Placed on a Performance Improvement Plan Due to False Accusations

[egrizzly]

My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: TX

My employer over the course of 3 weeks has gathered false allegations about me which was used to create a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). A friend of mine told me they are pre-cursors to termination and nothing more. Anyway, the only element there which is accurate is that they claimed I was sleeping at work (which I cannot disprove since some days I have been tired as hell and might have nodded off.). For ease I have bulleted the points of the PIP. Besides, the sleeping can I please get discussions on the validity and legality of the Performance Plan? Thanks. The actual PIP is between the ******

- Constantly barraged by false accusations: My boss has constantly barraged me with false accusations which he claims where opinions coming from "all my coworkers." I have explicitly told him that these where false and that I had evidence to show that they where false but the barrage of false accusations keep coming.
Note that once I make the correction, he would back and say. "well ok, never mind those. what about this, this, and that. After I make the corrections, same pattern continues.

- Hostile work environment: My employer claims that I presented a hostile work environment by ignoring co-workers (see below). However when I speak to team members they do not speak back. I then leave things silent. Can they complain that I ignore them?
- Lines of PIP very ambiguous.
- Can the PIP be based purely on opinions of coworkers? What if there is evidence to the contrary?
- Can I appeal this PIP? If PIP is not reversed, can I use my vacation time then start the time of the PIP, or would the PIP include my vacation time?
- should I consult an attorney, or start looking for employment?
- Legally, how much time do I have to respond to a PIP?


Other related items
- A coworker in an influential position had discussions with my boss about hiring workers from his previous job that where laid off? I suspected that since the frequency of these allegations increased at the approximate timing of their lay-off, that it was an attempt to "make room" for his incoming friends.
- Legally, how much time do I have to respond to a PIP.

***** PIP ****
Performance Gaps
- Overall feedback from Team Members indicate a poor interaction with others and creating a hostile work environment
- Visitor questions not being followed up on, or not being properly documented and relayed to the team. Open question on if work is being performed at all.
***** PIP ****

The hostile work environment is described by the feedback from coworkers and witnessed by supervisors:
- Feeling uncomfortable around you, due to your lack of communication and willingness to participate with the team. Scenarios range from team members simply being ignored, to other conversations/events that left team members concerned enough to vocalize to HR and Management.
- Feeling as if you are bullying or attempting to take advantage of situations and events.
- Multiple reports and witness on you leaving the tech shop at critical risk by taking multiple lunches, sleeping, or just walking out of the tech shop at any time with no thought on service availability. For the team they have expressed that you do not care enough to be a team player, it leaves them with picking up your dropped responsibilities. From a management level this shows no concern for your job position and the duties applied.

[cbg]

The definition of a hostile work environment is very specific and what you are describing is not an HWE as defined by law.

That being said, there are no laws anywhere in the US that specifically address performance plans or PIPs.

Can the PIP be based purely on opinions of coworkers? Yes.

What if there is evidence to the contrary? Your employer has no legal obligation to address your side of the story.

- Can I appeal this PIP? If your employer allows you to appeal, you can. If your employer does not allow you to appeal it, you can't.

If PIP is not reversed, can I use my vacation time then start the time of the PIP, or would the PIP include my vacation time? That is entirely up to your employer.

- should I consult an attorney, or start looking for employment? I don't know what an attorney can do since no laws have been violated. If you want to look for other employment, go right ahead.

- Legally, how much time do I have to respond to a PIP? As much time as your employer gives you.

The law does not address any of these questions. It's entirely up to your employer.

[egrizzly]

The definition of a hostile work environment is very specific and what you are describing is not an HWE as defined by law.

That being said, there are no laws anywhere in the US that specifically address performance plans or PIPs.

Can the PIP be based purely on opinions of coworkers? Yes.

What if there is evidence to the contrary? Your employer has no legal obligation to address your side of the story.

- Can I appeal this PIP? If your employer allows you to appeal, you can. If your employer does not allow you to appeal it, you can't.

If PIP is not reversed, can I use my vacation time then start the time of the PIP, or would the PIP include my vacation time? That is entirely up to your employer.

- should I consult an attorney, or start looking for employment? I don't know what an attorney can do since no laws have been violated. If you want to look for other employment, go right ahead.

- Legally, how much time do I have to respond to a PIP? As much time as your employer gives you.

The law does not address any of these questions. It's entirely up to your employer.

So does this not make the PIP an illegal corporate document if it was based on something (HWE) that is not true?

[cbg]

No. It does not make the PIP an illegal corporate document if it was based on something that is not true. The law does not care one whit whether your performance review is accurate or not and it does not care one whit if you are on a PIP or not.

[Dogmatique]

Does this have anything to do with your sleep issues?

[Lehk]

To make this clear, you could show conclusive proof that the accusations are baseless and your employer could still choose to terminate you.