Posted by Mike, jobhelp@houston.rr.com, on 7/04/03

More | Report Post

Hoping to hear another side on this one - can someone post
a response here? (had lots of solicitations for biz,but
hoping to know if I should pursue this)

I made a joke at work a couple weeks ago - we
were talking about transfers to diff locations within the
company, and one of the guys asked me if I had considered
it. I said jokingly "yes, but if I tell you, I'd have to
kill you", an obvious line from a movie. We went on
working, and nothing else happened. Next thing I know, I
am being called to the super's ofc, and being told that the
co-worker complained that I had made a threat against him!
I was escorted out of the building, very humiliating, and
have not been allowed to return to work yet.

The person who did the "report" was most likely acting in
retaliation. Several weeks prior, I had told the super that
this person (the one who complained about my comment) had
showed up to work drunk. Given the work we do, it is a
serious safety issue. It made him mad, but he should not
have showed up drunk! This person is also pretty
vindictive, constantly talking about his gun collection,
how he wants to kill all of a certain race of people (I
won't mention here) and how he thought blowing up our place
of employment would eliminate some of the problems we dealt
with as a business. That is ignored, but because I tried
to make a joke, I am the one now under investigation!

I have been forced to go to two psychologist visits, and
now much also go to a psychiatrist for a "release for duty -
no homicidal tendencies" release! I have not been allowed
back to work, and they have been forcing me to use all of
my sick time. My wife was scheduled for surgery two weeks
ago, and I had planned on taking some of that time for the
surgery. The surgery was canceled at the last day because
of a missing form at the hospital. We need to reschedule
it, but the stress from all this has us both at wits end.
By the time I am done with this mess, I might have no time
off left to help her after surgery.

In addition, today, someone from the local child protection
agency called our home, wanting to talk to my wife. She
was not available at the time, but tried to call back. No
one would claim making the call. All of this was
supposedly initiated through the Employee Assistance
Program at work! Some assistance!

My wife and I have been in lay ministry for over twenty
years. Our main focus is helping other people! We have our
own ministry web site, but have not been actively using it
over the last year as we determine the proper direction for
it. We are both graduates of a local ministry school as
well. We've given our lives to helping others.

This whole thing is getting way out of hand. I think the
employer is going way beyond what should have been done.
The only thing I am "guilty" of is bad judgment in trying
to make a joke. I feel that I've been the victim of #1 -
retaliation and #2 - invasion of privacy and #3 -
defamation of character. This will be on my employment
record now with this company. I don't know if I will even
get to keep my job. A written warning would have sufficed,
but they have taken this to an extreme I did not think
possible. I have been searching the net trying to find
similar problems or legal info on this, but most employment
laws deal with privacy issues over company email, property,
etc. I don't have a problem with any of that - they are
digging into my PERSONAL PRIVATE life, and causing undue
mental stress and problems.

Please help! What can I do? What are my rights as an
employee?

Defamation, inv of privacy, etc, 7/04/03, by Mike.

Equal Rights Chatboard

LATEST POSTS | BY TOPICS | SUBMIT A POST