Petsmart's toys are the only ones smiling after lawsuit

Really Bad Boss Rule #27 – rubbing your genitals and making inappropriate sexual jokes in front of female employees is not considered good management. Ever.

PetSmart manager lands company in the doghouse

A clueless Pottstown, PA PetSmart manager, and obvious non subscriber to the Really Bad Boss feed, cost PetSmart $125,000 after the company settled a sexual harassment retaliation lawsuit filed by the EEOC.  The unnamed manager subjected female employees to unwelcomed harassment, including repeatedly rubbing his genitals in their presence. He then retaliated against one employee after she complained about the harassment.  There are some things managers do and/or say that could arguably be misinterpreted by employees. Self genital massage – not so much.

Now PetSmart has to write a fat check, do some retraining, and refrain from hiring genitalia massaging managers.  Good luck with that.

Get the full story here.

Giant Labor Solutions, a Kansas City staffing company, said of their services ”Our clients receive happy, appreciative employees that will thank you for allowing them the opportunity to work for you,” If your company contracted its workforce needs through them, they promised “recruiting, hiring, and payroll expenses will dramatically drop.”   What they didn’t mention was that expenses would drop because they were charging hefty fees to the hundreds of workers from Jamaica, the Philippines, and the Dominican Republic they promised visas to through the federal H-2B seasonal worker program.  Fees that, unknowingly to the workers, would continue to accrue, even after they began working at the hotels they were staffing.  Staffers were charged rent while living in overcrowded housing and paid for their own uniforms and transportation costs, often leaving them with paychecks showing “negative earnings.”  

Giant Labor Solutions has been charged with among other things, alleged racketeering, forced labor trafficking, wire fraud and money laundering.  In light of the recent auto industry fiasco and labor unions’ seeming unwillingness to make the compromises necessary to stave off massive layoffs, it’s easy to decry unions in general. But the cold hard fact is many companies won’t do the right thing, unless and until they’re forced to.  Read more at Today’s Workplace.

In this case, the fictitious law firm should be renamed in honor of Florida attorney, James Harvey Tipler.  The 58 year old Florida lawyer has been disbarred for, among other crimes, exchanging legal services for sex with his 18 year old client.  Tipler (there’s a joke in there somewhere) devised a creative and creepy fee schedule which included a $200 discount if his client had sex with him, and a $400 discount if she brought along a second female participant.

In addition to the sex, Tipler is accused of altering evidence, causing a witness to unknowingly give false testimony and charging clients excessive fees.  We never thought we’d have to create a rule for this one, but here goes.  This one actually calls for part A & B. Really bad boss rule #83A – If you’re an attorney, don’t pimp your clients for sexual favors.  Really bad boss rule #83B -  If you’re an attorney and you pimp your clients for sexual favors, don’t become their John.

Source: Courthouse News Service

You’re the director of a major hospital in Queens, NY and over an 8 year period you recieve numerous written and verbal complaints about one of your doctors.  You ignore the complaints and allow the doctor to continue working at the hospital.  That decision could cost the hospital  $15 million.  Actually, $7.5 million.  A Queens, NY jury found both the doctor and the hospital equally liable.  The nurse who brought the suit, Janet Blanco, says she suffered sexual torment at the hands of Dr. Matthew Miller for over 8 years.  Read the rest of this entry »