My supervisor said to my face “You’re fking worthless”. Do I have legal recourse?
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My supervisor said to my face “You’re fking worthless”. Do I have legal recourse?
I’m an auto technician. My supervisor scheduled too much work for too little time and promised customers unrealistic completion times. He also failed to inform me of the quoted completion time. I proceeded to work until I reached a stopping point,waiting for parts to arrive. Shortly before I stopped my tool dealer arrived. When I stopped, I went out to talk to the tool dealer to pay my bill. Having been with the dealer no more than two minutes my supervisor interrupted asking why I wasn’t still working. I explained, at which point he said “You’re f**king worthless” and stormed off.witnesses
Asked on March 16, 2012 under Employment Labor Law, Oregon
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 12 years ago | Contributor
If the supervisor's remark and other behavior was motivated (and, as a practical matter, you feel you can prove that it was motivated) by animus towards a protected group--that is, he said this to you because of (for example), your race, religion, age over 40, sex, or disability--you may have an employment harassment or discrimination claim and may wish to consult with an employment law attorney to explore if you have any effective recourse. On the other hand, if he is simply crude, nasty, unprofessional, unfair, or doesn't like you in particular, you would not have legal recourse--the law does not require employers to be fair, courteous or professional, and does allow them to dislike, and take action against, employees so long as they are not discriminating against a specifically protected group or category.
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