Tag: worst employer of 2019

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The 17th Nominee for the ‘Worst Employer of 2019’ is … The Mauling Manager

Jon Hyman The Practical Employer

worst employer 2019I don’t even know what to say about today’s nominee for 2019’s worst employer, so I’ll just let Newsweek do the heavy lifting.

A Pakistani electrician is filing charges against a client who refused to pay their bill and instead unleashed a pet lion on him.

The Khaleej Times reports that Mohammad Rafique was hired to do a project for the Sada-e-Imam Hussain congregation hall in Lahore. After he finished the job, Rafique went to caretaker Ali Raza for payment.

He did not have the money on hand, so Rafique agreed to come back another day. However, after being put off multiple times, the electrician became frustrated and confronted Raza on September 9.

Instead of paying his bill, Raza unleashed the lion that he kept as a pet. The big cat attacked Rafique, biting and pawing at him as he was helpless to resist.

Neither Raza or three other men on the scene made any effort to help him, Rafique alleges. He says that it was only when bystanders heard his screams and cries and came to investigate that Raza got the lion under control.

According to Gulf News, police say the lion “wounded his face and arm.”

Astoundingly, Rafique returned to try again to collect, this time for his back pay and his injuries. When Raza stonewalled, Rafique eventually went to the police. Raza is now in custody, charged with “voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means.”
I’ve  reported on a lot of employers doing some truly awful things. But releasing a lion to attack someone instead of paying them? That is flat out horrendous. And a worthy international nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019.
Previous Nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Philandering Pharmacist

The 2nd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Little Rascal Racist

The 3rd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Barbarous Boss

The 4th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Flagrant Farmer

The 5th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Fishy Fishery 

The 6th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Diverse Discriminator

The 7th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Disability Debaser

The 8th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Lascivious Leader

The 9th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Fertile Firing

The 10th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Exorcising Employee

The 11th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the ****y Supervisor

The 12th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Disguised Doctor

The 13th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Excoriating Executives
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The 16th Nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2019” Is … the Shameful Wall Builder

Jon Hyman The Practical Employer

worst employer 2019If you’re a health care facility whose employees erect a “wall of shame” of disabled patients, and then you drag your feet when an employee, who was also a patient, reports the misconduct, you might be the worst employer of 2019. From the Bangor (Maine) Daily News:

Employees at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston created a “wall of shame” where they displayed confidential medical records of patients with disabilities detailing issues with their genitalia and bodily functions, according to an investigation by the Maine Human Rights Commission that found the exhibit had contributed to a hostile work environment.

In addition, at least two employees looked at the private medical records of a fellow coworker, MyKayla McCann, whom the hospital had previously treated. She ultimately reported her suspicions about their actions, in addition to the wall of shame, to the hospital’s administration. When she did, it took three to four months for the hospital to remove the display, investigate and punish her coworkers, according to the investigation. …

A human rights commission investigator found there are reasonable grounds to believe that St. Mary’s hospital discriminated against McCann, who is a member of a protected class because she has a disability, when it subjected her to a hostile environment created by her coworkers’ conduct. …

McCann discovered the “shame wall” on the inside of a cabinet door on her first day of work as a laboratory technician assistant at St. Mary’s in June 2015. It had been labeled a “wall of fame,” with the word “fame” crossed out and replaced by “shame.” Portions of medical records had been cut and taped to the door. They “included information detailing patients’ sexual activity, genital dysfunction, bowel movements, bodily odors, and other personal maladies,” according to the investigator’s report.

McCann also provided pictures of the wall in her complaint. In one place, someone had attached strips of paper with diagnoses on them: “cramps/bloated/things to do w/intercourse,” stated one. “Drooping eyelids,” “butt wounds,” “unable to insert tampon,” “sour smell of vagina with occasional itching,” stated others.

For its part, the hospital’s parent company publicly apologized to McCann.

Public apology or not, if you permit a working environment in which this “wall of shame” could exist, you might be the worst employer of 2019.

Previous Nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Philandering Pharmacist

The 2nd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Little Rascal Racist

The 3rd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Barbarous Boss

The 4th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Flagrant Farmer

The 5th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Fishy Fishery 

The 6th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Diverse Discriminator

The 7th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Disability Debaser

The 8th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Lascivious Leader

The 9th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Fertile Firing

The 10th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Exorcising Employee

The 11th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the ****y Supervisor

The 12th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Disguised Doctor

The 13th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Excoriating Executives
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The 15th Nominee For The ‘Worst Employer of 2019’ Is … The Disability Demoter

Jon Hyman The Practical Employer

worst employer 2019An employee tells you he might need to leave work on a moment’s notice to rush home to care for his disabled daughter (born with a severe neurological disorder, Rett Syndrome, which affects the ability to speak, walk, breathe, and eat, among other things).

Do you?

a) Tell him he can’t leave work immediately after his shifts to care for his daughter because he’s expected to remain on site in case of an emergency.

(b) Deny him a raise, telling him, “Your problems at home are not the company’s problems.”

(c) The day after his daughter suffered a near-fatal seizure and was rushed to the hospital, demote him from his position as an Operator, where his responsibilities included running controls on trucks, to a Laborer, where his chief responsibility involved shoveling sewer systems.

(d) Refuse to excuse the employee from overtime so that he can visit his daughter in the hospital.(e) On the employee’s first day back at work after a two and half week absence while his daughter was hospitalized, you send him home for being 15 minutes late, and subsequently fire him.

(f) All of the above.

If you chose (f), you might be the Worst Employer of 2019.

Previous Nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Philandering Pharmacist

The 2nd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Little Rascal Racist

The 3rd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Barbarous Boss

The 4th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Flagrant Farmer

The 5th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Fishy Fishery 

The 6th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Diverse Discriminator

The 7th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Disability Debaser

The 8th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Lascivious Leader

The 9th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Fertile Firing

The 10th Nominee for Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Exorcising Employee

The 11th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the ****y Supervisor

The 12th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Disguised Doctor

The 13th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Excoriating Executives
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The 5th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Fishy Fishery

Jon Hyman The Practical Employer

Atlantic Capes Fisheries agreed to pay $675,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by the EEOC alleging sexual harassment and retaliation.

The allegations that lead to the settlement, and this nomination as the worst employer of 2019?

A male supervisor, Fidel Santos, asked a new female employee, Esdeyra Rosales, about her personal life, stood close behind her while she was working, touching her back, hips, and buttocks. When she objected, he told her there was no work for her. When Rosales asked, and was granted, reassignment to another line, Santos’s harassment did not stop. He continued to make rude comments about her body and solicit her for sex. On one occasion, Santos approached Rosales from behind and asked her to touch his penis. When she refused, he pressed up against her, rubbing his penis against her buttock. Rosales complained to management, but they told her either to ignore it, or that they would “look into it.” The harassment, however, continued.

The harassment was not isolated to Rosales. Santos also allegedly harassed Margarita Fuentes, Mirna Pacaja, and others.

worst employer 2019

On Fuentes’s first day of work, Santos grabbed her buttocks. When she objected, Santos told her, “Here, anything goes.” Fuentes immediately complained to a manager, who told her that Santos was “crazy” and that she should just ignore him. The very next day, Santos came up behind Fuentes, grabbed her hand, pulled it behind her back, and placed it on his penis. When she resisted, Santos called her a “stupid old lady,” and that she was expected to do what she was told. Fuentes again complained to management, who again told her just to ignore it. The alleged harassment even after Fuentes ultimately secured a transfer away from Santos. He would find her, and call her “stupid” and “good for nothing,” question why she would not submit to him sexually, and hypothesize about her sex life.

Pacaja had worked for the fishery for 4 years before being transferred to Santos’s line. He allegedly similarly harassed her, almost from the start. He would grab her waist and hips, comment on her genitalia and buttocks, complain that she would not submit to him sexually, ask her to touch his penis, rub his hands on her breasts, and rub his erect penis up against her.

When Pacaja and Rosales ultimately complained to the HR manager, and then filed discrimination charges with the EEOC, they started receiving written warnings concerning alleged interpersonal issues with their co-workers. Within weeks they were both fired.

According to EEOC Senior Trial Attorney Sara Smolik, “The brave women who filed discrimination charges with the EEOC in this case alerted the agency to widespread sex harassment that was adversely affecting them and many of their female co-workers in the facility. Because they had the courage to step forward, the EEOC was able to investigate and bring this lawsuit to improve the working conditions for every­one.”

It also might lead to this employer being named the worst employer of 2019.

Previous nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Philandering Pharmacist

The 2nd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Little Rascal Racist

The 3rd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Barbarous Boss

The 4th Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is… the Flagrant Farmer

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The 4th Nominee for the “Worst Employer of 2019” is … the Flagrant Farmer

 

I’ll let the EEOC do the heavy lifting on today’s nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 (the 4th thus far):

A federal jury rendered a verdict … awarding $850,000 in compensatory and punitive damages to a female farmworker at Favorite Farms in Dover, Fla., who was raped by her supervisor and reported it to police and management that same day.…

The evidence at trial showed that management at Favorite Farms, which primarily grows strawberries, failed to properly investigate the complaint, and instead sent the victim home from work without pay the next work day. Favorite Farms took no action against the harasser, leaving him to supervise women in the fields, despite evidence that this was not the first complaint of sexual harassment. Instead, Favorite Farms continued retaliating against the victim and forced her to take a leave of absence.

worst employer 2019

If you permit a rapist to keep supervising your employees after an employee complains to you and the police that he raped her, and you further punish the complaining employee by suspending her without pay, you might be the worst employer of 2019.

Thanks to Eric Meyer for bringing the nominee to my attention.

Previous nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Philandering Pharmacist

The 2nd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Little Rascal Racist

The 3rd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Barbarous Boss

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The 3rd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 is … the Barbarous Boss

worst employer 2019 2019 is officially the year that my Worst Employer contest went international.

How do you motivate your employees to hit their sales goals? If you’re the Runfa Hair Salon in Wuxi, China, you abuse the hell out of ’em.

According to the Daily Mail, employees who failed to sell 3,000 to 4,000 yuan ($436 to $582) worth of hair products each day suffered harsh physical punishment.

How harsh?

Employees were forced, in meetings in front of co-workers, to slap themselves in the face 100 times. If their face wasn’t sufficiently reddened, they’d face a monetary fine of 500 yuan ($73).

Others were force-fed raw chili peppers, onions, and vinegar. And some were forced to complete 10-km run.

Anyone who complained was summarily fired.

All of a sudden your quota at work doesn’t seem so bad, does it?

Previous nominees:

The 1st Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Philandering Pharmacist

The 2nd Nominee for the Worst Employer of 2019 Is … the Little Rascal Racist