Question

Gossiping Can Lead to Trouble

Dora and her supervisor, Herbert, had been at odds for months. Dora thought that he was obnoxious and disliked his ordering her around and making demands.

Dora began to complain about Herbert to others in her group. She criticized his decisions to Manuel and made fun of his clothes when talking to Chen Lee. Other workers began to pick up on this behavior and made fun of Herbert behind his back.

One evening, Dora noticed Herbert in the café across the street from the office. A young woman was with him. The next day she reported this scene to the group, and they began to speculate concerning the woman's identity and why she and Herbert were together. Dora and the group were standing in front of the water fountain, laughing and talking, when Herbert walked up.

“Dora, I want to see you in my office right now,” he said abruptly. Dora followed him in and Herbert shut the door. “Dora, I'm going to have to let you go. You're a troublemaker. Every time I turn around, you're in someone else's office gossiping and interrupting work. You're causing too much trouble.” What employer right did Herbert exercise? Should Dora have been allowed freedom of speech? Was the issue really about freedom of speech? How would you have felt if you were Dora? How would you have advised Dora to behave?

1. How would you have felt if you were Herbert? What might happen to a company if employees were allowed to disrupt business and undermine authority? What are some other actions Herbert might have taken, even if he still ended up having to fire Dora?

2. How do you think the other members of the group will react?

Human-Labor Relations

Answer 1

1. If I were Herbert, takin into consideration that I am the Supervisor as well and it is my duty to avoid damage to our client relationships, office morale, and our business's bottom line, I would have reacted the same as Herbert did.

Dora didn't just stop at talking bad about her senior with her co-workers but she also gossiped about his personal life .

Persistent Negativity and disrespectful comments about your senior/leader , can disrupt meetings and undermine the work Herbert had been doing as their supervisor. By doing this, Dora has also been exhibiting insubordination.

I also believe that Herbert did tackle the situation both tactfully and directly.But at the same time before firing the Dora, he should have made sure the behavior is in direct violation with company policy and isn't protected by the National Labor Relations Act.

He should have talked to Dora and tried to understand what’s causing the behavior.

He should have given concrete, specific feedback and offered the opportunity to change.

He could have even looked for ways to minimize interactions between the toxic employee and the rest of his team.

Even if Herbert concluded that he really needs to fire Dora, he must have first documented her offenses and any response he has offered so far.

2. Firing Dora would definitely show other members of the group that what they stand to lose if they don't improve. The possibility of missing out on a promised promotion or suffering other consequences will be a strong motivation for others to behave in a more civil way.