-
Are You a Toxic Leader or Just a Tough Boss?
By Teresa A. Daniel, JD, PhD and Gary S. Metcalf, PhD As scholar-practitioners, this question has consumed our research agenda for the past several years. In an attempt to find answers, we have completed studies both in the corporate sector [i] and in a military environment (in this case, the U.S. Army). [ii] But what is it that toxic leaders do and why, you might be asking, should anyone care? Isn’t this just the newest buzzword in a long line of “hot” topics? Toxic Leaders—Who They Are and What They Do Whether they are labeled as toxic leaders (in a military context) or workplace bullies (in a corporate environment), they…
-
Executive Sexual Advances
A senior executive of a regional firm viewed the small workforce as his own personal dating pool. Female employees felt uncomfortable accepting his requests for dinner dates, but were also conflicted about making him mad (which might impact their employment). Following an interConnectionsLLC investigation and after reviewing our recommendation, the executive was removed by the firm’s board of directions. After he was terminated, the females who had been subject to this harassment for many years sent us a dozen yellow roses in appreciation of our investigative efforts.
-
Bad Behavior from Senior Exec
A senior executive often complimented female employees at work, making provocative comments that made them feel uncomfortable. He also was an equal opportunity “yeller”, frequently expressing expletives to both male and female employees. InterConnectionsLLC consultants were called in to investigate the facts and to determine if a hostile work environment was being created as a result of these frequent comments and also to determine how the organization could best move forward. The individual was subsequently removed from his position.
-
Young single mom illegally searched
A young single mom worked for a fast food restaurant. An unidentified person made a prank call to the manager on-call at the site pretending to be a police officer. The caller told him that one of his employees was stealing money from the cash register and that he needed to search her before she left the premises. He complied, conducting an egregious strip search of the employee in the bathroom stall of the restaurant. A lawsuit was filed against both the company and the manager. InterconnectionsLLC provided expert testimony about the egregiousness of the conduct and made recommendations about how the company should remedy the matter. The former employee…