An unacceptable email from boss? Some people think so

[Dear Lady Disdain]

Wow I never expected all of these responses!

Soooo actually the email is past history and it was sent last June, the person who was a bad influence ( I couldn't put up boundaries with him so my fault really though ), his contract ended in June, however I feel like I'm being picked on within the team even after his departure

It is a small team where long-standing employees are given preferential treatment, they are granted time off so often leaving me to cover and I cover all the phones by myself in the mornings and that is why I've seen the Union rep twice and in addition to this have been yelled at in front of the whole team twice

I had a supervision though and my behaviour is no longer being monitored, they've stopped doing that and acknowledged my behaviour was adversely influenced by somebody else. My supervisor actually agreed with me that there was favouritism within the team and I was given a good review

Union Rep says he's more than happy to represent me if I wish to take out a grievance and at the moment I'm seeing how it goes, I don't want to go down that line yet

I actually became buddies with the agency worker because the team always felt strange to me and I guess that I bonded with him because we both thought it was pretty toxic, when I began nobody was speaking within the team and I learnt it was internal, because the bosses favourite had been given a managerial role within the team and in addition to this, the man I replaced had disappeared off the face of the earth and done a runner from the team!

 

Thanks for your responses, I agree the boss was covering her back with the email, nothing like that has happened since at least, in fact, on New Years Eve, she kissed me on the cheek and hugged me and wished me Happy New Year with another colleague and she's been very warm, since I complained in supervision about her yelling

 

Thank you everyone, I'll monitor stuff, I'm keeping a log, happy new Year all! DLD X

[Got it]

Actually most harassment type scenarios could easily be described as acts of immaturity and general foolishness.

 

Unfortunately, what constitutes harassment could very easily include snickering and giggling, a joke that wasn't well received, or even a look (this was all explained to me by HR personnel themselves).

 

Its part of what makes the manager's job all the more difficult. An email is the start of a paper trail for the manager to cover his/her backside. He has to show that he was taking action. unfortunately these situations are not standardized and open to interpretation by the offended party.

 

Yes it can but there are specific perimeters that constitute harassment that is a legal concern. It must be severe and pervasive and it must included a protected characteristic. If it is just run of the mill behavior, run of the mill bully, that is not going to follow company policy but is not harassment. A boss is allowed to be a jerk.

 

While I don't think the email is an issue though I would have counseled the manager to have had a verbal conversation and then recapped it in the email or, if warranted, done a (Final) Letter of Concern and then presented that.

 

I think there is a lot of ridiculous behavior going on in this office, and the religious items are a clear violation. (OP please go to EEOC Home Page for more information). There are a host of issues that the email is lost in the noise. I would either go to HR or just find another job. This sounds like a small or poorly organized company that does not have policies and rules in place that require professionalism and I wouldn't waste my time.