I genuinely believe that the workplace
should be a civil environment where employees are free from sexual harassment,
vulgar language, and mental abuse. I also believe that supervisors deserve to
be free from incompetent employees, lazy employees, and bad employees in
general.
By the same token, I do not believe that
judges and juries should be called upon to decide whether the workplace is
functioning according to some statutorily or judicially-imposed standard of
good conduct. It is difficult enough to run a business today given the current
labor laws, including OSHA, without courts deciding whether a supervisor was
"nice enough" when he talked to an employee. Courts just shouldn''t
meddle in workplace demeanor.
The Texas Supreme Court, however, has taken
a giant step toward imposing a standard of workplace civility on employers in
that state, the same state with one of the highest execution rates in the U.S.
The Court was asked to decide whether employees could sue their employer for
emotional distress where the supervisor, a former U.S. Army sergeant, treated
them like boot camp recruits. According to the employees, "sarge"
yelled, cursed, screamed at them, and "charged them" without hitting them,
causing them embarrassment and humiliation.
Instead of dismissing the lawsuit, which
would have been the correct decision, the Court adopted a standard of
supervisory misconduct barring "terrorization" of employees. The
Court said that firing the employees would have been preferable to abusing
them, begging the question why the employees did not quit if they were being
treated so badly.
In the past, employees with abusive
supervisors quit, sought unionization, or learned to live with it. Now, at least
in Texas, they can sue for mental distress. This is just another example of
judges trying to impose good manners and good taste, or at least wheat they
believe to be good manners and good taste. The United States Supreme Court, in
free speech cases, has expressly refused to regulate good taste. The Texas
court should have done the same.
If you have an abusive supervisor, fire him.
Good employees are hard enough to retain without forcing them to quit. Just be
aware that, in light of this Texas case, there may be even more incentive to
get rid of supervisors who lead by terror. the FLSA. The cost to the company of
a Department of Labor audit or an FLSA lawsuit can be devastating.
Kollman
& Sheehan, P.A. © Copyright 2000
~~~~~~~~
Frank L. Kollman,
is a partner in the law firm of Kollman & Sheehan, P.A. and he is also a
partner and moderator of HRLawForum.com, LLC., providing free forums for the
professional HR Manager.
Â