Retaliation against whistleblower
Dear Joan:
I find that I am being treated with rudeness and hostility in my work environment. I do my job and try to support the mission of the company: make money. Recently this has made it necessary to inform management of the incompetence of my supervisor. He was running a 'side business' in the building. Problem was he wasn’t available when needed on the production line. It was wasteful and unprofessional.
It turns out I didn’t turn him in because the management already knew it. He wasn’t fired or disciplined but asked to stop. But the word got out that I did turn him in. So in this culture I am a snitch. I am white in a black environment.
Were you aware that high school and street rules apply in many work places today? High school and streets that I am not from… I believe that this is one reason why manufacturing has left the country.
The worst thing about the workplace is the personnel issues, and worse still being part of one. I don’t expect you to have the solution, just wanted to share.
Answer:
Each company has its own culture and unfortunately it seems as if your culture is more gang than team. I appreciate your letter and it serves to illustrate the informal power of co-workers and the impact they can have.
It’s unfortunate that it took an employee’s complaint to get senior management to stop your supervisor’s unprofessional and unethical activities. The fact that word got out that you “snitched” points to the clumsy and careless way it was communicated to that manager and subsequently managed.
If management already knew your boss was operating an inappropriate side business, they didn’t need to point to you as the complainer. They should have stepped in much sooner before the situation got so obvious and problematic.
Unfortunately, according to Daniel Finerty, a management-side employment attorney with Krukowski & Costello, S.C. in Milwaukee, there is no protection from retaliation in your situation. Finerty explained, “Since the reported conduct was not protected, as in the case of a safety complaint to OSHA or the filing of a sexual harassment complaint with the employer or the EEOC, the employee is not likely protected from retaliation.”
By comparison, Finerty explained if an employee had reported sexual harassment or a safety-related concern, the employee would be entitled to protection from retaliation for making that report. If the employee was being harassed by co-workers due to the report, the employee could make an argument that the co-workers’ retaliatory harassment created a hostile work environment. He suggested that you might want to consult a local employment attorney to determine if there are any state or local laws that might apply to the situation or additional facts not discussed here that might shed some light on your current situation.
From the tone of your letter I suspect that you aren’t going to pursue this with an attorney, for fear that rude treatment could escalate to worse treatment. If the supervisor is using his “loyal” employees to side with him against you, rather than taking responsibility for his unprofessional activities, I don’t hold out much hope that anything positive will come out of pushing for better treatment.
Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of good options. If you go to HR, they will want to step in and tell the manager to stop the rude behavior, which could only aggravate the situation further. Ditto if you go to your boss for support.
Short of finding a new employer, your best bet might be to hunker down and hope it blows over. However, if you feel you aren’t going to be given a fair shake in your current situation, look for a better opportunity, where professionalism is respected more than street rules. Thanks for your letter.
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