Dear Newwoman,<BR> This sounds so familiar. D-Day was June 12 this year. OW is a regional manager, only 21. Since then I've gotten much more involved in business and will start running the main branch in September. That means that she will be answering to me. H runs yet another region. I have been advised not to fire her because of a lawsuit. A is not over. He had to take a van out to her region, insisted on doing it himself, and I just found out that she's been bragging to our employees out there about her tryst with the boss. <BR> Will we still be open to a lawsuit if she is not fired but demoted, providing we find someone else to run that region? We cannot afford even 2 months severence as things are really tight and H got us into some credit difficulties. Things should loosen up next year.<BR> I'd appreciate any guidance you could give me.<BR>LMH<P>------------------<BR>Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Romans 12:12

Dear lovemyhusband,<P>I am so sorry you are in this situation. It is so difficult.<P>I am a lawyer, but do not specialize in employment law. I suggest you confirm this, but believe that a demotion does subject you to the possibility of a suit.<P>The only reason a severance agreement (with a hold harmless clause) worked for us was because she did not want anyone to know (we had a fairly good idea that she would not file suit because she believed no one knowing was in her interest). It does not sound like the OP in your case has that concern.<P>BTW, H and I are both 42. The OP is 26. Major MLC issues were involved.<P>Being her supervisor will be uncomfortable for her. Maybe she will decide to leave on her own after losing your H's "protection". <P>Again, get good legal advice, but I would suggest that you make sure you are very fair to her and document any problems. If she leaves voluntarily, she can still make a claim if she has been "driven" away unfairly (is performing her job well and you just make it hard on her).<P>Boy - I cannot imagine being in your situation. I met with her only twice after D-day and it nearly drove me into a mental institution.<P>How does your H feel about all of this? By the time we resolved things, my H was very ready to have her out of his life.<P>Newwoman

Is there no way you can manage her out on performance? Are there any performance issues? Performance termination is always the safest method. I have done this often with slacker employees over the years and it was AIRTIGHT in arbitration [only went there once, btw]. I would identify specific performance issues with METICULOUS documentation and then begin a process of counseling, training, follow through, more counseling, etc, and finally termination. Documenting EVERY STEP of the way. I would also cover myself by performing similar DOCUMENTED audits of peers so that it did not appear that I was "targeting" a specific employee. Documentation is so essential with employees like this.<P>Admittingly, he has placed your company in a very bad position by carrying on with a 21 yr old employee. Bless your heart!

Dear Newwoman and Dana,<BR> Thanks for your replies. Unfortunately, H is still in thick fog. He was supposed to drop a van off to her and come straight home. But she had other plans and got them a hotel room. I know this because she told some of our employees, her crew, about it. I am planning on documenting everything. It demoralizes the crews. We had one manager leave our company, partly because he knew about the A and hated OW for it (and H). <BR> There are some performance issues but on the whole, she's doing a pretty good job. It is high stress and that could burn her out. There are some jobs she's refused and, it's obvious now, she has a lot of leeway because of my H protection. She has been caught in lies about business matters several times. Documentation is what I need. <BR> Thanks again for the advise.<BR>LMH<P>------------------<BR>Rejoice in hope, endure in affliction, persevere in prayer. Romans 12:12