Q: In the last two years, my supervisor has fired and written up multiple employees for small and large grievances. I admit that some of the employees deserved their write-ups or being fired, but the turnover here makes me feel like I don't dare make a mistake or I'll be next.
Worse, she likes to "talk over" her reprimand and termination decisions with other employees. She'll approach you, ask what you think about a co-worker and then dish the dirt herself. I never know what to say.
This makes for a lot of awkwardness. Before Christmas, I knew the receptionist was going to be fired in early January. Since the receptionist confided in me, I knew she was spending well beyond her means on presents for her family and was counting on regular paychecks to pay off her bills. I didn't dare tell her what I knew. We have a strict policy against "gossip," and my supervisor has threatened me once with my "tendency" to share information she considers private.
My supervisor's public sharing of negative information about my peers seems wrong to me. It leads to other employees avoiding an employee who is about to be canned. Since the employees who are going to be fired then feel others pulling away, some of them will ask me, "Do you know something I should know?" I don't know how to answer that.
I'm afraid to protest, because I don't want to lose my job. Do I have any recourse? Our employee handbook manual makes clear that we're all employed "at will."
A: You work in a fear-based environment, perpetrated by a supervisor who inappropriately shares personnel information. Occasionally, a supervisor may have reason to tell other affected staff that an employee may be terminated that day or the next day. This doesn't, however, justify broadcasting an employee's shaky status throughout the workplace several weeks before termination.
You have more protection than you know. According to employment attorney turned human resources consultant Rick Birdsall, "the Alaska Supreme Court has adopted the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. Translated, this means the court recognizes that an employer and employee have a special relationship, which includes the obligation to treat each other fairly and in good faith. In your company, your supervisor appears to be a gossip. It would be bad faith for her to terminate you for behaviors she herself engages in. If she does, you would be able to sue and would likely win a suit, barring other factors."
"Further," Birdsall says, "the concept and practice of 'at will' is often misunderstood by both employers and employees. It means an employer can terminate the employer/employee relationship, with or without cause, as long as it does so lawfully. Employees still have protection if an employer terminates them for unlawful reasons, for example, if an employer fires an employee because they're a member of a protected group. Protected groups include age, sex, race, religion and a variety of other categories. Employers also can't lawfully fire an employee because the employee engages in a protected activity, for example, when an employee protests an unsafe workplace." Importantly, your employer's "no gossip" policy may be unlawful and thus you might be protected if you were fired for violating it. In 2014, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Laurus Technical Institute's "no gossip policy" was unlawful because it restricted employees from complaining about working conditions, which is considered protected speech.
Legal issues aside, do want to continue working for a supervisor you fear and who poisons the work atmosphere by talking about employees behind their backs?
Lynne Curry writes a weekly column on workplace issues. She is author of "Solutions" and "Beating the Workplace Bully" and owner of the management/HR consulting/training firm The Growth Company Inc. Send your questions to her at lynne@thegrowthcompany.com. Follow her on Twitter @lynnecurry10, at www.workplacecoachblog.com or at her new site www.bullywhisperer.com.