I now know what workplace harassment feels like

It all started just this last Thursday.

First, a little info so you understand what's going on:

A few months ago someone had filed a complaint about an employee who was picking their nose and wiping the findings on the bathroom walls. I know...totally gross. I am totally not responsible for this disgusting and childish act.

So back to Thursday...I come in to work in the morning and find a roll of paper towels on my desk with a sticky note taped to it reading "Use this before going to the bathroom." I quickly dismissed it as some joke I didn't get.

About an hour later, a fellow employee approaches me and pulls me into the meeting room and tells me that there is a picture of me posted in the mens bathroom with writing on it that says "If you enjoy looking at mucous on the walls, you can thank this man." I was furious. My co-worker advised me to call an attorney friend of his. I took the number but haven't called as of yet.

Friday afternoon, around 3:52p, I get a crank call from a local number in which a man asks for me, then says "It's your boogerman!", then hangs up.

This morning, Saturday, I walk into the bathroom after only being here for an hour, and what do I find? A styrofoam cup with the initials "J.N." (my initials) COVERED with boogers in the men's bathroom! GROSS! I almost barfed at the sight of it. I took a picture of it, and for evidence, bagged the cup in a paper bag, and stapled it shut.

These have all been extremely childish acts, and I've decided that I'm not going to tolerate this anymore. I plan on calling my friend's lawyer friend on Monday and seeing what can be done about this.

With any luck, I'll be enjoying an extended vacation aboard a cruise ship in Mexico. Or maybe Vegas...who knows.....

Beamhead said:

I don't mean to belittle your situation, is it at all possible that this is part of an elaborate friendly coworker prank.

I have personally been involved in a few.

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I think, legally, it doesn't matter. I don't like it...joke or no joke it's childish, degrading, and inapproriate for a professional workplace environment. People at work give me dirty looks now, and these incidents have all happened within the last 3 days.

This reminds me of how I have to "dodge" the puddles on the floor to use my school restrooms and the "don't touch anything game unless you want to rot into a puddle of human on the floor" game... *Cough*
Must suck to be there, I would really go with the attorney thing.
That or

A:Scare them(Claim for lawsuit)

Bayback(Turn evidence in)

Navck said:

This reminds me of how I have to "dodge" the puddles on the floor to use my school restrooms and the "don't touch anything game unless you want to rot into a puddle of human on the floor" game... *Cough*
Must suck to be there, I would really go with the attorney thing.
That or

A:Scare them(Claim for lawsuit)

Bayback(Turn evidence in)

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Naw...I think it's actually illegal to threaten to sue someone. And the best payback would be a nice large amount of CA$H. I'm not the sue-happy type-I've had a few opportunities to sue but haven't-but I think it's time that I take advantage of this one. A friend of mine was reviewing harassment judgements and several of them, which were not as bad as my situation, received at least $50,000.

LaserFreak said:

With any luck, I'll be enjoying an extended vacation aboard a cruise ship in Mexico. Or maybe Vegas...who knows.....



And the best payback would be a nice large amount of CA$H. I'm not the sue-happy type-I've had a few opportunities to sue but haven't-but I think it's time that I take advantage of this one. A friend of mine was reviewing harassment judgements and several of them, which were not as bad as my situation, received at least $50,000.

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I believe that you must try to resolve the issue with your coworkers and your/their superiors first, then if it continues seek monetary damages.

The impression you are giving ME is one of someone who is out to make a buck......

Beamhead said:

I believe that you must try to resolve the issue with your coworkers and your/their superiors first, then if it continues seek monetary damages.

The impression you are giving ME is one of someone who is out to make a buck......

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How would I resolve the issue between myself and an unkown instigator? We have a very large amount of employees in this office and it's impossible to tell who is responsible. Plus, each incident has been reported to HR as soon as it occured. An office wide email went out from HR on Thursday, when the first incident occured, which basically said that this is an unacceptable act, and that the company frowns upon harassment in the workplace, yet the harassment continues. I have done my due dilligence in attempting to resolve the issue with HR, and effectively, have done everything in my power (short of a lawsuit) to stop the harassment.

Go to the boss and complain. Ask the boss to call a meeting. Let the boss do the talking, not you.

onthebeam said:

Go to the boss and complain. Ask the boss to call a meeting. Let the boss do the talking, not you.

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It's not possible. With over 600 employees in the building, not all employees may be here at any given time. We're not dealing with small beans here.

LaserFreak said:

It's not possible. With over 600 employees in the building, not all employees may be here at any given time. We're not dealing with small beans here.

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You do need to go to your boss, absolutely. Don't let the rumors reach the boss with the chance that the boss might believe them. Get on the record. Be polite, but firm. Say you are angry, but say it in a calm voice. Don't threaten legal action right away,that's for certain. Be calm and strong. You should get results. I can promise the HR Dept. of a large company will want to get this stopped immediately. But, communicate directly to the boss first so it doesn't appear as it you are doing an end run.

Well
Harassment is WRONG, and the goal should be to stop it. And I agree the company should do more.
However you imagining yourself on a cruise in Mexico with$50k in the pocket is not right neither.

I know that's what the legal system is like in this country and the result is that it makes people greedy. The $50k probably works as a punishment for the company (that might do too little), but I think it does not reflect the real damage caused on your end.

The way the legal system should be changed is that the money should go to Charity instead of the victim (or most of it), and lawyers should only be paid on an hourly rate rather then a percentage of what they get. That would make services like insurance, doctors, health care etc. a lot cheaper for everyone.

Jeez man, send an email around the office saying you're not responsible for the wall boogers and you don't know who is, but anyone who thinks it's you is mistaken. Offer to have a DNA test done on yourself and the boogers if neceesary. Nobody will take you up on it. Just be mature. The lawyer stuff is ridiculous.

paulr said:

Jeez man, send an email around the office saying you're not responsible for the wall boogers and you don't know who is, but anyone who thinks it's you is mistaken. Offer to have a DNA test done on yourself and the boogers if neceesary. Nobody will take you up on it. Just be mature. The lawyer stuff is ridiculous.

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"Wall boogers"
That has to be the weirdest word out there...
But seriously, that sucks to happen.

I concur that going to the boss is the first step. I would also suggest that you put everything in writing so that you have dated proof of what you did on your end to stop the problem. It it were me, I'd ask the company to find the culprit(s). I would think a good employer would want to find the person or persons, and apply appropriate sanctions, partly as an example to the rest of the staff.

A couple of questions. You indicated that a complaint was made several months ago--what has happened since then? Did the activity stop, or is it ongoing? Have you made any "enemies" in the company recently?

What is being done to you is disgusting and immature in the extreme, but I too don't think that running to an attorney (at least at this point in time) is the way to go. The actual culprits need to be held to account, but when attorneys get involved, they will probably go after the deep pockets, which would mean the employer, who did not (I assume) have anything to do with the childish acts of one or more of its employees.

Just my (worthless) opinion...

I like the DNA idea... take a sample of the stuff, then the employer should test everyone (announce it first to give the person a chance to come forward and turn them in). If not have everyone tested...

There's nothing wrong with going to an attorney for advice. He (she) would be able to tell you the appropriate steps to take. If that doesn't end it, you'd be amazed at how much a single phone call from an attorney can accomplish.

My advice is to start looking for another job, review your friendships and just ignore further action from the unknown person.

Ok, you could play dirty. You should of left the photo of you in the bathroom or use a photoshopped one. Try to out do the unknown person and your best not to get caught setting yourself up.

mobile1 said:

The way the legal system should be changed is that the money should go to Charity instead of the victim (or most of it), and lawyers should only be paid on an hourly rate rather then a percentage of what they get. That would make services like insurance, doctors, health care etc. a lot cheaper for everyone.

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I wholehearted agree that lawyers should be paid an hourly fee like everyone else. The idea of getting of percentage of the "award" is ridiculous and wouldn't be tolerated in most other professions. It's sort of like me designing an electronic device for a client, and then billing them a percentage of their revenue for the device ad infinitum. I know the "reasons" for the contingency fee system used by lawyers. Supposedly the idea was to allow someone who had a legitimate case but couldn't afford a lawyer to sue. It's devolved into a lawsuit lottery where lawyers will take even ridiculous cases on the grounds that you win some, you lose some. Most other countries don't allow percentage-based lawyers fees.

As for the original topic, I'm assuming here that your not prone to blackouts or multiple personality disorders. There have been cases of people doing things like that, not remembering, and then thinking they were falsely accused. I just thought I'd mention this in passing even though it's not applicable in your case. My suggestion might be to convertly install cameras in the bathroom and hopefully catch the culprit in the act. My guess is it's either an elaborate practical joke which is no longer funny, if indeed it ever was, or a coworker (perhaps ex-coworker) who had some gripe with you. Think about anyone who may have had problems with you in the past to shorten the list. It doesn't even have to be legitimate problems where you were the guilty party but even ones were you did nothing wrong, but someone else found fault with your behavoir (i.e. perhaps you refused to help someone catch up on their work, or maybe didn't want to cover them for a vacation, etc.). Good luck and yes, this is beyond disgusting.

I am not a lawyer and this is not advice .

Harassment is wrong period. Consulting an attorney in matters is always a good thing as well. With that said...

50K may make life easier for the year but at what price? (No pun intended) Many companies use the terms "assets" and "liabilities" in many different conversations and there may be more at stake than just the current situation (reputation and image within the current company)...

Has your supervisor ever "not followed through" with a complaint that you presented to him/her?

Sincerely,

Shaman

jtr1962 said:

I wholehearted agree that lawyers should be paid an hourly fee like everyone else. The idea of getting of percentage of the "award" is ridiculous and wouldn't be tolerated in most other professions. It's sort of like me designing an electronic device for a client, and then billing them a percentage of their revenue for the device ad infinitum. I know the "reasons" for the contingency fee system used by lawyers. Supposedly the idea was to allow someone who had a legitimate case but couldn't afford a lawyer to sue. It's devolved into a lawsuit lottery where lawyers will take even ridiculous cases on the grounds that you win some, you lose some. Most other countries don't allow percentage-based lawyers fees.

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sorry, but have you ever litigated a case against a large company? they literally can paperwork you to death. if you force plaintiff's attorneys to work on a per hour basis, you will effectively cut out legal services to all but the wealthiest clients. imo, a better option would be to force the attorneys to have more personal accountability for their claims, i.e. by requiring them to do more due diligence before making claims.