By Pat Murphy
The Daily Record Newswire
BOSTON, MA — Here’s a shot across the bow for employers.
If one of your supervisors thinks he has the liberty to abuse subordinates like some sadistic Captain Bligh, you could wind up shelling out some big bucks to a fed-up employee.
That’s what faces Bountiful Light and Power after a decision by the Utah Supreme Court last month.
The court ruled that the municipal power company in Bountiful, Utah, could be liable for allegedly allowing a verbally abusive supervisor to conduct a virtual reign of terror in the workplace.
‘Little Hitler’
Yes, most of us have had the misfortune of working for this breed of boss.
You know the type, bitter about life, treating his position of authority as a license to vent his personal frustrations on those beneath him in the food chain.
According to Kipp Cabaness, the devil at Bountiful Light and Power was Brent Thomas.
Cabaness worked as a line foreman at Bountiful under the direct supervision of Thomas, the superintendant of operations.
A number of Bountiful employees testified that Thomas consistently verbally harassed, intimidated, and ridiculed subordinates, so much so that behind his back he was called “Little Hitler.”
Being called into Thomas’s office was something to fear. The path to his door was known as the “green mile,” in reference to the movie and prison slang describing the long walk to the electric chair.
Thomas also allegedly enjoyed messing with the heads of his workers. Some claimed that he forced crews to work in the rain at times when the work was unnecessary and unsafe. Others cited times when on a whim Thomas would order a completed job done all over again.
There’s also an allegation that one time Thomas dropped an employee to the ground with a knee to the groin, after which Thomas stated, “I guess I showed you who is boss.”
Profanity seemed to be a key element of Thomas’ management style.
Cabaness claimed that Thomas frequently insulted and demeaned him, calling him “dumbass,” “jackass” and other less complimentary names.
And Cabaness became the object of a particular form of head game. Cabaness claimed that Thomas would prod him by saying, “You know what your problem is? It’s your wife. You need to get rid of your wife.”
Cabaness worked at Bountiful from 1978 to 2004. Thomas was his boss most of that time. And it wore on Cabaness.
In 1997, Cabaness was first diagnosed with depression related to “unusual stress in his work environment from his supervisor.”
His condition worsened.
In 2003, Cabaness was diagnosed with major depression and chronic dysthymia with insomnia. His doctor testified that Cabaness’ work environment and abusive boss were a “substantial factor” in his diagnosis of depression.
Cabaness took about six weeks off in 2003 due to his medically-diagnosed depression.
When Cabaness returned to work, Thomas picked up where he left off, allegedly singling Cabaness out in an employee meeting. Thomas threatened to fire Cabaness and criticized him about personal issues in front of other employees.
Cabaness quit Bountiful in 2004, and then he sued.
Breach of employment contract
Cabaness brought a variety of claims in state court, but the most interesting to employment attorneys is his claim that the Bountiful employment manual created an implied contract breached by Thomas’ alleged antics.
The Bountiful employment manual states that the employer’s work environment policy “will not tolerate verbal or physical conduct by any employee which harasses, disrupts, or interferes with another’s work performance or which creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment….”
In addition, the manual’s “Work Place Violence” provision mandates that “[o]ral or written threats, physical assault, harassment, intentional damage, and every other act or threat of violence is strictly prohibited.”
The Utah Supreme Court decided last month that these and other workplace conduct policies “rise to the level of promises on the part of Bountiful Power on which its employees should reasonably be able to rely.”
Bountiful tried to argue that Cabaness’ contract claim was precluded by a disclaimer in the employment manual.
But the court nixed that argument, explaining that “the disclaimer in this case does not contain broad and conspicuous language disclaiming any and all contractual liability. To the contrary, it only disclaims contractual liability ‘with respect to’ a few specifically identified items.
Indeed, the plain meaning of the disclaimer in this case is that Bountiful Power intended to create a contract with its employees with respect to the items in the Employee Manual that are not specifically listed in the disclaimer.”
What’s more, the court said that Cabaness could recover damages for mental distress in connection with his breach of contract claim.
“Bountiful Power contracted with Cabaness and agreed, among other things, that it would ‘not tolerate verbal or physical conduct by any employee which harasses, disrupts, or interferes with another’s work performance or which creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile work environment.’ This contractual provision of the Employee Manual and other similar provisions are specifically directed toward matters of mental concern and solicitude, and any breach thereof would almost certainly result in emotional distress and mental anguish,” the court said. (Cabaness v. Thomas)
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