Legal Question in Employment Law in California
I was hired by a local school district and have been working there for a month and a half. My supervisor has become increasingly aggressive, threatening, manipulative, and intimidating in his behavior. My work performance began to suffer as a result of my stress and demoralization, and my supervisor's increasingly impossible demands. He would change his mind frequently regarding formatting and content and would tell me to redo work repeatedly. Though I would have completed work according to his specifications, he would change his specifications after seeing my completed work and berate me for presenting work that did not match his new expectations. He would micromanage me, for example, criticizing me when I paused in assigned filing work to process invoices then sending emails (BCC HR, of course) asking me why the invoices were not complete. He would threaten my job, and make other thinly-veiled threats that he had been to court and mediation and knew how to work those systems.
I approached HR last week to discuss my situation, inquire about any protections I may have, and make sure I was fully informed about my position as I was still a probationary employee. Though I requested confidentiality, my supervisor learned of my meeting immediately and I have faced intense retribution and sabotage from him. We are the only two employees in our department and there are no witnesses.
Yesterday, I filed a formal complaint with HR and submitted my two weeks' notice. I also requested a safe working environment, where I would not be alone in an isolated room with my supervisor. Though they accepted my two weeks' notice initially, they are not interested in accommodating my request for a safe working environment and have informed me that I can either revise my resignation to be effective today, or be "released" today.
I have drafted my resignation revision and plan to send it shortly. I just want some perspective on this situation. Is this normal? As I am still a probationary employee, I understand it is legal for them to release me regardless of cause and without recourse. Is the district being generous by offering me the option of resignation rather than letting me go without question? I feel like I'm being shafted. Would it be appropriate for me to outline that I am resigning per HR request since the district cannot offer me a safe working environment or is that pushing too far?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Your boss is a bully, and his behaviors are understandably pushing you to reach your limit. Even though you are a probationary employee, the District does not have true "at will" prerogative to fire you or force your resignation. The question is: is this manager discriminating against you? Is the "bully" behavior motivated, for example, by a disregard of the equal dignity of women? Maybe his behavior is not just due to your gender, but also your age, if you happen to be over 40. Or perhaps you have a disability that he does want to accommodate? The list of potential illegal motivations is long. Even good reasons if combined with illegal reasons will not justify the manager's criticisms. So, to be direct, the motives for the supervisor's harassment coupled with your complaint about those possible motives being discriminatory, become the critical legal questions. Simply resigning without complaining about the discrimination and associated harassment will not put the District on notice of its duty to investigate and correct the hostile work environment. Ideally, you would not resign before giving the District the opportunity to investigate and respond. Yes, you reported the bullying, but that is not enough to trigger the District's duty to protect you from retaliation. The complaint must alert the District that the harassment is due to your status in some "protected category."
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