Expert: Timmy Chou - 3/16/2005

Question
I have been with my firm for 17 years. During this time I was promoted to VP of sales. The country is divided into 3 regions and there are 2 other managers in the same capacity to cover the U.S. The president of my division was well aware that I was planning on moving my residence from Illinois, where the corporate offices are, to Arizona. He mentioned a partial relocation package. Now I will be making the move to Arizona and he is making the move to terminate my employment. He is micromanaging my days and my travel and he is asking me to provide info about my daily, weekly, monthly activities that he is not asking the other managers to perform. In addition alot of my reports may have 14 pages whereas the other managers are only 3 pages and yet only my work is singled out as insufficient. I believe that whatever I do, even though I was at 100% of quota last year he will find a problem. My quota was raised much more than my 2 counterparts for this FY. Do I have at minimum the right to expect that work given to me should also be part of the other managers responsibilities as well? Whatactions on my bosses behalf would help me in a lawsuit? Can you recommend someone in the ILL area?

Answer
Thank you for your question!

Mediators act as neutral third parties to disputes and never "get involved" in judging the merits of conflict, but merely use special techniques to help the parties decide how to negotiate their own settlement.

The case you describe here is very typical and can be considered a "classic" office politics dispute presentation.  I am not a lawyer and cannot mediate this with you alone but I can respond to your question from my business consulting experience.

Note that this issue will have legal factors and you may wish to consult a labor attorney.

It may be useful for you to consider that right and wrong are not always the most useful places to begin in dealing with these sorts of problems.  As you have observed, there is a cost to exacting justice and the costs can be quite high.  Remember that your person-hood and your work are not
even remotely related and that the most successful people at work are often the least successful with others since they have often become successful on the bodies of those they have slain.

There is much that is curious about your situation.  You have been at this firm for 17 years.  No one survives at your level for that long without a solid record of performance.  Too, one usually can get a sense of their superior's style and way of doing business over a long period and so I would be interested in how the relationship with the boss evolved to its current situation.  

If he has always been a jerk, you would have been wise to realize that you (or anyone else) were likely going to make it into the crosshairs someday.  If not, there was a point at which he decided that just calling you in and saying "I have a problem with this or that, or with your move to AZ, or with anything else, lets talk about it," was not an option.  It will be wise to retread this ground and see if you can tease apart the evolution and see if there are other factors at play.  Remember that some states are considered "employment at will" states, which means that without some agreement about your continuing employment or some behavior on the part of the company that could be interpreted to imply a continuing relationship, or a specific contract, the company can terminate you at will for any reason.

OK.  Assuming the boss is a jerk, unapproachable and entrenched, and assuming you want to keep this job and are willing to invest considerable time and money and live as an "adversary in residence" at your company forever more, your only hope is to go on the offense.

First, you must document your 17 year history in great detail.  All your performance should be documented with attention to your relationship to the boss and the company's approval of your behavior and how you have done business for all of this time without problem and without any difference in your treatment of your peers and without any changes (or at least your participation in any changes) in behavioral expectations.  

Next, document your experience with the changes in your treatment and the differences between your treatment and your peers.  Especially important is a record of any specific conversations or communications about changes in expectations or about your performance.  If you have one, I would review your employment agreement as well as the company personnel procedures and document any deviations from policy, as well as explore any policy regarding your rights to challenge things.

Once you have this stuff all down you should confront the problem with a carefully worded letter to the company confronting the truth about the situation.  It should say, in essence, "I can see that things have changed, there are these events, there are these differences in my treatment, there are clearly non-verbal signals that are troubling and not in keeping with the policies."  you should review your 17 year career and point out that this treatment is unique in your experience at the company.  You should demand an explanantion and immediate meeting to resolve the matter and, if your conduct is out of line from their perspective, you want a clear statement of why your conduct is out of line and what changes will rememdy the problem.  Point out that the company has an obligation to deal with you in good faith and they cannot merely give you the silent treatment and screw with you without consequence.  Be sure to follow any policies with regard to who gets the letter, etc.

See how that plays.  If you get a reaction that says "Oh wow we need to fix this" that also passes the smell test, you can see how it plays out.  If not, prepare for war and I would show up to the meeting with my lawyer in tow.  The message has to be: "I have worked for you in good faith and done a great job; you have no right to question my conduct after all this time without cause; you have to spell it out and provide a remedy; and I will not take this lying down.  Two can play at the micro-management game.

Of course, you may be summarily dismissed.   

Any remedy that is offered must be adhered to strictly and you will forever be looking over your shoulder.  

You do not say if you have anything in writing documenting your experience with the job and with your boss.  If you have written e-mails or any other documents you may have some ability to create some additional leverage for yourself.  In any case, if you are willing to take on this fight, people must see that you will stop at nothing to be vindicated.

You can contact your state's labor board or commission to see if they have a complaint process you can begin.

As you can see this could become a real cat fight, take a
long time and cost alot of money.  You may be in the right, but you should count the cost to yourself in seeling justice.  It will be a tough road.

If the company is convinced that: 1) you are not going away; 2) you are going to raise hell and tell everyone; 3) it will likely cost more money to deal with you than it would to settle with you; and 4) your performance will not likely change as a result of the dispute; than they will make a
business decision and leave you alone.

In any case, do not delay seeking work elsewhere.

These are some ideas.  Feel free to follow up with additional questions.

For your information, the pros and cons of the types of dispute resolution methods follows.

GOOD LUCK!

Arbitration, Mediation, and Litigation

Arbitration: the referral of a dispute to one or more impartial persons for final and binding determination outside of the judicial system

Benefits of Arbitration:

    Confidential, no public record
    Limited exchange of documentation, information
    Quick, don't have to wait for a court date
    Arbitrators have expertise in the subject matter and are trained in conflict resolution
    Cheaper than litigation
    Preserves business relationships

Negatives of Arbitration

    It's a compromise, no %100 winner
    Complex arbitration can be costly
    If not satisfied, may litigate the arbitration procedure
    Poor results with an unskilled arbitrator
    Both parties must agree to cooperate in the process

Mediation: the process by which parties submit their dispute to a neutral third party (the mediator) who works with the parties to reach a settlement of their dispute.

Benefits of Mediation:

    Neutral mediator can objectively suggest alternatives not considered before
    Parties are directly engaged in negotiating the settlement
    Can be quicker than litigation
    Less costly than litigation
    Preserves business relationships
    85% of American Arbitration Association cases mediated find successful solutions

Negatives of Mediation

    may not reach a binding decision
    unskilled mediator

Litigation: using the judicial system to resolve disputes

Benefits of litigation:

    a clear winner and loser
    uses a prescribed set of procedures
    more predictable outcomes
    is final

Negatives of Litigation:

    waiting for court dates can do more harm
    usually more expensive than mediation and arbitration
    part of the public record