![\"Employer_complaint_letters_-_think_twice\"](\"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/11\/Employer_complaint_letters_-_think_twice.jpg\")
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Employer complaint letters may not be the best strategy.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the last resort for the frustrated employee who is burned out<\/a> and fed up with his boss \u2014 the final step before walking out the door and finding a job elsewhere<\/a>. It\u2019s the employer complaint letter<\/strong>, directed to higher authorities within the organization. It lays out a range of grievances about a manager and it\u2019s not without risk.<\/p>\n But let\u2019s say we ignore the (substantial) political risk and setbacks<\/a> inherent in opening up about your manager\u2019s many and varied shortcomings. There\u2019s still a legal risk. As a result, employees should think twice (or, perhaps, thrice) before firing off such a missive. An employer complaint letter in the courts<\/strong> She was responsible for supervising and evaluating the work of four staff, preparing funding proposals, attending conferences, organizing workshops, and handling a client caseload. According to the Court\u2019s description, I think it would be fair to call the Society\u2019s operation a stressful work environment. Typical of such organizations, it appears there were an overload of work and a shortfall of funding.<\/p>\n Ms. Van Der Meij had an issue regarding the performance and conduct of one of her staff, and that led her to have a confrontation with her own boss, the Society\u2019s Executive Director. Until this event, her relationship with the Executive Director had, by all accounts, been respectful. The Executive Director considered Van Der Meij to be effective at her job and he had never had a reason to impose discipline.<\/p>\n As a result of the confrontation, however, Van Der Meij delivered a letter to the Society\u2019s Board of Directors. Among other things, the letter stated, \u201cI feel that I have been compromised in every regard and cannot function in the current climate.\u201d<\/p>\n She went on to say, \u201cMy workload is far beyond anything anyone can handle, my position as coordinator has been compromised by Carlos\u2019 unilateral actions that he has kept secret from me, I can no longer take responsibility for the work of others in the program since my hands have been tied in dealing with it, Carlos has become irate with me, his stated intention to violate a client\u2019s right to confidentiality, this in turn compromising the confidence I had built with the client, and moreover he has shown a cold and uncaring disregard for my health.\u201d<\/p>\n The Society took the position that, by sending this letter to its Board of Directors, Van Der Meij had either resigned or had provided sufficient just cause grounds for summary dismissal.<\/p>\n The Court began by accepting, as a general proposition, that an employee is entitled to criticize her superiors without fear of immediate dismissal. In some circumstances, however, criticism can undermine the employment relationship and render it impossible for the employee and his manager to continue working together.<\/p>\n Tone matters in employer complaint letters<\/strong> The Court felt so strongly about this aspect that it emphasized just cause for immediate dismissal may exist regardless of whether the complaints are justified. That premise is a little difficult to accept but it is perhaps an indicator of how seriously the Court views intemperate outbursts.<\/p>\n The Court concluded that the language and tone of Van Der Meij\u2019s complaints were disrespectful, pejorative, and unnecessarily inflammatory. She described her manager as acting, or taking no action, out of fear or weakness. She allowed her emotions to creep into the language used. She was unreservedly critical of the Executive Director\u2019s handling of workplace issues. She also pointed to serious flaws in his character and ability to manage.<\/p>\n Van Der Meij\u2019s letter to the Society\u2019s board of directors was found to be inaccurate, exaggerated, disrespectful and inflammatory in tone and language. It was sent to the Society\u2019s board of directors without giving the Executive Director an opportunity to deal with the problems it addressed. Both the content of the letter and the manner in which Van Der Meij brought her complaints to the attention of the board constituted a fundamental breach of the trust relationship between her and the Executive Director.<\/p>\n Court ruled the letter ended employment<\/strong> Ms. Van Der Meij found out, the hard way, that going over the head of one\u2019s boss can be a perilous strategy. Her case serves as a good example of why a person in her position might be better served by looking, quietly, for other employment.<\/p>\n area of labour and employment law. Robert Smithson is a partner at Pushor Mitchell LLP in Kelowna practicing exclusively in theFor more information about his practice, visit www.pushormitchell.com<\/a>. If you have a labour or employment question for him to answer in a future \u201cLegal Ease\u201d, email him at smithson@pushormitchell.com. This subject matter is provided for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be relied upon as legal advice.<\/p>\n Related to employer complaints It\u0092s the last resort for the frustrated employee who is burned out and fed up with his boss \u0097 the final step before walking out the door and finding a job elsewhere. It\u0092s the employer complaint letter, directed to higher authorities within the organization.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9723,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75\/revisions\/9723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bcjobs.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\nTypical employer complaint letters<\/strong>
\nIt seems these letters generally contain three categories of complaints: my boss treats staff poorly, she doesn\u2019t know what she is doing, and he makes it impossible for me to do my job. These are, to be sure, serious allegations and the author of the letter should be expecting an unreceptive audience. (Zolpidem<\/a>) <\/p>\n
\nThe BC Supreme Court recently addressed the case of Marianne Van Der Meij, who penned a letter of complaint about her boss. Van Der Meij was a coordinator of the settlement department at the Victoria Immigrant and Refugee Centre Society.<\/p>\n
\nThe manner in which the employee voices her criticism of the manager is also relevant. If the criticism is disrespectful in tone or language or is otherwise irreconcilable with continued employment then the act of complaining may give rise to cause for immediate dismissal.<\/p>\n
\nThese actions effectively ended the employment relationship because the Executive Director could no longer work with someone who had no respect for his management abilities, his character, and his ethical standards. As a result, the Court found that just cause for summary dismissal existed.<\/p>\n
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Quitting your job \u2013 how to leave on a high note<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Getting fired \u2014 10 ways to tell it\u2019s time for find another job<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Using emotional intelligence in your job search<\/a>
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Second thoughts after changing jobs<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"