There’s a right and a wrong way for a manager to respond to employees’ concerns and complaints. Here’s an example of the wrong way:

In a recent age bias case, the company hired a group of twenty-something employees around the same time. The older employees in the department felt the younger folks were getting favorable treatment from their manager — there was even a rumor they were paid more.

One day, a screen saver appeared on a shared computer asking why young employees were higher paid than the people with more experience. In response, the manager made his own screen saver that read: “Because they are younger, dependable and more productive, that’s why!”

After that, one of the employees complained about age discrimination to upper management. Shortly after that, the manager told the higher-ups she should be disciplined for attendance violations, and she was suspended.

Then she sued the company.

Who won?

Fortunately for the employer, an independent investigation showed the woman was in fact guilty of the attendance violations. Even if the manager raised the issue in the first place for biased reasons, upper management made the final decision objectively, based on the fact that she broke company rules.

Were that not the case, the manager’s irresponsible message on the computer could have gotten the company in serious trouble.

Cite: Furline v. Morrison

Tags: ADEA, age bias, Age Discrimination in Employment Act, screen saver