us work and rectify those things which was not at all possible. Then he started harassing and when I reported this matter to higher ups, he created a situation and made me leave the company about a year and half back. From then onwards, I am not able to get any job because the country where I am living does not have too many opernings. I don't know what to do.

My boss's husband (who has *nothing* to do with the place I work), keeps coming into my room and basically degrading me and my coworker. His wife, who is my actual boss, lets him speak to the girls at my work this way.

He has called me stupid and worthless. Whenever he sees you out in public and sees that you are avoiding him, he chases you down because he finds it funny. Instead of saying my name, he will whistle and carry on about the smallest things. When he gets called out, he gets upset and treats us even worse.

We have actually had girls quit because of him. Today, he sent someone who because they didn't have any time to do an activity he wanted completed, because we were short-staffed. He followed my class and me all around today. He yells at the females at work.

To make everything worse, they refuse to fire people because they don't want to pay unemployment. They seriously make your life a living hell there, until you finally quit. They change your hours, they make you do all of the work they don't want to do, they will put you on "split shift".

They are completely unprofessional and if they are upset with you, they refuse to talk to you and talk about you behind your back to other employees.

We have actually had parents complain because of the way he treats the staff. I don't know what to do with this situation.

What about an employee who accuses you of a hostile work environment when you approach him regarding his behavior towards others? His behavior is actually creating a very unpleasant environment for everyone. What do you do?

I work in the medical field. I witnessed when a nurse got attacked while another nurse was in the room. the nurse who was in the room has training and has taught others on how to prevent nurses from getting attacked. Then after the nurse was hit, instead of doing something, this nurse just says, "Did she just hit you?" I reported that to my boss and now this nurse and my boss are making it hard for me. what can i do?

I informed my boss that I had just learned that I had to be out on a four week medical leave. I was giving him one week's notice. He shouted at me, stating that this was not a good time for him because he is very busy and he will have to do everything. My surgery was not optional. he was pretty much horrible to me even though i have a coworker that i made aware of all of my outstanding projects. while i was out on leave he was overheard talking to someone about my medical issues and how stupid i was to take a month off while there were pending layoffs. this was reported directly to HR by the legal dept. since i'm back from my leave for three weeks now my boss refuses to speak to me, keeps his door shut, backs up into his office when he sees me coming down the hall. he had been put on notice by HR while i was out of the office. The environment is so oppressive now. Is this a hostile work environment? do i need to speak with HR about this again? i have six years of outstanding performance appraisals. how do i find an attorney in NYC to help me with this?

I too noticed that most questions concern an employee who is having a problem with a manager or supervisor.

What about the other way around: an employee who goes out of their way to antagonize their manager.

Furthermore - the subordinate sends e-mails out to all division employees and management making comments in an effort to discredit his supervisor.

I have a question....

When you are ina situation that turns one employee against another and aloows this typemof behavior is that considered a "Hostil Work Ennironment"? I work in a smll office anmd one of the co-workes continues to giver me the silent treantment, not giving me phone messages or when a person calls does not tell me who they are its just "it's for you" and the boss allows that is that qualify?

at my work i was asked to work in a support capacity for the ambulance company i work for at the rhode island special olypics torch run. i worked two jobs at the time and my employer was notified of this at the time of employmet and he stated he understood. so i told him over the phone that i was unable to do so because i would be working from 5 am to 2 am the next morning if i did what he was asking and i would be too much. he then told me that i was not to come in for my regular shift the next day because he planned on me going to the torch run and he refused to put me back in the standard rotation as i was before the request. i was sent home that week with 23 hours for the week. i am a full time employee mind you. after that i was on the target list as i call it. i was responsible for every thing that went wrong within the division i was assigned to according to him for months after. also i and other employees have been written up for breaking rules that dont exist. i.e. there is no written standard operating procedures for anything. al rules that supposedly exist are by word of mouth.for example, if i were to be chewing gum at work, and my boss was in a bad mood i would be written up for it even though there is no rule stating i cannot. i have volounteered to take time to help him in the task of creating an sop book but it never came about. there is too much to list as far as other happenings. i am still currently employed at the company but am affraid to go to work and do anything because what is ok or acceptable oneday isn't the next. i never know what is rite or wrong. i cant deal anymore but in todays job market it is too hard to find work and i am affraid i am doomed to be subjected to this for a while.

What if my manager is framing me up and proving that i am inefficient to work out of personal hatred/ insecurity?

In my earlier organisation i ahve been awarded 'performance excellence award.'

and my new office is completely depressing as my boss is snobbish and complains that i behave rudely with her!

I recently was written up at work by my boss. I was devastated by this and now I'm angry. She accused me of lying to her, which she has done several times before. This time however I stood my ground and confronted her. I was not disrespectful but humble.

Then I called our Regional Director and complained to him about her actions. I was written up because she stated I told her that we were 100 percent current on nursing nicenses. I did not tell her that all. She also was angry that I forwarded our safety review to the norporate office for the quarterly paper without her reviewing it prior to sending it.

First off she never told me that I needed to have her review my work. This is where the lie comes in.

She stated that she gave me a note stating that she ask me to place the draft in her mail box. I threw that note away. The note only stated to give her my Best Safety Practice report, not my draft of the safety report for corporate.

Our Regional Director told me he would be in to speak to her on Wednesday and that he felt it was his fault she thought we were 100 percent on our nurses because at the meeting he told everyone we were.

I told him that was not what she had said when she wrote me up. She said that he e-mailed him the information. He stated that was not true. Have I cooked my goose or what. I'm scared she is targeting me. However I heard from a source she was being fired soon. Help. What do I do? I love my job.

I also heard from a sourse that she was told at the same meeting by the Regional Director that he hated her and wanted her gone. Should I be worried?

I am interested in the responses to a situation previously posted as follows:

"48I notice that most questions concern an employee who is having a problem with a manager or supervisor.

What about the other way around...an employee who goes out of their way to antagonize their manager... anon37932"

furthermore - the subordinate sends e-mails out to all division employees and management making comments in an effort to discredit his supervisor.

I work for an employee-owned company. They seemed very nice until I got injured on the job. I have been going back and forth with physical therepy, yet still working an "Acommodated job" that keeps changing. It seems like they want me to quit by giving me jobs outside in high heat, or in meat coolers with extream cold. They are not taking me seriously with my injury. When I comment they just say things like, "now what is your problem", or "you're making this difficult, don't you want to work or something" or my favorite "I am not going to give you a job you prefer, I don't have to create that kind of work enviroment, just one that accommodates your limitations which you keep going back to your doctors to change." The point I keep stressing is I am here every day doing a job they put me in, and keep coming back. I have given up weekends with family because those are the hours you have for me to work, and I spend four hours a day in physical therepy to get better and go back to my old job. Why? I keep having to prove myself. Then when I log a complaint it goes unanswered because the store director and my direct manager are brother-in-laws.(I found this out today, but didn't know before I asked to speak to the director.) Corperate office HR doesn't believe me. They say "We were not there. We don't know what was said or done". So what do I do? Return to the hostile environment? In a meeting I had with the store director, he asked me how my 18 year old son liked his job with Hy-vee? It seemed to stress at the time maybe he was threatening me by using his job.

Help! If I leave the job I get paid no benefits and my insurance goes through the roof. I know they ensure my medical gets paid but how do I get another job with a back injury to pay my bills? This is so stressful.

My question is, if an angry, stealing, lying co-worker and a boss who refuses to do anything about her constitute a hostile work environment. I work in a very small law firm, just the attorney, myself (his secretary), another secretary and a part-time, disbarred attorney doing the litigation paperwork. The part-time attorney comes in angry (no particular reason), slurring her words, cursing and yelling regardless of whether clients are in the office, and has stolen personal items off the desks of both myself and the other secretary and has also written out checks on the sly. She also calls both of us constantly on the days she isn't in with wild tales and gossip about her family and other people which we don't believe. Basically she is a pathological liar. She told my co-worker that I went on a drinking binge after my dog died (totally untrue), and told my boss that I brag about extra money he gives me (also untrue). She calls other people as well with these stories. Once she physically slammed into me in the hallway because I asked her to wait till I was finished with a client before typing something for her. She also invites me to visit her on the Jersey Shore and spend the night. My boss just says that none of this is any of his business. Right now she's on a particular rampage against me and I have concerns for my physical safety, my reputation and my car. I have started documenting these incidents. Could someone please advise me of my options right now and if I end up getting fired. Thanks!

I notice that most questions concern an employee who is having a problem with a manager or supervisor.

What about the other way around...an employee who goes out of their way to antagonize their manager.

Purposely acting like they do not know how to do their job, and the manager goes out of his/her way to help this person and when it comes down to the wire and the manager is left with no choice but to discipline the employee the employee cries harassment

I work for a major company as a department manager. We have a new boss at our business who I got along with for about 1 week and then I became ill. After going to the doctor I found out I was going to have to have several tests run and that I could possibly be off work for quite some time. I called and spoke with my boss and informed him what was going on. After he hung up the phone with me he discussed my medical situation with several people at work. Upon my return to work I asked him to please not discuss my medical business with other people. Since that day he has treated me horribly.

If I ask for extra help due to larger than normal orders, I am told no we can't add any more hours to the schedule. That same day the exact person that I asked for to help in my department was allowed to work additional hours in another department. This has happened repeatedly.

If I attempt to have a work related conversation with him, I am lucky if I get a one word response from him and he just walks away.

He constantly changes his expectations of what he wants me to do. One week he will tell me that I need to be doing Job A first thing on Monday morning and not Job B. So the following Monday when I come in I will start doing Job A first, but he will come in and tell me that job is not a priority and I need to do Job C. The following Monday it is the same routine. To the point I feel he is just changing things up because he can.

He has disciplined me for supposed infractions that I didn't commit but other employees commit on a daily basis, yet nothing is said or done to them.

He has literally lied to his boss telling him that I did something that someone else did in an attempt to have me fired. That other person admitted that they were the person who did it, yet nothing was ever said to that other employee.

If I have help scheduled to work with me, he is constantly pulling that help to go to other areas to work and then demeaning me because I am not getting enough done.

I went to work, worked about an hour the other day and got violently sick. No higher management person was there yet that day and it would be over an hour before they showed up, so I informed the highest ranking person in the offices that I was ill and needed to go home. This is procedure for our workplace. Now he is attempting to have me fired for "walking off the job".

I have attempted to talk to his boss about the problem, but he doesn't want to discuss it without him (my boss) being present because he isn't there to defend himself.

To top it off I injured myself at work recently and although I wanted to just go to my doctor and deal with the injury on my own, I was advised that I needed to file a Worker's Comp claim because if my insurance found out that I got hurt at work they would not cover the bills. Other employees harass me due to my restrictions daily, management is aware of this harassment, but will do nothing to stop it. Sadly, I am doing more than I probably should be with my restrictions and even that isn't good enough.

It has become a daily problem that is making me depressed and sick. I love my job, I am very good at my job, but am being hindered so that I cannot perform my job. Every job evaluation I have ever had has been glowing & my department continues to have sales increases yearly.

I have worked for this same company for 7 years and have never been reprimanded for anything. I have never had an attendance problem or a problem with tardiness.

I have looked deep into myself to see if there is anything I can correct with me to make the situation better. It doesn't matter what I do or attempt to do. I feel that this my boss is making my work environment hostile, but would like the opinion of a third party looking in.

I work for a police dept. I applied for the records position as well as a fellow co worker. I am white, she is black. I have background training in the records dept, she does not. She calls off all the time, and is highly unqualified for the position. The village clerk who has just been appointed that position is close friends with the black co-worker. The village clerk is also black. It was rumor that I would get the postion due to the training and I am qualified for the job. The co-worker and the village clerk have had private closed door meetings over the position and are now stating it is a race issue if she does not get the position. The village clerk is now stepping in stating she will be assisting in the decision making for the job and will be apart of the interview process. What can I do?

I work in a warehoue for a Kentucky family based business. There family name has been in this town for about a 100 years. My question is this. I was hired in to this company with a air-conditioned warehouse facility. The company has now chosen to shut the the air off for the summer. It gets up to 90 degrees or even 95 degrees in there. Is this considered working in a harmful enviroment even when the air has been cut off for the summer. This was a decision made by the owner for budget reasons. Even though I was hired into a air-conditioned environment, is this legal? And what are my rights as an employee?

I just recently quit my job from a Tampa based Oil Company. That I have worked for, for the past 5 years. I couldn’t take the treatment and abuse any longer. I have been told to shut the bleep up, and if I didn’t like it that I could just bleeping leave. Been called a joke and told that I wasn’t doing my work. When I was! It is a family owned business and the daughters do not come in on a regular basis, leaving the workload on the non-related employees who do come to work. When I got behind because I had more then one person's job duties sitting on my desk, they yelled at me and told me to step up to the plate. The GM is very moody and lashes out at all the office personnel and even the drivers. It was so stressful, that in the morning I would often throw up and even just simply cry. My blood pressure was up and I suffered from nerves and depression. And since I have quit, I have had none of the above issues. I stayed only because I have three children that I have to feed and provide a home for. Finally, I had enough and walked out on May 11th. They even denied my unemployment. Now, my worst fears are happening. I have been evicted from my apartment and it is a daily struggle to even feed my kids. I have heard and seen them in the past, basically treat people like garbage just so they would quit and they could deny their unemployment. I have even heard them say that’s what they were doing on purpose. And in the past five years I have trained 14 girls, just to watch them walk out because of the treatment. The worst part is the racism. They say the “N” word and it is apparent that they are racist. The drivers know it and see it, but what can they do? They also have families. I am currently filing a complaint with the EEOC for them on the racism part. But what can I do? Because so far as I can see, there are no laws protecting people like me who just can’t take the hostile environment any longer. And with the economy like it is, I have not been able to find another job. Also with the bad economy, they are losing business daily. I know they were just trying to make me quit because they are losing their business and money. And also because they still have not hired anyone to replace my position. Are there any laws that I am not aware of to protect people from harassment, badgering and a hostile work environment?

A person who has been employed by a private school for 22 years without issues. New school administration comes in and does not allow her to be in the building in her office without the new principal and representatives of the board of education present... Is this a hostile work environment?

I do not know if this qualifies as a hostile workplace enviroment...

I work at a private school providing security and this being the summer time, we, have hired some summer security personnel. One summer employee is an ex-student and is constantly talking trash about the regular security staff behind their backs. I am also included in this trash talk. My immediate boss had come to see me personally and loudly to find out if I had a firearm in my possession. When I had told my boss that there was no firearm and was requested by me to tear my room apart and inspect he said no and also stated "if I hear/see that you have a firearm you will be fired immediately". What are my options? In Michigan where I live the economy is very bad and jobs are hard to come by.

Is a boss that screams at you and belittles you and cusses at you in front of other employee's something that has to be tolerated?

I have accepted work thru a Temp Agency. I have been working for this company as a receptionist since Feb. In May the company extended my services.

My lady boss, who was very welcoming & supportive for the first 5 wks has turned into a very hateful person. I cannot do anything to please her. I remain very respectful to her but she makes me feel very uncomfortable. She will not answer her phone or return any of my calls. This makes my job difficult when having to announce guests to her office. She went so far as to throw a gift I gave her in her trash here at work for me to see. I have contacted my Temp Agency and I was told just to keep doing what I'm doing. The new Director of the bldg told me that every Temp that has been hired has been fired. I was told this was a Temp to Hire position and was hoping for a permanent job. I tried discussing this with the new director but he really doesn't seem to be interested. I think he spoke to her because I have noticed a change in her tone when she absolutely has to answer me. But if looks could kill, I'd be gone & she only does this when no one is around.

I have a book where I have documented on a daily basis her behavior towards me. What can I do now?

I work for a big company (IBM) and have a manager (Initials P.Q.) that is constantly trying to make me and others he doesn't like look bad. My immediate manager says that others have reported similar issues with this person. Typically If you are not on his 'A' team, he doesn't want to work with you. Sends odd emails directly to you. Blocks work progress, closes requests for help with no comments.

I've brought the issue up with my immediate boss who says, basically to watch my back, and to "keep your enemies close" It's unbelievable. For a long time now, I've felt harassed and hindered in my day to day work, though my rating with IBM is typically higher than most employees. What should I do?

My boss has discussed my work and health issues with another employee telling her she thought I was an alcoholic (I didn't disclose the exact nature of my illness but told my boss I'd provide her with a doctor's statement which she said she didn't need). Of course this employee told me not to dare tell her. Two days ago I had my hours reduced. As well my boss is generating work that we are not getting paid for. What can I do?

I work in the medical field. When I found out I was pregnant, I had an appointment. The chart runner picked up my chart from the clinic and saw that I was pregnant. She told some ladies in the office and when I would come around they would constantly make idiotic comments about pregnancy, what they ate when they were pregnant and what they would name their kids if they were pregnant. The chart runner was wrong to tell everyone. I don't get along with her or most of my co-workers, I just wished they could have kept my situation private. But they chose to make fun of it. I feel a bit violated and I feel she did break the rule on privacy. But I just don't know what to do. I would appreciate any comments.

Me again... the Manager of 20yrs.

This is for emartinez.

Sue your wife for breach of contract, in that Marriage is a form of contract.

Name the firm and the VP of the firm as co-defendants.

My wife has been working for a company called Accretive Health doing medical billing. Her and a few others also work for the same company, the twist is that they also work with St. Johns hospital billers and they are all under the same roof. There is animosity already by the St. Johns people because the company my wife works for were hired by St. Johns because their own people are not making 'quota'. Well, my wife was getting her quota after only 3 weeks on the job and has now been subject to verbal abuse and false accusations. And go figure it is all St. Johns people.

It has her in tears at home and the thing is, in Michigan, the job market is almost non-existent. She takes it on the chin *everyday*. They are constantly trash talking her and bad mouthing her. My wife attempted to talk to the manager of the facility and that back fired on her because the manager, come to find out, is a St. Johns employee also. So, now, when she named a specific person in her complaint, that person stated that my wife threatened her with physical violence and the manager of course believed it. We don't know what to do. Any suggestions? Please help.

My boss of 2 years is getting ready to retire after a 30+ yr career with our company. He is known for being moody, angry and has even been to anger management classes in the past. I have no fear for my safety, but I am literally getting sick from his constant pouting, stomping around, bashing the company, and refusing to speak to me for hours a week. He is like 2 different people and does not act like a manager should. We work in a small office alone together. I feel this is emotionally draining and can't wait for him to leave. In this economy I am worried about looking for a new job. Worse yet --- we work in Human Resources.

I work in retail, and have been at the same store for the past seven years. I am the assistant manager and recently a new manager was hired. She seems to have a real problem with me and there have been several times when I felt she was going to hit me. I reported this to the district manager, who then came in to do an "investigation." After less than a day The DM called me and told me there was nothing to support my claim as no one else had witnessed this and I seem to be the only one the manager is hostile to. So now I'm expected to just return to work as though there is no problem. The manager has basically been given a free pass to abuse me as much as she wants and knows now that there will not be consequences.

Do I have any options? (aside from quitting?)

Signed,

beaten down

Can someone tell me if my situation would be considered a hostile work environment? There is an employee who constantly dumps work off on me, in which I refuse to do, then she becomes angry and will slam the phone down on me, or mimic my response to her. I have complained to my boss on several occasions, but he has done nothing. My concern is that I now have high blood pressure and although this problem happens only occasionally, when it does, I become so angry and stressed out for several days, that my blood pressure increases.

I would find employment elsewhere if I could, but with the way the economy is, I have not been able to obtain employment elsewhere. What can I do?

My spouse worked for a company owned by 2 partners. One of the partners was her boss. Her boss screamed at her and belittled her and called her stupid on a regular basis. The boss also would go to the back office and throw things for more than an hour after screaming at my spouse.

My spouse did her job diligently and collected thousands and thousands of dollars on medical billing. Her boss would discount this fact and scream at her about spelling a name wrong in the appointment book. Her boss had been off for a week and a half for her mother's funeral while my spouse ran the office on her own during that time. She worked her schedule, even came in early as her boss directed her to do.

On her boss's first day back to work her boss started screaming and ranting at my spouse. Her boss even began to throw papers at my spouse and then began to throw office supplies *at my spouse*. At this point her boss was saying that she wanted to fire her but would never allow her to collect unemployment. She continued to scream and throw items at my spouse.

My spouse walked out and filed for unemployment. Now her boss is fighting the claim. There is only 1 other person who occasionally works at that office and has observed her tantrums directed at my spouse, but he obviously will not jeopardize his position to make a statement or testify for my spouse. When my spouse first started working at this employer the other person who occasionally worked with her said that persons who previously held my spouse's position have also been at least verbally abused by this woman.

we have an employee that has been off because she claimed to have been injured on the job. Doctors are saying there is nothing wrong with her and compensation has cleared her to come back to work. She works part time and there is a union for part timers. My supervisor and I want to file a grievance with our full time union but are not sure how to word it properly. She basically cannot (mostly will not) do the physical part of her job. therefore leaves a mess for the rest of us to pick up. before she was on leave there was a huge back log of work. there is not now. although we have had to more but we no longer have to pick up her messes.

We feel that having her back on staff causes a difficult work environment because what she can't do the rest of us have to do for her and we work in a very demanding public service job. there is a lot of heavy lifting with books and pushing of booktrucks that she won't do, and has never done.

I guess part of my question is, does this sound like a valid complaint/grievance and what would be our rights as her supervisors and fellow staff members?

response to unisama from an experienced manager.

This response is given without knowing the validity of the review content for E. The review information and the tardiness issue are two separate issues and should be regarded as such.

In regards to the tardiness issue, B is totally in compliance with good management practice by calling E to find out what the issue is. B is responsible for staffing the store in order to ensure superior customer service. B can only rely on the facts and nothing else. The fact that E knows E will be late to work and willfully gives no proper warning proves E's negligence. Sorry E.

In regards to the review issue, E is insubordinate by looking through E's employee file. E is also insubordinate by "not cleaning". It is not respectful, nor is it right, for E to employ E's own expectations of E or of B as is stated in this issue. E is also insubordinate by not speaking to B because communication is essential between B and E in order to ensure superior customer satisfaction. B and E can disagree, and B and E can even dislike one another but in a professional work environment, communication cannot be compromised because of personal feelings. This looks like a maturity issue and there is no hostile work environment.

To the person above about B and E... I think E is in the wrong. Not calling in late, possibly rude to customers, not cleaning the store...E is the employee.

To the married guy who lost his wife to the VP of the company... please try to find a better job. She's a b**** and he's a poor employer. A law suit may also work.

I'm not sure what to do about the company I quit. Things got so hostile that I had a nervous breakdown and walked out. I was shaking all over for days. Basically, in spite of my awesome performance reviews, the company downsized thus sticking me in the mail room (the only way the company could keep me was to stick me in the only job available). The mail room manager became my new boss and things went to hell after that. She made it clear that she didn't like me and that she didn't hire me. Pretty soon, she was telling me things like, I have no people skills, I'll never move up, people don't like me, people avoid me.... She made me cry. Pretty soon, I spent all my breaks crying. I had never been late or taken a day off work for 2 years so I used my vacation/sick time to search for another job. Before I could find another job, she yelled at me.... screamed at me until I was crying and shaking all over. I went to HR. HR didn't care. I took a box and cleaned out my desk and walked out. I was denied unemployment because they said I 'quit for personal reasons.' My friends and family noticed how much my job was robbing me of my self esteem and begged me to quit months before I did. I'm in a new job, a much better job now but I still have nightmares about the old job. Isn't there some legal action?

I work for a local restaurant as a dishwasher/delivery driver for 6 months. Two employees (man and woman, romantically involved) have been repeatedly verbally abusive towards another coworker and myself, largely regarding my sexual orientation (gay) and the friendship between myself and the other coworker. Last week one of the abusive coworkers physically assaulted my friend by grabbing him by the neck and shoving him against an oven. My friend informed the owner, and when no action was taken and his report basically shrugged off, he quit immediately. I quickly called the restaurant to inform the owner that i would not work with either of the hostile employees under any circumstances (and made it clear that if the hostile employees were moved to another shift i would happily work any shifts assigned). I was told if i did not show up for a scheduled shift that i would be terminated, which is exactly what happened. What can i do, if anything? Help, please!

I work for an airline in a small town. My husband deployed and I found out I was pregnant a month later. By this time our busiest season had slowed down. One of my coworkers was in charge of the schedule and time off. I had an issue with another with the schedule and as a result management pulled her in the office. I was all of a sudden shunned at work by my coworkers. It was quite obvious though many people ignored my plea for any assistance. I had been exhausted and requested time off from the coworker who was still in charge of scheduling. I asked "verbally" on several occasions what time was available for me to take off and she said, "I will have to look". Well she did not get back to me and before I knew what hit me she had assigned several weeks of time off for other coworkers including herself. I have not been with this airline long and these people have been working together for 20yrs or longer. I have been made out to be a difficult person to be around and was pulled into the office of my manager. In the sit down I had with my manager and another supervisor I was told everyone was having a difficult time working with me. I would like to point out at this time that it was all blanket statements with no specific grievances/dates or times of issues. I was told first thing in this meeting "now this could lead to termination and I need you to be aware of this". I feel as though this was a threat as I had upset the long time coworker in charge of scheduling. I proceeded to go to another supervisor about the scheduling as I was blatantly being passed up for time off. I was amazed at the level of agitation this supervisor showed me for bringing this up and it took three times of going to him for him to take over the scheduling. I realized a bit to late what this was all about and started the documentation process with very little accountability on the coworkers part. I took it for granted that going to her and saying,” I really needed time off because I am mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted" would allow her to understand it was not about her but rather my need for exactly what I was requesting. I am really not sure what I can do at this point.

I am an RN. The MD I work for swears at my medical assistant and me.

I had managed a new products group for 8 years. I received bonuses and maximum raises during that period. My problems began when I pointed out flaws in upper management planning. They were 20 years late in getting to market and them expected to unseat the major players in 2 years. There are already over 120 players in the markets. It wasn't a wise decision on their part, but i got put into the position without my choosing.

No one did anything overtly, but I know enough about these people (the "leadership team") that they engage is character assignation in private meetings. The company CEO/president was so delusional he saw himself as a type of Christ and he called the LT his apostles which he would make in his own image.

Anyway, when I returned from Christmas vacation I found my position had be eliminated and that I had been stripped of all authority. Rumors abounded that I had been fired because of the internal hostile takeover of my previous role. The people they put in charge were supposed to be my friends, yet they never issued the slightest hint of what was to come.

I underwent severe emotional distress especially since I had just purchases a home in April. I was the driving force behind the new products and processes. I was the one that taught my team how to do these things. I felt I was being purposefully left out of everything and essentially ignored to force me to quit.

I never quit but I considered suicide many times. Its like having a child stolen from you. The strange thing it was a child no one else wanted until my teams efforts started to show profits.

At one year the entire team was sent to a "brainwash" session conducted by one of the companies psychological informants. I call it "training by psychopaths for sociopaths". They actually teach people how to "manipulate" other people and how to "gain their confidence." The company could do no wrong in that manipulator's eyes - as long as they got their " team building" money.

I am being left out of everything. Though no overt hostility is made, its apparent I am being made to feel like I don't belong. I am still forgotten while my former team members are included. I trust NO ONE in this company - especially management.

They kept telling me I had a problem interacting with people. Strange... in never showed up on the anonymous backstabber reviews. They just didn't like the fact I stood up and said no to them.

I sought psychological help for depression and thoughts of suicide. These people created rules for the "culture". Yet, they violate them when it serves their purpose. In the end - after 5 sessions -the psychiatrist said he did not think the problem was with me, but the dysfunctional environment in which I work.

This companies had gotten awards like Best places to Work in PA, etc. Its all a big manipulative lie.

Its now 2 years later. I am so unhappy but if I quite they'll take over $100,000 in stock payments from me.

If I leave, I know they will harass me or any employer if I continuing doing this type of work and I've been doing it since 1984! The CEO would likely try to get me fired in this town and there are so few jobs here that pay well.

I am ready to seriously start hurting some people. I can't take it anymore! I want to be credited for my work! Is that so wrong? Simply quitting is NOT an option! I hate them and I hate myself for being so powerless!

I work at a checker auto parts, and lately one of the employees has been spreading slander about me up to (and including) accusing me of smoking in the store. I am an assistant manager and he is a commercial Driver. He has taken the Acting Store manager (our current manager is out on injury) out to lunch on at least one occasion, and has been given more responsibility by her even being put in charge of everyone including me when we receive our weekly freight, now he has been calling her to tell her everything I am doing, even reporting that I was 2 min late getting out of the drawer at closing, does this constitute a hostile work environment?

Would this be hostile work environment if:

No one in the office can go directly to our supervisor for questions or solutions due to her attitude and emotional outbursts. (Walking on eggshells constantly)

When you go to your manager in confidence to explain the reason for leaving early is due to medical appointments for an unplanned and high risk pregnancy and she tells several employees in the office

When she tells employees other then the one she is taking about that she is going to write them up and the reasons behind the write ups. She also shares that confidential information that is supposed to be in the personnel file to everyone.

When she ask you to help her come up with false reasons to put down on her business credit card receipts.

The list goes on and on. This is hard to go to her manager because she is friends with her and hang out after work. Her manager has no clue this is going on and has no clue in what her employees do to get her out of her messy situations.

anon17977 - I don't what you're experiencing is necessarily a hostile work environment, nor is it discrimination. Your post was very difficult to read -- grammatically, that is. Is it possible that perhaps you might have a "chip" on your shoulder. You say that you are intentionally distracted. Could it be that perhaps you are easily distracted? Or, that the things you "forget" to do are actually very important and an integral part of your job? You say yourself that you can't do your job perfectly. Is that incompetence? Sometimes we have to look at ourselves before we can delve into blaming others

I am in a Medical Clinic. I feel that I have been gender/race discriminated by almost all of my coworkers. Every mistake or errors that was done in the clinic automatically points out to be all my fault. For example if forgot to put paper in an ekg machine by me not knowing that it is already out of paper and was the last time who used the machine , I will get the blame for it. Second, I take all of patients back for triage before the Doctor's examination one of my co workers will distract me just for me to put paper in a printer, exam table because of her excuse of having a back problem, because of the distraction that have caused I will create little tiny mistakes such as forgetting to put respirations or will forget to follow companies protocols. This have happened a lot of times for almost a 9 months without saying anything, I was afraid to tell my manager because I'm afraid that she will not listen again just like the last time I told her the issue. The last time I spoke to her about the issue she didn't care at all in fact she criticize and told me just to let go of it because all girls are like that. There are times that I made such errors and will get called in by a supervisor not really a supervisor, but just a coworker that will pretend to be the supervisor and will rubbed such errors into my face and others of my coworker will just laugh about it and will agree to her almost saying that I'm so dumb ignorant that I don't know what I'm doing, but I can't really be perfect due to the situation that I brought back almost 70 percent of the patient throughout the whole day, Yes, I they can survey my job performance or check the chart that was brought that day it may not be just 70 percent it could be probably more than that. The Clinic that I'm working into has 3 Medical Assistant and I do both Xray/MA works two of which Medical Assistant are females and have the same race before my manager have one Medical Assistant come in to work at 8am to 5pm the other one work at 9:30 to 6:00pm the same with my schedule 3months ago my manger have change their schedule have both of them come in at 8:30 to 5:00 , so in that case i have to stay by myself from 5pm to 6pm from which that one hour is a torture because that is the time when most patient come in. Therefore, I can't managed to work perfectly because the volume of patients that I see not including taking their xrays. The last time I created such errors my manager have called me in into her office and told me that i'm incompetent and unable to handle multi tasking unlike her two other medical assistant and my manager have stated that before she had no problem with her xray/medical assistant. Is this considered hostile environment or gender discrimination.. please response

I think E needs to get his head examined. Unless you're on a flextime job, you need to arrange your schedule to be ready to start work on time. 5-15 minutes late is one thing, but if B has time to call all the numbers, well, it's probably past that.

"if B doesn't have to clean, neither does E". Wow. Most jobs include a clause, "other duties as required". If E feels that cleaning should not be a part of his job, whose job is it? In most retail jobs, cleaning, inventory, etc. are part of the job.

I think there's a pretty big difference between an employer retaliating or trying to get you to quit and a job that you just don't like. Most of these posts are the latter.

I work for an attorney. When I was hired, I was hired as his paralegal. A month after I was hired, a lady who handled a particular client quit and I inherited her files. I found over $80,000.00 worth of fees that she had failed to bill. For the last two years, 90% of my work load was for this client.

This attorney and his wife, are very, very verbally abusive and moody. They scream, they shout, they are just basically rude. I came in Monday and found out that my client had centralized and their main office was going to handle the work that I was doing. The attorney told me "it was within the realm of possibility" that I would lose my job. I asked for a timetable and was told they haven't fully discussed it yet. This entire week, I've been treated as if I have the plague. I know he doesn't want to pay unemployment, but the atmosphere, while stressful to begin with, has become very unbearable. I live in Louisiana. Do I have the right to unemployment if I quit. I'm actively searching for another job and would prefer to go to work than go on unemployment, but I cannot take the stress of being treated so poorly. I overheard the attorney telling a co-worker today that they were going to go out next week and "meet and greet" new clients (like the one I lost) and teach our runner how to do what I did... they had that conversation right outside my door. Somebody help!

My boss constantly comes into our office (multiple times throughout the day) and asks me, "What are you doing?" as if I'm just sitting on my ### not doing anything, when I am in fact working. He makes condescending remarks to me implying that I have blatant disrespect and lack of regard for our IT equipment.

He used to just ask me what I'm doing even though I have two coworkers in the same office. I started getting pretty angry about this and its implication, so lately when he asks, I just look up at him with contempt, pause, and then tell him exactly what I'm working on. Well, apparently he caught on that it's enraging me and he started asking my other two coworkers what they're doing, just for show. He didn't used to ask them that.

So today, of course, he asked me again...and this time, I said, "You ask that a lot." in a calm, non-confrontational tone. And he said, "I do not!" So I said, "Ok." (Again, calm) and he said, "why? you have a problem with that?" and I said, "No...you just ask....a lot." still remaining calm and non-confrontational. Apparently, this upset him and made him defensive -- I went to help the person I just got done telling him I was going to help.

Well, when I got back he called on the phone, two doors down to our office, so my coworker answered the phone and told me he wanted to see me. I went to his office...he told me to sit down, told me this was NOT a conversation, lectured me about "talking to him like that in front of [my] coworkers", then said he "had to go" and walked out.

I went to his supervisor right then since he wasn't interested in a "discussion" -- is this a hostile work environment? I'm really getting sick to death of this. He constantly does things like this and second-guesses my decisions. Sometimes, he'll send me out to other parts of the building just to make me go there so he can talk to my coworkers without me around. He claims, of course, that that's not why he does that, but he doesn't ask the other two to do things like that. I just don't have any respect for him anymore. This blatant micro-managing and lack of respect for me has really made me not care about him. I'd do anything HIS boss asks me to do because he is respectful and doesn't micro-manage me with the twenty questions every day. It is very difficult for me to care at all what my supervisor says to me anymore. The only reason I do the job as best I can do right now is for our customers -- I couldn't care less about my boss. But I do have an idea and will see what I can do tomorrow...I might try to contact the DoL about it.

I work in a government organization that has a bi-polar ruthless manager, who constantly humiliates employees and also humiliates other managers on what seems to be a regular basis. Her nickname in our organization is King Kong. Nearly every employee that is assigned to her group wants to get out of her group and the same is true for other managers that have to work with her. She has basically destroyed our office and caused many people to leave our office and work elsewhere in the organization. She should never have been allowed to be a manager. This hostile work environment has been going on for about 8 years.

I am a manager in this government organization. Some of my employees were assigned to work with her on her assignments. They told me of the horrific treatment and stress she caused them. I brought this to the attention of upper management at least a year ago. The upper manager at the time told me to fix it, but it wasn’t something I could fix. She would not take action and would not allow my employees to be taken off this assignment. The current acting upper manager in our organization has recently removed her from an assignment in which employees came forward and complained about her treatment of them. In Kong’s eyes everybody else is stupid and you either do it her way or else. She has never physical assaulted anyone. However, her verbal abuse is too much for all of us in our office and too much for our customers. The verbal abuse also includes a lot of profanity.

My questions to you are: Isn’t upper management responsible for not taking action against King Kong? Can the employees and managers of our organization take legal action, if our upper management does not remove Kong from our office? Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated.

I have a situation where I was working a 40 hour week and it was scheduled by the company's head supervisor but she refused to give me my company benefits. I asked why I wasn't allowed to receive my benefits directly to the head supervisor because I was the only employee that had ever dealt with that.

I never got a reply and I noticed once I started questioning her actions another supervisor underneath her started pointing out petty things to try and get me wrote up for or even fired. I would improve on whatever they told me to improve on, they would try to say I was doing things while on the floor that couldn't be true and I pointed that out to them.

What I am going to explain was before I got my 40 hours and then it works on up to recent. It took a while before they could actually write me up for something and of course it was a final written warning for attendance. This was during my 1 year review, I asked them why I was being wrote up because before when I called in I asked to use my sick time and they had used it to cover my missed days. Then they said I wasn't allowed to do so and them using the sick time before was just a mistake. I told them if I had been made aware of that I would have never missed those days but they were sending me an okay signal until now. They of course still wrote me a final written and the company policy was that you get 6 write-ups before you get a final, I had only gotten 1 prior and that was a verbal warning.

Now that I had the final written warning the company policy is that you cannot be written up again for 3 months or you will lose your job. So my situation was that: I couldn't miss a day, I couldn't come in late, I couldn't leave early, I couldn't do one thing wrong on the floor.

I had barely made it through 3 months but did, then I finally got the write up gone. Days after my final written was gone I got another final written for being on a call too long, huh? We were so under staffed and we were taking multiple calls, by the time I got to this person the call time had already been a while. The supervisor I spoke about before that was pointing out petty little things is the one that wrote me up for what everyone else around me was having to do. We were told directly by our head supervisor that it doesn't matter how long the call is they understood because of the high call volume. I guess that didn't apply to me as many other things didn't apply to me. I tried to defend myself but they were always right and I had another final written.

I now had become so afraid of losing my job I didn't know which way to go. The supervisors there argued among themselves about how to do this and that and if you listened to one about how to do something the other one would get mad and degrade you and make you look like an idiot in front of the other employees. I continued to get things pointed out by the one supervisor on the floor that I either wasn't doing or everyone needed to be addressed about what was going on. No one ever got pointed out except me, I had a few other supervisors and workers on my level that said they noticed her pointing me out. So I wasn't just dreaming this it was reality.

I was under so much stress at this point I would get straight off of the work phone just to cry on my break. I even cried in front of the supervisor that was causing the stress but it didn't phase her, she knew exactly what she was doing. I wanted to go to the head supervisor with the situation but she had already made it clear that she wasn't interested in my complaints, needs as a worker, or personal life. She had just now, after this long, gave me a 40 hour work schedule and denied me my benefits. Like I said before I asked why but got no answer and everything got so much worse since. I looked in the employee manual just to double check that I was supposed to get them before I ever wrote to her. The employee manual stated that no matter what if you work a 40 hour week you get your benefits, it didn't say that if you have any problems or anything they thought you needed to work on that you are denied until you improve or until they say yes. She knew she was doing me wrong, they all did.

One day I was trying to go on break and the supervisor giving me problems made it look like I wasn't listening to her and went to the assistant supervisor with it. The assistant supervisor came out in front of everyone and said "what are you doing?" in a tone you would use with a kid, I replied "I'm sorry. I'm trying to go on break but if you need me to I can still take calls." she just shook her head and walked off. I was shaking with fear and the embarrassment was so overwhelming I didn't want to face anyone in the room. I came back from break calmed down but shaken and started taking calls again. The assistant supervisor came back out and again asked what I was doing in the same tone. I told her I was on hold with a client and waiting for them to come back to the phone. I had been writing the days on the calendar I had in front of me and she looked at it like it was a sin to do so. She walked off and had the other supervisor that initially pointed me out ask me to come to her office. I knew what was going on then but I went inside with both of them. The assistant supervisor kept looking at me and talking to me like I was a child and accused me of things I know for certain I didn't do. I tried to defend myself because I know I do great at customer service and what they were accusing me of was completely wrong. She cut me off and continued talking and then I knew that defending myself is a joke to them and as always they are right no matter what. She finally said to me that she was going to listen to some of my calls and if I had done anything wrong I will be fired.

That afternoon once the incident was over I was working with a night supervisor who had an attitude with every worker under her. I was discussing an issue with her about a client and she got a bad attitude with me and told me I didn't need to be smart toward her. I told her I wasn't and wouldn't ever be smart toward her and she just blew me off and ignored me. I almost quit then but I needed the job so bad that I took whatever they handed me.

I came in walking on egg shells, I was a nervous wreck, I couldn't stay focused on the task at hand, they had gotten to me bad. I never in my life had to go through so much for a company and still get treated with no respect. Everyone around me seen the situation and they all said they all knew I wasn't being treated right. I was afraid to speak up for myself, I had so much anxiety that I jumped when anyone got behind me fearing it was a supervisor coming to take my job. This continued for a few more weeks, I was still being pointed out by the same supervisor constantly. I had to miss one day due to being very sick, and keep in mind I had not missed in over 6 months because of my final written warnings. I came in the next day and they all called me in an office and stated that they had decided to fire me due to my attendance. I told them that I had not missed in over 6 months, they said I had been tardy and that added up. I told them that when coming in they wouldn't have a seat open for me and I had to wait until someone left before I could clock in and take calls. They didn't listen as always and the head supervisor left the room to get my things out of my desk. They didn't give me all of my stuff I had but I wasn't being petty like they were to me.

I am almost positive that this was a hostile workplace and other people are still having to deal with it. I pity the next person they choose to absolutely turn their life upside down. I am now waiting on my unemployment trial and as you know it is up to them if I get it or not, I need it very bad but I doubt they will do anything in my favor. If they do that I don't know if I have a case but I want to take them to court due to the stress and anxiety I am still having to deal with daily. On top of that they owe me for my benefits they never gave me, I got a copy of the employee manual so I can prove it. Do you think I have a strong case?

No one has addressed the fact that E is often late. He feels that he is being harassed because B calls him at ALL his available #s. Well, E gave his employer all those numbers, and if somebody doesnt show up for work on time, maybe they overslept, maybe they are injured and unable to reach their phone. Maybe that phone call was made with altruistic intent. Does the company suffer because of his lateness? Do they lose customers? And when E went into B's files, E violated the confidentiality of E's coworkers. In my line of work, if someone is late, somebody has to stay until relief shows up!

I am presently laid off of my job because I have had several surgeries for Squamous cell cancer. I walked in after my 2nd operation and was taken in the CEO office with the owner and given the news. I was told it didn't look professional having me around. Yet I was given a Nextel radio and told to keep it on if they had any questions. The company has hired a guy to do my job. The new guy called me for weeks picking my brain. The boss called me for weeks one day I was the smartest guy in the company. The next I was the guy who's division hadn't made any money for the past three years. Yet I was given performance bonuses all 3 years. I also have a handicapped daughter which I share the responsibilities with my wife. For 3 years I juggled my work and home life via the radio. Now the boss says when I come back I have to be in the office not running around taking care of my daughter. The boss knows full well I can not make this request work. All of my customers praise my performance and have never had anything negative to say about me. Now my replacement is now leaving the company. I'm just getting stitches out tomorrow and still need recovery time per the doctors. The boss is telling me because of my health issues he is going to pay me less and still wants me to have my radio on 24/7. He told me to look for someone to handle my daughter. I have looked and it will cost more than I make to have someone come in and watch her. I am posting this because I feel this is all wrong. A boss going off on me and the next telling me I'm the best but I'm going to pay you less because I'm sick. How can I go to a job interview with bandages on? Maybe I'm just losing it. Please someone advise me. I'm trying to keep this short, there is a lot more to this and many phone conversations I'm leaving out.

I see a lot of questions posted here but I would like to know: Where are the answers?

I have a question about a hostile work environment that i would like to ask about...i told my higher ups that i am pregnant and there is one lady who is the second in charge underneath the ceo who has been trying to find any little thing to fire me because she does not like the fact that i am pregnant and not married...we do not have a morals clause anywhere in out contracts...i am so stressed about the situation it is causing problems with my pregnancy...is this a hostile environment and what do i do about it...thank you for any response that are given...

As a theoretical (of course), a Union Shop Stewart makes racial and sexual derogatory remarks towards a Supervisor at work. Since it is, theoretically, a subordinate making the remarks towards a Supervisor, could it be construed as a hostile work environment? The remarks have been ongoing since the Supervisor did not support a walk out during a Strike, if that has a bearing on the issue. Is there any case law about a subordinate creating a hostile work environment for a Supervisor?

Thanks, just trying to make the work place a saner one...

My wife and I have both worked for the same NC company for 10+ years. It is a small company (60 employees). There are two owners of the company--serving as President and Vice President. Recently, the Vice President's wife died after a long illness. My wife reports directly to this partner. Literally as the VP's wife was dying, my wife moved out. Within two weeks of the funeral, she and the Vice President began openly dating and taking vacations together. I still have to work here and, obviously, do not feel free to voice my feelings in fear of job loss. What recourse do I have in an unbearable situation like this?

Hello,

I work for a major company that is four years old. Currently we are experiencing some growing pains with the company's culture. I'm an African-American female (the first in Management - 45 in age) with this company. I've been in this industry for 25 year and well-respected in the industry.

An HR employee continues to dis-credit my ability to do my job (I may add I've been doing this job for 25 years before I started with this new company). She continued to bad mouth me with other Managers and high-level Executives.

Recently, several employees at my company are trying to form an union. They feel that the company is treating them fairly and I concur.

The other Management level personnel uses control, intimidation tactics to control their employees including this HR employee. She has internalized their behavior.

I feel that I'm in a hostile work environment in this new company. I'm documenting every behavior to man-kind.

Personally and respectfully, I just want to do what I love to do after 25 years. However, this HR person belittles, uses her power and control to prevent me from doing my job on a daily basis.

This HR employee never approaches me about any concerns with me. She continues to complain to my immediate boss about me instead of following the appropriate chain of command.

Is this a hostile working environment?

Please advise

Everywhere I turn, I hear I do not have a discrimination case against my company because the person I feel Im being discriminated against is a woman. We have different job titles however our jobs are 85% the same. I however have been with the company 3 years longer than her. She makes 10,000 a more a year than I do. They pay all her utilities in her apartment....they only give me $100 allowance. They let her take more sick days than what is allowed in the handbook....and the list goes on. What do I do? Where do I turn? It has gotten to the point that I cry everyday when I leave work. I get sick to my stomach when I get to work. I have severe stress pains in my neck, head and chest. I simply cant take the pressure and dont know how to get out or where to get help.

I work with a woman who's behavior could best be described as "drama, drama, drama." I've tried to be friendly, but mostly just give her a wide berth, because she is a known gossip.

Recently, she had decided to humiliate me in front of customers. She makes statements like, "no one in this department likes you." "you think everything has to be your way." She will point out something and then ask me repeatedly, all day long, if I have taken care of this or that. If another co-worker offers to help me or tries to do something to help me, she berates them and tells them not to help me.

I dread going to work. I can't eat or sleep. I feel sick to my stomach all day and try to avoid her altogether. I've mentioned this to management and said, "This is so exhausting, and I'm really tired of it." Their response, "Yes, we're all tired of hearing about it, too." Even though I had only mentioned this on two brief occasions. This was their attempt to say, "Go away. We don't want to hear about it."

I'm a single parent with no support income. Is this a "hostile work environment??"

I believe that B is the one who is at fault more than E. B is the supervisor and is responsible for making E feel anxious or uncomfortable. However, E did not have the right to go into B's office and pull out his file. He should have obtained permission to do so. There are two issues here, hostile environment and inappropriately entering an office and going through confidential files, despite they were his own.

I am the direct supervisor for an individual who has openly said she will have me fired. She has created many problems in our department and I have taken various actions to resolve these issues. I have group discussion where no one is singled out, I have talked to her one on one, I have had personnel talk to her and I have talked to her union steward. The latest incidents has resulted in her being issued a verbal warning. In retaliation she has threatened to have me fired, she has call me despicable names, she has tried to get other salaried employees to speak against me, she tries to rally the other employees against me which makes it extremely hard for me to do my job, and she went to my boss. No other employee who work for me has these kinds of issues. I feel I am trying to do my job and she is trying to intimidate me into ignoring her behavior. If I ignore her behavior then I am penalized when raises are issued, if I address her behavior she pulls me in the HR dept for harassing her. At what point is her behavior considered hostile? What action can I take to protect myself from accusations of harassment?

There's a situation in our workplace I am unsure about. To protect who I am/The other person; the Boss will be called "B" while the employee will be named "E"

both people started at this business in October. It's B's first time being manager and E's having a bad week in November. In November B writes a review regarding E's behavior and explains that there were 3 complaints against E in one day. E doesn't believe B but continues work anyway. B wrote a review included with the information explained. E improves quality to customers at this time but forgets to call in sometimes when E is going to be late to work. Those days B calls all phone numbers attached to E's application to find where E is at. E has found this method incredibly rude.

Last Sunday E went through B's file cabinet and pulled up their own file and found the review from November. E was still friendly towards customers but when no one is in the store would keep to himself and would not speak to B; nor clean, stating if B doesn't have to clean, neither should E. E feels this is the most respectful way of handling things.

Today B pulled aside E away from all other employees and customers. Both E and B feel like the other is causing a hostile work environment; As E felt B was trying to get he/she fired or to use for a later purpose while B feels E is aggressive in behavior towards him/her.

I am unsure who is in right in this situation or if it is both of us. If someone could please help that would be great!