Hi, Dawn



I feel for you -- you're in a difficult spot. You've gotten some great support and advice, and I suspect in your heart, you know you have to take some sort of action.



I just want to mention one thing that may make you feel more safe.



It is an employer's legal responsibility to have a formal complaint procedure. And it is illegal for an employee to be harrassed, demoted, or dismissed, as a result of making a complaint through those procedures. It is also illegal for the employer, once a complaint has been filed, to not conduct an impartial and thorough investigation of the complaint.



If there is a formal complaint procedure, lodge a complaint. The minute you do, you are putting yourself in a safer place than you are currently.



If there is no formal complaint procedure, I would suggest you still lodge a complaint, so there's something on record.

You would have legal recourse if nothing were done about your situation, as well as legal recourse if the company did something to you as a result of your complaint.



I'm all for your getting out of there as soon as you can; it's a toxic environment for you, and you deserve far better. If you can get another job, take it and just move on, putting this behind you. Until you can get another job, see what you can do to emotionally disconnect from what he's doing. If you can't change him, change how you respond to him and what he does. You might even consider formally letting him know that you believe he's out of integrity, and that you won't cover for him anymore.  I believe that putting a person on notice does a couple of things, 1) it allows him to no longer be able to convince himself that things are "ok," and 2) it's empowering for you.



As Andrea suggested, the company could fire you.  If they do, go immediately to your local EEOC office (www.eeoc.gov will help you find an office near you), with your detailed chronology of events (having that, btw, is *so* smart. No matter how much we think we'll remember, we never remember things accurately; time has a way of changing things). Let them look at things, first -- chances are they'll take your case at no cost to you, and if they find that your company violated your legal rights, you could be the recipient of a nice cash settlement (a VA in the AssistU community was just offered close to 100K in a settlement offer by her ex-boss in a case similar to this one. She turned it down, and they now will go to trial over the matter), which won't make up for what you've experienced, but will teach the company a big lesson and may go a long way toward helping you feel more empowered, rather than feeling like a victim of the corporate system.



And keep checking back here for more support. I can't imagine there's a single admin here who wouldn't be willing to support you through this difficult time.



Warmly,

Stacy

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Stacy Brice, CMVA

President, CVO

AssistU -=- www.assistu.com

Admin Professionals Coach, and Trainer of the Finest VAs!