coworker is crazy and getting away with it

[rh71]

My wife has a peer at her company who has done outrageous things and gotten away with it for years now. The stories she tells me would make anyone think this guy should be terminated in each instance but never is. Apparently the law protects them as long as they have "a doctor's note". His sister is also a lawyer. The guy is divorced with 2 kids. A few years back, he claims he hurt himself in the server room - I believe he said something fell on him. The company settled for some amount and he walks the office with crutches and a full cast in a dramatic fashion. Prior to that he got into some spat with his boss (my wife's boss) and claimed she said some things along with unfavorable treatment. Execs were involved and they no longer spoke. For fear of legal action, they do not terminate him. More recently, he claims he got some head trauma outside of work and was out for 2 months just in time for summer. All paid of course.

He comes back to work only after company lawyers make him sign a legal document stating he is ready to return. My wife and her boss change all the passwords because they simply do not trust this guy anymore and they give him menial tasks. But the guy is still earning a full competitive salary probably near 6 figures. His first day back all he does is sit around and chat with people. Now he's telling my wife he can't remember this and that because of his injury. Guess who has to do most of the work? It's just gotten really sad and comical at the same time. Talk about a guy who can work the system. To think this guy started out years ago as a temp and was given every opportunity at that place (a job I'd kill for too)... so sickening.

 

[HydroSqueegee]

hes working the system. whos the dummy?

 

[rh71]

hes working the system. whos the dummy?

you mean the other 70 employees and the rest of us who have morals?

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Leave the company.


I see this sometimes in small, generally family run businesses. Usually the person is some weird friend of an owner's family. They usually know that the person is a net negative but carry them along.

What they don't realize is the damage it does well past their salary, with morale and liability.

Unfortunately, if the company is doing well it's tough to fire someone like that. The way their brain works, they convince themselves that they were jilted somehow and almost always try to sue.

That was one good thing about the recession, it's easy to do if the company is already laying people off as it's not "personal".

 

[sourceninja]

Have your wife claim sexual harassment. The company seems like a easy mark. You can get a payout and get the guy fired.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Welcome to Corporate world, it's FILLED with these types.

I will say for every 1 good worker there is 2-3 that are completely useless and don't do shit.

Tell your wife to swallow her pride.....keep her head down and don't even bother trying to get him out, it might backfire at her.

Go to work, do what you can/stay busy and collect check. Leave your morale/feeling completely OUT of it.....and stay away from politics and CERTAINLY legal shit company is dealing with.

 

[Vdubchaos]

you mean the other 70 employees and the rest of us who have morals?

hehe

People have no morals and companies CERTAINLY don't either.



So who is the dummy?

 

[pauldun170]

I have found for every 1 weird persona at an organization there are 20 gossipy rumor mongers who make mountains out of molehills. That and make assumptions and just build huge stories upon those assumptions.


So far in the info provided -
He had an accident in the server room.
He had a disagreement with his boss.
He had an accident outside of work.

No offense to OP but the 3 incidents aren't tickling my outrage bone.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Statistically that is a lot. In my experience someone who is "hurting themselves" IE getting hurt 2-3 times a year has some issue.

 

[BrightCandle]

Comically there is another interpretation of this story based on the events described.

That sounds like that guy has had a hard time. He was injured on the job due to poor safety standards in the workplace, gets harassed by the boss and the company has to ensure they don't talk again. On top of a hostile workplace the guy gets hit in the head (presumably pretty hard) such that he is off work for 2 months and then still has memory issues, he rushed back to work before he was really ready because he was so keen to get started. The poor guy probably spent the whole summer in hospital never enjoying the sunshine. Then the boss vindictively cuts the guy off from the systems leaving him unable to do his job. While he awaits for the passwords from IT (he of course assumes that its an honest mistake, he has been gone a while) he can't really work and everyone is asking him about his injury so he spends the day talking to the people in the office. It probably took days before his access was reinstated after the boss cut him off.

Poor guy even pulled himself up by the coat tails from a temp job to get a permanent one , that sure isn't easy. Sounds like he is having a rough life.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

Server room... Safety standards... Take some accountability. From the OP, it sounds like he was in some way responsible for the server room IE the safety of it.

And then he somehow hurt himself outside of work.


Add in the spat with the boss.... Right. The guy is a liability, and a perfect example of WHY companies are the way they are nowadays.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

<snip>

Sounds like he is having a rough life.

Sometimes people are just handed a bad deck of cards in life.

However, over my years here I have learned that the vast VAST majority of people who have a constant "rough life" are causing it on themselves. Perhaps not intentionally, but if you spend your life pointing fingers at someone else you really should start looking in the mirror.

 

[rudeguy]

why are so many people so worried about what other people are doing?

This guy's actions don't effect your life in any way. Or your wife. Find a new hobby.

 

[Mixolydian]

why are so many people so worried about what other people are doing?

This guy's actions don't effect your life in any way. Or your wife. Find a new hobby.

This.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

What race is this guy? Just curious.

 

[Poulsonator]

why are so many people so worried about what other people are doing?

This guy's actions don't effect your life in any way. Or your wife. Find a new hobby.

Doesn't the OP say his wife now has more work to do, because this guy can't remember stuff due to his injuries?

 

[clamum]

Yikes, he definitely sounds like a fucking scumbag.

 

[PenguinPower]

My wife has a peer at her company who has done outrageous things and gotten away with it for years now. The stories she tells me would make anyone think this guy should be terminated in each instance but never is. Apparently the law protects them as long as they have "a doctor's note". His sister is also a lawyer. The guy is divorced with 2 kids. A few years back, he claims he hurt himself in the server room - I believe he said something fell on him. The company settled for some amount and he walks the office with crutches and a full cast in a dramatic fashion. Prior to that he got into some spat with his boss (my wife's boss) and claimed she said some things along with unfavorable treatment. Execs were involved and they no longer spoke. For fear of legal action, they do not terminate him. More recently, he claims he got some head trauma outside of work and was out for 2 months just in time for summer. All paid of course.

He comes back to work only after company lawyers make him sign a legal document stating he is ready to return. My wife and her boss change all the passwords because they simply do not trust this guy anymore and they give him menial tasks. But the guy is still earning a full competitive salary probably near 6 figures. His first day back all he does is sit around and chat with people. Now he's telling my wife he can't remember this and that because of his injury. Guess who has to do most of the work? It's just gotten really sad and comical at the same time. Talk about a guy who can work the system. To think this guy started out years ago as a temp and was given every opportunity at that place (a job I'd kill for too)... so sickening.

So let's break this down:

Apparently the law protects them as long as they have "a doctor's note".

Protects them from what? There's a lot more to it than just having a "doctor's note" if we're talking about job protected leave.

A few years back, he claims he hurt himself in the server room - I believe he said something fell on him. The company settled for some amount and he walks the office with crutches and a full cast in a dramatic fashion.

When you say settle, I assume we're talking about the settlement from a BRC and this guy reached MMI with a permanent impairment rating. Either he really did hurt himself, or the company lacks the balls to fight back.

Prior to that he got into some spat with his boss (my wife's boss) and claimed she said some things along with unfavorable treatment. Execs were involved and they no longer spoke.

I assume there was an investigation?

More recently, he claims he got some head trauma outside of work and was out for 2 months just in time for summer. All paid of course.

I assume through a combination of FMLA/STD? This would have to be corroborated through medical documentation and the company can always require a second opinion if they think he's gaming the system. Weak company.

He comes back to work only after company lawyers make him sign a legal document stating he is ready to return. My wife and her boss change all the passwords because they simply do not trust this guy anymore and they give him menial tasks.

Your wife's boss just retaliated against this guy for exercising his rights under federal law. Great job.

End of the day, this guy is getting away with stuff because the company's management is weak and/or he is really having issues and you're only hearing one side of the story.

 

[Vdubchaos]

Since it's OPs wife.....I would place my bet on "office gossip" + "assumptions"

Reality might be much MUCH different. What if everything that happened to him is true? How stupid would they feel then?

EVERYONE is in the midst of a struggle, be nice!

 

[rh71]

- he looks mexican or italian - i've been to her work before - while he was walking around in those crutches.
- they don't even have the same responsibilities and his actions hadn't affected her before. Being the 2nd member of a 3-person dept, it is not just "gossip" that she's telling me these things.
- he is also IT - that's why passwords were changed so he doesn't mess with certain systems.
- I don't recall the details of many other things my wife told me or I'd list them here too.
- the job itself is great - my wife should definitely not leave because of a co-worker's antics.
- weak company is right, though I don't know all the details as to why they aren't able to legally let him go. The only thing I ever tell her is they need to find some way to let this guy go. At some point it's beyond bad circumstance that he's had yet another misfortune, and what's more - it's affecting productivity for the company. My wife also had to train the temp that replaced him when he was out. And the reason for me even posting this thread is to get your opinion on if things like this are simply too much for a typical employee - but obviously some people are giving a lot of benefit of the doubt because of the one-side thing.

 

[rudeguy]

Doesn't the OP say his wife now has more work to do, because this guy can't remember stuff due to his injuries?

he said the guy was her peer

Not her problem to worry about and certainly not his.

I like the OP..he's a good guy. But its much too easy to get caught up worrying about other people. Focus that energy somewhere useful.

 

[rh71]

he said the guy was her peer

Not her problem to worry about and certainly not his.

I like the OP..he's a good guy. But its much too easy to get caught up worrying about other people. Focus that energy somewhere useful.

read the above.

as for worrying about it - I just can't believe people like this exist AND continually game the system. I work for a large corporation with hundreds of thousands of employees and I've never come across anyone like this. A coworker of mine was fired for not being very good with her work, though she was very nice. She had some mental effects due to CO (or some other gas) poisoning in her home. But in the end, she was still let go. It's just messed up how that can happen while the other stays at his job even though everyone at work knows what's really going on.

 

[Vdubchaos]

read the above.

as for worrying about it - I just can't believe people like this exist AND continually game the system. As I said before, just sickening.

Umm, not only do they exist, our corporations or FILLED with such folks.

And those up top are notorious for this type of a thing (completely dis attached from company/reality and do very little).

 

[rudeguy]

read the above.

as for worrying about it - I just can't believe people like this exist AND continually game the system. As I said before, just sickening.

heck yea its sickening.

Maybe I'm numb because at my former employer, more people were on FMLA than weren't. I was used to seeing people game the system and knowing that the company couldn't do anything about it.

You already know the guy is a toolbag, leave it at that. Time to watch some puppy videos and eat some cake.

 

[rh71]

Umm, not only do they exist, our corporations or FILLED with such folks.

And those up top are notorious for this type of a thing (completely dis attached from company/reality and do very little).

And according to you, we're the dummies.