Someone sent us a link recently to No flush, but two of a kind win in a workplace toilet dispute – a righteous addition to our “Bad Bosses Hall of Fame.” (You can find past entries in category by the same name in the right hand sidebar) A federal jury awarded $332,000 to two employees who complained to state regulators about the lack of a toilet at their job site — they were forced to use a bucket in desperation — and were fired after complaining to state regulators.
Lack of bathroom facilities did not make the cut when Suzanne Lucas compiled a list of 5 signs you’re a lousy boss. You can click through to read her detailed thoughts, but here’s the quick summary:
1) Your employees lie to you.
2) No other managers want to poach your employees.
3) You always have emergencies
4) You always ask yourself “what can I legally do?” rather than “what should I do?”
5) You steal credit.
But the clueless bathroom-denying bosses did bring to mind a post at Workers’ Comp Insider about the near-legendary bad boss, Tiger Mike Davis. We reprint the salient points of the fascinating story below.
Edward ‘Tiger Mike’ Davis was the erstwhile CEO of the now defunct Houston-based Tiger Oil Company. You might expect an oil company to be a bit rough and tumble, but Tiger Mike took things to a new level. He didn’t particularly like talking to his employees, he preferred typing memos. (“Do not speak to me when you see me. If I want to speak to you, I will do so. I want to save my throat. I don’t want to ruin it by saying hello to all of you sons-of-b*tches.”) And fortunately, thanks to the wonders of the Internet, his memos have been preserved for the ages. We link to them in all their glory: The Tiger Oil Memos. Please be advised, the memos do include a few cuss words.
Now after marveling at his posts, you may be curious to learn more about the man and the company. E&P editor Rhonda Duey shared some readers reminiscing about Tiger Mike. And for those who want “the rest of the story,” see this fascinating post on Grifters, Oil Men, Tabloids, The Scrappy Ingenue, The Titans and the Hardass: An American Story – a few links in the post are broken but despite that, it tells a fascinating story, with Tiger Mike as an integral character.
OK, what does all this have to do with workers compensation? We would refer you to #3 and #8 in attorney Alan Pierce’s excellent Top Ten List as to Why Injured Workers Retain Attorneys (PDF). Actually, all ten points are worth thinking about. As a successful Massachusetts plaintiff attorney, Pierce should know. We would love to hear his cache of “bad boss” stories.