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  1. #11
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: What's an Appropriate Response to a Complaint of Harassment by a Co-Worker

    Since you have not worked there for a year yet and since there are less than 50 employees within 75 miles of your location, FMLA does not apply. Since FMLA does not apply, you can be fired for absences due to illness.

    I don't have time right now to address the rest of your post because I don't want you to take what I've said above as assuming you have no recourse. But I'll have to address it later today, so hang tight, okay?

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    10

    Default Re: What's an Appropriate Response to a Complaint of Harassment by a Co-Worker

    Thank you for your help cbg

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: What's an Appropriate Response to a Complaint of Harassment by a Co-Worker

    And thank you, Becky, for bumping this back up to the top.

    This is a very difficult situation and there's no good answer, so I have a question for the OP. With the exception of firing the guy who's bothering you (we'll take it for granted that would be your first choice but it's one that may not be possible for reasons I'll get into later), what would be the ideal solution in your mind?

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Jul 2015
    Posts
    5

    Default Re: What's an Appropriate Response to a Complaint of Harassment by a Co-Worker

    The ideal solution for me would be to let me work from an office inside the University; to limit, if not prevent as much contact as possible with this employee. I can do all my job duties in a different office; my office is where all employees clock in and out every day, including the employee who made the threat. My company is outsourced by the University for maintenance; I actually worked for the University for 5 years before I quit to help care for my mom when she was diagnosed with terminal cancer. I have a great working relationship with the staff and faculty; I have to go there almost daily to pick and up deliver invoices to Account Payable. There are really good and kind people working at this University; I am constantly complimented on what a good job I do staying on top of vendor invoices and payments.

    Friday, I had to go into a safety meeting with the employee who threatened me, even though the same meeting was held with the housekeeping staff on Wednesday. I felt that was wrong, having to sit in this meeting with this employee, it was extremely uncomfortable for me, not to mention the anxiety that I faced in being so close to him. I don't even know if the Director said anything to him regarding the threats, which doesn't help my anxiety not knowing if he may do it again. I am afraid to ask the director if I can go to the housekeeping meeting next month, so my anxiety will not escalate like it did in the meeting on Friday.

    In the past week, every time that I have spoken with him about his employee, it's my fault; I am the problem, I can't keep getting anxious every time an employee says or does something in front of me. I may be paranoid, but I feel that the Director put me in the same meeting with this employee intentionally; thinking that it may be too much for me. I really feel that he wants me to quit so he don't have to deal with someone who suffers from PTSD.

    I need to go to my doctor , to have my medication adjusted or changed, but I am afraid to ask the Director; my panic is getting worse each day. It may sound ridiculous, but the anticipation of his reaction or possible confrontation by him, of what he may do or say; for me can be worse than the actual panic attacks.

    In summary:
    An office where I'm not exposed daily to the employee who threatened me.
    Allowed to attend the safety meeting with the other group of employees, where this employee won't be present.
    Allowed to ask to go to a doctor's appointment, if needed; without fear of getting fired; I would agree to make up the time I missed.

    I think that would help me tremendously, I wouldn't be on edge every day with worry of the employee threats, and as a bonus....I wouldn't be exposed to the Director fussing at me so much.

    Thank you again for your help.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Apr 2009
    Location
    Somewhere near Canada
    Posts
    35,894

    Default Re: What's an Appropriate Response to a Complaint of Harassment by a Co-Worker

    I'm just not at all sure whether any of those are actually feasible. The last one in particular just wouldn't be reasonable from the employer's point of view (I doubt the second option would be, either).

    But standby for cbg. She is by far the expert in these matters

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Massachusetts
    Posts
    24,521

    Default Re: What's an Appropriate Response to a Complaint of Harassment by a Co-Worker

    Before we get into specifics (and we will, I promise) I want to give you some details about what the Americans with Disabilities Act does and does not require. Your employer is subject to the ADA even if you do not meet the criteria for FMLA but it's not necessarily going to give you everything you want.

    First, the accommodation your employer gives you must be reasonable. It does not have to be the one you want or even the one your doctor recommends; only one that works. The employer does not have to dis-accommodate other employees to accommodate you, and he does not need to go to an unreasonable expense. What is and is not reasonable is very situation specific and we'll do some specifics in a minute.

    Second, there are no circumstances whatsoever under which the employer has to accept sub-standard work, no matter what.

    Third, the employer has no obligation to eliminate any essential functions of your position, though eliminating non-essential functions can be considered reasonable in some cases.

    Now, let's look at your specific suggestions. Be aware that you and I cannot decide here what is and is not reasonable, but hopefully I can give you some things to be thinking about with your suggestions that you can use in the conversation with HR that I'm going to suggest later. None of your suggestions sound out of line to me, but I don't know your workplace and it may be that there are some unreasonable aspects to it. If you and I discuss them now, maybe you'll feel more prepared if any of them are raised in your meeting and won't feel blindsided. You know your workplace better than I do and it may be that I'll see problems that you know don't exist. But we'll go through them anyway.

    Moving your office. This might be reasonable, IF there is an open office available AND if other people are not put to difficulties by the fact that you're somewhere else. Right now I have a new hire coming in and we're having to convert a conference room to make room for her - there's an empty office across the hall but it would be inconvenient for the rest of the team to have her across the hall. So temporarily, until we all move to a new building, we're sacrificing our conference room. There are several people who all do the same job and we really can't have one of them separate from the rest. And if there is no empty office to move you to, in a convenient place, game over.

    Letting you go to the other safety meeting. Again, sounds quite reasonable on the surface. The only potential issue I can think of offhand is timing. Sometimes who goes to what meeting is determined by which positions can be off the job at what time and affecting the least number of people.

    I think you're going to have to let go of the third one. I completely understand how stressful it is to be under the threat of being fired, but there really is a limit to how much time off, even for medical reasons, that an employer has to accommodate outside of FMLA. FMLA does not apply in your case (those rules are set by Federal law; there's no getting around them) and any employer would have problems with someone who keeps needing time off for doctor's appointments. There isn't any law, including the ADA (or even FMLA, if that should ever come into play) that's going to allow you unlimited time off and have you be bulletproof. I think rather you might want to consider seeing if you can schedule your doctor's appointments for early mornings, late afternoons, and weekends. There's no law I can think of that's going to let you take all the time off you want, or even need, without being fired, and I don't think the ADA is going to consider that reasonable. Even if you make up the time.

    The reason I don't think firing the guy who's bothering you being fired is going to happen, at least not right away, is that from an outsider looking in it's pretty clear that he's also ill, and he has ADA rights also. That doesn't mean he's free to harass you, but if I'm right about what's wrong with him it would be just as impossible for HR to regulate his being able to control what he says as it would be for you to control whether you get panicked or not. It's not within your control and I don't think it's within his control. If he ever posts here, or if your HR person does, I have a couple of suggestions for how to help him learn to control it, just as you can learn to control your panic attacks. But they aren't here, you are, and the suggestions would not be appropriate for you to give them. So we'll let that go for now.

    So on Monday, I would recommend that you contact HR (not your manager, not the director, but someone in HR), identify yourself as needing an ADA accommodation, and talk to them the way you've talked to us here. Note that they ARE entitled to verify your condition with your doctor and also to discuss with him what would be reasonable.

    Hope this is helpful.

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