Carl Greene, Executive Director Philadelphia Housing Authority; Photo: BY AKIRA SUWA Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia Housing Authority Executive Director Carl Greene is on indefinite leave while authorities investigate an alleged string of sexual harassment claims against him. Greene received accolades for transforming Philadelphia’s public housing agency, but this month news surfaced that his own home was in foreclosure and was under a $50,000 IRS lien. Then it was learned that housing authority attorneys quietly settled at least four sexual harassment claims against Greene.

Now Greene could lose his $350,000 a year job over the harassment claims.  One of the claims involve a designer who said Greene demanded sexual favors in exchange for a promotion. The housing board is scheduled to meet tomorrow to determine Greene’s fate and fitness for the job.

Greene has led the Philadelphia Housing Authority, the nation’s fourth-largest, since 1998. Ironically, as a resident facing foreclosure, Greene was scheduled to take part in Philly’s mandatory foreclosure-prevention program on Sept. 16.

Read more about Greene and his foreclosure woes at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Cake Boss' Remy Gonzalez (second from right) arrested

I don’t watch a lot of reality TV so I’m not familiar with the “characters” involved in this latest fiasco, but apparently The Cake Boss’s brother-in-law, and supporting cast member, Remy Gonzalez was arrested a couple of weeks ago on charges of aggravated sexual assault, criminal sexual assault, criminal sexual contact and endangering the welfare of a child. The reality show “Cake Boss” chronicles the inner workings of the family owned bakery run by the cake boss himself Buddy Valastro. Gonzalez is married to one of Buddy’s sisters.

TheWrap.com reports that a NJ law enforcement official is saying none of the sexual assault charges “had anything to do with the child, but they were in the house. Don’t ask me how old or male or female that child is, that’s information is sealed, but you can tell from the charges they were under age and present, which is why you have the endangerment.”

The charges in question stem from incidents involving Gonzalez and a teenager that took place during September of 2009 and March 2010.

Read the full story over at The Wrap.

I don’t know why we’d expect better management at the Library of Congress than anywhere else – maybe it’s because “Library of Congress” sounds so officially intellectual we think they’d be smarter than that. Apparently not. The San Francisco Employment Lawyer reports…

The highest library in the land, the United States Library of Congress, agreed to pay out $250,000 to Theresa Papademetriou earlier this month following a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by the longtime employee last August. In the suit, Papademetriou accused Dr. Rubens Medina, former senior librarian, of “persistent harassment of female employees,” including verbal abuse and inappropriate touching.

She said that Medina had harassed at least seven women, to her knowledge, and that library officials did nothing to prevent the abuse or ease the hostile work environment, essentially ignoring complaints by library staff. With Medina’s harassment of coworkers increasing throughout 2006 and 2007, complaints from female staff members increased as well.

Papademetriou claims that library officials finally investigated Medina in 2008 and found that Medina had, indeed, behaved in an inappropriate manner towards female coworkers. However, Library of Congress officials failed to discipline him. In 2009, Papademetriou had had enough and filed the sexual harassment lawsuit in DC District Court.

As is par for the course when it comes to such settlements, Library officials are saying that the settlement is not an admission of guilt. Hmmm…I’m sure there’s a book somewhere on the shelves of the library that would dispute that sentiment. Read more about the settlement here.

My really bad boss story spans 9 months of hell (at a Big 10 university by the way), when I experienced nothing but excruciating pain while sitting at my desk all day. Mind you, a few months prior I had sat at another desk area (as a temporary employee) and was fine, but the ergonomics of this new area had been adjusted to the former shorter person who had worked there.  At any rate, due to the pain that I could no longer tolerate after having endured it for months and trying to adjust things to help, I contacted our internal HR person to bring it up to her. I got no response from her, so after 2 weeks I inquired with her again as to what I could do.  She brought this up to our “really bad boss” and he proceeded from there to be the c*ck blocker from hell.

I spoke with him in person and his point blank answer was for me to have my doctor write a note requesting that an ergonomic chair be ordered for me. He made a point to point out that management and support people have different height chairs.  (This is where I wanted to point out that he is a douche, and I am a tall woman with a size 40 I cup breasts to hold up and that a chair that hits me mid-back below the shoulder blades does not cut it!)  I proceeded to see my primary physician, she wrote the note, I supplied the note to him and nothing happened from there.  About a month went by and I asked if anything was going to proceed due to my conversation w/ him and my note from my doctor. His idea was to completely ignore me from that point forward until I finally contacted the ergonomics group where I work to help me.

Once they got involved, he had to comply with their recommendations. Slowly I got help in raising up my desk items and a few minor adjustments, but in the meantime I was in searing physical pain that forced me into physical therapy for which I had to pay- not my employer (whose fault this sh*tty workstation was).  I did physical therapy for 2 months waiting for more answers and assistance.  Finally at the 7 month mark the ergonomic dept. gave a formal recommendation for a chair, for which my douchebag boss already had the note (that he asked for!) 7 months prior.  An entire month went by with no conversation from him, no response that he had ordered the chair- nothing.

I finally went to external HR (outside of our dept) to force them to get him to give me an answer.  He gave me an answer. His answer was first: that I should never go to outside HR to ask for help since he is my HR person for our dept. (what the f*ck???!) and that he only received the request from ergonomics 1 month ago and that had not allowed him time to respond. (what??!!!).  This was his douchey, sh*tty answer to my now 7-8 months of pain, physical therapy and fighting to get a damn correct chair.  I had finally had it. I wanted to go postal on this mofo, but instead I brought in my own high-backed chair and informed him that this was a temporary situation.  It still took him 2 weeks later to move his ass and even order the item (in the meantime he blamed everyone but himself for the 8 f-ing months of delays).  I finally got this chair 9 months after my doctor wrote the note that he requested himself! This %^$** should have been fired for the way he handled this as an “HR” person.  He is a financial person who wears an HR hat that he should not have because he is absolutely horrible in dealing with human beings.

Since then, he has been a complete a-hole to deal with, c*ck blocking everything in all directions because he demands complete and total control over everyone and everything under him. I only took this stupid, underling, low-paying job because I had no choice- it was a job and the economy is horrible.  Prior to this I had been in management for 10 years and sat in a high-backed chair- no physical problems.  I feel sorry for him that he feels so small as to need to control so heavily. He’s a really bad boss that needs to retire.

Sincerely,

Chairwhipped

Do you have a really bad boss story? Send it to denised@reallybadboss.com and we’ll feature it in a future post.

UK – The UK has an Equality and Human Rights Commission and victims of sexual harassment can file their complaints with the commission. The UK’s Sex Discrimination Act also protects employees from customers, suppliers and other non-employee contacts they may deal with during the course of a day.

China – In China a woman who is harassed at work can report the harassment to police. It was only in 2005 that The Protection of Rights and Interest of Women law was amended to recognize sexual harassment as a violation of the law.

Japan – In Japan, if a victim is unsatisfied with a company’s response to a claim of sexual harassment, he/she can seek monetary damages from both the company and the perpetrator.

Click here to read more about sexual harassment policies around the globe.

If legislators have their way it might soon become illegal to be a bully boss – well at least in New York anyway. The legislation in question defines a bully boss as “someone who is motivated by malice and who is destructive and injurious.”  And, if approved by the NY state assembly next year the bill would allow bullied employees to sue for damages.

Well, the bill died in the New York Assembly Labor Committee. The bill would have created a cause of action for bullying in the workplace, but opponents say the bill was ill-defined and overly broad.

Bullying is tough to define and even tougher to prove. Maybe legislation would have deterred a few bully bosses and employees, but odds are, probably not many as we’d like to think. In my opinion, the problem is two-fold. It boils down to rude, arrogant, and usually incompetent people, choosing to make the lives of others a living hell – just because they can. Corporations and HR Managers who choose to turn a blind eye, compound the problem by simultaneously empowering bullies and bad bosses while stripping employees of power, pride and morale. Unless and until businesses consistently nurture positive workplaces where good management and respect are the order of the day, no amount of legislation, passed or not, will make a bit of difference.

Read more about the blocked bully bill here.

So, what do you do if you’re unceremoniously dumped via email? Madden shares the story of an entertainment publicist who, in the midst of preparing for her client’s album launch, received an email from him saying he could no longer afford her services. Although the curt dismissal came as a complete shock, the publicist took the high road, contacting her former client –by phone- and expressed her appreciation for having worked with him. Classy.

Although most of us would be tempted to do the exact opposite, Madden suggests that even in situations as insensitive as email-firings employees take the high road. Regardless of how true it may be, telling the employer who fired you via email that  she/he’s a coward is never a good idea. It won’t get you unfired. For a list of additional ways to handle an unceremonious firing, read more of Madden’s post here.

What’s the worst way you’ve ever been fired? Share your story in the comment section, or email it to denised@reallybadboss.com.

Jenny works, correction worked, for a jerk. Apparently she’s had enough, and decided to quit with the assistance of  messages on a dry erase board.  Here’s how Jenny quit her jerk of a bad boss. P.S. She emailed it to the entire office! (Images via thechive.com)

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See the rest of Jenny’s dry erase board resignation here…

When an airline passenger clocked a flight attendant in the head with a piece of (no doubt overweight) carry-on luggage, he probably wasn’t expecting to get cussed out by the flight attendant. I am positive he wasn’t expecting the flight attendant to then haul ass by activating the plane’s inflatable emergency slide,  (after grabbing two beers from the galley mind you) and slide down the chute clutching the frosty brews. But that’s exactly what happened.

Apparently, 38 year old JetBlue Flight attendant Steven Slater was fed up with the unapologetic passenger, passengers in general and his job when he pulled the chutes and ladders stunt as his plane landed at New York’s JFK Airport.

Slater’s mother is reportedly suffering from lung cancer and he’d recently lost his father, so when the luggage wielding passenger refused to apologize, Slater lost it. His antics didn’t end on the tarmac however. No, he managed to make it to his car, driving all the way to his home in Belle Harbor Queens where authorities later picked him up. Slater was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.

Don’t you wish you had the stones to quit your job like that?!  Well, without violating federal law and all… Q100 Atlanta DJ Bert, posed an interesting question this morning on The Bert Show – was this breakdown a moment of insanity or a moment of clarity? You decide.

Read the whole story here.   Image: via Postsecret

My boss for three years, caused me stomach aches, head aches, near heart attack and finally I quit because of the harassment I received.

My indication that he was a toxic waste dump was when I waited for him at a cafe dining table while he talked to a client. He had been bragging about the new ATV he was buying and hoped he get the money this week. He got the money as soon as the client slid the open white business envelope across the table showing 25 one-hundred dollar bills. My boss slid it into his coat packet like a secret agent looking around like someone was watching him. Of course on Monday he bragged to everyone how the clients contract that had been in danger of default miraculously was restored . And he showed off pictures of his new red ATV. Such a role model, for a US Government employee who takes bribes to augment his income.

The long term effect was when I applied for a job he gave me bad references so I wouldn’t leave and tell someone else. His boss in the USDA Office was his good ‘ol boy fishing buddy-so I couldn’t complain there. I just continued to work, letting my boss load me down with work, but bestowing the good ‘ol boys of his USDA Office awards for getting work done – the work I did and they took credit for.

Next, one of the good ol boys asked me to take him to a farm in the government truck. He said “drop me off and she will bring me back” – he was having an affair on government time with a farmers wife out in the county. This trip went on and on where he would meet her in the Safeway parking lot-makeout all afternoon, and drive back in his government pickup truck. Finally he was caught one Saturday by the cleaning lady making love to this farmer’s wife on the government conference table. But nothing happened. My boss covered it up.

In another incident I was sitting in my office in Fall of 2005 and I watched an employee lean down and place his hand on the private parts of the high school employee who worked for me. The boy ran over to my desk and told me the same thing and that he was so embarrassed. I reported to the State office in Spokane per the sexual harassment policy and was told to tell my boss. The boss told me “do not call the police or the parents of the high school boy, because it will ruin the other employees’ reputation. I complained that “what about the boys’ life and his feelings?’” He said it was okay and nothing will happen. Nothing did happen. He covered up the sexual molestation, he covered up with his red neck boss, and reported nothing to the state office who did not follow up.

After that I received poor evaluations and my boss would give me poor references for transferring to another US government job. That’s whistleblower reprisal but the government didn’t care. I carried the guilt around for 6 months before my doctor advised to quit before my heart exploded. The employee should have been arrested and tried but the boss covered it all up. I quit working for the government after 10 years of service and went to teaching high school where I can protect my students from these government animals.

If you’ve got a real life really bad boss story to share, email it to denised@reallybadboss.com.

What the blogosphere’s saying about bad bosses…

• What to do if you can’t or don’t want to quit you bad boss – Steve Strauss, USA Today

• Oooh Casey – Casey Affleck hit with second sexual harassment lawsuit…

• While the case against Al Gore was dropped.

• Advice on dealing with a bad boss, including walking a mile in his shoes…if you can stomach it.

• Your weekly funny – Living Dilbert’s the GD ringmaster of a corporate three ring circus. If you can’t do anything about your bad boss, at least you can laugh at LD’s.

A week ago the 41 year old Dennehy pled guilty to a misdemeanor charge of indecent exposure. Police say she emailed nude pictures of herself to her 15 year old student, including pictures of her exposed genitals. The student also told police that Dennehy texted him explaining in detail the sexual acts she wanted to perform with him. The teen also said he’d been kissed by the teacher on 2 separate occasions and that Dennehy had “continuously sent him text messages.”

As part of her plea agreement, Dennehy’s jail sentence was suspended on the condition that she have no contact with the student or go to the school.

Questions to ponder – What’s the cause of this increase in bad teacher behavior? And more interestingly, why are we seeing the increase in female teachers pursuing male students? Last question – if Dennehy had been a male teacher sexting nude pictures to a 15 year old fmale student, would he have been given a suspended sentence? I’m thinking not. What are your thoughts?

On July 13th, the City Council voted to settle the suit for $600,0000 without admitting liability. Miller’s attorney, Michael Stamp believes that hundreds of emails and phone messages, largely initiated by Guillem, that were turned over to the city helped the city come to the decision to settle.

The emails in question, which Guillen referred to as “just friendly” revealed a city administrator who found his HR manager “beautiful” and considered her his “best friend.” Guillen repeatedly told Miller in his emails that he adored her. For her part Miller described Guillen as “manipulative boss” who needed attention from women at work to turn them into “work spouses.”

While Guillen’s emails don’t appear to be overtly sexual in nature, the fact is if they were unwanted and if they made Miller feel in any way that her responses to his advances ( no matter how subtle) could impact her job, then it was harassment just the same.

Read the full story online at The Herald.

What are your thoughts? Is there such a thing as subtle harassment?

What the blogosphere’s saying about bosses this week…

• “My boss and I never got along” – Whether it’s true or not, this is just one of several things you should never say during an interview. Fred Whelan and Gladys Stone share an entire list over at the Huffington Post.

• A sea of negativity – bad bosses and bad employees can lead to a seemingly endless “sea of negativity.” About.com shares five causes of workplace negativity, including excessive workloads and anxiety about the job and offers suggestions on how to stop the raging sea of negativity before it even starts.

• Are you the boss from hell? – If you exhibit any of these characteristics, there’s a good chance you might be.

• BP exec Tony Hayward maybe out, but trust, he’s leaving with some loot in his pocket. The Economist tackles bad decisions, bad bosses and the current culture of “payment for failure.”

• When @theconnor tweeted that he’d just been offered a job at Cisco Systems and that he’d hate the job, but love the “fatty” paycheck, someone at Cisco was paying attention. Needless to say, @theconnor never got to see a “fatty” paycheck.

• Who knows what radio host and Mavericks fan Mike Bacsik was thinking when following a Mavericks-Spurs game in which the Mavs lost he tweeted “Congrats to all the dirty mexicans in San Antonio.” Apparently he wasn’t thinking at all.

• When Virgin Airlines employees created a Facebook page criticizing the company and questioning the cleanliness and safety of Virgin’s planes, they were canned. Status updates included things like planes were full of cockroaches and claimed the airline’s jet engines were replaced four times in one year.

• “OMG – I hate my boss!” – Don’t post that on Facebook when your boss is a Facebook friend. I’m not a fan of friending bosses on Facebook or Twitter in the first place, but if you do, do not give them a front row seat into how much you hate them. Read this unfortunate status update and her boss’ reply here.

Read more tweets that got them fired here.

The possible passage of this new law raises several questions. How clearly defined is the line between a bad boss who’s just mean and one who’s a bully? At times I’ve felt that my bad bosses behaved maliciously with the specific intent of causing mental distress.  And while I’d definitely classify one of my former bosses as a bully, the worse thing I could say about most of them is that they were absolute idiots. Mean, rude and incompetent idiots. A few of my colleagues who’d been driven to tears by these same incompetent idiots might beg to differ. In those cases, who decides whether the behavior was bullying or simply just mean?

It’ll be interesting to see what happens if the legislation actually passes. Will it have an impact on bully behavior in the workplace or will it be just one more thing employees, fearful of the repercussions, feel they need to keep quiet about?

Click here to read more about the pending legislation.

What the blogosphere’s saying about bad bosses this week…

• The only good thing I can say about a bad boss is that you can learn an awful lot from them if you’re paying attention. Bad bosses provide a roadmap of exactly what not to do as you’re progressing in your career. And over at TLNT.com, John Hollon tells you why it’s good to learn from a bad boss.

• Janlogie’s Blog shares a few opinions about bad bosses, bad employees and the rights of both.

• Over at the bnet blogs, Suzanne Lucas shares 5 Things to Do When the Boss is Wrong.

• On Work in Progress – Bad Boss Misery, Johni Siegel shares tips on improving and maybe eliminating a bad boss situation.

• Sonja Crider shares her boss from hell story and tells us how she learned to work for a control freak.

In every performance review I’ve ever received the boss had already, in fact, come to conclusions about my performance and any related increase in salary long before I’d ever sat down with them. My opinions and suggestions were rarely taken into place. It now seems that performance reviews in large part, exist to cover the employer from a liability standpoint. With written reviews, they’ve got documentation on file, accurate or not, on issues they’ve discussed with the employee.

What’s your feeling about performance reviews – worthwhile, or a waste of time? Share your thoughts in the comment section. You can read the full interview with Culbert on npr.or.

Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y

Ed Schultz – “Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu received almost $1.8 million from BP over the last decade.” Truth: $1.8 million? More like $25,200. Ed Schultz is the host of the Ed Show on MSNBC.

Bill O’Reilly – “We researched to find out if anybody on Fox News had ever said you’re going to jail if you don’t buy health insurance. Nobody’s ever said it.” Truth: Apparently, the research wasn’t thorough enough. Bill O’Reilly hosts “The O’Reilly Factor” on Fox News.

John McCain – “I never considered myself a maverick.” Truth: Except for all those times he called himself a maverick.

Charles Rangel – “I’m glad for the wording of it (an ethics report on corporate-sponsored Congressional trips) because clearly the wording exonerates me. Truth: Not according to our dictionary. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y, is chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee.

Scott Brown – “The stimulus bill “didn’t create one new job.” Truth: Despite grim employment numbers, the stimulus has created jobs. Scott Brown is a Republican U.S. senator from Massachusetts.

See more PolitiFact Truth-O-Meter ratings here.

What the blogosphere’s saying about bosses this week…

Intern horror stories – Monica Lewinksy, Anita Hill, David Letterman’s former intern – what’s her name – all victims of sexual harassment as interns. This week’s installment of Deadspin.com’s intern horror stories is the sexual harassment edition. Check out the anonymous true stories here, and be grateful you’re no longer an intern.

“And the Meek Shall Inherit the Earth. The Incompetent Shall Run it. And ThatsMyBoss.com shall record it.”  That’s how the guys at That’smyboss.com describe their site. Visit, leave your own anonymous comment, read some of the other crap that others have had to deal with and then be grateful we live in America and can boldly (yet fearfully) litter the blogosphere with anonymous bad boss hate mail. Love it!

12 things good bosses believe, and a few things bad bosses know – Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University, has written Good Boss, Bad Boss and this 12 things post is a great look at the dynamics of both good and bad bosses.

If you can’t say anything nice… Inc. Magazine talks discusses rudeness in the workplace and how that affects productivity.

Email your blog or post for consideration in the Really Bad Boss Blog Roundup to denised@reallybadboss.com.