By nevergiveinever - 01/07/2015 13:44 - United States - Emporium

Today, we had a long meeting at work about how we are supposed to feel safe, and to come to the managers if we have any problems. I decided to speak up about a coworker that has been harassing me and several others. My manager laughed at me and walked away. FML
I agree, your life sucks 30 858
You deserved it 2 027

nevergiveinever tells us more.

nevergiveinever 19

OP here, this is a long story but bare with me, lots of shit has gone down in the past week: First off, to those telling me to go to HR, here's the thing: my managers ARE HR. If they won't do anything about it, then we're screwed. Which absolutely sucks ass. Here's the full story: I work in an intricate metals factory, because that's really all my town has to offer, but manual labor a pays really well and I have bills to pay so I can't complain. And yes I will move eventually but I need to save up a few grand first. Our company recently got sold to another metal factory called Metalkraft and that factory's owners are now our owners as well, and there is normally at least one of them at our plant every day. Our managers are a married couple, which makes plenty of situations hard to figure out how to handle. Before this meeting, the husband manager had been touching me. At first it was like friendly like "welcome to the company" shoulder pats and him picking on me like the other employees..... And then it became legitimate touching of the crotch and boobs when nobody was around. When these new owners came in, I told them right away that he had been touching me inappropriately and I had found out that he has been doing to the other younger females as well. They nipped the problem right in the ass and he hasn't done it to me since. This past week, a coworker went to the owners with her own problem of harassment from the wife manager. If the stories are true, she had been yelling and screaming at this coworker about her job, when the only "problem" was this coworker was having trouble lifting some of the metal wire that comes in spools like thread that we use on our machines, and those things can get HEAVY. The wife manager claims that she didn't realize she was harassing this lady, and says that if she can't lift the wire herself and so her job herself that she does not need to have it. The managers swiftly took away the lady's office, took away her key to the front door, deducted her pay, and stuck her in the packing room with me and the rest of packing/shipping. That lady quit on Tuesday. And honestly, I don't think she really had a choice. So basically, our managers are telling us that we should feel comfortable enough to come to them with problems instead of the owners. But what they just showed us is "if you have a problem with us we will terminate your job position and make your life a living hell until you quit."

Top comments

Next step: HR. Seriously though. Sexual harassment is so common and underreported. I've been sexually harassed and my manager witnessed and encouraged it. That psychotic idiot should have been fired, but I kept my mouth shut and suffered silently. Don't let that happen to you.

Comments

This may be a case of bad timing. if you asked ur manager immediately after he may have thought it was a joke. Reiterate your concerns or escalate to a higher power.

Instead of trying to manage with the harrassment and manage with your manager's neglect, manage to talk to your mangager's boss. Or manage to get into contact with HR. I'm sure you'll manage to get through it.

They may have told you to go to your manager with any problems, but they never said he was actually going to give a ****.

Wait! Whats that?! Is that the sound of HR begging to be called? Yes OP, yes it is.

You could try sending a complaint to the Board or just to the next higher up after your manager. Harassment is serious not to mention they just finished telling you to speak up and then laughed you off.

just my opinion, but u should not quite ur job. if anyone should quit it should be that punk. stand up to him and be safe.

And the manager of the Year award goes to..... not that douchebag

Very disheartening to hear, OP. Obviously, this response by your manager is harassment in itself. As a manager I was required to go through training not only against harassment of any kind but if I heard or observed harassment and did nothing I would be held responsible as if I had been the one doing the harrassment.