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The Job Applicant Passed Gas During The Interview

August 4, 2015 by Jim 4 Comments

images-271Dear Evil Skippy:

Here is one I’ve never seen you address in your blog. I was interviewing a job candidate for a management position. Mid-way through our interview, he had a loud but brief gas attack as I was asking a question. He made a funny face and I just kept asking my question as if I had not heard a thing. He answered the question and we finished the interview. It was really awkward, so now I am wondering if I should have said or done something to break the awkwardness. What do you think?

— H.R. Honcho

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Dear Evil Skippy, Hiring Tagged With: Dear Evil Skippy, embarrassment, etiquette, flatulence, interviewing

News You Can Use (?) – Flatulence in the Workplace

January 15, 2013 by Jim 3 Comments

BeansSeveral months ago, we advised a suffering employee in “My Co-Worker Has A Major Flatulence Problem”.  In case you missed it, a similar air quality issue was recently covered in The Smoking Gun  and then picked up by the Washington Post, Associated Press and NPR after a government agency reprimanded a “flatulent federal worker”.

I thought, “At last! A definitive way to handle a chronic office complaint!”  Then I read the story and thought, “Something still smells.”

For those of you too “busy” to read the articles, here are the main points:

  • The Social Security Administration reprimanded an employee for creating a “hostile working environment” by regularly passing gas at the office.

With my investigator hat securely placed on my head, my first question was how one distinguishes between hostile flatulence and “Whoops! I did it again!”

  • The reprimand letter described the repeated flatulence as “conduct unbecoming a federal employee.”

[Insert your own joke about members of Congress here].

  • The reprimand contained a chart documenting 60 instances of flatulence – including exact times, nine on a single memorable day in September.

I am dying to know exactly how they gathered this information.  Was it an audio test?  Olfactory? Both?  I have a mental image of some poor clerk hunched over and following the gassy employee around all day with a clip board, pen and strangely sour facial expression.  As the panelists on NPR said – Worst.  Job.  Ever.  There is no report (yet) of the documenting employee filing his or her own harassment claim or perhaps a request for early retirement due to such hazardous working conditions.

Before any of you Super Organized Supervisors start issuing reprimands to anyone spreading strange smells around the workplace, read on.  Once it became aware of the situation, the SSA’s senior management revoked the reprimand and refused to comment about the matter due to “privacy concerns”.

That makes sense.  Flatulence should not be labeled as harassment unless management can prove it is a well-controlled variety that can be released at Will.  Or Grace.  Or anyone by any other name.

Readers – let loose.  When (if ever) do you think it would be appropriate to reprimand or otherwise discipline an employee who regularly passes gas at work?

Filed Under: Discrimination and Harassment, Life On the Job Tagged With: complaints, documentation, flatulence, harassment, NPR, reprimand, smells, SSA, The Smoking Gun

My Co-Worker Has A Major Flatulence Problem

August 13, 2012 by Jim 3 Comments

Dear Evil Skippy:

One of my co-workers went on a special diet lately as part of a fitness regime and he’s had a major flatulence problem ever since.  I know it is not his fault, but I work in the cubicle next to his and I frequently have to endure smells I’d rather not have to smell.    Do I just have to put up with this?

—  Suffering

Dear Suffering:

Of course not.  Buy and wear a gas mask.  Problem solved.

—  Evil Skippy

Are you on a friendly basis with this guy?   Not friendly as in you smile and say good morning every day – but friendly as in you could conceivably have a conversation with him about the fumes.  (“Hey Bob – are you trying to kill me?  Get some Beano or head outside before the next attack.”)

If you are not close enough to him for the incredibly direct approach, you could take the sneaky option.  When you find yourself alone with him, ask if he’s noticed the smells and whether he has any idea who might be the culprit.  Don’t do this in a group because you don’t want to gang up on the guy unless he is doing this on purpose.  (I once investigated a harassment case where the alleged harasser employed the Hit and Run Gas Attack.)

If the problem is chronic, talk to your supervisor.  Dealing with issues like this is the reason supervisors make the Big Bucks.  (If it is just a once-in-a-while event, consider doing nothing.  You don’t want to be a whiner.)

In the meantime, buy a small fan for your desk.  The sooner you can circulate the air, the sooner the stench will dissipate.  (I had to do this when I worked for a major law firm – and it worked).  Go with an electric fan.  Unless you are a southern belle or a geisha, waving a hand fan around looks strange.

Happy breathing.  (By the way, you can find our Top Ten Tips regarding smelly co-workers in a post from 2010: Help! My Co-Worker Smells!)

Readers – what would you do about this ecological hazard?

Filed Under: Dear Evil Skippy, Life On the Job Tagged With: Big Bucks, Dear Evil Skippy, fans, flatulence, flatulent co-worker, Hit and Run Gas Attack, smells

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