Reader Shares Her Story...

Pre-Halloween, I asked all of you what stands out in your mind, when it comes to the racist ghouls and goblins you work with. One reader, had a similar story to me, as far as having people question her about clothing, jewelry, etc.

Anonymous said:

I have [been] dealing with this for the past five years with a particular hispanic female co-worker. Anytime, I come to work with any new clothing including shoes, she wants to know if the material is authentic(e.g.touching and feeling), where I buy it and how much did it cost. I can tell it annoys her that I have nice things. It got really bad when she found out that I was about to purchase my first home(I'm the only one who owns her own home, besides our manager). I mean, she doesn't behave this way with the other woman(who are non-black), when they acquire something nice. The focus seems to be primarily on me and what I have.


I'm the only black woman in my department and I'm young. I just feel like I'm under constant scrutiny by her and the other females I work with.

Dog Having Surgery: No Post Today

My dog is having surgery today. As you can probably guess, I am a nervous wreck. I will not have a post today. Thanks for your patience and understanding.

Keep Copies of Your Timesheets

If you are filing a grievance against your employer (and just as a general rule of thumb) you should always maintain copies of your timesheets. Even if you record your hours on an electronic timesheet, you should print your timesheets and place them in a file folder for safe keeping. If you have filed a grievance, you definitely want to keep a copy of your timesheets for the period of time covered in your complaint.

I’ve worked for an employer that falsified and manufactured timesheets to try to disprove a case against them that was being investigated by a state government agency. The reason this employer was unsuccessful in getting away with their submission of falsified documents was because the employee maintained a copy of all of her timesheets for that period and could show that new timesheets had suddenly “appeared” in her file (with completely different hours recorded). It would have been beyond her capacity to doctor an exact copy of the corporate timesheets, but much easier for her employers to do so. Keep this example in mind, when it comes to your own timesheets.

Keeping your timesheets will prove the amount of leave you used, if any, as a result of stress-related ailments due to harassment, discrimination or other illegal activities committed by your employer. You can use these timesheets to request a restoration of your sick leave used while you were being harassed and tormented at work. Timesheets will also show your general sick and vacation leave used, in case there is some later dispute about your attendance at work.

Keep in mind, when employers are being investigated or questioned, they want to show negative past behavior on your part. Leave is one area for employer’s to attack and is often one of the first targets they will hit. If you are being targeted at work, the torment is designed to cause you to lose your focus, make errors, force you to resign, and to cause any other side effects that will play into your employer's hands. Your employer wants to drive you to drinking and to the verge of a nervous breakdown, but will question your sick leave during these attacks. Your employer will also attack legitimate reasons for being out of the office.

In my case, on the first day of an attack by my supervisor, my supervisor falsely stated that everyone questioned my hours in and out of the office and everyone wondered where I was. She told me, “We want you to come to work.” And, she said it as if I had been out of the office on a routine basis. The only absences I had from the office were pre-approved and involved work-related travel (out of state) and client meetings that took place off site. Yet, my supervisor was declaring that no one knew where I was, what I was working on, and wondered when I got anything done—because I was supposedly chronically out the office.

I have a copy of all my timesheets to prove that this statement was an obvious and intentional lie. But, it didn’t change the fact that my employer gave it the good old fashioned college try in order to justify their unjustified attacks against me. That’s why I am passing this warning on to you. Don’t let your employer have the only copy of your timesheets. It could come back to haunt you.

Finally, you may want to maintain a copy of your previous year’s timesheets as added insurance against manipulation by your employer. If your employer feels the need to create long-term problems with your employment, they may go well into the past to show so-called performance/attendance issues on your part.

Remember, even your legitimate use of sick leave and vacation leave may come under attack from your employer. When requesting advance leave, make sure your time off is approved, forms are signed by the proper authority, coworkers are notified of your schedule, your assignments are covered during your time out of the office, and that you have a copy of your signed and approved leave form in your personal file.

Final thought: If you’re under attack at work, always get a note from your doctor, if you’re out sick.

You Can Take It With You: Part II

As promised, yesterday, today's post is part two of the information you should take when you leave a job, especially if you were the target of race-based abuses (discrimination, harassment, and/or retaliation).

LIST #2: GENERAL LIST OF WHAT TO TAKE WITH YOU

--A copy of your resignation letter

--An official copy of your job description

--A copy of your performance reviews

--A copy of congratulatory email/”thank you” email

--Writing samples – Writing can be an equalizer that makes you competitive with those who have degrees or more advanced degrees than you possess. Many people write poorly, including the college educated population. You are extremely valuable to an employer, if you write well. Always keep samples of your work. This includes keeping samples of any technical writing or proposal writing, as well as any writing for specific audiences (e.g., teens, AIDS patients, etc.)

--Design/product samples - For instance, if you oversaw or coordinated the work of a creative team or vendors

--Product shots -Stock photos of any finished products that you helped create

--General samples of your work, specific to your field (e.g., research analysis reports)

--Letters of recommendation – Make sure to get positive written feedback from your superiors and coworkers before leaving any job

--Phone numbers for oral references – Line up your references as you pursue other work opportunities. Find out what phone number your references would like to be called on (Some may want to receive a phone employment verification call on their cell phone and not their work phone)

Always think about what information is specific to your job/field and compile information that can be included in a portfolio of your work.

You Can Take It With You: Part I

If you've become a target at work due to race-based grievances, you leave your job under a couple of scenarios.

1) You may decide that's it's time to move on and resign. You may want to leave for health reasons (stress, high blood pressure, etc.), for your sanity or for your future livelihood. It's always best to leave on your own terms--while retaining the option of pursuing actions that may help you vindicate your rights at a later time. Even if you leave your job, you can still seek the assistance of a lawyer and you still have the option of filing a formal complaint with an investigatory agency, such as the EEOC or Office of Human Rights for your county.

2) You may leave your job under even worse circumstances. You may be a target who is fired or laid off by your employer under false pretenses. Your employer may create "evidence" that shows they are justified in severing your employment with the company or they may pretend they don't have any work for you to do and make you a victim of the dreaded lay-off/reduction in force.

Regardless of why you are leaving your employment, you will need to take lots of information with you as evidence that will be helpful in case you decide to take action against your employer. It's important to have an idea of what information is important to have. Remember, once you leave the company, it will be nearly impossible to get a hold of anything you left behind. Your closest workplace friends will likely not want to make a copy of this that or the other--even if they love you to death. Most folks aren't going to risk their own employment for anyone else and they will fear retaliation if anyone knows they are helping you.

I've created two lists. The first I will share today and the second list will be posted tomorrow.

The first list is an accounting of some of the things you should take with you, if you have an outstanding complaint/grievance against your employer. Even if you have not officially filed an external complaint and do not know if you will pursue legal action, this is information you should take with you.

The second list includes some of the items that employees should ensure they have, even if they are leaving their job under the best/positive circumstances.

LIST #1: ITEMS TO TAKE IF YOU HAVE A WORK-RELATED GRIEVANCE

--A copy of your company’s personnel manual or, at the very least, the applicable sections that are germane to your case

--A copy of your company’s anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policies

--A copy of any written warnings you’ve received, including performance deficiency memos or emails that are meant to document patterns of negative behavior or work performance

--A copy of your job description to show your official responsibilities (you can use the description to show how you may have been bogged down with many unofficial tasks that would ensure you failed to fulfill the requirements of your job)

--A copy of your timesheets

--A copy of the position for which you were seeking promotion or may/could have been promoted to fill

--A copy of performance reviews

--Memos and email that prove your case/claims

--A list of incidents that support your allegations of harassment, etc. (including dates/times)

--Organization charts that show the hierarchy at your company/of your department

--A list of superiors that you reported harassment, etc. to (including dates/times)

--A copy of congratulatory email/”thank you” email demonstrating that you did a good job performing your work

--Photos of any graffiti or racial slurs that were used to attack you

--Tape recordings of nasty/offensive voice mail messages

--Witness statements by those who witnessed harassment, etc. or, at the very least, a witness list of those who saw or heard things that happened to you

--Performance review guidelines that should have dictated how your review was composed and the appropriate evaluation standards for your position

--A copy of any email/memos you’ve sent to superiors or Human Resources complaining about mistreatment (include any responses received)

Check back tomorrow for list #2.

Tell Us...

So, here's a question in honor of Halloween:

WHAT ARE SOME OF YOUR FUNNIEST OR MOST BIZARRE EXCHANGES WITH RACIST GHOULS AND GOBLINS IN THE WORKPLACE?

For me, it's some of the ignorant and memorable questions I've been asked like:
--Why isn't your hair curly like xyz's (bi-racial)?

--Why do Black people use hair grease?

--Do Black people tan?

--Have you ever been shot?

--Is that real leather? Is that real jade? etc. (questioning the authenticity of what I am wearing)

--Do you live in "the hood"?

Okay, so what about you? What stands out in your mind? Post a comment on this thread.

HAVE A HAPPY HOWL-OWEEN!!!

Get Out of Your Own Way...

You know I've heard people say over and over again that sometimes they weren't able to achieve or obtain something that was important to them because they JUST COULDN'T GET OUT THEIR OWN WAY.

I keep thinking about that expression based on some things happening at work now. As I've written, recently, we've had some issues at my job with Black workers stealing. And, we've also had some terminations based on the behavior of Black workers.

For instance, we had one Black worker (male) do a rap song about another Black worker (female) saying that she was "Black and crispy...fat and ugly." He did this in front of White customers and had the guests laughing at this Black female...along with some of our coworkers.

More negative interactions transpired between the two of them and the Black male was terminated. But, here's what's interesting...

other Black female workers in the store are defending this guy and attacting the darker-skinned female worker. Some people aren't speaking to her anymore or are treating her differently.

Some of the women say..."oh, she just played the victim." They're commenting on her voice (high-pitched), her boyfriend (ugly), and all sorts of things (she provoked him) that have nothing to do with the fact that she was humiliated in public for being dark-skinned.

Now, the male worker told me he said things he shouldn't have said because he was mad at the female worker. Yet, the rest of the Black female workers won't make the same admission...that he shouldn't have called her names such as "black and crispy" for ANY REASON!

I have said point blank to a number of them, "You shouldn't have to be her complexion to be offended by what was said." I've asked, "How can any Black woman in here, regardless of color, side with him?" And, I've asked why they are defending him. It's like talking to a brick wall and it shows just how deep the troubles in the Black community still are--particularly in relation to skin tone.

I truly believe that these women don't care what he called her because they secretly agree. She is very dark. And, I guess because of their own feelings on color, they are not bothered by the names she was called. You can see it in their faces that they are cool with it, even though this woman had been their "friend" and even rides the train with some of the people who are now attacking her for "having this guy fired." But, he got himself fired.

I think we, as people, have such a hard time getting out of our own way, and it's illuminated by situations such as this. We block our blessings and make our collective lives so much harder. Crabs in a barrel. Always pulling and tugging on each other and dragging each other down.

Even in the workplace, where we depend so much on our livelihood, we still can't help but to contribute to an environment that is poisonous to us all.

The worst part of this is that a White worker has been one of the most vocal supporters of this Black woman and wrote a statement about the names she was called. While the Black and Hispanic workers, who were also present, said they didn't hear anything or that it wasn't a big deal--without giving details.

If this White worker had called a Black worker "black and crispy" how much do you want a bet that the same Black women, who don't care about a Black man saying it, would be in an uproar? "He's a racist." "We need to do something." "He should be fired." Those would be the rallying cries.

But, the attacker looked like them and they can't bring themselves to empathize and side with the victim.

Yeah...

We can't get out of our own way.

Post your thoughts!