Kyle answered his ringing phone. His colleague, Renee, on the other end of the line sounded desperate. “I need your advice,” she said, and then described an employee problem she was grappling with.
It was an attendance problem. The employee was often late arriving for work, or taking time off during the day allegedly, for personal appointments, without notifying anyone. Some days he was just missing in action -- somewhere in the building, but no one could find him. His manager had spoken with him about it more than once and documented those conversations. The last conversation resulted in a formal written warning for the employee. Yet his behavior had not changed. Now they wanted to terminate his employment. “What do you think, Kyle,” Renee asked, “Can we terminate him?”
Kyle verified with Renee that the documentation was clear and complete, and he was assured the employee received a copy of the written warning. “From everything you shared, it appears that the policy would support termination,” Kyle said.
Imagine Kyle’s surprise when Karen London, the General Counsel, called several days later wanting to know why he gave the okay to terminate the employee. “Kyle, didn’t you know this employee had filed a harassment complaint the week before he was terminated?”
“Karen, this is the first I’m hearing about his complaint. Renee never told me when she called for my advice. She only described the attendance issue.”
“Okay, Kyle,” said Karen. “This didn’t sound like something you’d do if you had all the facts and information. I’ve got it from here.”
Kyle hung up the phone questioning his own competence, and feeling a bit betrayed by Renee. How was I supposed to know there was more to the situation? I gave her my opinion based on the facts she provided and my interpretation of the policy. She twisted everything.
He reached for a piece of and wrote something down. Then he taped the paper onto the message board above his desk and thought next time when anyone asks my advice or opinion, I’m ending the conversation with these words: “Is there anything else I should know?”
Maryanne Robertson
P. S. Who is Maryanne Robertson and why is she writing this post? Find out more about her at
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