Bosses, don't be tricked into firing the wrong employee

Q: Our deli/cafe is open 12 hours a day — we catch both the "going to work" crowd and the "heading home" customers. We offer a wide variety of coffees, sandwiches, comfort foods and pastries. Four months ago, we began offering take-away "self-catering" foods. If customers give us 72 hours notice, we can provide them everything they need for a casual "made-it-myself" dinner party, at less than the cost of a caterer, for only slightly more than what it would cost them to pick up pre-made but not "custom" food at Costco. When customers call in one of those orders, we route the call directly to the cook on duty, because she can hear exactly what the customers want.

Two of our three cooks, "Angie" and "Jane," absolutely hate each other. Both are good workers, but they rub each other the wrong way and constantly snipe at each other. As a result, we've put them on different shifts, though this makes scheduling hard. We've debated firing one or the other because when their schedules overlap, it's nasty.

This afternoon, a customer came in to pick up everything she needed for a Friday evening dinner party, and all hell broke loose. There was nothing ready for her. She freaked.

I tried to calm her down, but no luck. She's been one of our steadiest "self-catering" customers, and now we've lost her. The customer told me Angie took her phoned-in order. I talked with Angie, and she swears she never took the order. It's not the first time she's forgotten something, so I sent her home without pay. Because the third cook was sick with the flu, I asked Jane to work a double shift. She did so without complaint.

It was so peaceful here doing that second shift, I'm wondering if I should fire Angie.

A: Investigate further. You say Jane worked the double shift without complaint. Given how she's sniped at Angie in the past, that makes me suspicious. Call the customer and ask what day she called in her order.

Several years ago, one of my clients, a 24/7 computer tech help firm, lost a major customer because the customer called in an emergency and received no help. The firm asked me to call the customer afterward in a client survey and potentially talk the customer into giving the firm second chance.

When I asked the customer for details, he told me the day on which he'd called and the employee he spoke to. I checked the schedules and the employee the customer named hadn't worked that day. When I investigated further, I determined that another employee had set the first employee up to take a fall by taking the call, giving his co-worker's name and "losing" the information.

In other words, don't fire the wrong employee.

Q: I work for an Alaska Native corporation. My job involves interactions with employees from subsidiary companies. When their employees come to visit, I frequently hug them, and I've been called on the HR carpet for this. Since hugging is culturally appropriate, is HR out of line?

A: Are you sure everyone you hug likes it? If not, and although I occasionally hug clients, I'd hate to defend you in court. Last month, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which oversees Alaska, ruled that a supervisor's hugs can form the basis for a plaintiff's lawsuit. While you don't directly supervise subsidiary company employees, some of those you hug may view it as uncomfortable sexual contact, thus creating potential liability.

In that February 2017 case, Zetwick v. County of Yolo, a female correctional officer alleged the sheriff greeted her and other female employees with unwelcome hugs while he shook hands with male officers. The county claimed that the sheriff's hugging of the women while he shook the men's hands was simply a difference in the ways "men and women routinely interact with members of the same sex and opposite sex."

The court ruled that while the sheriff's hugs were "common" and others in the workplace hugged, it didn't mean hugging "was within the scope of 'ordinary workplace socializing' " and might even constitute a hostile environment, given the sheriff's position as the department's highest-ranking officer.