Latest news with #toxicworkenvironment
Daily Mail
5 days ago
- Daily Mail
Staff claim state-funded school is TOXIC as $205k-a-year 'marketing guru's sick Post-it notes' revealed
Top Utah Tech University administrators covered a breakroom cabinet with crude and inappropriate notes, a bombshell lawsuit claims. Three school employees initially sued the university in November, claiming they were the victims of a toxic work environment. A recently unsealed court document obtained by Daily Mail alleges that a metal cabinet in the university's marketing department break room was allegedly covered in over 200 vulgar Post-it notes. Nearly a quarter of the notes are attributed to the Vice President of Marketing and Communication, Jordon Sharp, whose salary in 2024 was $205,658, according to Utah's state transparency website. The notes Sharp allegedly wrote include, 'I've accidentally hired two prostitutes' and 'Oh my gosh. I just grabbed his little penis. That felt really unnatural.' Other messages he is accused in the complaint of writing are: 'She tried to put her balls in my mouth' and 'Eat those ball(s) or throw them away.' 'Do you have any friends that are minority or ethnic in nature? Could you bring any of those?' the complaint alleges he penned. 'You can both go to hell and have a great day,' and 'If you ever feel stressed, come on over & smack it till you smile' are also notes the court claims Sharp wrote. Other notes allegedly include: 'She bugs the p**s out of me. It's all over the floor,' and 'Do you like red balls?... better than blue.' The lawsuit was filed by Becky Broadbent, the university's former general counsel; Jared Rasband, the former Senior Associate General Counsel; and Hazel Sainsbury, Utah Tech's Title IX coordinator. They launched their case after Utah Tech's former President Richard 'Biff' Williams allegedly gave Sharp a phallic-shaped vegetable display and listed the plaintiffs' names as the senders in November 2023. '[Williams] left a display of an assortment of vegetables shaped as male genitalia, including a long zucchini referred to as a "zuweenie," on VP Sharp's front porch to "help" with his recovery from his medical procedure that day,' the lawsuit says. The group believes framing them for the raunchy gift was retaliation for their response to discovering the Post-it note cabinet, the lawsuit claims. According to the complaint, after discovering the cabinet in September 2021, the plaintiffs stated that they were legally obligated to report it, but human resources minimized the misconduct. 'These Post-it Notes were highly obscene, offensive, and vulgar, and included derogatory references to sex, race, individuals, and investigations conducted by the University,' the lawsuit said. 'Plaintiffs were viewed unfavorably by Sharp, other senior administrators, and the UMAC department, for simply fulfilling their job responsibilities.' Sainsbury told The Salt Lake Tribune that when she first learned of the notes, she thought it was 'too outrageous to be true'. 'Nothing prepared me for the shock of seeing that wall of Post-it notes,' she said. 'But there I was, standing in front of something even worse than I had imagined. 'What I saw was not just a violation of policy - it was a reflection of a culture where power protected certain individuals from scrutiny, even when their behavior was clearly inappropriate.' Daily Mail contacted the employees' lawyers, Utah Tech University and the Utah Attorney General's office, which is representing the school, for comment. The school said in a statement to Daily Mail: 'As a university, we are focused on the future and moving forward together and continuing to build upon our university's incredible momentum. 'However, the university acknowledges challenges over the past few years, including an internal confidential Title IX investigation conducted four years ago related to a quote board, which included statements taken out of context. 'When the University's Title IX coordinator investigated a complaint connected to the quote board in September 2021, no Title IX-related policy implications were identified. 'Subsequently, the university conducted a separate HR process and implemented corrective measures. 'As we look to the future under new leadership, the university remains focused on continuing to make positive changes for the benefit of our students, our mission and the community we're building together.' Broadbent, Rasband and Sainsbury claimed they suffered as a result of the administrators' actions and are seeking damages to be determined at trial. The university has sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that Utah's governmental immunity law protects it because it is a public university.
Irish Times
22-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
‘Burned out' bra saleswoman wins €15,800 for constructive dismissal
A lingerie saleswoman who said she was forced to quit her job of nearly 20 years over the health impact of workplace stress at due to a 'toxic' work environment at a Dublin department store has won €15,800 for constructive dismissal. Karrin Breslin was awarded the sum on foot of a complaint under the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977 against Chantelle Lingerie Ltd, the operator of a concession in the lingerie department of the unidentified store. The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) awarded Ms Breslin her full losses after ruling that the international lingerie brand repudiated her contract of employment by failing to address grievances about understaffing and rostering while her health deteriorated over the course of two years. It was submitted on behalf of Ms Breslin – an employee of the brand since 2004 – that when the department store reopened in May 2021 following the Covid-19 lockdown, her section was down to 12 staff with just two full-time, compared with 10 full-timers out of 17 before the pandemic. READ MORE The tribunal heard Ms Breslin had moved from north Co Dublin to Co Wexford during the pandemic closure. She asked at that stage to be given a set working day of 9am to 5.30pm, she said. Her employer's response was that 'this was not a request that could be granted given the opening hours of the shop and the need for a fair departmental roster', the tribunal was told. The tribunal was told that the department store, rather than the lingerie brand, was responsible for setting the roster governing Ms Breslin's working hours. 'I feel my mental and physical health has deteriorated ... I don't have a good work/life balance and it's going to get worse due to the late closing times coming back again,' she wrote. Ms Breslin's case was that her job was made 'overwhelming and physically hard' because of these issues and that she began to experience anxiety, low mood, high blood pressure and gastrointestinal problems 'as a result of work-related stress'. Following a medical absence in June 2022, Ms Breslin again wrote to her employer and set out that because the department was so 'understaffed' that sales were being lost because customers were walking out without being served. Her employer's position was this was 'a commercial point and not a personal grievance'. Ms Breslin had seven periods of certified medical leave between January 2022 and the summer of 2023, the tribunal heard. In an exchange of emails with her employer during her fifth period of medical leave in June 2023, Ms Breslin said she believed her illness was 'work-related'. 'There are major obstacles stopping me from doing a good job and this has been going on for years. It's got far worse in the last 4 months and definitely having a negative impact on my working life due to a stressful and sometimes toxic work environment,' she wrote. In responding correspondence, she was told: 'I am hoping you can get to the bottom of your sickness so you feel better,' the WRC heard. The tribunal heard that Ms Breslin worked her last shift on 25th June 2023 and ultimately did not return to work before she tendered her resignation on 31st October that year. Chantelle's managing director, who gave evidence, said she had assumed Ms Breslin would return to her job when she got better and that her resignation 'was pleasant and made no mention of issues or other employees' behaviour'. When it was put to her in cross-examination that Ms Breslin had told her she was 'burned out', the managing director said she 'understood there was an issue' of work-related stress but that she 'did not relate this' to Ms Breslin's resignation. Asked what she had done to respond to the staffing issues raised by Ms Breslin, the managing director said these were 'a matter for the shop'. In her decision, adjudicator Patricia Owens wrote Ms Breslin had been raising 'serious concerns for her physical and mental health' starting in October 2021. While the managing director made efforts to resolve 'minor issues' for Ms Breslin around medical certs and annual leave, 'more complex matters' around roster problems and staff shortages 'were never addressed', Ms Owens wrote. 'I consider that the respondent failed in its duty of care to the complainant to protect her health, safety and wellbeing while at work,' Ms Owens wrote. She considered the firm's failure to respond adequately to amount to 'repudiation of contract', upholding Ms Breslin's unfair dismissal claim. Ms Owens awarded the claimant €15,800, her full losses for five months' unemployment. A further complaint of disability discrimination under the Employment Equality Act was ruled out of time by the Commission. Ms Breslin was represented by Aisling Irish of Parker Law Solicitors in the case, while human resources consultancy Tom Smyth and Associates appeared for the employer.
Khaleej Times
23-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Khaleej Times
Margaret Cho says Ellen DeGeneres was "not nice" to her for most her career
Actor-comedian Margaret Cho has accused Ellen DeGeneres of treating her poorly throughout most of her career, despite their long history in the comedy world. Cho, in a recent episode of The Kelly Mantle Show, said, "Ellen was really weird and not nice to me for most of my career...I opened for her in the 1980s, when she was a headliner in comedy clubs, way before her big fame. Later, when I would do her talk show in the 2000s, she acted like we had just met." "And I'm like... what?' That's weird. We go way back. It's so creepy and weird," the Grammy and Emmy nominee joked. Cho also spoke about an incident involving the late singer David Bowie. She attended one of his concerts wearing a "Chinese emperor outfit." Later, Bowie appeared on DeGeneres' show and reportedly complimented Cho's outfit several times. But Cho said the compliments were cut from the final show. "The producer, who's a really good friend of mine, had to call me and tell me, 'I can't believe she did this, but she cut it out of the show.'" Cho recalled. "'But you need to know that he was going on and on about your outfit. God said your name. He loves you.'" In 2020, Cho also commented on the allegations of a toxic work environment on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. According to The Hollywood Reporter, while speaking on the Hot Takes & Deep Dives podcast, she said, "I think she definitely is scary. I'm still scared of Ellen. Everyone should be scared of Ellen. I would have no idea what it would be like to work for her." The Ellen DeGeneres Show ended in 2022 after 19 seasons.
The Herald
18-06-2025
- General
- The Herald
‘Teaching is breaking us': Eastern Cape's crisis a microcosm of national meltdown
When half of SA's teachers are ready to leave the profession, not because of unruly pupils but because of toxic work environments, you know the system is teetering on the edge. That's what a national study by Stellenbosch University recently revealed. It found that nearly 50% of teachers want to quit, citing stress, poor leadership and burnout, not discipline issues, as the final straw. But what the study does not capture is how this crisis hits harder and deeper in places like the Eastern Cape. In the under-resourced, overlooked schools of the Ngcobo education district, teachers aren't just 'thinking' about leaving. They're already disengaged, emotionally battered and on the brink of collapse. The reality? Children are being taught by professionals who barely hold it together, and no-one is coming to save them. The forgotten foot soldiers Teachers in this district are drowning in stress; silent, unseen casualties of a broken system. But here's the shocking part: most principals have no training or support to help them recognise or manage this burnout. That's not opinion; it's fact, backed by local research involving face-to-face interviews with teachers in five Ngcobo primary schools. Teachers report being emotionally exhausted, unsupported and repeatedly exposed to unresolved conflicts, unfair workloads and dysfunctional leadership. One respondent put it bluntly: 'Some principals don't know how to handle school conflict. There are no structures placed to look after us.' In other words, teachers are suffering in silence while school leaders, many themselves overwhelmed and ill-equipped, turn a blind eye. It starts in grade R and ends in crisis Let's not forget: these aren't high schools. These are primary schools where children are forming foundational skills in reading, maths and emotional development. But when the teacher in front of them is burnt out, angry and absent, what kind of foundation are we laying? Imagine a grade 2 child trying to learn to read from a teacher battling anxiety and depression, someone who hasn't received psychological support in years. That child does not stand a chance. And yet, there are no psychologists, no social workers, and no systemic support for rural teachers. It's a powder keg, and it's already exploding. No systems, no training, no hope According to Voyiya's research, most principals in Ngcobo have no formal systems to identify teachers in distress. They aren't trained to intervene. They don't get the support needed to build a healthy school climate. The result? Dysfunction, absenteeism, incomplete syllabi and plummeting morale. Contrast that with the national picture from Stellenbosch University: teachers across the country are desperate for change. But in rural Eastern Cape schools, the desperation has metastasised into resignation, both literal and emotional. The phrase 'chronic stress' appears in textbooks. But in Ngcobo, it's playing out in real-time, every school day. A failure of leadership and policy Why is it that, in 2025, with all our talk of 'transforming basic education,' there is still no national mandate to train principals in psychosocial leadership? Why is rural Eastern Cape still treated as a footnote in the education conversation, when it's arguably the front line? We need to reframe principals not just as administrators, but as human resource managers, emotional first responders and mental wellness advocates. Until we do, nothing changes. The department of basic education must introduce mandatory psychological wellness training, support systems for school leaders, and place social workers in every school. Anything less is a betrayal. When the teachers break, the system crumbles SA doesn't have a learning problem. It has a leadership problem. It has a support problem. It has a justice problem. If the national government truly cares about learning outcomes, it must stop obsessing over test scores and start caring about the people delivering the curriculum. Teachers aren't robots, they are humans facing immense emotional strain, especially in rural provinces like the Eastern Cape. So here's the hard truth: if we don't address teacher stress with urgency, our children will be taught by ghosts, people present in body but long gone in spirit. And that, more than anything, should terrify us. Dr Mzoli Osborn Voyiya is a school principal and graduated with a PhD in Education Management at Walter Sisulu University, supervised by Prof Sanjay Balkaran. His research focused on teacher wellbeing, rural school leadership and systemic support in under-resourced education districts. This special report into the state of literacy, a collaborative effort by The Herald, Sowetan and Daily Dispatch, was made possible by the Henry Nxumalo Foundation
Al Bawaba
03-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Al Bawaba
Former Blizzard employee slams Overwatch's new Pride Month video
ALBAWABA - In reference to the 2021 sexual harassment lawsuit and the toxic work environment allegations, Activision Blizzard is once again the talk of social media after a former employee criticized Overwatch's recently shared "Happy Pride Month" video. Blizzard's former game developer, who goes by the name "Kuro" on X (formerly known as Twitter), took to their account and accused the popular corporation of trying to "save face," despite facing a lawsuit from several former employees. Kuro wrote, "You guys enabled people to sexually assault me and other LGBT people at the company then tried to ruin our lives by running to HR claiming we were responsible for getting assaulted then hijacked the initiatives we created so you could try and save face while we were suing you." An X user took to the Overwatch team's defense, stating that they had nothing to do with the allegations mentioned above and wrote, "The Overwatch dev team had nothing to do with any of that stuff tho." Moreover, several others claimed that most sexual assault and toxic environment allegations were aimed at developers from the World of Warcraft team. you guys enabled people to sexually assault me and other LGBT people at the company then tried to ruin our lives by running to HR claiming we were responsible for getting assaulted then hijacked the initiatives we created so you could try and save face while we were suing you — kuro (@ashlykuro) June 1, 2025 This all comes in after the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) filed a lawsuit against Blizzard in 2021, alleging that the company cultivated a hostile and toxic working environment, including the sexual harassment of female workers. Additionally, LGBTQ employees also reported suffering from a toxic environment during their time there, further claiming that they were targeted with stereotypical jokes about queer culture, as reported by Inverse. A former LGBTQ employee stated, "I never really felt like it was a safe place, to begin with." Three years ago, several employees who were nursing mothers reported that their breast milk had allegedly been stolen from fridges located in Blizzard's dedicated lactation facilities. Moreover, they also accused other employees of placing beer inside the fridges in question, sparking further outrage on social media, as reported by CNN.
