Case Study

Gossip Girls Case Study Synopsis: Four women from a New Hampshire town were fired from their town jobs due to spreading a rumor about the town administrator. From the facts given, the administrator was being gossiped about having an affair with another town employee. He complained to the town council, who launched an investigation. The council then fired the four women, all longtime employees, for spreading a rumor and refuses to have anyone of them reinstated. Two of the ladies will never be allowed to apply for employment in the town again. 1. What do you think of this situation? Do you agree with the town council’s decision about the firing and refusal to reinstate the employees? Part 1 of question: Gossip in my opinion is rampant, wide spread, and contagious in some workplaces. When decision rationale is not clear, then employees spend time guessing and making assumptions about why something changed. My personal opinion about this particular situation is that it needed to be nipped in the bud immediately before it reached to the stage that it did. However, I do believe that negatively and persistently affecting employee morale is an offense that deserves disciplinary action. Part 2 of question: I agree with the town’s decision to terminate the employees if other disciplinary actions were taken before termination. In my opinion once you allow yourself to be taken out of character to the point where you become disgruntle and start expressing yourself in a derogatory manner then at that point you create a very uncomfortable working environment. However, taking in to consideration the seniority that these ladies had at the job I believe that it was kind of harsh for the town’s council to refuse to reinstate them for employment and for two of them not to be able to apply for any other job in the town. 2. As was stated in the case, a recent survey showed that 60 percent of the respondents indicated that the biggest pet peeve they have about their jobs is workplace