OK, all you human-resource law types. Is this email from David Siegel grounds for anyone working for him to sue his company for promoting a hostile work environment?
My first thought on reading this story was "if I worked for this guy and my name was on that email, I'd forward a copy to myself as proof of its existence and then I would hie my ass to an attorney specializing in employment law. I'd seriously like to know if something like this qualifies.
Those who practice employment law in the great state of Florida tend to define a hostile work environment as follows:
created by undesirable conduct that comes across as discriminatory harassment directed at a single worker or multiple employees. A hostile work environment can also be referred to as an intimidating work environment, offensive work environment, abusive work environment, or hostile workplace.
But then my next thought was "surely this has come up before?". In the last decade or so, it seems I've read or heard of supervisors and management hinting to various and sundry employees--very strongly--that they might want to think about voting a certain way. But have any of them ever involved something tangible like an email, sent directly from the CEO to the employees to declare such a thing?
Feh. Hostile work environment. I don't know about all the EEO laws, but I can tell you it would be hostile, all right, because if I was working for this asshole, I would be pissed at his unmitigated, egotistical gall. And I don't care what the economy is like, I would be job-hunting as of right now.
Sorry if this angle has been discussed already--I did some word searches in the comments of The Troubadour's diary and didn't see it anywhere. I am very, very curious, particularly since a good friend brought this FOX link to me. I don't normally link to their nonsense, but I found this intriguing in that I'd expect FOX to run far, far away from this story, even a local affiliate. (plus the comments section is always good for a face-palm, or at least a laugh...).
Thanks for your indulgence--I'm supposed to be studying right now, but I'll at least pop back in to see if any great minds have had a go at the subject :)