Harrassment at Work
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Harrassment at Work
I am working in an extremely hostile environment; I am hardly ever given any work to do — I have only had only a few hours of work to do in the last two months. I live in Minnesota (at-will). My boss is hardly ever here to allocate work. He says that my work is substandard, but he doesn’t provide any help to me. I am doing everything by hand, much like in the 1950’s. He doesn’t understand that something like a clinical trial management system would be so beneficial. He has told my co-workers (project managers) to tell him any time I make a mistake. They run to him and “tattle” like lit
Asked on June 22, 2009 under Employment Labor Law, Minnesota
Answers:
B. B., Member, New Jersey Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
Because you're an at-will employee, there may not be much that can be done about this. Your boss could fire you, and not need a reason for it, so the courts ordinarily don't require more for something less than a firing. And there is no law at all that requires an employer to provide 21st-century tools; I've heard of one situation where data was entered into a spreadsheet program, but the employee's supervisor refused to allow the columns and rows to be totalled by the software but made the employee do it all by hand.
The only exception is, if this is being done to you for an illegal reason, such as discrimination based on race, religion or another unlawful basis, or as retaliation against you for something like filing a workers compensation claim or, in some states, reporting or complaining about something unlawful that the company was doing. If you think you have any facts along those lines, you should talk to a lawyer in your area. One place to find qualified counsel is our website, http://attorneypages.com
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.