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  1. #1
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    Oct 2014
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    Default Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

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

    I have a coworker who routinely (I've recorded 20+ documented instances) has verbal outbursts including profanity, racial/ethnic slurs, misogyny, homophobia, etc. When I've confronted him directly and informed him that's not proper decorum for a business, he's told me to 'F- off.', 'Go F yourself.' etc. His responses are always extremely hostile. He's in his 70s and showing no signs of retiring so management has more or less taken a "He's not going to change his ways." stance about it. The most they've done so far is had one closed door discussion with him back in March after he blew up again and I confronted management informing them that I had, at that point, 13 documented instances and we were only 3 months into the year. There was absolutely no discipline or consequences for his actions.

    Yesterday, during lunch, the topic of gay marriage came up on the television at which point he started in a tirade heavy with slurs directed at homosexuals. I informed him that I have family who is gay and asked that he refrain from using such language at work. He refused and then directed a slur at my family members. At this point I behaved inappropriately by engaging in the argument with him and it escalated. I should have gone to management at that point, but frankly after reporting him to management well over a dozen times and him only getting a verbal discussion once I've given up on me reporting having any effect on the situation.

    The situation is even more compounded because it's a family business. I'm the next in line to run the business but at this moment, despite being called a 'manager' I have no authority to discipline him at all, and the person I'm reporting him to is my uncle. Further, the coworker in question was my grandfather's best friend, and my grandfather (who recently passed) was the former owner/president who let this behavior carry on for over 2 decades, although it was a different time then and a lot more things slid that shouldn't have. This coworker also helped my grandpa greatly when he got sick which, I feel, makes the president/my uncle hesitant to discipline him because he feels a twisted sense of obligation to him for helping out his dad/my grandpa. If I were to take any action against the company for it's failure to respond, it would effectively hurt myself in the process as this is my future financially, sort of a twist on cutting off my nose to spite my face.

    Lastly, we also just purchased another company which means 14 new employees of various racial/sexual/social/economic/etc. backgrounds that will be forced to interact with this coworker at some point.

    So my questions are:
    1. Is there any hostile workplace protection given that he's using slurs/terms against a protected class, even though the one being harassed (me) is not a member of those protected classes? I.e if he goes off using racial slurs about African Americans even after I inform him that it's inappropriate and I don't want to hear it, is that still a hostile workplace even though I myself am not African American?
    2. What about legal responsibility of the company given that they've been made aware of it on numerous occasions and have failed to do anything to rectify the situation?
    3. What sort of damages could result if he were to have an outburst around a new employee and they were less tolerant of it than others in the past and decided to report it?
    4. What are all my practical options on how to handle the situation?
    5. This is sort of for piece of mind more than anything, but after it happened two coworkers who were in attendance during the argument yesterday made the statement that I over-reacted because when people are at lunch, even on site in the workplace lunchroom, anything they say is 'between friends'. I don't agree with this. Am I completely alone on that thought?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
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    18,340

    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    He appears to be a more valued member of the family than you are so, when push comes to shove, you'll get the short end of the stick if you continue to make an issue of it.

    However, it does appear to be a hostile work environment so a non-family employee can potentially do a great deal of "legal" damage to the company if he or she takes offense.

    If your uncle (the boss) is too stupid to realize that then he deserves whatever damage befalls him and his company when the SHTF.

    As for you, you might as well back off until you do run the company. Then you'll be in a position to take the appropriate action. Feel free to keep recording what happens so you have enough ammunition when you take over.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
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    OH10
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    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    I agree, it is not your job yet to solve the problem. When it is, let the axe fall.

  4. #4
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    Oct 2014
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    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    The only problem with that solution is we're talking about multiple years down the road. I wouldn't bank on this guy retiring or dying soon, which means, essentially, that I'm supposed to just put up with his harassment for several more years? Geez, why don't I just jump off a bridge then.

  5. #5
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    Dec 2009
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    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    Given that you personally don't have a legal stake in this issue, then yes, all you can really do is put up with it.

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    Quote Quoting adalius
    View Post
    The only problem with that solution is we're talking about multiple years down the road. I wouldn't bank on this guy retiring or dying soon, which means, essentially, that I'm supposed to just put up with his harassment for several more years? Geez, why don't I just jump off a bridge then.
    That's certainly an option.

    However, another option is to just leave the family business and find yourself a job with a company that takes this kind of thing seriously.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
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    Massachusetts
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    24,521

    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    How many employees did you have prior to the new acquisition?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    4

    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    We have 2 companies that share space (literally, one big open office, shared clerical staff, everything...), both owned by the family. I'm part owner of one but employed by the other. Between the two there's 16 employees sharing a central office, 4 more will be coming over in the merger. We have 130 field hands on one side, ~25 on the other side, and that 25 will be adding 9 with the merger.

    Leaving the family business isn't really an option as my set of skills from working there would not get me anywhere near what I'm paid there. I'm something of a jack of all trades here and paid more because I'm so versatile, if I were to leave and go elsewhere, I doubt I'd find such an arrangement.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
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    Officially across the country from where I've been all my life
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    4,494

    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    Then I guess you're going to have to just deal with it. That's part of the pain of forever working with the family business and gaining no true marketable skills.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
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    4

    Default Re: Harassment by a Co-Worker in a Family Business

    It's not that they're not marketable. I'm a union employee, I could go anywhere in the US and find work and make good money, just not near what I make now, but part of the reason I get paid what I do is that in addition to being a millwright and certified welder I also handle all the CAD/CAM, network IT support, programmer (C++/C#/etc), and a few other things, all well enough that we no longer outsource any of what I do. The problem is, while each skill is marketable in its own right, nobody is going to hire me for the whole package, thus lower wages than what I'm making now.

    In any event, thanks for the replies so far. Guess I'll just keep on doing the waiting game. Evidently he made a verbal threat of violence about me to another coworker this week but they won't stand up and say they heard it to management, so if nothing else I'll just wait until he's dumb enough to say it to my face and then escalate the reporting.

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