Struggle From the Top Down

He sat, staring out the window, would anything be the same again. His mind repeated patterns of things said, actions taken, what could have been done to prevent this mistake, he once worked, now he sits, and wonders where he went wrong.

This is the story of you, your husband, your wife, friend or me. This is America, which worked, only to be taken down for what is apparently no-good reason other than to satisfy the need of one destructive individual. This is employment at will, and this is the aftermath of the control freak. I am an employment lawyer and I struggle daily with my clients, almost all the victims of the control freak. “Ninety nine percent of all my clients are the victims of a control freak.” I repeat these words to each client and they nod, some angry, some befuddled, and some simply numb. Many have suffered what is akin to abuse for years, for others the move is remarkably swift, one week they were rated superior, the next they were filling out forms at unemployment and in the weeks following, responding to employers who claimed that they quit, or were guilty of misconduct. Easy cases to win at the Department of Employment Security (DES), small solace to that person who had dignity, had a job, and was proud.

Out of the very small arsenal of weapons that can be used, the strongest is to get away before the harm is done. Recognize the control freak and cut your deal, get out of there fast. This is however the ideal and most employees find themselves helpless victims, convinced that things will get better, I can assure you they won’t, the pattern is scarily similar, the mold is cut, the answer is brutal and inevitable.

This is not a phenomenon as it is all too common. The following article is an attempt to assist all those who are about to become victims and those who currently remain victims. The first part of this article will help employees spot the control freak, either before or after the job is lost, the second part will address remedies, and last, this article will discuss what lawyers, family members, legislators and employers can do to assist. There are no simple cures, the problem is simple, but the resolution requires an analysis that can only be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Please note; no one can give you legal advice unless you get it directly from a lawyer who is aware of your particular situation. In other words, this article is no substitution for competent legal counsel of your own, it is simply a guide in recognizing what has become all too familiar in the world of employment: the control freak and you.

RECOGNIZE THE PROBLEM:

The control freak hits at all levels, from the worker in the cafeteria who is being denied use of sick leave to the executive who is relegated to cutting out articles for the weekly bulletin board. The usual pattern is an employee angers some individual who has recently gained some degree of authority, either directly or indirectly over them. The employee in some way does one of two things that represent a threat to the control freak: they challenge (often quite mildly) a pet peeve, or they show a modicum of intelligence or self-sufficiency. Once this occurs there is no going back. There is absolutely nothing the employee can do, there is no way out: “You can pick up their dry cleaning, walk their dog, marry their sister or follow every directive, you will not get on the good side of the control freak once you have crossed that imaginary line.”

Recognize the symptoms, suddenly you are given new tasks, or told to do your old tasks in a different way. You are told to do “x, y and z, by 10AM and report.” You dutifully perform and report and are told: “How could you screw that up, I did not tell you to do that, I told you to do p, q and r.” You stand there dumbfounded, arguing will not help as the control freak is convinced they are right, you are, after all, out to get them. I honestly believe that the very worst of these individuals believe that you really did mess up, they would pass a lie detector test, and they come to believe their own mistruths and colorations of your performance. Of course, there are variations on this theme, but in essence it is the dismantling of your skills and dignity, it is a fight against the inevitable. And above all control freaks are very, very good at what they do, and this is what they do best for whatever reason. If you seek help from Human Resources or some other authority you will only end up entrenching the control freak’s resolve, as you then prove what they have been maintaining all along: it is you who are out to get them, and any self protective maneuver will have a short-lived good effect, as you will inevitably be back again and again, now convincing the person who tried to help you that you are indeed a problem employee, just as the control freak has maintained all along.

WHAT CAN YOU DO:

Get out of there; you will never succeed at taking down a true control freak. I represent people in courts and administrative agencies among other forums, and I assure you that the odds are stacked. In my career of over eighteen years, I have succeeded in losing the control freak their job on very few occasions. My job is never to lose anyone their job, but I have tried when I see that the individual is so highly destructive that they violate laws in their attempts. Then and only then can I win. The problem is there are few laws designed to protect you. There are no anti harassment laws in this state, we are employment at will. You have the right to be paid and the right to your employment file, and those are about your only rights. You have legal rights to not be discriminated against for illegal reasons, not to be harassed for protected classes and to not be terminated against public policy, however these are not always applicable, and even when they are; it can be an uphill battle. Our regulators would be the first to caution you that anti retaliation laws are there, but nothing will guarantee that you will not be retaliated against and sometimes the retaliation while real to the employee is hard to prove.

Accept the inevitable, if you can afford a lawyer, get a good one before you are looking at DES forms. Negotiate your way out with dignity. There are of course many tricks to doing this, but first you must accept it. Before that day comes, get your resume together and find that new job, you were happy at one time at work, you were appreciated, there are other jobs, go find one.

Remember too to watch your back, even with a new job; a true control freak is not simply happy with losing you your job, they want you to be miserable and will keep trying to achieve this goal.

If you find yourself actually looking at the DES forms before you consult a lawyer, you should still spend the money to find a good employment lawyer. Often times there was a violation of law, contract or public policy. Many times, even when there is no violation, common sense can prevail, your record cleared and things made as right as possible, doors may have shut, but they can be opened again. “There are fifty ways to leave your lover or your employee, please do it the right way.”

Above all stop second-guessing yourself, it’s over and there was absolutely no wrong turn and no right turn. You can spend the rest of your working life second-guessing when you should have “zigged” but you “zagged”. Forget it, it was not your fault, get on with your life, get on with your career and do not ever let that control freak take you down any further. That is after all their ultimate goal and it is within your power to win this battle, you can only win by doing well and letting the world see this, keep the control freak out of it, they really are a minor “blip” in your life, keep your perspective, its you and the world that matters.

HOW CAN OTHERS HELP YOU:

This is perhaps the most difficult part to answer. Lawyers need to know the law and lack of law in regard to these matters. Entering into litigation is not an answer that achieves the goal of career advancement in most cases. Sensitivity to the immediate and long-range goals and needs of your client must be carefully weighed against the obvious routes. Spend time with the client, keep an open mind, and encourage the client to reach the inevitable conclusion: there was nothing they could have done but to get away. Family members should be supportive and encouraging, demanding that your loved one “go back” to an impossible situation or even frame of mind is not always the answer. Allow for some mistakes, take time and if necessary help by getting a job if you have not been working to assist with finances, do so in a non-judgmental manner. I always ask my clients what their support system is like; this is not because I am simply nosey, it can play an integral part in getting on with their career, something that may take time.

As far as legislation, I am not going to be encouraging here. The laws are getting worse and not better in our state. By way of example, recently there has been a law added to Worker’s Compensation that clearly demonstrates that things are getting worse. This is a law that states that if you pursue a “stress” case (work related stress injury) through Worker’s Compensation, you cannot thereafter pursue a wrongful discharge claim. The underlying problem with this law is so very obvious to those that practice employment law: it is impossible to win a stress related worker’s compensation case. So this law is simply meant to discourage filing the very case that in reality you should be able to win. Its repercussions can be far reaching, we just don’t know yet, but beware the haphazard filing, you will lose and suddenly you are estopped from pursuing the only remaining claim: wrongful discharge.

It is unlikely in our current economic climate that there will be any proactive employee legislation. Until then lawyers will have to deal with the tools we do have. Difficult rules, from the top down they are equally applicable from upper management to the 7:30 to 3:30 employee. Your rights are limited, you need help and it will be hard to find.

Finally, by way of a conclusion, I have been meaning to write this article for some time now, but one thing or another has interfered. Tonight I picked up a message from the very supportive spouse of one of my clients who has been in essence brutalized by the very type of situation I write about tonight. The spouse encouraged me to contact her husband’s employer directly. By rule I cannot do so, that employer is represented by counsel who simply does not care about my client. As much as this employer and their counsel are making attempts to fix a problem by paying my client the severance he should have received, they are backing the control freak. This one lied, and got caught, she claimed my client had quit for no apparent reason, she in reality told him that he was suspended while she took the time to consider whether she was going to fire him or let him resign. Her lie will not matter; it is unrealistic to assume that because we caught her and pointed this out, that everything will be returned to normal. There is no normal with a control freak; they successfully manipulate the employment world. We may get relief in the form of severance and the “right” decision with DES, but that may be all that we will get.

The spouse tonight pointed out that if I could simply call the head of the company’s Human Resources Department and point out that this too could have happened to him and his family, I might succeed in making great strides. She is so right, but I cannot do this and I am doubtful that it would work. Human Resources Departments no longer fulfill the role of a port in the storm, neutrality has been stripped away in a corporate world that allows the control freak to survive and succeed. These people do not “get their own”; justice is not done, they are cunning and careful, they stay with a company only so long as to make their special mark by taking down what they perceive as harmful: anyone that dares to threaten them, then they move on. This is reality, not to wail or bemoan it, but to accept it and pick up those that suffer. Many a company suffers in retrospect, but it wont matter as the control freak has moved on.

Ideally, employers should be aware, the personnel file is often key. Any employee who for successive periods made exemplary reviews then suddenly is in trouble is a sure sign. Any control freak that appears to go out of his or her way to maintain that someone is unreasonably dangerous to the point of being banned from company property goes too far. These are good people they seek to destroy and it does not take a nuclear scientist to see the signs. Overkill is the trademark. See it, stop it, sure your liability will neither increase or decrease as a result of not putting up with workplace bullying, but as my client’s spouse so beautifully pointed out, it can happen to you too, the struggle really exists from the top down.