Is a "Good old' boy club" legal in a professional workplace?

[Mesa]

Serious question here. In today's economy, lots of companies are "doing more with less" i.e. layoffs. It's been happening at my work all year and continues today.

My company is merging departments, and I can pretty much see the writing on the wall that my department's time looks to be numbered and I fully expect most of us to be replaced once our current project is done.

We combined 4 departments into 1, and the old bosses of the other 3 departments have been let go and now we just have this 1 boss over-seeing all 4 departments.

What I've seen so far in deciding who gets let go and who stays is clearly favoritism from this newly appointed boss, where he had kept his own people and made heavy cuts to the other three departments. Even when it meant cutting good people rather than letting go of his own lesser employees in some instances.

Like I said, it now looks like they are coming after us and writing up people for the silliest things just as an excuse to fire them later.

So I was wondering, is this even legal? If I have evidence of favoritism and evidence of intimidating (my) people from my department from this new management regime, can I present that to HR or anything, or since this is a right to work state, do we just have to take it until we get fired/laid off?

 

[thenammagazine]

It's definitely discrimination. If you can prove it, should you get canned, you definitely have a wrongful termination lawsuit. Otherwise, if they are threatening your group, and you have proof, you could file a claim of "Hostile Work Environment" harassment with the HR department (assuming AZ supports that type of harassment).

 

[The Ween]

Document EVERYTHING! And yes, it is discrimination, just like Nam said. They'll do ____ to try and get you to quit.

Good luck!

 

[devilof76]

How can you contest being fired if you're an 'at will' employee?

 

[Devil_666]

How can you contest being fired if you're an 'at will' employee?

FYI: Discrimination doesn't apply to your situation Mesa. It happens all the time and it's 100% legal.

Discrimination happens when employers make job decisions based on employees' protected characteristics -- traits that federal, state, or local governments have decided should not be the basis of employment actions. Under federal law, for example, it's illegal for employers not to hire someone because of his race, to refuse to promote women, to relegate employees with disabilities to low-paying positions, or to lay off employees based on age.

If workplace favoritism is based on protected characteristics, then it is illegal discrimination. For example, if a manager promotes only men or gives the best assignments and shifts to employees who share his religious beliefs, that would be discrimination.

On the other hand, favoritism that's based on other factors may not be discriminatory, even if it's a sign of bad management. For example, if a manager favors employees who are her college buddies, who are fans of the same baseball team, or who love the same band, that is not discrimination.

So long story short: You and your peeps are S.O.L.

 

[The Ween]

How can you contest being fired if you're an 'at will' employee?

It would depend on the state, what his complaints are and also if he's under any kind of contract at all.

I'm not even sure what he does. I thought I did, but I was wrong.

 

[thenammagazine]

There's still hostile work environment harassment:

Workplace Harassment is a Form of Discrimination
Unlawful harassment is a form of discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal authority.

Unwelcome verbal or physical conduct based on race, color, religion, sex (whether or not of a sexual nature and including same-gender harassment and gender identity harassment), national origin, age (40 and over), disability (mental or physical), sexual orientation, or retaliation (sometimes collectively referred to as “legally protected characteristics”) constitutes harassment when:

1. The conduct is sufficiently severe or pervasive to create a hostile work environment; or

2. A supervisor’s harassing conduct results in a tangible change in an employee’s employment status or benefits (for example, demotion, termination, failure to promote, etc.).

https://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/understanding-workplace-harassment-fcc-staff

 

[devilof76]

Even though Mesa was vague about the kinds of silly things people were getting written up for, it doesn't sound like any of it was based on race, sex, religion, etc. If they decide to come down on people for getting back 2 minutes late from a smoke break or something, that's not harassment.

 

[ProgMatinee]

I was having a discussion about this with a fellow employee because our government is trying to go to extend "right to work" laws to the government sectors.

She thinks we would be protected from baseless firings, I don't think so.

I think as long as they aren't basing it on protected classes they can fire you for any reason whether you are a better employee or not.

The questionable thing to me is why upper management put up with that. If they really knew what was going on they'd prefer to keep good employees, not friends of the bosses because in the end their livelihood is also at risk.

 

[thenammagazine]

Even though Mesa was vague about the kinds of silly things people were getting written up for, it doesn't sound like any of it was based on race, sex, religion, etc. If they decide to come down on people for getting back 2 minutes late from a smoke break or something, that's not harassment.

If in California, you'd be wrong. I'm not sure if AZ supports Hostile Work Environment Harassment, but it's basically undeserved attention (even bullying which is exactly what's happening) that makes the work environment overly stressful to the point where one is spending more time worrying about losing their jobs from the behavior than performing them. If AZ supports these types of laws, and he has evidence to prove it, Mesa has a case.

 

[devilof76]

The questionable thing to me is why upper management put up with that. If they really knew what was going on they'd prefer to keep good employees, not friends of the bosses because in the end their livelihood is also at risk.

That makes perfect sense.

Hostile Work Environment Harassment

I've never heard of that, but I suppose I should have guessed it was coming.

 

[karamazov80]

The questionable thing to me is why upper management put up with that. If they really knew what was going on they'd prefer to keep good employees, not friends of the bosses because in the end their livelihood is also at risk.

That is the way of the world, I'm afraid. A meritocracy we do not live in.

 

[thenammagazine]

I've never heard of that, but I suppose I should have guessed it was coming.

In cases like this, it's wholly warranted. Unfortunately, as with everything, there's room to abuse it.

 

[Mesa]

I'll post an update to my situation when I can (ie not from iPhone).

But I think my situation is as others have said, the employee is screwed because they aren't targeting any protected class, just if you're in the club or not.

The bull____ continues to happen today. I was at a point of tears/anger/frustration/fight mode earlier this morning. It's not fair what this new management is being allowed to do, and certainly not good for the business in either short or long term, but I don't think I have any recourse.

As I'm collecting data and documenting, I may take the information public if I get fired (news 5 investigating team, etc.) just to expose how poorly this company has been unfairly treating their employees.

Another interesting note, those who have been let go we're forced to sign a legal document saying they wouldn't sue. If you don't sign, you get no severance package. But since this will be the third or fourth round of layoffs, upper management has really stripped down the severance package to almost nothing.

 

[Deadly Dagger]

Sorry to hear of this...and why is this in the sandbox?

 

[The Ween]

I'll post an update to my situation when I can (ie not from iPhone).

But I think my situation is as others have said, the employee is screwed because they aren't targeting any protected class, just if you're in the club or not.

The bull____ continues to happen today. I was at a point of tears/anger/frustration/fight mode earlier this morning. It's not fair what this new management is being allowed to do, and certainly not good for the business in either short or long term, but I don't think I have any recourse.

As I'm collecting data and documenting, I may take the information public if I get fired (news 5 investigating team, etc.) just to expose how poorly this company has been unfairly treating their employees.

Another interesting note, those who have been let go we're forced to sign a legal document saying they wouldn't sue. If you don't sign, you get no severance package. But since this will be the third or fourth round of layoffs, upper management has really stripped down the severance package to almost nothing.

That's a crock of bull____ right there! Since the severence package is crap, don't sign it!!!!

 

[crows]

I'll post an update to my situation when I can (ie not from iPhone).

But I think my situation is as others have said, the employee is screwed because they aren't targeting any protected class, just if you're in the club or not.

The bull____ continues to happen today. I was at a point of tears/anger/frustration/fight mode earlier this morning. It's not fair what this new management is being allowed to do, and certainly not good for the business in either short or long term, but I don't think I have any recourse.

As I'm collecting data and documenting, I may take the information public if I get fired (news 5 investigating team, etc.) just to expose how poorly this company has been unfairly treating their employees.

Another interesting note, those who have been let go we're forced to sign a legal document saying they wouldn't sue. If you don't sign, you get no severance package. But since this will be the third or fourth round of layoffs, upper management has really stripped down the severance package to almost nothing.

can you go to the news without getting in trouble? I would totally that, F__ them, I would try to get it out there,

Sorry to hear of this...and why is this in the sandbox?

I was wondering about that too,