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| *Ostroff, Fair and Company>>>Law & Legal |
Does my boss have a right to mention my name in relation to a complaint? |
I have a lazy colleague at work. Some of my other colleagues complained to my boss about her, and said I felt the same. My boss has told that lazy colleague that I have made a comlaint about her and she has now made it public to all staff! Does she (my boss) have a right to tell the lazy one my name, even though I never made any formal compaint against her?! What legal rights do I have, if any? Unless the "lazy co-worker" is in a position of authority or influence and the nature of your work turns into one of "retaliation" (which is a stretch, esp. since you didn't make the complaint), it's doubtful you would have any legal recourse (but I'm not an attorney... a retaliation claim would likely be the only option though). Obviously your boss was wrong, as you never implicate someone in doing any kind of workplace investigation or fact-finding, no matter how minor unless it's a specific dispute between two people... and even then, there are right and wrong ways to handle it. If your organization has a formal grievance or dispute resolution policy, then I would use it - but my guess is probably not with the way this situation was even handled to begin with. If it does, however, and you use it and you are again singled out by your boss - then a retaliation claim is much more probable... but we don't want to put the cart before the horse. The thing is - rather than looking for a way to sue, I would be looking for a resolution to the problem. I would recommend possibly having a conversation with both the co-worker and your boss (separately). Obviously a relationship with your boss is necessary and you don't want to damage that, but your boss isn't the one smarting from this - you are. Likewise, your co-worker is probably pretty hurt, so lazy or not, I would start by having a conversation with the co-worker to try and let them know at a minimum - that you weren't involved in the conversation and you apologize for your name being linked and for any hurt feelings it has caused... HOWEVER, depending on how well you do with this conversation - this could legitimately be your opportunity to share the concerns that you and some others have (in private - not public) without humiliating this person... maybe you even offer to help this person by suggesting areas of improvement, or even mentoring? That would go a LONG way towards improving the personal relationship and could potentially help fix the problem instead of just causing inter-personal conflict within the office the way your boss did. As for your boss, if this is something your boss felt okay to implicate you in - keep in mind this may have legitimately been an assumption/mis-communication because it came third party or it may be that your boss didn't think about the consequences to you (which is the most likely) or worse, your boss simply may not care. My advice to you would be to rather than assuming what your bosses intention's are/were - find a way to have the conversation and ask and try to do damage control. Assess your history with your boss and if similar behavior has been exhibited by your boss with you or with other people. Again - I would caution you from making assumptions about "why" your boss did it though. Sometimes, managers are guilty of just "relaying information" without realizing they are throwing someone under the bus. If you suspect that to be the case here, then a conversation with your boss should be okay for you to have... The thing you want to do in these situations it to be non-confrontational, but still direct and sincere in asking the question. My favorite "tool" to use is the "help me" card - while doing your best to keep it factual and unemotional (easier said than done!) and asking your boss something along the lines of.... "I understand that some issues with 'lazy co-worker' were brought to your attention by someone else, but my name was used. Since I'm not the one who made the complaint, can you help me understand why you told lazy co-worker and the rest of the staff that I made the complaint?" I would also consider saying, "Understandably, lazy co-worker (and maybe other people) is now upset with me and I'm concerned that our working relationship may be damaged." Something I've used quite a bit are tools from the books, Crucial Conversations & Crucial Confrontations. These are easy to read and are considered one of the top tools (and are used for extensive management training) in teaching people how to have those necessary & critical conversations that so often go bad... (i.e. think if someone had the guts to speak up at Arthur Anderson or Enron) They have a website at www.vitalsmarts.com where you can pull a lot of information even without reading the books. You can sign up for their newsletter (and access archives) in which people have emailed for advice for similiar situations... a really GREAT resource. Source(s): www.vitalsmarts.com You can sue her if it turns into a hostile work environment. Also, she should be fired for not keeping her mouth shut. Most companies have this policy. As her or her boss for a copy of company policy on this. Your boss has the right to say it, but the responsibility to not indicate that you had made the complaint -- especially if you never made a formal complaint. I would explain that you never made a complaint to the lazy worker, and you apologize that anyone told her that you had. As to legal options -- really you have nothing. And if you protest too much, you will really turn your work environment to something uncomfortable. I guess the first question is where you singled out as the only one complaining. If so your boss was wrong because what was told to your colleague was hear say. I believe you need to make a formal complaint about your boss. That can be tough on you but I know hostility in the work place is no fun. It will end up hurting your work ethic. You do need to complain and get this in the open. This could all back fire if you don't and you will end up being the bad guy in all this. Office confrontation is not easy right now but will be later on down the road. You must go above your boss to make the complaint. Take a deep breath and do it I don't think your Boss should've mentioned your name or the person who did file a complaint. you can go talk to a lawyer about it and they don't charge unless they think they have a case. You can find a new job. |
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