Is it legal for the head of my department to go to my boss about a complaint filed against her?
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Is it legal for the head of my department to go to my boss about a complaint filed against her?
I filed a complaint with HR about my boss being verbally abusive and
misandrist towards me. I was told that HR had informed the head of the
department, which was perfectly understandable. I have reason to
believe the HoD went to my boss and told her I filed a formal
complaint. Is this legal?
Asked on January 11, 2018 under Employment Labor Law, Arkansas
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 6 years ago | Contributor
It is completely legal: there is NO protection for complaints about your supervisor in the sense that there is no legal restriction on the supervisor going to upper management with it. There is also no protection against being "verbally abused" by a supervisor: employers may be as unpleasant, abusive, nasty, etc. as they like, and the law does not guaranty you a professional or fair or pleasant place to work. And since employment is employment at will, you may be terminated for complaining about your boss, even if the complaint is accurate and justified: employers may, and very frequently do, terminate anyone who complains. Employment at will also means that the assumption is that if you don't like where you work, that you can go get a different job elsewhere.
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