Do I have a case?

[jmrnnj]

Hi there,
I had an issue at work. The short story is that I was not getting along with a female co-worker (I am male). From the day I started, I was warned not to mess with her. Rumors were that she and my boss were more than co-workers. I verbally discussed her (rude/nasty/aggressive/taunting/name-calling) behavior to my boss 9 times, and she rarely ever changed her ways. I told my boss that if I have another problem with her, I was going to write her up and send it to corporate. The next time I had a problem with her, I wrote her up. The next day, she was yelling and screaming at me FOR writing her up. I wrote her up again. The next day, I was called by my boss and told not to report to work because I was suspended for being late (in April, this incident occurred Oct. 1-3). He said that he was done with me and that I should take any issues that I had, up with his boss. His boss refused to listen to a word I said, wrote blatant lies on my suspension sheet, and greatly exaggerated my tardiness. I attached a letter stating my side of things and stapled it to the suspension notice. I took it up with her boss, and was reinstated a month later. My problem is that there were co-workers who were late a LOT more than I ever was, some were even "no-call, no-shows" several times in one week, etc. and they didn't get written up, but I get suspended for a month and moved to another project. I feel that I was targeted because I was a threat to my boss's relationship, job, as well as his marriage.

I feel the least they could do is repay me the month's wages that I missed, but I am afraid that if I call corporate to discuss this, I may get fired, or that it may be misconstrued as blackmail or something. I also find it highly suspicious the day that I write her up a second time, I am told not to come back to work. I am very easy to get along with, but she was such a problem. Please, is there anyone that can help? I feel I deserve more than missed wages for being raked over the coals. I was too embarassed to eventell my family because it sounds like I'm making this up, but I'm not. I also think the "Indefinite Suspension" as they called it was a ploy to try to get me to quit so that I wouldn't have a case in the future. This whole incident was just harassment and intimidation and lies and embarrassment.

Another interesting note is that when I was finally taken back, my boss' boss boss told me that after reviewing my letter, he decided that even though I was moved to a project in a lower pay grade, he would honor my current wage, which is unheard of here.

Also fYI, we are talking about a pretty decent sized, national company.

[Eagle]

I think you definitely have case here. First and most important, make sure you document every fact from this point point forward. Hopefully you have already been doing so. Also, I would make copies of any relevant documentation that you have lying around at work. It is crucial to preserve evidence. Also, get your hands on the company policy manual if you can.

The company can be sued for defamation, harrasment and intentional infliction of emotional distress, at the very least and there may be more causes of action here. Both your boss and the boss above him obviously have no idea about how to handle people in a professional manner. They have legally dug themselves a hole especially with suspending you for a tardy from last April. That is total BS (more BS than a Clinton campaign speech!) and a jury would see right through it. Their motives were obviously retaliatory.

My advice to you is to see a competent labor lawyer and tell him the whole story and tell him what type of documentation you have to support your allegations.