I am a flight commander in charge of a section of 8 people. Half are civilian. 7 out of 8 are outstanding workers. I have 1 that's always been a been of a problem. He is the stereotypical, curmudgeon ex-military government employee I won't get too deep into the details but he's constant undermining authority, doing what he wants, and making consistently negative comments about other employs and myself when they're not present. He loves to gossip, spread rumors and pit people against each other. He just creates a very poor toxic work environment for everyone else. He's been doing this before I started. He is generally awful and has been a problem since I started the position a little over a year ago.

As you all know, it takes an act of god to punish or fire a government employee. You need to have a long, documented history of misconduct to even initiate actions. I have been slowly documenting his behaviors and I have finally brought it to the attention my leadership, and was pursuing disciplinary action to finally pursue some formal punishment or removal for this jackass.

After his feedback session, my boss called me in, and told me that this employee was going to EO because of homophobic discrimination. This individual is gay, but hand to god, none of the things he claims actually occurred. We didn't even know he was gay. He says we frequently use homophobic language and it makes him feel uncomfortable. I will take a polygraph, put my hand on the bible, whatever to attest that this is not true.

My boss got scared from this, and I was just told to drop it. How can I deal with this guy whose constantly holding the EO gun to us?

Edited yesterday at 12:54 AM1 day by IKnowNothing

Have you asked him to stop being an ffing homo?

Are you able to control what he works on? If so, maybe give him nothing but shit tasks that you don’t really care about (since he’ll do a shit job). Maybe it pisses him off enough he quits. And if that doesn’t happen, at least you can stick him in the proverbial basement with a red stapler where he can’t affect anyone. Record/document all interactions and never meet him alone.

Edited yesterday at 01:42 AM1 day by brabus

2 hours ago, brabus said:

Are you able to control what he works on? If so, maybe give him nothing but shit tasks that you don’t really care about (since he’ll do a shit job). Maybe it pisses him off enough he quits. And if that doesn’t happen, at least you can stick him in the proverbial basement with a red stapler where he can’t affect anyone. Record/document all interactions and never meet him alone.

Do NOT do this. As much fun as it would be, this is textbook reprisal and would get you in actual trouble rather than just having to deal with BS complaints. Treat him no differently than you did before, other than document everything and obviously watch what you say. If there isn't a paper trail, it is your word against his and he is apparently willing to lie and play minority cards. And I mean document absolutely everything. If he shows up two minutes late, log it. Makes a single disparaging remark about someone, log it. If he walks into your office to ask when something is due, log it. However, and this is going to be the really painful part, you should start a similar documentation with everyone else, except the disciplinary part and maybe not needing quite the same level of detail. Otherwise if this ends up going sideways and you bring the documentation, the other side is going to logically ask to see the similar log you kept of your other employees. Otherwise they can claim you're only documenting him because he filed a complaint, which is also reprisal.

When I started to have a problem with a guy that worked for me, I just kept a word document open on my computer. Anytime anyone that worked for me stopped in, I'd put it down. As simple as: "0945: Airman Snuffy asked due date for MFR - Friday". Depending on how often people stop buy or you go to their offices, shouldn't take too much of your day.

Finally, if your boss doesn't have your back then you're probably SOL. I'd wait a week or so and ask for a sit down to talk about how much this guy is destroying the workplace. Even bring up the EO complaint as an integrity problem, which actually could be legitimately used against him if other people there will back you. If your boss still won't cover your back, then you're screwed.

8 hours ago, Smokin said:

Do NOT do this. As much fun as it would be, this is textbook reprisal and would get you in actual trouble rather than just having to deal with BS complaints. Treat him no differently than you did before, other than document everything and obviously watch what you say. If there isn't a paper trail, it is your word against his and he is apparently willing to lie and play minority cards. And I mean document absolutely everything. If he shows up two minutes late, log it. Makes a single disparaging remark about someone, log it. If he walks into your office to ask when something is due, log it. However, and this is going to be the really painful part, you should start a similar documentation with everyone else, except the disciplinary part and maybe not needing quite the same level of detail. Otherwise if this ends up going sideways and you bring the documentation, the other side is going to logically ask to see the similar log you kept of your other employees. Otherwise they can claim you're only documenting him because he filed a complaint, which is also reprisal.

When I started to have a problem with a guy that worked for me, I just kept a word document open on my computer. Anytime anyone that worked for me stopped in, I'd put it down. As simple as: "0945: Airman Snuffy asked due date for MFR - Friday". Depending on how often people stop buy or you go to their offices, shouldn't take too much of your day.

Finally, if your boss doesn't have your back then you're probably SOL. I'd wait a week or so and ask for a sit down to talk about how much this guy is destroying the workplace. Even bring up the EO complaint as an integrity problem, which actually could be legitimately used against him if other people there will back you. If your boss still won't cover your back, then you're screwed.

This, and you may want to get actual legal advice on how to proceed. I know there is a lot of knowledge and experience on this forum, but this is one area I would most definitely discuss with a lawyer before going forward. Control the narrative, don't let it control you!

Document, document and document EVERYTHING!

Send your files to Pete and let him take care of it. I am, of course, kidding. Or am I? Yes, definitely.

Get a new boss..

4 hours ago, ClearedHot said:

Document, document and document EVERYTHING!

This can't be emphasized enough. FSS Civilian Personnel Office should be able to help, but talk to Legal for your sake. As long as you follow the letter of the law, let him weaponize the EO process in retribution to anything you do (like giving him a well-deserved, and honest eval). Also, it helps to have someone with you like a 1st Shirt when talking to this individual. Do not have one-on-one meetings with this dude because what he or you say cannot be substantiated. We had a few people (civilian and two SSgts) try to use the EO process for their own agendas and I got wrapped into it more than I'd like. But after several accusations against me and others, we were found to be in the right. Unfortunately, there is no punishment for false accusations. Good luck because this type of shenanigans ain't fun. Also, stick to your guns and don't kick the can down the road for the next guy to deal with.

Good luck, but with documentation and persistence, it can be done. It took me three years to get rid of a dude, but I did it. Looking back, it's the only thing I accomplished in three years at AFOTEC.

20 hours ago, Smokin said:

Do NOT do this. As much fun as it would be, this is textbook reprisal and would get you in actual trouble rather than just having to deal with BS complaints.

Why is it reprisal to assign him tasks that are within his job description? I’m not saying make him lick the bathroom floor clean every day, just look at the spectrum of what is legally assignable to him and pick things that are the least desirable. Someone has to do it, might as well be him.

2 hours ago, brabus said:

Why is it reprisal to assign him tasks that are within his job description? I’m not saying make him lick the bathroom floor clean every day, just look at the spectrum of what is legally assignable to him and pick things that are the least desirable. Someone has to do it, might as well be him.

If he can demonstrate a pattern that singles him out then he has a solid case for reprisal. For example, it is perfectly legal to order cop Airman Snuffy to guard the gate on Friday and Saturday night. But if Snuffy can show that after he submitted a complaint, his schedule went from a normal rotation to every Friday and Saturday night every weekend when other guys still had a normal rotating schedule, that's reprisal even if an individual order outside the larger pattern is legal. The larger pattern of behavior that makes the individuals life worse after (and thus likely because of) a complaint is illegal.

Just like if you saw some dude complain about a squadron commander filing a voucher that was fraudulent and suddenly that dude ends up sitting SOF four times a week and is sent to safety school when his wife is due. All of those taskings are legal if you look at them individually, but would obviously constitute a pattern of behavior that anyone could see was a result of his complaint. The government has an interest to not make people afraid to make a complaint, so protects against this type of pattern.