Expert: Thomas R. Ballas - 7/10/2009

Question
I am a plumber in Texas, and the dispatcher at our company is constantly rude, sarcastic, and interferes with my work.  She routinely shows my invoices to people in the shop and then calls me and yells at me, tells me I am not doing the right repair (I have a master license, she has none), and has been verbally abusive to the point of calling me a f---ing a--hole repeatedly.  She routinely refuses to give me information required by the plumbing manager so that I will have to call and ask her for the information about my job, and then tells other plumbers that I don't know what I am doing, and has them call me to "help", and still does not give me the information I requested.  When I call in for a job, she repeatedly tells me that I am not like the other plumbers, and berates me until I have to hang up on her and call back and ask for the job again.  Management has been informed repeatedly of her abuse, and has been ineffective.  Do I have any legal recourse against her or the company?


Answer
Jamie:

If you feel the verbal abuse is treatment account your race, age, gender, religion or ethnic background, you should file an EEOC complaint against the Company.

The verbal absuse you describe could be consider gender related.  I would put a formal complaint of the dispatchers behavior in writing to the Company, requesting a full investigation.  If they do not react to that, I would go to the local EEOC office to file a complaint.

Tom Ballas