Wisconsin IHOP ordered to pay $105,000 to sexual harassment victims

A federal jury has ordered the former owners of the IHOP restaurant in Racine, Wisconsin, to pay two former waitresses $105,000 in punitive damages for having been sexually harassed by their assistant manager.

The EEOC, which filed the lawsuit, said that the two waitresses were subjected to a hostile work environment that included “unwelcome physical touching, propositions for sex, and sexual comments.”  The two waitresses were teenagers at the time that the sexual harassment occurred in 2004 and 2005.

The lawsuit had claimed that the IHOP franchise ignored early complaints of sexual harassment and that the employee who filed the charge of discrimination suffered from retaliation and was fired after she complained about the harassment.

Other waitresses said they faced the same harassment.  They testified that Management Hospitality of Racine, the company that operated the IHOP, failed to correct the situation. The IHOP restaurant at which the servers were harassed was owned by Salauddin Janmohammed, and managed by a management consulting firm, Flipmeastack, which is owned by Janmohammed’s wife.

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What to do if you are being bullied at work

“Good Morning America” viewers emailed their questions to Tory Johnson, and she offered advice about how to identify and deal with a workplace bully. 

Johnson identified the following common forms of workplace bullying:

• Humiliating comments or actions
• Excessive yelling
• Undermining your status at work
• Failing to give credit

Johnson recommends the following actions for people to try to stop workplace bullies from targeting them:

• Stop the bullying on the spot
• Walk away from a tirade
• Confront the bully calmly
• Document the abuse
• Find a new job

Tory Johnson is the workplace contributor on “Good Morning America” and the CEO of Women for Hire. 

Click here to read the entire report

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Hilton Chef Sued for Workplace Bullying

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a hostile workplace lawsuit against the Hilton Lisle/Naperville Hotel.  The EEOC claims that the hotel’s executive chef bullied Hispanic employees, calling them derogatory names such as “wetbacks, f—— Mexicans and stupid Mexicans.”

Though the EEOC declined to name the executive chef, the Hilton Lisle/Naperville hotel website lists Nick Landeweer as the executive chef of the hotel’s Allgauer’s Restaurant.

The EEOC is seeking monetary damages of up to $300,000 per victim, an injunction preventing any further workplace bullying, and staff training to prevent future harassment.

“We completely deny these outrageous and completely false allegations,” said Hilton General Manager Richard Brink.

Source: Chicago Sun Times

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Oprah on Bad Bosses and Workplace Bullying

Oprah.com has posted an article that discusses the workplace bullying phenomenon.  The article mentions the many health problems that can be caused by a toxic boss and lists the warning signs to look out for if you suspect you might be working for a bully boss.  The following are a few of the warning signs:

• You attempt the obviously impossible task of doing a new job without training or time to learn new skills, but that work is never good enough for the boss.
• Surprise meetings are called by your boss with no results other than further humiliation.
• Everything your tormentor does to you is arbitrary and capricious, working a personal agenda that undermines the employer’s legitimate business interests.
• Others at work have been told to stop working, talking or socializing with you.
• You constantly feel agitated and anxious, experiencing a sense of doom, waiting for bad things to happen.

While the Oprah article mentions ways to ‘fight back’ against a workplace bully, we believe that there is little you can do to stop a toxic boss.  The best solution is to use free resources like eBossWatch to identify and avoid hostile workplaces during the job interview process.

Click here to read the entire article.

Click here to rate your boss at eBossWatch.

“Psychopath Boss” Exposed

The Provocateur blog has exposed, in great detail, a bully boss who has allegedly built her career on abusing and terrorizing her employees during the past two decades. 

Dr. Anna Chacko has been the head of radiology at the VA hospital in Pittsburgh since October 2008. “Almost immediately following her arrival there, folks at the VA began complaining about her behavior. She bullied people, she lied about people, and she created an environment of terror.”

The Provocateur claims that Chacko is a ‘psychopath boss’ who “targets those that won’t go along with her. She lies about them. She terrorizes them, until they quit or get fired. She turns the workplace into a state of horror and chaos. It’s the same thing at every place.”

Click here to read the rest of this report. 

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Why Bad Bosses Are Bad Decision-Makers

In a Harvard Business blog post, Babson College Professor Tom Davenport explains about a correlation between bad bosses and bad decision-making, and he provides examples from some of the largest business failures in recent history: A.I.G., Bear Stearns, and Lehman Brothers, all of which were controlled by well-known jerks who were never second-guessed or challenged by their subordinates. 

“So what are the mechanisms that translate being a jerk into being a poor decision-maker? Jerks tend to think their own perspectives are the only ones worth considering, but good decisions require serious consideration of alternatives. Jerks think they’re never wrong, but good decisions require acknowledging and learning from mistakes. Jerks are consumed with petty resentments and grievances, but good decisions require clear-headed, objective thinking. Jerks alienate other people, but good decisions require collaboration across a social network.”

Click here to read the entire article.

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Bully boss behind the bar: A bartender’s account of workplace bullying

 Here’s a first-hand account of how a bartender was bullied by her toxic boss:

http://www.examiner.com/x-6123-LA-Bartender-Examiner~y2009m9d3-Bartender-Chronicles-Bully-boss

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Hometown Buffet Settles Hostile Workplace Lawsuit

Hometown Buffet has agreed to settle a lawsuit that was filed against the restaurant chain by the EEOC on behalf of teens and women who were subjected to a sexually hostile workplace that included verbal and physical abuse.  As part of the settlement, Hometown Buffet will pay $710,000 to the victims and will implement measures designed to prevent sexual harassment at its El Cahon location.

The EEOC alleged that Hometown Buffet tolerated and failed to prevent a pattern of ongoing sexual harassment in which male managers, supervisors, and co-workers subjected female employees to a sexually hostile workplace, including groping, hugging, kissing, sexual advances, and stalking employees outside the workplace.

Click here for more details about this case. 

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How to Stop a Bully Boss

Executive coach and author Peggy Klaus lists 8 helpful tips for stopping a bully boss:

1. Identify the workplace jerk.  Not all demanding managers behave like bullies.
2. Don’t report a bully boss to their supervisor.  Most managers are aware of the abusive behavior of their subordinates, and Klas explains that this is usually the quickest way to get yourself fired.
3. Confront your bully boss, in a calm and professional manner, as soon as you recognize a pattern of hostility.  Explain that you will not tolerate abusive behavior. 

Click here to read more about the other five strategies for dealing with a bully boss.

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Workplace Bullying and Depression: A Victim’s Story

The St. Petersburg Times recently reported about a workplace bullying victim who suffered major depression and gained 90 pounds in two years as a result of being harassed and abused by a coworker on an ongoing basis.

Jane Soderstrom, a registered nurse who worked at BayCare, went on on medical leave on March 30 after the constant bullying caused her to suffer anxiety disorder, a major depression episode, insomnia, headaches, shakes, and dizziness.

After she finally decided that HR was unable or unwilling to help her, Soderstrom filed a complaint with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and her bully was demoted.

Click here to read the entire article.

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