Legal Question in Employment Law in California

Hello.

Your situation is not uncommon. You are caught between your management and disgruntled employees who feel threatened or stressed out by you. You have no legal claims against the company or against the employees who feel harassed, even if that feeling is only subjective.

At this point, the best practical solution for you is instead of getting defense and trying to justify your actions, reflect on your own behavior and see what you can do to be more empathetic to the employees and to diffuse the tension. There is no better approach except leaving the company or at least that store. But then again, these kinds of problems repeat themselves, so reflecting and seeing what you can do differently would be extremely useful.

I am sorry if this sounds harsh or offensive, but this is the best advice I can think of.

Thanks,

Arkady Itkin

This is probably not want you wanted to hear by posting your inquiry, but I completely agree with my colleague. Hiring a lawyer to write a letter to an employer would only have the desired effect if there were a basis to state a legal claim. From the facts stated in your post, you have no legal claim.

You admit that your management style is not well received by the employees you manage. They have the right to complain and most employers encourage employees to utilize an open door policy to do so. Your idea to hire an attorney and possibly sue the employees for complaining about you runs afoul of the very purpose of an open door policy and smacks of unlawful retaliation. They might even be able to file, what is referred to as a SLAPP suit against you. Needless to say, this is not an avenue you would wish to travel down.

Rather than point fingers at the employees or the company, you need to look at why it is they really are complaining about you. People do not wake up one morning and say, "I think I will ruin my bosses career today." They are motivated to complain because of your management style which you admit is very stern. This style may work in some places, but I will tell you that it is that type of management that often leads to lawsuits brought by the employee. Some employers may embrace your way of managing people. If this particular one does not, then you are not a good fit. And, yes, they can terminate you because of it.

Assuming your actions do not raise to the level of misconduct, you should be eligible for unemployment benefits if you are terminated. If you do not wish to be terminated, take the complaints to heart and show that you can be an effective manager without using the methods you believe motivate employees to be productive. There is more than one way to manage people.