Here's the letter she sent.
" Written Disciplinary Action
I am drafting this letter in an attempt to memorialize the altercation which transpired yesterday. First and foremost, your behavior was insubordinate, abusive and completely unprofessional. You left me no way to have any kind of rational discussion or conversation with you. This is not the first time that you have been insubordinate, unprofessional and disrespectful to me. Residents, fellow employees and even previous supervisors have found your behavior difficult to deal with in the past. This does not create an amenable or successful business relationshipI have always treated you with respect, professionalism and courtesy. I have always been amenable to any reasonable requests you have had when it comes to your duties, equipment purchases or anything else you deemed a necessity of your position including, but not limited to; an ergonomic keyboard and mouse.
I have asked you and all employees of ************************ on more that one occasion not to perform work outside of your job description, make any changes, alterations without my prior authorization. Yet, you have done so on more than one occasion. This is why I felt it necessary to discuss the matter of you moving your office from the maintenance office to the conference room without authorization. If you had given me the opportunity to speak, you may have found out that I may have been willing to make the allowance for you temporarily even though you did not have authorization to do so. I have made many allowances for you in the past with regard to company policies, behavior issues, etc. Your attitude and demeanor leads one to believe that you are only willing to do what you want to and feel that you alone have the right to decide what you are willing to do and how you are willing to do it in the workplace.
Your behavior yesterday could be interpreted as though you do not wish to continue your employment with *********************. I do believe that you may need some time to reflect on your actions. If you wish to discuss returning to work, you will need to set up an appointment to discuss the matter with me rationally, courteously and professionally.
You may feel free to contact me at any time.
Sincerely, **** ****** "
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I like how talks about me returning to work when she never actually dismissed me. She told me to take one day off, which I did. I'm at work right now, I spent the morning drafting my reply. And, Since I love all of you so very much, I will share it here.
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" Response to Written Disciplinary Action
You have no right to speak to me in the tone of voice you used in the office Tuesday. You most especially, have no right to chew me out for finding a workaround to a problem caused by your own inaction. I see you made no mention of that in your letter. You find fault with me for not treating you like a boss when, you don't act like one. You brought human poison into this office, and did nothing about it despite numerous complaints. Do not call me unprofessional when you have done nothing but ignore the serious personnel issues in this office.
You claim that people find me difficult to deal with. If that is so, then why did you name me employee of the month not to long ago? And tell me that everyone thought I was "perfect; just great to work with". You placed me in an untenable situation and provided no alternative, even after I, and my co-workers, expressed our concerns to you. And, now you're upset that I found my own way out of it? You have not shown any of us respect, professionalism, or even common courtesy in this matter. I told you that the stress of working with him was killing me, I was not exaggerating. The situation was so bad that I became physically ill on more than one occasion. I was not the first, nor even the second person to be threatened or harassed by **** *****. Did you do anything about the matter? Did you censor him in anyway? How exactly have you acted professionally in this matter?
You hired me to do this job my way, because you couldn't find anyone else that could. Not surprising, when you consider that this job is tantamount to herding cats. A job made all the more difficult by the fact that I have little support and no actual authority.
Speaking of authority; you say I've been insubordinate, but how can I be insubordinate to someone who has provided me with no leadership? You are my employer, not my commander and chief. You pay me a pittance of a wage in return for my services. Yet, have never once explicitly defined what those services are. You give conflicting and, oft times, illegal orders, then complain when I don’t follow them to the letter.
You said that I've been disrespectful in the past, and yes, I'll admit that I did once before raise my voice to you. Do you happen to recall what that conversation was about? Do you remember that you were trying to bully me into signing away my constitutionally granted right to privacy? How were you offering me any respect in that matter?
You say that you've done many things for me in the past couple of years that I've been working for you, but you can only cite one thing. Buying me a keyboard and mouse weeks after I told you that my wrists hurt. That’s all I can think of that you’ve ever done for me, too.
I can think of several situations where you could have, should have, intervened in my favor.
Did you give me time off after I nearly shattered my knee cap in your poorly lit workshop? An injury which still pains me to this day. No, you chewed me out for not serving enough notices. Was that professional or respectful of you?
What about when Mr. ****** libeled, and tried to blackmail me, in clear violation of Rule #20 of ***************'s Rules & Regulations? The paragraph regarding interfering with or hindering Management. The paragraph which ends "any violation of this paragraph shall be considered a material and irredeemable breach of the lease agreement." Did you give me any courtesy in that matter? No, you fobbed it off on an ineffectual attorney who takes six months to do what a paralegal could do in a day, when he does anything at all. Did you seek a second opinion when he refused to do anything? Or did you act completely unprofessionally by ignoring the threat against your employee, hoping it would go away?
Speaking of threats; do you remember the time a security guard in your employ threatened to kill me? But, I wasn't supposed to worry about that, was I? Because, I'm bigger than him, and could take him in a fight. Those were your words. Why should I worry that he carried a loaded revolver on his hip? I'm bigger than him. I will give you credit though, you actually told him to stay off the property. He didn't though, and you didn't actually do anything to enforce your edict. And, if you recall, that company eventually dropped us as a client, saying something about a hostile work environment. I never knew my desire not to be murdered was so hostile. Perhaps, I should have been more professional, and just let him kill me?
Oh, and since I touched on the matter, I'm getting very tired of your digs about my weight. If you look back to last Tuesday, you'll notice I didn't actually start shouting until after you stated your incredulity about my being able to walk 2 miles in less than five hours. You can not expect me to remain calm while being insulted by my boss. Do the math; the lots in here aren't that large, and walking all the way around 45 of them does not take an entire day. So, I'll thank you kindly to act the professional you claim to be, and never mention my weight or level of physical fitness, ever again.
While we're on the subject of harassment; I'd like to let you know that, just because I am male does not mean that you can distract me with your cleavage. We’ve all noticed how you lean forward whenever speaking to a man. That is sexual harassment, and beyond unprofessional on your part.
If you have any other matters you would like to discuss; I would be happy to hear them.
Sincerely, Pentathalos "
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So, what do you think?
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βeta, out.
