Douche-Baggery at Work: How do we protect ourselves from future slander?

February 22, 2008 5:51 PM

There's some serious douche-baggery going on at my job that cost one of my colleagues his job today. How do I protect myself?

I teach at a University somewhere in America. At the beginning of this year, I took this job, and at the same time that they hired a new director. The director brought a couple of people with him (lower level staff members) who interact with students, and are generally bad medicine. Today, one of my colleagues got fired by the Provost because of lies and scandal that the Director of the program started about my colleague. He's lawyering up, and has been given until the end of today to either quit or be fired. He's obviously going to fight - but if he wins and gets to keep his job, he doesn't really "win," you know, without the support of the administration.

The level of scandal here goes deep. He's got budgets screwed up, our division is in shambles, and he shows favoritism and negative empowerment to both students and staff that are "on his side." Most of us have never been disrespected as badly as we have by this man and the people who he has wrangled up. He preys on the weak, undecided students and faculty/staff by giving them very positive praise and rewards, and then putting them together in situations where they are empowered to slander and trash-talk the rest of the people involved. It's a "Divide-and-Conquer" situation that is unacceptable in this environment, and especially in the educational arena.

Several of us have caught the Director in lies. He's very good at treating people below him like shit, and lying to upper administration to make himself look like the champ. Around Christmas of 2007, several of us were slandered by this guy at a public venue in front of students, staff, and other faculty - he has even gone so far as to scream "FUCK 'so-and-so'" in a crowded venue in an argument in front of students' parents and other patrons at an event. Our work environment has gotten very very bad, and it looks as though this guy might get to keep his job due to his manipulation of upper-level administrators, including the VP.

The major downfall of this situation is that this director is also a "professional" in the same line of business that many of us also work in. He's in the same professional union as some of us, so perhaps there is an avenue for protection there as well. The major problem is that, since this guy is a pathological liar and manipulator, he's gonna talk some shit to people we might both know, and spread more bullshit and lies about our work and our personalities. None of us are terribly worried about the damage that he's gonna try to perform, but it is a major pain in the ass (and potentially harmful to future contracts and work) if we have to explain the situation about this guy to people all of the time. He is an expert manipulator - and our colleagues, the heads of our division, and many other people directly and indirectly involved are shocked and awed at how successful he has been at getting what he wants via lies, slander, and manipulative tactics.

I have resigned my position, effective at the end of this school term. My question is about preemptive legal attack; does the Hive Mind see it beneficial for us, one by one, to contact our lawyers and have some kind of "If-I-Hear-That-You-Said-Shit-About-Me, I'll-Sue-Your-Ass-For-Slander" letters drafted? Is there such a thing, and are they effective? Is there anything else we can do to make sure that this guy keeps his lying mouth shut?

There's a chance that he will ALSO be terminated, but at this point, all bets are off. We never expected this guy's lies and manipulation of students to actually trick an administrator into firing one of the best and most influential professors/recruiters the division has ever seen. As you can imagine, this bullshit is all very, very political.

My spoof email for this question is [e-mail]. Please drop me a line and post here if you have something that might help. Every day is another wonderfully effed up adventure.

posted by anonymous to work & money (12 answers total)

Whatever you decide to do, document, document, document. Keep records of everything said, written, etc.
posted by HotPatatta at 5:55 PM on February 22, 2008

I have worked in higher ed for many years, off and on. I have seen some real doozies. There is a unique kind of ruthlessness lurking underneath all that academic protocol. I think you should just move on and forget the lawsuit. Get letters of recommendation on school stationary from people on your side now and have them for your next job. The douche-bag will eventually commit career suicide, but sometimes that takes years. If you go to another school they will be able to read between the lines why you left, you don't need to spell it out. If you get embroiled in a lawsuit it will only eat away your time, money and brain cells and might not get you very much in the end. It will force you to live the drama in the present even if you no longer work there, so just let it go as best you can and focus on your future.
posted by 45moore45 at 6:00 PM on February 22, 2008

Agree with 45moore45. From what I've seen, it takes about three years for the douchebaggery to become known to those in authority and another two for them to do anything about it; and by then, more times than not, the db is on his way to another job before his chickens come home to roost. And I've never seen a "we're all going to see the provost!! right now!!" revolution result in anyone actually getting fired. Be a kind ear to your friend, but otherwise keep your head down and count the days until May. There are a lot of days left, and they can be miserable if you end up caught up in the malestrom. Don't sacrifice your own career prospects by trying to fight this unwinnable battle.
posted by Sweetie Darling at 7:09 PM on February 22, 2008

Oh, man, I am so sorry. I have been there, which is why I am now in business and got OUT of academia. I agree with the above posters - a lawsuit will likely suck your time and money. Good luck.
posted by frumious bandersnatch at 7:41 PM on February 22, 2008

I have heard, and believe, that the reason higher education often has such beastly behavior is precisely because the stakes are so low. So he's an admistrator at a college (university). The only people who are truly impressed by this are either donors (who are actors aon the same anti-prestige bandwagon) or complete fucking morons.

I am not trying to denigrate your position or your school. I've seen this type of penny-ante bullshit both as a student at a Top 20 school, and as part-time faculty at a community college.
posted by notsnot at 9:18 PM on February 22, 2008

45moore45 has it

I think you should just move on and forget the lawsuit.

You life is too important than to go grey about something you can't really control. There is plenty of stress in life anyway without inviting more.
posted by mattoxic at 4:28 AM on February 23, 2008

Beneficial? Sure. There's nothing like the self-worth you get from fighting a just battle together and winning. You get the good feeling of positive moral action in a difficult situation, which is very worthwhile.

Plus it's good for the uni. The shitbag wants the good profs to leave and gain more control over the place. Thank you for considering defending the uni and the students.

Only you can decide if it is worthwhile enough in your own personal life and career to make the confrontation.

I would recommend coordinated legal action rather than single legal action, i.e. exploring whether it would be useful for y'all to have one, rather than several, lawyers. I am not a lawyer, but I am a successful workplace fighter (and backer-away when it's necessary.)
posted by By The Grace of God at 4:39 AM on February 23, 2008

I have a very dear friend who was the victim of a situation like that, though hers involved sexual harassment as well. She actually won a lawsuit (well, settled out of court when it became clear she was going to win, because the university was so obviously hostile and negligent), but basically had to leave academia. It's good you're getting out of there; I'd say keep your head down and hope nothing really evil happens to you. Good luck—stories like this always make me glad I'm not in academia any more myself.
posted by languagehat at 7:52 AM on February 23, 2008

Important - DO NOT log onto this webpage, NOR your spoof email, from work. Your boss can ask IT to return that sort of information, and this information could quickly become deadly to your job. In one way or another.

And, document, document, document, as has already been said. Encourage others to do so - perhaps slyly, in the guise of "merely to protect myself...", as you don't want to be known around campus as the one who started a revolution... even if it succeeds.
posted by IAmBroom at 8:08 AM on February 23, 2008

I'm an employment lawyer. The situation is common. You need your own employment lawyer to look at this. A consultation shouldn't cost too much.
posted by Ironmouth at 8:27 AM on February 23, 2008

Speaking of slander.

If I were in an alternate universe where laws were different and I wanted some sort of revenge.

I would copy all of these things down, actions he has done, things he has done, and make a little dossier or better yet make a recording of this douchebag, and once I was in a safe situation at another university, snail-mail and/or fwd them from a disposable account to *every* person in the field, and every academic hiring office I knew. I I'd make sure that the university knew that they were opening themselves to legal liability by hiring a douchebag like this. I'd want to make sure he could never get work in a reputable town/college again.

Note that I am not advocating this due to questionable legality. But if I were in that alternate universe, I'd sure feel good abut it.
posted by lalochezia at 2:44 PM on February 23, 2008 [2 favorites]

2nding lalochezia's idea above - I once knew someone who nixed similar outgoing d-bag's new hire with Enormous University X using a single Xerox they had been holding onto for three years.

Leave, but document before you go, and stick it in a file somewhere. Might come in handy later.
posted by bhance at 8:59 PM on February 23, 2008