Jerks at Work—You Can Deal with Them
(the following is the better parts of HR Daily Advisor articles from January 21st and 22nd 2009)

In fact, you can discipline and ultimately, if necessary, terminate your jerks, says Jathan Janove, a partner in the Portland, Oregon, office of Ater Wynne LLP. Janove delivered his suggestions at the recent SHRM annual conference in Chicago.

The Problem with Jerks
When jerk behavior (Janove defines a jerk as “a person, usually male, who is unwelcome due to unlikable qualities and behavior”) crosses over to discrimination against a protected class—sexual harassment, racial harassment—that’s easy to deal with, says Janove.

But a lot of jerk behavior doesn’t cross that line. You can’t tie it to a legal problem, but you know it’s not good and it’s costing the company.

A Typical Jerk
Janove offers an example of jerk behavior from an Indiana case. A heart surgeon for whom “ego management was a challenge” was especially hard on his perfusionists—heart-lung operators—calling them morons, cursing, and threatening. His face would turn red and his veins would bulge.

When one of the perfusionists complained, the surgeon really upped the ante. Eventually, the employee couldn’t come to work and sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress. A $325,000 judgment against the surgeon was upheld.

Work Jerk Prevention
How should you handle jerks? Janove has developed a 5-step approach for dealing with jerks at work.

Step 1: Express Your Values
It is amazing how often this first step is overlooked, says Janove. Have you articulated your values and your standards of behavior or have you just assumed that people will treat each other with respect? He suggests this statement:

It is essential that at all times our employees treat each other, and those with whom they come into contact, with courtesy, respect and professionalism; and that they work cooperatively and constructively in resolving issues or problems.

Step 2: Publicize and Conduct Training
Publicize your values widely, says Janove, in your:
• Job Descriptions
• Handbook
• Statement of Values
• Antidiscrimination Policy
• Disciplinary Procedure
Include your values and behavior expectations in your training programs, he adds.

Step 3: “DIS” the Jerk
Whether they are inadvertent jerks (just sharing their “great” sense of humor) or advertent jerks (they know what they are doing is offensive or causing pain), you need to “DIS” the jerk, says Janove. DIS means providing direct, immediate, specific feedback. You point out the specific offending behavior and ask that it stop.

Step 4: Doc the Jerk
Janove recommends the “same-day summary” for documenting jerk behavior. It should be delivered within 24 hours and should be less than one page. It summarizes the key points that you mentioned when you DISed the jerk. Janove offers the following example:

TO: Jerk
FROM: HR Manager
DATE: Today
This summarizes our discussion this morning regarding your treatment of co-workers. Information I’ve received includes …. This has resulted in employees feeling uncomfortable working with you and undermines departmental trust and teamwork. You said you hadn’t intended to offend anyone, but agreed that this behavior needs to change. I appreciate your understanding. If I haven’t summarized our discussion accurately, please let me know immediately.

This is not really disciplinary, says Janove. This is optimistic that the problem can be solved. “Let’s make sure we are on the same page.”

Step 5: Expose “Mushroom” Jerks to the Light
Mushroom jerks operate behind the scenes, doing plenty of damage, but not in public. Mushroom jerks must be exposed to the light. They don’t like attention, so they will often stop just because you are managing the situation, says Janove.

You might say, “I hear there’s an issue, I hear talk, I want to get to the bottom of it because it’s against our policy and values statement.” Often this can be accomplished by calling employees in as a group.

The Whistleblower Jerk
This case concerned a nuclear power plant inspector whose job was to point out safety violations. However, he had a certain “f-this,” “bleep bleep,” poking-in-the-chest style about him. He was fired, and he sued as a protected whistleblower, but the court upheld the firing on the grounds that his behavior was so far over the top that it need not be tolerated.

In another case, a worker filed a grievance. She didn’t like the way she was responded to, so she filed again. The more she felt ignored, the more she filed, and the harsher her tone became.

In fact, more than a dozen grievances were filed that were consistently hostile and inflammatory. Her manager told her that she was spending so much time writing grievances that she was not getting enough work done.

She responded with another grievance. Enough already, the company said, and fired her. The court upheld the employer. Even if it was protected activity, even if she believed she was right, there was just too much disruption.

The Jerks with Disabilities
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says that an employee may be disciplined for violating a workplace conduct standard even if resulting from a disability, provided the standard is job-related for the position and consistent with business necessity.

The EEOC understands this is tricky territory so it gives two examples. A librarian has a disability that causes her to be mean, rude, and obnoxious. She screams at patrons—”This book is 5 days late!” Her termination would be considered OK because the behavior involved was job-related and the termination was consistent with business necessity.

However, says the EEOC, take a similar situation except it’s a warehouse worker with a disability who was surly, unkempt, rude, and had a bad attitude. EEOC says that doesn’t meet the test—that employer would have to put up with the behavior.

Be real careful here, The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) went through some huge changes as of Jan. 1, 2009. Proceed with extreme caution when discharging any employee who is disabled.

The Good News
Finally, Janove says, here’s one piece of good news concerning jerks—nobody likes them, including judges and juries. And jerks can’t stop being jerks. Final word—don’t tolerate ‘em, says Janove.

Parting thoughts:
I included this article in an HR Update not to stir the pot and suggest that employers go on a jerk hunt. I included it to bring the subject to the top of the list today to suggest that there are ways to deal with jerks at work.

Most jerks lose their interest in being a jerk when their unacceptable behavior is pointed out by someone whom they respect (or fear). If a respected manager points out the behavior and his displeasure or disapproval often the jerk “tones it down” and gets back in track.

Jerks need to be dealt with early in the employment relationship. If you don’t deal with jerks it won’t be too long before you start to lose valuable employees, those who quietly toil away and provide the fuel for your organization’s success.

My old grandpa used to say, never let the tail wag the dog. I guess what he meant was, never let a jerky employee run the company.

We appreciate your business and hope our suggestions help you put an end to time consuming employment related hassles, we hope our efforts and expertise will allow you to get back to business.