Here’s what happened:

A steel mill worker in Arkansas had been demoted after having four unexcused absences for drunkenness.

The man filed suit, claiming his employer violated the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) by demoting him.

He claimed that several phone calls he’d made to his supervisor during the four-day absence should’ve alerted the company to his need for FMLA leave.

The court’s decision

But a court said the calls merely put the employer “on notice that he was upset and intoxicated,” not suffering from a serious medical condition that would warrant an offer of FMLA leave.

Also, a judge said the company had no prior knowledge of the employee’s alcohol problem. And even if it had known of the worker’s problem, the FMLA only protects absences for alcohol treatment, not alcohol use.

Cite: Scobey v. Nucor Steel-Arkansas.

The scene:

Charlene Silvera almost knocked over HR manager Rob Jenner as they passed in the hallway.

“Oh, sorry, Rob,” Charlene apologized. “I guess my mind was somewhere else.”

“Everything OK?” Rob asked.

“I’ll live,” Charlene smiled. “Although I’m not sure I can live through another meeting with Ed Lopat and Joe Cronin.”

“I guess those two still don’t get along,” Rob surmised.

“Like oil and water,” Charlene said. “I’d love to be able to separate them, but their cooperation is absolutely crucial to the success of our project. And managing those two is becoming a fulltime job.”

“They don’t have problems working with others, do they?” Rob asked.

“No, just with each other,” Charlene noted. “For some reason, you can count on the two of them getting into an argument during a meeting. You can just feel it coming.”

The blame-game
“How about discussing it with them?” Rob suggested.

“I tried that to get to the bottom of the problem,” she explained. “All I got from the both of them was a blame-game – ‘he did this, and he did that.’”

“Is there some way I can help?” Rob said.

“You don’t happen to have a whip and a chair, do you?” she joked. “But, honestly, at this point I’m open to anything.”

If you were Rob, what would you suggest to Charlene to end the feud between Ed and Joe?

Gary Lane, HR manager, Barnstable, MA
What Gary would do: If their full cooperation is crucial to the completion of the project, make that part of their performance standards. And give the manager the authority to make the judgment call on whether they are cooperating – and meeting the standards.

Reason: You have to put the problem in terms that are real and immediate: “You’re required to meet this standard, and failure to do so will be harmful to your success here.” That should get their attention. Or, if it doesn’t, they know they’ll suffer for it.

Tom Petersen, program manager, Eagle River, AK
What Tom would do: Through meetings and exchanging ideas, I’d explore all the possible fixes, but you may want to consider the possibility of just living with the situation. If, in the end, they produce, even though they’re high maintenance for the manager, that could be acceptable.
Reason: Nothing’s perfect, so you have to decide how much “imperfection” you’re willing to live with. It probably wouldn’t hurt to somehow show some appreciation for the manager and what she’s doing to get the two of them to work together.

Michelle Grovner, HR representative, Brunswick, GA
What Michelle would do: This could be a situation that calls for training. Neither person seems willing to take some responsibility or recognize the cause of the problem. That means they probably need some guidance on recognizing their own problems and changing their behavior.

Reason: Sometimes we’ve seen that people are totally unaware of the fact that they’re causing problems. The possible solution is to make them aware and teach them how to change.

The scene:

The complaint HR manager Jean Ferdinand heard wasn’t a new one. Three times this week she’d heard the same thing from other supervisors in the company.

“How am I supposed to run my department when Tom keeps interfering?” accounting manager Carol Hardy fumed.

VP Tom Harper was known to have an open-door policy, and he was always encouraging employees to come in anytime.

Sometimes he encouraged them a little too much.

“Whenever someone has a problem with me, they think they can run in to Tom and complain,” Carol continued. “And they know he’s going to take their side. It undermines my authority.”

Jean didn’t mention the other supervisors’ complaints about Tom. “They’ve probably already talked among themselves about it,” he thought silently.

More than a suggestion
“You know how Tom is,” Jean responded. “He wants everyone to be happy here, and he just wants to help out.”

“Help out?” Carol gasped. “He’s driving us crazy. We know almost every time we get tough on an employee, Tom’s going to step in and tell us to let up.”

“He really orders you to do that?” Jean asked.

“Look, he’s the vice-president,” Carol noted. “When he says, ‘How ‘bout taking it easy on so-and-so?’ it’s more than just a suggestion.”

“Understood,” Jean said. “Let me think about how to handle this.”

If you were Jean, what would you do to deal with the problem?

Bobbi Strother, HR manager, Haymarket, VA
What Bobbi would do: With something like this, I think you have to go straight to the VP, explain the problem and ask him to stop. I’d suggest that he advise people to go back to their managers and work out the problem at that level. The only exception might be regarding sensitive personal issues that might make people uncomfortable when discussing with a supervisor.

Reason: It seems that everyone but the VP knows about the problem, so he should be made aware of it and why he has to change.

Tracy Philips, HR director, Shreveport, LA
What Tracy would do: I’d probably speak to the VP to explain the problem. I’d also make sure employees understand that the first priority is to work things out with the individual managers and not to run to a higher-up whenever a problem pops up. They need to be clear on how we conduct employee-boss relations.

Reason: Yes, the VP is causing a problem that you have to deal with, but you need to deal with the employees, too. If you can get them to understand how to settle disputes in a mature, businesslike way, they won’t bother going to the VP.

Tom Petersen, program manager, Eagle River, AK
What Tom would do: One thing you might want to look at is whether the managers are in fact doing all they can to bring about fair resolutions to disputes. I’m not saying you go into it thinking the managers are wrong, but you should take an objective look to see if there’s an underlying reason people keep going to the VP.

Reason: Sometimes you might find that in fact a manager didn’t properly address a problem. If so, you could address that with training and counseling, and possibly cut down on perceived need for the VP’s help.

The scenario:

“Hey, Sandy,” said supervisor Joel Duff. “Do you have a minute?”

“Sure,” said Sandy Warren, the company HR manager.

“It’s about Gwen Rossdale,” Joel said.

“How’s she doing since she got back from her mother’s funeral?” Sandy asked.

“Well, that’s the thing. She’s really been hit hard this year,” Joel said. “Now she needs to go back in for another surgery.”

No time left
“I think I see where you’re going with this,” Sandy said. “She already used all her FMLA leave for her last surgery, didn’t she?”

“Yeah. And, she had used up all of her sick days before the surgery,” Joel added. “She only has one vacation day left because she took a week to get her mother’s affairs in order.”

“Wow, this really is a tough situation,” Sandy said. “She just doesn’t have any more days left.”

“I know. But Gwen is a great worker,” Joel noted. “She’s been here for more than five years, and her attendance records have been great until recently.”

“Do we know how long she would need to be out for this surgery?” Sandy asked.

“She brought in a note from her doctor that said it would be another six weeks or so,” Joel answered. “She’s really upset about this. She’s even talked of postponing the surgery, but her doctor thinks she needs it now.”

“Well, we certainly don’t want her to do anything that would jeopardize her health,” Sandy said.

If you were Sandy, what would you do or say next?

Christine Hoffer, HR director,  Brewster, OH
What Christine would do: This is definitely a sensitive situation. Going over the different options with the employee and the supervisor might be helpful. We’d probably have to terminate the employee, but then encourage her to re-apply when she got better. I would do my best to find a spot for her.
Reason: I need to be able to replace that person or else it would be a real hardship for our company. But I can usually find a spot for a good person when she’s ready to come back.

Barry Touinen, HR manager, Fullerton, CA
What Barry would do: Well, the main thing is that if we have good employees with good attendance we’re going to look out for them. We’re more likely to hold their jobs. If it’s going to be six weeks, I’m not sure we’d pay her for the whole time, but we certainly wouldn’t let her lose her job.
Reason: We believe that good employees who are dedicated workers should get something back from the company. Bad luck happens, and you don’t want to abandon people in a difficult time.

Joyce Hogan, HR manager,  Cleveland, TN
What Joyce would do: There are a couple of different options in this scenario. In our company, sick days carry over and you can accumulate up to 90, so that might be an option. Or, we offer short and long term disability. We would really want to work with employees in this situation to look out for their best interests and ours – which means keeping them on board.
Reason: We don’t want to lose loyal, dedicated employees. We want to be good to them so they’ll stay around. That’s why we have processes in place to deal with this situation.

The scenario:

“Cindy, we need to talk.” Supervisor Dan Winters sat down in the chair in front of the HR manager’s desk. “There’s an issue we need to discuss – now.”

“What’s the problem, Dan?”  Cindy asked.

“I think you know. The subject is the employee who just transferred to my department,” said Dan.

“John Costello,” Cindy nodded. “What about him?”

A question of religion
“Will you stop pretending you don’t know what I’m talking about?” Dan was getting steamed.

“I’m afraid I don’t,” Cindy said. “Why don’t you just come out and tell me what’s on your mind?”

“All right, all right,” Dan conceded.  “The problem is that John Costello is gay.”

“Why would that be any concern of yours?” Cindy asked. “He’s a skilled worker, your head count was down, and we moved him to a position where we felt  he could best help the company. What’s the problem?”

“You know – pretty much everyone around here knows – I’m a religious man. And my religion says that homosexuals are sinners. Do you really expect me to work  with somebody whose ‘alternative’ lifestyle is abhorrent to me?” Dan leaned forward to emphasize the question.

“If he’s not transferred out, I’m quitting.”

If you were Cindy, what would you do or say next?

Bill Williams, VP of HR, Blossburg, PA
What Bill would do: If it wouldn’t hurt production, I’d separate Dan and John into different departments. If, for some reason, it wasn’t feasible to separate them, I’d tell Dan he’d have to abide by the law and work with John.
Reason: We want to avoid lawsuits at all costs, so separating the workers would be the best option as long as production wouldn’t take a hit. No matter what, additional diversity training would be mandatory for Dan.

Joanne Wegener, HR manager, Bellevue, WA
What Joanne would do: I’d tell Dan that by law, we can’t grant his request to transfer John. Even if Dan’s been with us for a long time, I’d tell him he’ll have to find a way to co-exist with John. If he still thinks he can’t do that, he’ll have to take his services elsewhere.
Reason: We don’t look at sexual orientation or religion as a factor in transferring, promoting or firing employees. So unless John’s got a bona fide performance issue, we’re not going to transfer him.

Joyce Vondran, HR manager, Troy, AL
What Joyce would do: If Dan insisted his value system made working with John impossible, I’d temporarily reassign him, not John, to another department. I’d allow Dan to return to his old post and work with John only if Dan learned to accept our policy on such matters during his reassignment.
Reason: I wouldn’t make a quick  decision on a touchy matter like this. I
feel at least a temporary move for Dan would be best. I wouldn’t transfer John because I’d be afraid of a discrimination claim. But I’d also not want to let Dan go because he might turn around and sue us for religious discrimination.

The scenario
“Sandy, you gotta help me,” said supervisor Tom Bartley. “I really screwed up.”

“What’s the deal?” asked HR manager Sandy Gomez, motioning for Tom to take a seat. “Problems in the department?”

“Yeah, you could say that. It all boils down to this: I promoted the wrong person, and I can’t think of a good way to fix the situation.”

Things didn’t go as planned
“I remember when you were agonizing over who to choose – Rebecca or Trish,” Sandy recalled. “I guess Rebecca hasn’t worked out as well as you’d hoped.”

“Boy, that’s an understatement,” said Tom. “She just can’t seem to get the hang of her new responsibilities. And the more she screws up, the more defensive she gets. And then everybody in the department starts getting an attitude. It’s a mess.”

“What’s Trish’s reaction been?” Sandy asked.

“She hasn’t said a word,” Tom answered, “but I’ve caught some of her facial expressions when things have gone wrong.

“She knows we can’t continue to operate like this. And the other employees know it, too.

“I’m going to have a revolt on my hands if I don’t do something soon,” Tom concluded. “The question is, just how am I going to finesse this? I’d hate to lose Rebecca, but she’s making everybody’s life miserable.”

If you were Sandy, what would you advise Tom to do next?

Ron Wolfgang, HR manager, South Bend, IN
What Ron would do: I’d have Tom set up a 30-day performance plan for Rebecca. It’ll need to be clear and concise, so Rebecca understands what she needs to improve on. She also needs to understand that if she doesn’t make improvements by the end of 30 days, there will be some changes.
Reason: I hate to not give employees an opportunity to improve their productivity. So giving Rebecca a month to turn around her efforts is the best remedy. But after that, we can’t afford to have her continue performing poorly.

John Steepy, HR manager, Rochester, NY
What John would do: I’d make sure that Tom has documented all of Rebecca’s shortcomings. If so, either demotion (if she agrees) or termination would be my recommendation.
Reason: As long as there’s documentation, a demotion or termination is the natural response to an employee not pulling his or her weight. Morale and productivity can’t be sacrificed.

Jean Yarger, HR manager, Grafton, WI
What Jean would do: First, I’d have Tom ask Rebecca how she thinks she’s performing. If she admits to her poor job performance, I’d suggest either handing Rebecca her old job back or lightening her duties in favor of more work for Trish. If Rebecca doesn’t realize she’s performing poorly, I’d advise Tom to set specific performance goals for her.
Reason: It’s always wise to see how an employee rates his or her own production before taking drastic measures. It’s a safeguard against a possible lawsuit. After that, you look for a solution that’s in the best interests of the company.

The scenario:

“This is exactly what we’re talking about,” HR manager Michelle Mero pointed at her computer monitor. “Eleven e-mails just today from Jim Conners.”

Conners’ supervisor Carol Richards nodded in frustration: “I know what you mean, Michelle. I got them, too. Everyone in the company did.”

” It’s out of hand,” Michelle said while looking at the screen. “Look – here comes another one.” Michelle and Carol studied the latest e-mail. Subject line: “This is really funny!”

He’s been warned
“These so-called jokes Jim sends out are starting to drive everyone crazy,” Michelle said. “I mean, some of them are kind of funny, but I think everyone agrees we could live without them. And I don’t mean to be hard-nosed about this, but frankly they have no place in a business atmosphere.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more, Michelle,” Carol sighed. “I’ve talked to Jim about it four or five times.”

“And …” Michelle prodded.

“Jim says he always gets his work done on time and that people around here like getting the e-mails, that it keeps things ‘light,’” she explained.

“What he says about getting his work done is true, Michelle, but I can tell you I’ve taken a pretty hard line on this with Jim, and he still keeps sending the e-mails. It seems crazy to actually fire someone over something like this.”

“We have to do something,” Michelle said.

“I’m open to suggestions,” Carol replied.

If you were Michelle, what would you recommend to Carol?

Elaine Clark, program manager, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
What Elaine would do: If you’ve decided that you’d really rather not terminate him over the issue, you could have your IT head talk to him and explain that he’s causing a problem with your technical resources, as well as with other employees. The conversation could go something like:
“Imagine if every employee decided to do what you’re doing.”
Reason: He seems to think that what he’s doing is harmless, maybe even helpful to the company, when obviously it’s not. Giving him the IT manager’s side of the story might wake him up and convince him to stop.

John Latino, HR manager, Bellmawr, NJ
What John would do: It sounds as if he’s a somewhat valued, reliable employee, but you have to wonder about someone who doesn’t realize the problem he’s causing. With that in mind, I’d take a hard line: Stop sending non-business e-mails or face the consequences, including the possibility of termination.
Reason: He’s a distraction, and he’s using bad judgment. That’s two strikes against him. It seems you have to take some firm action on this.

Carol Nichols, HR manager, Indialantic, FL
What Carol would do: I’m not up on all the technical aspects of this, but maybe there’s a way you could suspend his e-mail for a while, as a way to discipline him and let him know that the problem is serious, or at least make the threat to do that. I suppose that’s something you’d have to talk to your IT manager about.
Reason: He needs to understand that what he’s doing isn’t acceptable, and other employees need to know that you’re doing something about it, too.

The scene
Supervisor Sam White pointed at his wristwatch and said, “Do you see what time it is?”

HR manager Janice Rossi replied, “I’ve got exactly 9:43.”

“Then that makes Jerry Casale exactly 43 minutes late for my meeting with him,” Sam said while shaking his head. “He’s nowhere to be found and he hasn’t called.”

Janice recalled the number of times she and Sam had spoken to Jerry about his problems with arriving late, leaving early and taking long lunches. Apparently, the talks hadn’t changed anything.

‘Jerry’s Rules’
“Let me ask something, Sam,” Janice said. “Is Jerry still one of your top performers?”

“Not one of the top,” Sam answered. “More like the top.”

“So we still have the problem of high performance but lousy attendance?” Janice followed up.

“That’s right,” Sam said. “Jerry absolutely refuses to respond to anything we’ve done to try to change his behavior.”

“But his performance is still top notch, right?” Janice concluded. “So, can you put up with his downsides?”

“Probably,” Sam nodded, “but I’m getting a lot of grief from other people who complain to me about ‘Jerry’s Rules’ and the rules for everyone else.”

“Sam, you have the green light to do whatever’s necessary,” Janice noted.

“That’s the problem,” Sam said. “I don’t know what to do.”

If you were Janice, how would you respond?

Denise Nasulli, HR manager, Hamden, CT
What Denise would do: I say you go by the book on this one and use whatever discipline you’d use with any other employee. Usually, that means going through some sort of progressive discipline and counseling, but if none of that works, you have to consider terminating the employee.
Reason: If you’re going to have rules and keep them, then you have to insist that everyone follows them, no matter what the performance level is. To do otherwise is just asking for a lot of trouble when dealing with employees in general.

Thomas Petersen, HR manager, Anchorage, AK
What Thomas would do: If it’s possible, I’d make punctuality a performance issue. In other words, it would be one of the performance measures we’d use for Jerry. If he couldn’t meet the standards we set up, it would affect his raises and eligibility for promotion. If he can live with those penalties for his behavior, then so be it.
Reason: The majority of employees have something about them that could stand improvement, and often those shortcomings can be addressed by using performance criteria. I’m not saying you’re always able to change people, but it does let them know you have a system of rewards and penalties.

Patrick Willings, executive director, Greensboro, NC
What Patrick would do: You have to go through all the normal counseling and disciplinary procedures, but in my experience there’s a low success rate at changing people like this. That means his manager has to make a decision early on: Is he worth the trouble? Or should he be subject to termination? Then you back that decision.
Reason: It all comes down to a judgment call of weighing the positives against the negatives, and living with your decision.

The scene
“Let me sum things up before we take the next step,” said HR manager Martha Ruiz. “You’ve agreed we’re going to have to let Ronnie Jenkins go for poor performance over the last year.”

“Uh, I guess so,” replied sales manager Reese Downs.

“You guess so?” Martha repeated. “That wasn’t the way you put it last Friday when you walked in here and demanded we get rid of Ronnie.”

“I know,” Reese admitted. “Ronnie really isn’t capable of doing the job, and I’ve as much as told him so, with probation and warnings. Heck, I don’t even know what possessed me to hire him in the first place.”

“So …” Martha prodded.

“You know about Ronnie’s daughter, right?” Reese asked. “The one that got sick several months ago?”

“Of course,” Martha answered. “I know it’s been rough on him, but you’ve treated him right about it.”

What will they think?
“I’ve given him all the days off he needed to be at the hospital with her,” Reese noted. “And I never say a word when he spends all that time on the phone with the doctors and his wife.”

“Let me guess,” Martha broke in. “You’re worried that everyone here will think you fired Ronnie because he’s been distracted by his daughter’s illness.”

“You hit the nail on the head,” Reese nodded. “His performance was always awful, but how can I fire him now?”

If you were Martha, how would you answer?

Gary Lane, President, Cutler, MA
What Gary would do: If he’s not doing the job, you have to let him go. As for dealing with what the other employees think, after the firing, I’d hold small meetings – with a few employees at a time – to explain what happened and why, while respecting the fired employee’s privacy as much as possible.
Reason: Chances are, the other employees know about his performance problems, so telling them that the termination was performance-related shouldn’t come as any great shock or be met with skepticism.

Carol Knabe, HR manager, LaCrosse, WI
What Carol would do: Of course, you have to follow through on the termination, but this might be a time when you want to consider a generous severance package, if possible. I’d give Ronnie the straight truth and tell him we’re using the severance package to make allowances for his family’s situation.
Reason: You want to do the right thing by the employee and the right thing by the company. If you feel OK about that, then you can live with your decision.

John Hunter, manager, Amherst, MA
What John would do: Ronnie has to be let go. In this case, though, you’d probably want to take some special steps, such as paying for out-placement services or some other assistance in finding another job.
Reason: All you can do is be as humane as possible, and hope that Ronnie understands and respects the decision. My guess is that without your saying anything, word will get around in the company about how you tried to help the employee. If you’ve dealt fairly with employees in the past, you shouldn’t have that much trouble with fallout.

The scene
VP Tom Harper leaned back as he spoke: “I’ll take full responsibility for the situation with Maria Diaz, but for now we should focus on making a decision about how to handle her wanting to leave.”

“I agree,” HR manager Jan Cropper nodded. She had warned Tom several times about training a replacement for Maria, but Tom had said he was always “too busy.”

“It still bothers me,” Tom said. “We hired her right out of school, invested loads of time and training in her, and now she’s leaving us for a better offer. She probably knows more about her end of the business than anyone here.”

“You have to admit, a 30% raise is a great offer from that other employer,” Jan said. “She’s done a great job here, so I guess it’s not surprising that others want her.”

“The problem now is that not only would we lose an excellent employee, but that we also won’t have anyone to replace her,” Tom sighed. “What do you think? Should we hit her with a counter offer?”

Answer within 24 hours
“If we do and word gets out here, that could cause lots of problems,” Jan noted. “If we don’t, we lose a good employee and suffer the costs of recruiting and training a replacement for her.”

“That about sums it up,” Tom concluded. “I told Maria we’d get back to her within 24 hours as to whether we would match the other offer. We have that long to decide on it.”

If you were Jan, what would you recommend to Tom?

Patty Mauro, HR manager, Winston-Salem, NC
What Patty would do: Considering the costs of replacing this person and the fact that she’s an outstanding employee, I’d work up a counter offer.
Reason: If she’s able to go out and get an offer that’s so much better and we think so highly of her, why not? I wouldn’t be too worried about other employees’ getting wind of it. My feeling is that counter offers should be done on a case-by-case basis, and I wouldn’t be too concerned about the effect on what other employees think.

Rose Suter, controller/HR director, Lancaster, PA
What Rose would do: This situation calls for a conversation with the person to learn what else she considers important besides money. Depending on what’s said in that conversation and whether we could put together working conditions that really appealed to the person, I might make a counter offer.
Reason: Rarely is the problem only about money – usually there are other issues involved. Making a counter offer may be part of the solution, but you have to make sure you can respond to the person’s other reasons for leaving, too, or else just countering will fail in the end.

Gary Lane, CEO, Cutler, ME
What Gary would do: I would consider making a counter offer, but along with it I’d work something out to move the person up to a position with greater responsibility.
Reason: It sounds as if this person hasn’t advanced at the rate she should have – if someone else thinks she’s worth 30% more, they probably also think she’s capable of taking on more. Maybe we haven’t moved her along fast enough, and she’s ready for a bigger job to go along with the bigger paycheck.