update: my manager showed up at my house and beat on the doors and windows

by Alison Green on April 9, 2014

Remember the reader whose supervisor showed up at her home and beat on her doors and windows, to try to wake her up to come in for an unscheduled shift at work? He even left dents. Here’s the update.

When I returned to work on my normal shift, the harassing supervisor was not to be found, and after further inquiring with the other employees, I found out he was on vacation fishing with his wife.

I did tell the manager/owner about what happened, and he said he believed that the supervisor’s intentions were good, but the way things were done was not appropriate, and he apologized.

He never told me, that I recall, that he would say something to the supervisor, but I asked him if something could be said to him so that doesn’t happen again, and he nodded. Didn’t seem too concerned, and unfortunately, to my knowledge, nothing was done about the situation. Maybe a slap-on-the-wrist-no-no like you do with a child.

Regarding the damages to my home, I do not own the trailer that I am staying in. I am renting from a landlord. I did inform the landlord and was recently asked if anything was said about the dents that were left and I informed my landlord they never said anything. I will leave what the landlord decides to do up to them.

And, recently, my job has changed policy to require myself and one other night shift worker to be on call during the day on weekends when we worked the night before. So, now not only do I have to struggle to get up to get my necessary things done, (laundry, groceries, errands, etc.), I now have to include the random interruption of coming to work!

Needless to say, I have applied to several different jobs since then and have heard from a few. I am working on getting another job and relocating at the moment and will probably submit my 2-weeks notice within the month.

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{ 62 comments }

{ 62 comments… read them below }

  1. CanadianWriter*

    I’m amazed that the owner wasn’t concerned. I want to grab him by the shoulders and shake him whilst screaming “You have a lunatic working for you! Wake up, you fool!”

    Good luck with the job search!

    1. Joey*

      That’s the thing, you have no way of knowing if he was and whether he did anything about it. Employees don’t usually know if manager discipline has occurred or will occur. They have to trust that if someone is listening to them that either the behavior will stop or the manager will be let go eventually.

      1. Bonny Annie Laurie*

        That’s a LOT of trust to put in somebody that always has the company’s best interests at heart. I’d want proof of some kind that the company had let this guy know that this was way past the level of acceptable behavior.

      2. Cat*

        When your manager actually commits a crime against one of your employees, you owe them an actual explanation.

        1. AF*

          +1000 – this is way beyond the boundaries normal behavior and employees have a right to feel safe! OP, you should NEVER have to put up with this. It is absolutely terrible that the owner didn’t show more concern.

      3. Observer*

        Why would they have any reason to believe that the situation is being properly handled? On the one hand, the owner mentioned that the manager had “good intentions” and did not express any concern. On the other hand the boss has now instituted a policy that makes even more demands on the workers, but not the managers.

        There is no indications in any of this that the boss is going to deal with this appropriately.

      4. Rayner*

        Well… not really. In this case, the incident was against the coworker’s property and was dramatically outside of normal professional boundaries. Being so directly involved, she should have been told more than “He had good intentions” and left it at that. “I will discuss this with [manager],” or “I’m deeply sorry to hear that. I’ll make sure that we go over policy about this again” would have been better than nothing.

    2. Mindy*

      I am surprised she posted this story about someone banging on a house on the same day her own address was posted. Maybe she’s in on the joke / publicity and it’s not even her real info….

  2. Celeste*

    Oh wow. I wish you very good luck with the search. Sometimes you just know you need to get out, and this sure sounds like one of those times.

  3. Arbynka*

    I know. If my employee told me a manager came and bang on their house in manner that left dents, I would be concerned. What is wrong with people ?

    And OP, you are not responsible for the damages. The manager – or your employer, should pay for fixing the dents.

    1. Artemesia*

      That is only going to happen if you insist now on an assessment by your landlord’s insurance company and compensation. If you let this go to the end of your lease YOU will be the one paying; it will be too late to get anything done about it then. Unless you want to be stuck paying huge bills for this, you need to act now. If necessary ask your landlord to put in a claim to your manager. Seriously — let it go and odds are you will be paying this down the road and it will be impossible to establish responsibility for it then.

      1. Rev.*

        +1!

        If you haven’t done so, call police and file a report, and get a copy of the report. Take pictures, and send copies of report/pictures to the landlord by registered mail! You have to protect yourself, otherwise you’ll get screwed in every direction.

        I aint tellin’ you what I heard, I’m tellin’ you what I know.

      2. fposte*

        Most landlords wouldn’t deal with the third party–they’ll require the OP to cover the damages and leave it to her to get the coverage back from her work.

      3. Anon333*

        +1 – agreed. I’m a landlord several times over, and I’m not going after your employer at lease end. I’m charging you. I’d get this figured out now.

        1. Artemesia*

          Sounds right to me. If the landlord would put in a claim it would make it easier on the OP but if not, she needs to make a police report and put in a claim and ask the landlord to have his insurance person do the estimate. She absolutely will end up paying if she doesn’t do this, especially since she alerted the landlord to the damage already.

  4. Mimmy*

    I totally remember this story…wow, cannot believe your employer isn’t taking ownership of what happened. Good luck with your job search–here’s to finding a saner work environment!

  6. Jake*

    Osha requires most workers to have 8 hours of between shifts.

    May not apply here, but it might be something to bring up.

    3. littlemoose*

      Some state laws do have such provisions. OP could check her state’s department of labor website.

  7. Chrissi*

    I don’t really see how his intentions come into it. I guess they were good in relation to the employer – the employee, not so much.

  8. AndersonDarling*

    Good luck with your job search! I hope you find something soon so you can leave these jerks behind!
    I hope they conduct an exit interview when you leave so you can tell HR all about it. (maybe they will care)

    I hope you let us know when you find something. I’d like to hear a happy ending with your situation.

  9. Colette*

    I did inform the landlord and was recently asked if anything was said about the dents that were left and I informed my landlord they never said anything. I will leave what the landlord decides to do up to them.

    The landlord doesn’t have a contract with the company – the landlord has a contract with the OP. I’d strongly suggest that the OP take action to get this resolved unless she wants to pay the damages when she moves out.

    1. fposte*

      Yeah, I was noticing that. It’s possible that the landlord is willing to handle it this way, in which case, good news for the OP, but I wouldn’t want to assume.

  10. A Bug!*

    I will leave what the landlord decides to do up to them.

    You’d want to look into the laws where you live, but if your landlord hasn’t explicitly told you they’re not going to hold you responsible for the damage, you might want to find out what their expectations are. Otherwise they might deduct from your security deposit at the end of your tenancy, and by then it could be impractical or impossible to recover anything from the employer or supervisor.

    Keep in mind that even if it’s not legal for your landlord to deduct from your security deposit in this instance, that doesn’t mean they won’t try it, through ignorance or sleaze. If that happens, then you’re stuck either abandoning the deposit or taking legal action, which can cost time and potentially money, in terms of fees and/or missed work.

    So just make sure you’re fully satisfied that everybody’s on the same page (or that you’re okay with the risks if you’re not), before you let this all go.

    Good luck on your job search!

    1. KerryOwl*

      I want to second this comment. Please see this through now! If you don’t, you’ll end up paying for it later, fair or no.

    2. Sadsack*

      This situation could possibly end in the landlord wanting reimbursement from the tenant and the tenant having to pay the landlord and then sue the employer to get paid back.

      2. thenoiseinspace*

        I would expect that the landlord will want reimbursement – is there any way the OP can invoice the company for the damage? OP shouldn’t have to pay.

      3. Daria*

        Did you file a police report for the damage when it happened? Also, +10 to what people above said. I don’t imagine that your employer is going to be interested in paying for it, and the landlord has a contract with you, not them.

    3. The Real Ash*

      but if your landlord hasn’t explicitly told you they’re not going to hold you responsible for the damage, you might want to find out what their expectations are.

      Even if they explicitly told you verbally, get it in writing.

      1. A Bug!*

        Good point. If the OP has the landlord’s e-mail address, that makes it really easy to send an e-mail casually confirming the understanding.

  11. Poohbear McGriddles*

    How appropriate that this appears right above 5 Dangers in Working for a Bad Boss. Maybe this is #6 – they’ll show up on your day off and wreck your house!

    2. Heather*

      That’s one way to look on the bright side….my last boss sucked, but hey, he never dented my house :)

  12. Kelly L.*

    I knew it–there was some reason the jerk manager really really didn’t want to come in himself. It would have messed with his vacation.

    Sorry your company is full of jerks and idiots, LW. Best of luck in your search.

  13. MR*

    I’m glad the OP has realized that this is a terrible situation, and is working to get out. Things can only look up from here!

  14. BadPlanning*

    OP — I hope you are able to find a new and better job!

    I’m a bit confused why the night shift has to be on call to cover the day shift. Isn’t day shift usually easier to cover? I suppose if they’re running super lean and there’s not much room for absences then night shift gets hit.

  15. thenoiseinspace*

    This is one of those instances that makes me wish we had some sort of trophy for the worst manager so that, whenever this happens, one of us could show up in a fancy suit and say “Congratulations! You’ve been nominated for the Worst Manager in America!” I would LOVE to see the look on their face when they realize that it’s not just their employee that thinks they’re completely whackadoo – it’s a huge group of people.

    Kind of like the Razzies, but for the workplace.

      1. Liane*

        Alison does this for terrible bosses featured in AAM, at the end of the year. IIRC, for 2013, she had to winnow the candidates down by making it Bad Bosses Who are also Bad Human Beings. The “winner” fired a receptionist after the poster told him he should reimburse the receptionist for some expenses.
        So I do believe we have a candidate, if not 2, for 2014 from this one.

    2. Annie O*

      I know this is all sorts of passive aggressive, but I once sent a neighbor an award for worst yard on the block. I used some online template for a certificate of excellence, but changed to wording to “worst yard on the block” and added a little photo of their atrocious front yard.

      I know, I know. It’s super PA, but it did seem to prompt some mowing!

      1. Anonsie*

        Honestly if someone did that to me, I’d find it hilarious even if I was also offended.

        Though you kind of have to know your audience. Last week one of my coworkers gave another coworker a framed certificate for perfect punctuality and attendance– the joke being that this person is chronically late for everything all the time. She got a laugh out of it, but I imagine most folks would not have.

      2. Jamie*

        Please tell me someone posted this on passiveagressivenotes.com.

        It reminds me of the entry over there where someone had a huge banner made to respond to a letter from “the neighbors” about their lawn.

        Google passive aggressive notes and cowardly lawn for those interested in how to throw away several hundy to reply to people unhappy with your lawn.

  16. Observer*

    I think that the owner DID “do something significant” about what happened. Unfortunately, it was not the right thing. Is it just me, or do others think that the new policy is in place to insure that people will answer their phones and the managers won’t have to “inconvenience” themselves?

    2. Anonsie*

      Ding ding ding, this is what I came here to day. The owner just made a policy that reinforces these shenanigans.

    3. Pennalynn Lott*

      Ditto. My take is that the owner decided that the best way to handle this situation is *not* to talk to the manager about his overly-aggressive and intimidating (and possibly law-breaking) ways, but instead to put employees on call so that the overly-aggressive, intimidating manager now has extra control over those employees.

      Gads, people can be such bass-ackward idiots.

  17. Lauren*

    #3- Just some past experience, I told a former employer the same thing after Facebook post (really unprofessional business) told all the employees that we needed to keep our wages to ourselves and that anyone who had a problem with that could speak to ______. Though I thought I said it in nicest/friendliest/nonthreatening way possible, I was fired the next day. They didn’t bother to give any reason as to why, but I could tell it had a big thing to do with them not wanting informed employees. Because they hire mostly college students, they count on them being uninformed and easy to take advantage of.

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