California-Employment Question?

Question

A month ago, I said something at work that offended another employee. I said F***. I was verbally reprimanded by my direct supervisor, the next level supervisor and a regional supervisor the following day. I also was asked to apologize to the offended co-worker, which I of course did with all sincerity.
Today, the operations director decided to read me the riot act and cojolled me into an arugment over professionalism. He asked me if I still wanted to work there and I told him I wasn't sure after his tyrade today. He then sent me home for the day w/pay.
Was he wrong or should I have groveled at his pointy little feet like a sloth?

Answer 1

Gosh, I say the F-word at least once a day and hear a lot of my co-workers say similar things. I'll bet that in similar places in your company (which sounds large), you can probably get away with saying the F-bomb. But you were right next to the one person who was offended. Actually, about 10 years ago, working for the state of California, I was told to stop using language, because one of my co-workers, someone I felt was rather reasonable, didn't like it. My mouth wasn't as foul then as it is today. I was warned and did as I was told. About 5 years before that, while working for a large insurance company, a similar thing occurred. My supervisor told me to stop using such language. About a month later, she and I had drinks after work and her after-work language was so laced with the f-word that I couldn't believe it. Even I was made uncomfortable by it. But she said that there is a difference between what you say at work and what you say outside of work.

What about your bosses reading you the riot act? They are probably using the F-word more often that you are. But companies are so scared of being sued for hostile work environments that they have now gone overboard.

But here's the thing. A workplace is not a democracy. It is a dictatorship run by a CEO. The CEO makes the laws and you must follow them or else you lose your job. The CEO gives authority to the various supervisors and so forth and they have more power than you. Supervisors get to set some policy and you better follow it. Obviously, supervisors can't get away with everything and sometimes step over the bounds and get burned, but about 99% of the time, you better do what they say. If a boss goes on a tyrade, you have two choices: Kiss the bosses rear end or tell the boss what you think. Both choices have consequences. Apparently, you chose the latter and he sent you home with pay and maybe doomed your career.

Interestingly, a friend of mine who is a former CHP officer was telling me a story last night about how, when he was young and feeling indestructible, he spoke his mind to a supervisor at CHP. No consequences were felt right away. But soon the day came when my friend fell on his face doing something. There were a lot of people who could have helped my friend, but that supervisor was right there to help my friend "down." In other words, the supervisor took a dislike to my friend and let him have it when my friend was vulnerable.

The trouble is that you have to make choices in life. By becoming an employee, you lose a certain amount of freedom of speech. A certain amount of pay is given to you to kiss the bosses rear end.

Actually, something is going on in my life right now that bears some relevance to this. I had a conversation with a co-worker re: politics. I don't think the conversation was that heated, but my co-worker was passionate about her political point of view. We hadn't know each other long. After this conversation, she didn't talk to me for 2 months. I soon realized that it was because of my political belief (which I don't think she really understands where I'm coming from) that she took a dislike to me. If I knew then, what I know now, I never would have engaged in a politcal debate with her. She's caused me a lot of trouble since then. The moral of the story is that you just never know who you are dealing with. As such, you should hold your tougue as much as possible. If you can't, you are in trouble.

We feel as Americans that we should say what we mean and that it is our God-given right to do so. We aren't tough unless we say what we mean. Sounds great. Only that's now how it works in the workplace. Say what you mean at your peril.

How to handle a bosses tyrade? Agree with him, say it was a mistake, and say it won't happen again. If you can't handle the tyrade, get a new job.

Answer 2

As a worker in CA you do have some rights. If your boss or bosses yell and scream at you, it is a violation of your rights and you can file complaint against them. If there is a employee association or union go to them, otherwise you can get a lawyer. I am not an attorney, but this sounds like it could fall under a hostile environment ruling or harassment. good luck

BTW: he was wrong... however, you should have held your tongue without groveling... just asked him if he was done and then left... and start looking for a new job... All they can do on references is verify that you worked there. If they say anything more, you can get them for that too!

Tried to find the links to give to back up my statements and all I got were ads for attorneys!

Answer 3

If you were already reprimanded by everybody at work then the operations manger should have stayed out of it. It is between you and your immediate supervisor. You made the aplolgy to your co-worker and was told about your language. That should be enough. No they should not have sent you home for that.

Answer 4

You were lucky to go home with pay. Honestly, he probably shouldn't have pursued another arguement with you after everything was said and done, but the fact that you aren't sure you'd like to continue working there might have you groveling at his feet once you get back...if you'd like to keep your job. It sucks, but sometimes that's life. If I were you, I'd probably look for a new job where your employee wasn't such a jerk.

Answer 5

As Mr Trump would say.. YOUR FIRED...almost anyway