In the previous 10 years, we’ve had only one equal employment complaint, and now in the last few years we've had four or five.

What should we do about it? Why?

Sources: Based generally on actual facts, but Bandag is a fictitious company. Bandag source notes: “The Problem Employee: Discipline or Accommodation?”

Monday Business Briefing (March 8, 2005); “Employee Says Change in Duties after Leave Violates FMLA,”

BNA Bulletin to Management (January 16, 2007): 24;

“Manager Fired Days after Announcing Pregnancy,”

BNA Bulletin to Management (January 2, 2007): 8;

“Ninth Circuit Rules UPS Violated ADA by Barring Deaf Workers from Driving Jobs,” BNA Bulletin to Management (October 17, 2006): 329. Copyright Gary Dessler, PhD.

an entrepreneur/small-business owner, he knew he had the distinct advantage of being able to run the whole operation himself. With just one store and a handful of employees, he could make every decision and watch the cash register, check in the new supplies, oversee the takeout, and personally supervise the service.

When he expanded to three stores, things started getting challenging. He hired managers for the two new stores (both of whom had worked for him at his first store for several years) and gave them only minimal “how to run a store’—type training, on the assumption that, having worked with him for several years, they already knew pretty much everything they needed to know about running a store.