I had to quit. Do I have a case?

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Lilla

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Hello, I would really appreciate any advice on this issue I have at work.
I currently work for a well-known company -actually I worked for them until today. I resigned today because the District Manager wouldn't help with my transfer request.

Basically my current boss has been asking me out probably ever since I started working, but he always said it jokingly; matter of fact he says everything jokingly so most of the time ppl can't really tell whether he is serious or not; He has a lot of sex jokes that make me feel very uncomfortable, but everybody else usually laugh at them. I'm the one that's "too serious" according to all my coworkers but really, I've never worked with somebody like this before. However, about a month ago, he definitely went too far with me.

He followed me to my car and as I got inside, he jumped in on the passenger side and startled me. I was really in shock, so I finally told him yes we can go out to a restaurant but it had to be right at the moment; he wasn't ready so he asked me to text him my address later that night. I did agree, so that he could get off my car. To my huge surprise, about an hour and a half after, he texted me with an interrogation mark (?), he was waiting for me to send my address. I realized this guy was REALLY serious. I didn't sleep that night and that was the turning point for me. The next day I told him not to text me anymore otherwise I will call HR on him. And I said that in front of everybody because they KNOW what is going on. He got mad and told me he was joking with me- (I didn't buy it of course). I was in an abusive relationship before and feel like I have to defend myself now if I feel threatened like that, so I guess people may feel like I overreacted. This happened over a month ago. Since then we don't talk to each other at work and the situation is very tense. I just can't stand him anymore.

So last week I asked to transfer to this other location, and I really couldn't find anything else to say than the truth to this other manager. It really just came out. I told him my manager asked me out. I didn't go into details but he asked me to talk to HR, I said No way. But I would have never thought that he would take it to the district manager. So the following morning, the DM came to my work location and called me to the office; I was in shocked when he asked if it was true, so I first said no, and then I said yes. He got mad coz I lied in to him in the first place but really I didn't mean to throw the guy under the bus. I just wanted a transfer; he asked me to write a statement basically explaining what I just related earlier. I have the feeling that whatever I said was being recorded because he kept looking at his laptop the whole time. I did tell him, my manager stopped harassing me when I told him I was gonna call HR. He told me they will contact me to investigate this.
In the meantime I can't keep working at this location as I feel like everybody is against me, it's just very uncomfortable. I'm not sure what my manger told my co-workers but nobody is talking to me anymore and I explained all that to the DM.

I just wanna know if I could take this to court. I didn't mean to take it this far, but I sent my resignation letter to the regional manager, who then contacted the district manager who told me he can't transfer me because they told him I have lateness issues. According to them, I'm on conduct warning, which I was never told I was. And another lady at work (supervisor) also confirmed this with the District manager. But this same lady also witnessed when our manager asked me out. I said that to the DM and he then told me it's a different issue. He told me he contacted HR, but they didn't tell him to transfer me. I'm, thinking maybe I should have called myself..

I was late because I didn't feel like coming to work anymore with all that was going on. I lost all respect I had for my manager and we were always fighting anyway. That's why I couldn't take it anymore and asked for a transfer.
I'm really mad at my manager who dared to say anything to keep me from transferring! I wasn't even thinking about going to court, but I'm just really mad that the District manager chose to believe them, rather than me!
 
I see no case whatsoever here.

You essentially undermined your own credibility by lying.
 
Really? No case? Even though every single freaking body in the office knows what happened, as they were all witnesses? A couple of ppl witnessed the guy asking me out and the guy jumping in my car.
This guy didn't hide from anybody while he was doing this.

Also I never went straight to the DM as to accuse my manager of anything, so it's not like I had some kind of plans in my mind or anyhting in the first place.

Even though they are all for him, I would like to believe that if there's an investigation, at least 1 person will tell the truth!
 
Correct. You have no case.

Re-read the facts you posted. You AGREED to go out with him. You then lied about it. The company did nothing at all wrong here.

If anything, they did everything right.

other answers here
 
(What I mean by that is, the company appeared to pretty much do the CYA thing very well. I can see nothing they did wrong, or inappropriately)
 
You noted you sent your resignation letter to the regional manager & also titled your thread I had to quit -do I have a case. When you resign/quit, you rarely get unemployment ins.

You need to look for other employment.
 
I responded to this question on the other board where you asked it. However, for benefit of those reading here, I both agree and disagree with the above. There is no question that your actions undermined your credibliity and did serious damage to what claim you might have had. However, I am not 100% convinced that it is irretrievably dead. Consult local counsel.
 
I lean more toward the replies here & in the other thread that indicate not likely any case against employer. However, it never hurts to talk to an attorney.
 
Asking you out is not illegal. Making going out with him a condition of employment would be. Many people meet their spouses at work. Nothing wrong with that. If you on the one hand tell this guy you will go out to dinner with him and will text your address, I'm not sure how you think he should somehow devine that you really didn't mean it. This isn't middle school. You are presumably an adult and if you don't want him in your car or to go out to dinner with him, say so! You have indicated that as soon as you made it clear you weren't interested, he stopped his behavior. That is the employer's only obligation anyway.

That you didn't mention any of this until there was a transfer you wanted really seriously undermines your credibility. Your coworkers saw joking around that maybe you didn't like, but didn't feel strongly enough to try and stop or report. They maybe even were aware that you were a willing party to much of the conduct. Further, when the company attempted to folow up to make sure there wasn't any inappropriate conduct, you denied it after refusing to make a report. Those are not the actions of an employee who is being harassed in the workplace. Your employer can't possibly know what is really going on in your head if you never tell them.

If this guy jokes around with everyone it may not be professional but it isn't illegal either. Employers are not required to be staid and proper places. If things are so bad you can't bring yourself to come into work, you are way past the point of needing to report the reason.

I understand that you have abuse in your background but I would strongly suggest seeking professional help for it as your reactions and way of handling routine workplace events and behaviors are not healthy and you risk running into this same problem at any future employment.
 
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