Legal Question in Employment Law in California
I work for a very large famous US based corporation for almost 10 years now. I�m a high performer in my team and have been receiving great reviews from my manager.
A management position has become available as results of my manager�s retirement. Given my past experience and leadership in my the team, I decided to apply for my manager�s position. My manager encouraged me to apply. However when I had a talk with his manager, he �indirectly� discouraged me from applying, sighting strange reasons like; it would be awkward to manage a team that I use to work in, and I should take some management skills classes that the company offer, and that he will keep me in mind for future management opening. I don�t think these are good reasons not to have fair shot to this opportunity, specially that one of my colleagues have applied and will be interviewed for the position.
I wrote a follow email to the my manager�s manager stating that I�m very exited about this opportunity and asked him how to go about applying. I got reply back from him to stop by his office the next day to �talk�. I don�t know how aggressive he will be next time but I know he will try to keep all our communication in verbal form so I wouldn�t have any record of him discouraging me from applying. I could bypass him and apply by contacting the HR recruiter as this is an open position to all company employees, but I want to be courteous and give him a heads up.
My question is what precautions I can take to protect myself and my right to a fair shot at this opportunity? I was thinking to record our conversation when I meet him in his office so I have proof of what he is trying to do. Will that help? Are their better or other ways to do so? I discussed this with my retiring manager and he thinks it�s not right and that I do qualify to apply for this position.
Thanks for your help.
1 Answer from Attorneys
First, and most importantly, you need to know that secretly recording a private conversation, in California, is illegal and not admissible in court. Don't do it.
All you can do is follow company procedure in applying for the job. Always be professional. particularly with the manager you will probably be reporting to. He will probably have a say in who will be hired but even if he does not, you will have to work with him and he could undermine your position if you get hired without his approval. Politics goes a long way in the corporate environment.
It is within managerial discretion to decide who to appoint to managerial positions. Of course, a company cannot use unlawful criteria to make such decisions, such as age, race, gender, etc. But if none of these unlawful reasons apply, there is no requirement that the most qualified employee must get the job. You can ask questions, but be discreet how you go about it or you could risk losing your current job too.
If you believe there is an unlawful reason for your being denied a promotion, you should be able to articulate the reasons you believe this and discuss the matter with an experienced employment law attorney for an evaluation of your case.
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