employer bullying

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biggie2

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this is a long one... however I truly need guidance. So here goes: About a year ago our Market Manager was demoted - the company claimed it was because he was not making his district sales numbers - given the state of the economy we all knew it was not his fault, anyway the company moved a new market manager from another state, and of course due to the economy he is not making the numbers either. The difference however between the old and the new guy is that the new guy is nothing less then an animal. He is verbally abusive to the managers - cursing calling names, belittling in front of staff and customers etc... When I tried to talk to him and tell him to stop speaking to me in the tone and manner he does he responded with "well then why don't we take this outside".

The old Market Manager is still with the company and the new guy treats him even worse. The kicker is the old Market Manager is a retired vet and he just ignores the behavior.

Recently he has stopped visiting or calling our stores everyday and instead sends faxes that are just as belittling and harrassing as he is in person. The faxes threaten firing if the numbers are not brought up, accusational statements are made like "why are you intentionally driving the store into the ground" etc...

By now I am sure you get the picture. Two weeks ago he walked into my store and advised I was being transferred to another store and to hand in my keys, I did - but he did not give me the keys to the other store in return instead he told me to just be at the new location in the morning.

I have began gathering facts and data and documenting the date time and "verbiage" however from there I am not sure which direction to go, do I hire outside counsel, go to the Dept of Labor or both? None of us can afford to just quit as the economy will not allow us to find gainful employment quickly so what do we do??

Any advice/direction is greatly appreciated - I feel like some employers are taking advantage of the current economy and using it as an excuse to treat employee's like garbage. This guys message is basically - if you don't like my managment style you can leave... I and my co-workers are extremely hard working - many of us were previously very successful... this new guy is drilling the company into the ground....

In addition to this we are being told that our salaries are going to be adjusted - presently we are paid a base plus commission - which if there is no commission due to low sales the base divided into the number of hours works out to less than minimum wage, under the new structure the commission percentage is being lowered so this is a real killer... add to that the fact that the company deducts from managers salaries things that you would think are not an employee's responsibility (i.e. shop compressor repairs) and I just cannot help but think they are breaking laws everywhere.
 
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I would file a complaint with the state department of labor. When the company finds out they are being looked into for this man's policy of harassing his employees, the hire ups are going to flip. At this point you will also fall under whistle blower laws, which prevent action being taken against you for filing the complaint. Plus it's free.
 
http://www.nyhwa.org/

agreed, bullying in the workplace is a huge issue. seems these days, the more offensive management can be, the better corporate likes it. some how, some where, the saying that you catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar has lost meaning in the translation with the language of management...

that being said, usually, to file complaint with the state labor board for harassment, there needs to be proof that the harassment is directed at an individual or group of individuals in a protected class.
 
The only thing I saw in your post that was possibly illegal were the perceived threats of physical violence for which you could theoretically file a police report. However, if all they were, were threats with no action, don't count on the police to do much.

Cussing, threatening, belittling, all those actions are NOT illegal unless they are occuring solely due to protected characteristics of the employee under Title VII, such as race, gender, age, religion, etc. The boss being an unprofessional, rude, equal opportunity jerk is not illegal and, although there have been rumblings of "anti-bullying" laws being considered, to my knowledge, none have been enacted yet.

Regarding the wage change. Inside sales or outside sales?
 
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