The high cost of gaming employees
by Miki SaxonYesterday I cited the importance of being heard, which includes being understood. I received an email from Scott Allen (THE go-to guy for doing business online) with a link to Mackenzie v. Miller Brewing Company.
Since there’s nothing like money to get people’s attention, I’ll start with the verdict, “Jurors awarded Mackenzie $26.6 million on July 15, 1997. Mackenzie was awarded $24.5 million from Miller Brewing Co., $1.5 from former co-worker Best and $601,500 from former supervisor Smith.”
The case, in a nutshell, is as follows, “Jerold J. Mackenzie was fired from his job with the Miller Brewing Co. in March 1993 for “poor managerial judgment” triggered by allegations that he sexually harassed a coworker by discussing an episode of Seinfeld, the popular TV sitcom, with a female coworker. In the episode, Seinfeld tries to guess the name of his date, which he knows rhymes with a part of the female anatomy (her name was Delores).
Mackenzie alleged that his firing was improper, the coworker was not harassed and the company was looking for an excuse to terminate him. He sued Miller Brewing Co., Patricia Best, the alleged harassed coworker, and Robert Smith, former Vice President of Miller Brewing Co. and Mackenzie’s former supervisor.”
Although I think Mackenzie’s judgment in pursuing the Seinfeld discussion was faulty, this case is far more about a company that played fast and loose communications games and believed it could rewrite history to suite current needs.
Believe it. Employees don’t forget, not communicating doesn’t pay and words have a value beyond their near-term meaning; abuse them and you, too, may end up paying for the privilege.
October 9th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
[…] Scott responded by sending me Mackenzie v. Miller Brewing Company because he saw a direct connection. Hmm, I didn’t, but I have enormous respect for Scott, agreed that there was a good lesson in the case and wrote The high cost of gaming employees. […]