Posted on 03/07/2007 2:34:46 PM PST by qam1
What happens when a twenty-something manager tells an older worker to turn up her hearing aid or take an herbal memory medicine? In this Oregon case, it got the employer in trouble with the feds.
Scott and Patty Corp., formerly Woodburn Fertilizer, Inc., agreed recently to pay Carolyn Arzino, a former longtime 55-year-old accounting secretary, $85,000 to settle age discrimination claims brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The case arose, agency trial attorney Teri Healy told The Oregonian, from the actions of a female manager in her 20s, who criticized Arzino's work, telling her, among other things, that she should take ginkgo biloba, an herbal memory tonic, and turn up the volume on her Miracle Ear.
The manager gave Arzino a poor performance evaluation, withheld her raise and placed her on a 30-day probation before firing her on July 20, 2004, according to the EEOC's complaint. But EEOCs investigation revealed that Arzinos coworkers said she was an exceptional performer.
Scott and Patty Corp. denied liability.
This case, noted EEOC district director Joan Ehrlich, illustrates a phenomenon of today's workplace: It spans four generations -- Millennials, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers and the last of the Silent Generation born before the end of World War II -- and their members don't always speak the same language or work quite the same way. Employers need to be aware and sensitive to those dynamics.
I love busting on baby-boomers: the young, dumb hippies who became old, dumb hippies....
"a female manager in her 20s, who criticized Arzino's work, telling her, among other things, that she should take ginkgo biloba, an herbal memory tonic, and turn up the volume on her Miracle Ear."
Ordinarily I might sympathize with a company who is held responsible for something that ONE manager did but in this case you have to wonder how a company could be foolish enough to give a women like this who is only in her 20's that kind of power - you suspect she had to be related to someone in power to have climbed to a management position at that age with such a hateful outlook.
Ping list for the discussion of the politics and social (and sometimes nostalgic) aspects that directly effects Generation Reagan / Generation-X (Those born from 1965-1981) including all the spending previous generations are doing that Gen-X and Y will end up paying for.
Freep mail me to be added or dropped. See my home page for details and previous articles.
bump for later
And where was the manager's boss and/or HR in all this? In my last position I had responsibility for about 60 people, and there's no way I could enact any of these actions without the approval of my boss and HR.
20 is the new 40.
The greatest generation that spent the social security surplus.
"I'll be going to jail I suppose....
I love busting on baby-boomers: the young, dumb hippies who became old, dumb hippies...."
Me and you both
When asked how she felt about the settlement, Ms. Arzino said, "What?"
But I thought have woman managers would make the workplace more civil.
Please add me to your xer list
I don't know, I'm a female and was supervisor (not manager but supervised a floor of 10-25 call center operators) and a lot of times I supervised people 2x my age. (I was 18-20 during that time.) I would have never spoken to someone the way this manager did - it's disrespectful and in poor taste. I certainly had some difficult people to work with who didn't like having a supervisor half their age, but I respected them and they learned that I was okay and knew what I was doing. /end rant
bump for later ref
RE #15
This is exactly what I was thinking. This 20 something suffers from an extreme lack of manners. Disrespect seems to be the cornerstone of today's youth.
Careful son, many of us here are old enough to be your father, and some your grandfather (mothers and grandmothers too)
A$$holes come in all shapes, sizes, ages and sexes. They also come in all creeds and colors. A$$holes are universal.
"Get off your butt and do some work you hippie scum! And no more using the color printer to make ANSWER communist posters!"
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