Town fires 4 employees for gossiping about boss

[NaturalHigh]

HOOKSETT, New Hampshire (AP) -- Can you be fired for gossiping about your boss? Four employees of a New Hampshire town say they were, raising questions about fairness, free speech and a staple of life in the American workplace.

The employees were fired in April after speaking to a lawyer the town hired as a fact-finder to rout out chatterboxes.

They say questions about a close relationship between Town Administrator David Jodoin and a female employee, identified only as "A" in the lawyer's report, drifted into Town Hall sometime in March. They say they weren't the only ones who discussed the rumor, and dismissed it as untrue after briefly talking about it.

"We didn't start the rumor, nor did we say there was an affair going on," Joanne Drewniak said Tuesday. "We didn't have time like they think ... to sit around and just gossip. That is so untrue."

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This is ridiculous, IMHO.

[BlooInBloo]

1. What does freedom of speech have to do with this? Did Congress attempt to pass a restricting law?

[Lars39]

2. If the Town Administrator thought he was being slandered,

then he should have hired the lawyer himself. Misuse of funds comes to mind.
These ladies have a lawsuit,imo.

He does not want his family life to be threatened and does not want his career to be tainted by a false accusation," fact-finder Lauren Irwin wrote.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

3. Nothing can create a shitty work environment faster than an affair between a manager and a direct

report.

Just ask the World Bank.

P.S. Good on them for suing. Fired for a superficial discussion of speculation. :eyes:

[Xithras]

4. I despise gossips.

And in todays work environment, the city was right to fire them. If they were intimating that person A and person B were having sex, they were creating a hostile work environment and were placing the city at risk for a sexual harassment suit. Most cities (and companies) have zero tolerance policies for anything even RESEMBLING sexual harassment. Remember, current court rulings essentially state that ANY sexualized discussion or imagery that makes the target uncomfortable can be construed as harassment. You cannot have discussions about sex in the workplace. Period. Even if it's about two other people having sex.

[RC]

6. I'm glad I don't work anywhere around where you do.

Zero tolerance is very seldom the answer.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

7. Do you work somewhere with people?

:shrug: MKJ

[MissB]

8. I once worked for a place where we thought my boss was boinking

a female co-worker of mine. They'd be at his desk for hours, heads together, whispering to each other.

Turns out he was boinking a completely different woman (a married woman). Ended his career.

[tularetom]

5. It's been my experience that people just don't make this shit up

I was a department manager in local government for over 25 years. I experienced several instances where people were wasting a lot of time gossiping about coworkers being involved with other coworkers. Although the gossip is destructive in every case it turned out to be factual and in most cases I had to deal with it because it was so destructive to productivity and morale within the department. One time I even experienced the involved parties getting it on when I drove past the office at midnight, noticed some lights on and went in to check it out. I had to "counsel" these people, which was basically a way of telling them to knock it off. Looking back on it, it was obvious to anybody who was even marginally alert. Little pats on the butt that might have looked accidental, brushing the chest against the back etc.

Point being, you can't get away with this without your colleagues, supervisors, and especially your employees knowing about it. Trying to shut them up will just make things worse

[merbex]

9. Let's not forget that a small town in NH was the basis for Peyton Place

The more things change the more they stay the same