Good Morning. I will try to be as brief yet concise as possible. I have been reading these threads for 2 months now, as not to be redundant. I worked at a large Telecommunications company for 2 1/2yrs as a Supervisor, when a new Mgmt team decided to re-vamp our org. My peers and I all began searching internally, myself and 4 other supervisors, joining a new support team (3/1/07). This team's mission and expectations were undefined, with no measurable metrics or objectives. I repeatedly asked my Supervisor verbally and in emails if they had decided what they would be, as I wanted to ensure I exceeded them. He claimed they had yet to define them and not to be concerned. Approximately 3 months later, many of my peers began noticing a new 'dynamic' in a relationship between our Supervisor and a woman that was recently promoted to our team as a peer. More and more often they began disappearing for an hour or two, then began taking her to extended lunches (he never spent much time with other members and never left the building with any other subourdinants). 80% of our 30 person team, complained and commented to eachother as this relationship became more flagerant. It caused such a distraction it became everyone's discussion and concern over their future. She was being handed special projects that were never offered; they spent 90% of their day on the phone with eachother discussing their personal 'homelife situations' (yes, they are both married to others outside the company), when either of them were off shift. I sat between them and was subjected to their juvinal inuendos and personal discussions. Often our Supervisor would leave for a conference room, explaining in a secretive tone, "let me call you back from another room...too many 'ears' nearby. I was the only one near him. When they were both at the office, they Instant Messeged eachother the enitre day, ignoring requests from peers on business related questions. This created a tremendously tense environment for all. Finally a peer of mine got so discouraged and upset, she went to our Sr. Manager to voice her concerns (our Supervisor and our Sr. Mgr. a long time close friends). She was told nothing was going on and to focus on her work. Very shortly after that she was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan, then informed her she needed to retire (she had 30 yrs of excellent service) or find another team to work with. She was fortunate to find another position. In a Team Meeting, the Sr. Manager said there was nothing going on and if anyone else mentioned it again they would be fired. My performance suddenly came into question 'informally' in May 2007, oddly enough my semi-annual review (just written the month before) stated I was a strong asset to the team, and my experience was valuable to the Company. I was stunned but asked for better, clearer direction and offered to work closer with peers that he felt were 'stronger'. He then stated that if he were to rate me today, I would be the bottom performer. He suggested this postition (which was now strictly clerical) may not be a good fit for my skills, and I should look elswhere in the company. I agreed to look, but at the same time I continually requested updates, verbally and email, if he had any additional complaints; the answer was generally no, but on occasion would 'find' some thing that may have been worded better on some notes. He was fully aware of my desire to correct any defeciencies he felt I had. When I did change an area of concern he would quickly say I missed a process in another area...and so on. I was quickly becoming concerened that I was being targeted for the required 'low position'...all Supervisors must rate their team members and someone must occupy this slot. I began sharing my concern with my mentors, providing supporting documents that my performance was identical and in some cases exceed my peers that were not being questioned. All were confused by this Supervisor's assessment, and then a few suggested it may be due to that fact I sat between the two having the relationship, and they knew I had over heard(unintentionally) what was really going on. Ultimately I met privately with our Sr. Manager (the same one the other employee went to)and explained my concern over the way I was being rated even though I had plenty of documentation to support me. I asked to be transfered, he said he would help. I then expressed mine and the rest of the team's concern's over the disruptive and blatent behaviour between our Supurvisor and our female peer. He claimed that only one other person had mentioned it to him, (though at least two of my peers sent annonomous letters to our VP). Two weeks after I went to my Sr. Manager, the female peer was promoted to a Supervisor position. Nobody was informed of an opportunity, which is company policy. In October, as everyone's morale dropped even more, and the topic of discussion escalated after no apparent action was taken, I consulted HR, where they stated in sounded like several Corpate policies regarding Code of Conduct and Operating with Integrety had been violated. I provided a list of peers that were most vocal and worried for him to interview. Two weeks later, the HR rep called and set up a meeting to discuss his findings with my Supervisor, our Sr. Mgr. and myself. At the meeting, the Sr. Mgr stated the Supervisor involved will not attend the meeting as he felt it was unecessary. The HR rep felt that he should be ther, the Sr. Mgr said if I feel I need him I will call him down. The HR rep began by stating he felt it would be best for all if I no longer worked on that team (we had discussed months earlier about an internal transfer for a better fit for my skills). He had interviewed only 4 people from the 30 person team, none of the ones that voiced the most concerned, whe the Sr. Mgr. told him to wrap up the investigation as it was disruptive. After suggesting I look elsewhere, he said they recommend I don't return to the office for 30 days, allowing me to focus on a new job while on payroll...however OUTSIDE the company! In addition to that, they would REQUIRE me to sign a waiver stating I would never take any legal action against the company! This sounded very suspicious, and of course refused to sign. So they the offered me to accept a 30 day Perf Imp. Plan. I accepted that as I was confident with my documentation and I had no reason to leave the company. They were surprised I didn't take the offer. I met weekly with my Sr. Mgr to review and show examples of my performance, in which he had his Supervisors provide him with examples of 'not sticking to processes'. I worked closely with a highly rated peer who reviewed my work and proceedures which matched her own, yet she was never questioned on her work. After 2 weeks into the plan, my Sr. Mgr informed me that he was not seeing enough 'progress' and don't be surprised at the end of 30 days. I went though all of my archived emails with my Supervisor, pulled data supporting my work quality as it compared with my peers, and emailed them to him for the next morning review. He called me in at the end of the day, the day before Thanksgiving and terminated me, alleging poor performance.

I am considering filing a complaint with the EEOC, and was told by a prosecuting attorny in CA that his partner that specializes in Employement Law, would jump at this case even on a contingency, if he was in Colorado. He stated that it is a Sexual Harassment case violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He states that ..."the victim does not have to be the person harassed, but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct."

I apologize for the length, but there was much to describe and appreciate your attention. Should I move forward with EEOC and seek an attorny?

The length would be OK, if you'd break up that REALLY long first paragraph into multiple paragraphs. :)

Thank you for you feedback on my post. I realize I ran on and on without pausing, I had alot to capture while my Grandson was seeking my attention. Any suggestions on what I should do (if anything)? Thank you again.

Yes. Edit your original post and put in some paragraph structure and "white space" so it's readable. Anyone trying to read that huge block of text will go blind...

You might also want to delete anything but the pertinent facts. When a post is that lengthy, typically at least 50% of the narrative isn't relevant.

Good Morning. I will try to be as brief yet concise as possible. I have been reading these threads for 2 months now, as not to be redundant. I worked at a large Telecommunications company for 2 1/2yrs as a Supervisor, when a new Mgmt team decided to re-vamp our org. My peers and I all began searching internally, myself and 4 other supervisors, joining a new support team (3/1/07).

This team's mission and expectations were undefined, with no measurable metrics or objectives. I repeatedly asked my Supervisor verbally and in emails if they had decided what they would be, as I wanted to ensure I exceeded them. He claimed they had yet to define them and not to be concerned. Approximately 3 months later, many of my peers began noticing a new 'dynamic' in a relationship between our Supervisor and a woman that was recently promoted to our team as a peer. 80% of our 30 person team, complained and commented to eachother as this relationship became more flagerant. It caused such a distraction it became everyone's discussion and concern over their future. She was being handed special projects that were never offered; they spent 90% of their day on the phone with eachother discussing their personal 'homelife situations' (yes, they are both married to others outside the company), when either of them were off shift. I sat between them and was subjected to their juvinile inuendos and personal discussions. This created a tremendously tense environment for all. Finally a peer of mine got so discouraged and upset, she went to our Sr. Manager to voice her concerns (our Supervisor and our Sr. Mgr. a long time close friends). She was told nothing was going on and to focus on her work. Very shortly after that she was placed on a Performance Improvement Plan, then informed her she needed to retire (she had 30 yrs of excellent service) or find another team to work with. She was fortunate to find another position. In a Team Meeting, the Sr. Manager said there was nothing going on and if anyone else mentioned it again they would be fired.

My performance suddenly came into question 'informally' in May 2007, oddly enough my semi-annual review (just written the month before) stated I was a strong asset to the team, and my experience was valuable to the Company. I was stunned but asked for better, clearer direction and offered to work closer with peers that he felt were 'stronger'. He then stated that if he were to rate me today, I would be the bottom performer. He suggested this postition (which was now strictly clerical) may not be a good fit for my skills, and I should look elswhere in the company. I agreed to look, but at the same time I continually requested updates, verbally and email, if he had any additional complaints; the answer was generally no, but on occasion would 'find' some thing that may have been worded better on some notes. He was fully aware of my desire to correct any defeciencies he felt I had.

I was quickly becoming concerened that I was being targeted for the required 'low position'...all Supervisors must rate their team members and someone must occupy this slot. I began sharing my concern with my mentors, seeking advice, providing supporting documents that my performance was identical and in some cases exceed my peers that were not being questioned. All were confused by this Supervisor's assessment, and then a few suggested it may be due to that fact I sat between the two having the relationship, and they knew I had overheard(unintentionally) what was really going on.

Ultimately I met privately with our Sr. Manager (the same one the other employee went to)and explained my concern over the way I was being rated even though I had plenty of documentation to support me. I asked to be transfered, he said he would help. I then expressed mine and the rest of the team's concern's over the disruptive and blatent behaviour between our Supurvisor and our female peer. He claimed that only one other person had mentioned it to him, (though at least two of my peers sent annonomous letters to our VP).

Two weeks after I went to my Sr. Manager, the female peer was promoted to a Supervisor position. Nobody was informed of an opportunity, which is company policy. In October, as everyone's morale dropped even more, and the topic of discussion escalated after no apparent action was taken, I consulted HR, per company policy, where they stated in sounded like several Corpate policies regarding Code of Conduct and Operating with Integrety had been violated. I provided a list of peers that were most vocal and worried for him to interview. Two weeks later, the HR rep called and set up a meeting to discuss his findings with my Supervisor, our Sr. Mgr. and myself.

At the meeting, the Sr. Mgr stated the Supervisor involved will not attend the meeting as he felt it was unecessary. The HR rep felt that he should be there, the Sr. Mgr said if I feel I need him I will call him down. As I produced my documents support my continuing request for performance assessment and additional projects, the HR rep again requested the Supervisor to be brought in. The Sr. Mgr became very upset and refused. The Sr. Mgr. then stated this was all about my performance and again, there was no relationship occuring.

The HR rep began by stating he felt it would be best for all if I no longer worked on that team (we had discussed months earlier about an internal transfer for a better fit for my skills).

He had interviewed only 4 people from the 30 person team, none of the ones that voiced the most concern, when the Sr. Mgr. told him to wrap up the investigation as it was disruptive. After suggesting I look elsewhere, he said they recommend I don't return to the office for 30 days, allowing me to focus on finding a new job while on payroll...however OUTSIDE the company! In addition to that, they would REQUIRE me to sign a waiver stating I would never take any legal action against the company!

This sounded very suspicious, and of course refused to sign. So they the offered me a 30 day Perf Imp. Plan. I accepted that as I was confident with my documentation and I had no reason to leave the company. They were surprised I didn't take the offer. I met weekly with my Sr. Mgr to review and show examples of my performance, in which he had his Supervisors provide him with examples of 'not sticking to processes'. I worked closely with a highly rated peer who reviewed my work and proceedures which matched her own, yet she was never questioned on her work.

After 2 weeks into the plan, my Sr. Mgr informed me that he was not seeing enough 'progress' and don't be surprised at the end of 30 days. He did not consider all of the examples I provided.

I went though all of my archived emails with my Supervisor, pulled data supporting my work quality as it compared with my peers, and emailed them to him for the next morning review. He called me in at the end of the day, the day before Thanksgiving and terminated me, alleging poor performance.

I am considering filing a complaint with the EEOC, and was told by a prosecuting attorny in CA that his partner that specializes in Employement Law, would jump at this case even on a contingency, if he was in Colorado. He stated that it is a Sexual Harassment case violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He states that ..."the victim does not have to be the person harassed, but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct."

I apologize for the length, but there was much to describe and appreciate your attention. Should I move forward with EEOC and seek an attorny?

OK, maybe I missed it as your post was all over the place and very long but where exactly is the sexual harassment? I get that there was one manager who you suspect may have been having an affair or at least was flirting with one other employee but that is not sexual harassment. Not even close. It certainly doesn't make for a SH claim for you.

ElleMD, thank you for your response, again I apologize that my post was all over the place. The title of my post was "Mixed Recommendations",because of the differing advice I had received. Th Employment Law Attorney from CA was the one who felt it was a SH case, stating that the work environment the relationship created, was offensive and when complaints were made, they were ignored and we were warned that anyone continueing to complain about it would be fired.

So, it's not that I feel as though I was harrassed, rather that is what I was informed would be the appropriate claim.

Please advise if this should be persued, and if so under which catagory.

Thanks again.

CA state law is slightly different and does not apply outside of CA. It is questionable that this would even be actionable in CA, but that is irrelevant.

You can always run the scenario by an attorney in CO, but based on ehat you shared, I'm not seeing any SH.