The Problem of the
"Equal Opportunity" Abuser
A
California Court of Appeal recently dismissed a former employee's racial
discrimination claims because the supervisor uniformly targeted all
employees for harassment and did not single out a single protected class.
While the defense was allowed in this particular instance, employers should
clearly never plan on using it. Lee v. Intel Corp., 2004 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 9507 (2004)
The
opinion was unpublished and cannot be relied on by future parties. However,
the case illustrates an all too common problem: the supervisor who feels
his/her position allows him/her to abuse employees. No company should want
to employ a supervisor who continually abuses employees.
Supervisor Frequently Disrespectful To Employee
Otto
Lee, an Asian-American, was hired as an attorney in Intel's Trademark and
Brands group and placed on a nine-month probation.
Four months into his probationary period, Intel hired Anne Gundelfinger as his supervisor.
Gundelfinger soon began to believe that Lee's
performance was deficient. She gave him a poor performance review at the
end of his probationary period. She provided him with an extended two-month
probationary period, and ultimately terminated him at the end of this
period.
Lee
sued alleging racial discrimination and sex discrimination. Lee argued that
his alleged poor performance was merely a pretext for discrimination.
Lee
alleged that his supervisor had been abrasive to him from "the very
start." She was abusive toward him and unwilling to have him near her.
A
co-worker testified that it was obvious that Gundelfinger
disliked Lee. The co-worker testified that Gundelfinger
"regularly ignored" Lee, interrupted him, yelled at him, and
"treated him disrespectfully – far worse than towards any other
person." The co-worker also testified that on one occasion Gundelfinger made a statement to Lee that included the
words "You people."
Supervisor Not Motivated By Prejudice; Abused Many Employees
The
trial court granted summary judgment to Intel. The court of appeal
affirmed.
The
court of appeal found that the evidence showed "no more than
hostility" toward Lee. The evidence showed that the supervisor may
have had a personal disliking of Lee, but that is not enough to show a
prima facie case of discrimination unless the dislike is based on prejudice
against a protected class. Hostility toward an employee is acceptable if
not based on a protected characteristic.
Second,
the supervisor did not single Lee out for mistreatment. The Court noted
that "the undisputed evidence" reflected that Gundelfinger
"disliked and abused" several of her subordinates. However, the
court concluded, "even if Lee was treated worst of all, that fact does
not suggest that the given reason for plaintiff's termination was a pretext
for a racial reason."
Defense Available, but Should Be Avoided
This
case illustrates that the defense of equal opportunity abuser may be
available in certain situations. In fact, it has also been used in some
sexual harassment cases. However, it is not a defense employers should ever
want to rely on. Without a doubt, Intel would have preferred to never be in
court over this claim.
Discrimination
and harassment claims, and their accompanying costs, can be avoided in the
first place by holding supervisors accountable for their respectful
treatment of employees.
Studies Show Abusive Supervisors Hurt Company Performance
A
2002 study in the Journal of Applied Psychology, published by the
American Psychological Association (APA), found that supervisors who were
abusive to subordinates by engaging in sustained displays of hostile verbal
or non verbal abuse (including yelling or screaming at someone for
disagreeing, using derogatory names, aggressive eye contact, intimidating
by use of threats of job loss or humiliating someone in front of others)
had employees who engaged in fewer discretionary actions that promote
organizational effectiveness, such as helping coworkers, not complaining
about trivial problems and speaking approvingly about the organization to
outsiders.
Years
of Gallup
polls also generally show that workers feel better and perform better when
their bosses care for and respect them. While abusive supervisors may get
employees to meet deadlines, for example, they ultimately do so at the
expense of the company's bottom line.
Abusive
supervisors may also lead to increased workers compensation and health care
costs for the company. Generally, there is more productivity in an
environment where there is respect and fairness.
What Should Employers Do?
Employers
should take the following steps to prevent the problem of abusive
supervisors and to deal with it when it happens:
- Professionalism
should be an essential function of a supervisor's job and should be
listed as a job duty.
- Include the
respectful and fair treatment of employees as part of the supervisor's
performance review.
- Institute an
open-door policy that allows employees to air their complaints early
on, before the problem escalates.
- Discipline
supervisors for abusive treatment of employees, up to and including
termination.
- Coach the abusive
supervisor and provide behavioral counseling.
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