General Question

Kay's avatar

How should I deal with this?

Asked by Kay (1613points) May 20th, 2008

So I used this temp agency to get a short-term job before I go to grad school this fall. Got a random data entry job, everything was fine. Now my recruiter (the person from the temp agency who placed me in the job) has called me twice (went to voicemail both times because I was at work or driving) to ask me out. I feel this is really inappropriate, and I’m slightly creeped out by it since he has access to all of my personal info (Full name, address, SS, resume, etc) from when I applied to the temp agency. What should I do? Ignore the voicemails? Call him back and say “Thanks but no thanks”? Talk to his supervisor?

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23 Answers

lefteh's avatar

Personally, I would immediately call his supervisor and explain the situation. As you said, not only is it entirely inappropriate but he has access to your personal information which makes it dangerous as well. Don’t waste time in reporting him and ensuring your information is safe.

Randy's avatar

Tough question. Do you know the guy at all? If not, then I’d call his supervisor.

Kay's avatar

@Randy: No, only met him once for the interview and to fill out paperwork.

sndfreQ's avatar

Yeah, that’s troubling; it would behoove you to contact the supervisor; your personal information may indeed be compromised here, and along with all the ethical red flags this situation creates, at the very least, I recommend documenting the proceedings and correspondence with said agency, so that you have recourse in the event your personal information is further misused, you have a trail of evidence to use should the situation escalate. Also, if matters worsen, you have evidence with which to proceed with the authorities.

Yikes…good luck.

chaosrob's avatar

Call the owner or a senior supervisor quick! That’s totally out of bounds. You might want to mention to whomever you speak with that sexual harrassment is pretty clear cut here. In fact, given that its not reasonable to expect this person to help you get another placement, you really ought to be due something for the lost income.

kevbo's avatar

Document everything as well. Sorry to hear that happened.

soundedfury's avatar

He called twice, which means he isn’t just shy. It’s likely he’s done this before, so I’d call the supervisor.

marinelife's avatar

The balance of power in this situation is not equal. You might feel obligated to date this creep if you needed the temp work badly. This guy may well do this as a pattern.

Call the agency and ask to speak to the manager. Not the creep’s supervisor—that is usually not how employment agencies are staffed and run. Do not allow them to put you off. Say that it is an emergency and no one else can help you.

Tell the manager what happened and that you are concerned that this could be a pattern. Suggest that if you do not get assurances that this employee will not be able to repeat this behavior that you will be forced to file a complaint.

Where you would file is a function of what state you live in. Hooray for you for speaking up!

Kay's avatar

Thanks for all of the advice; I’m going to call the manager of the agency tomorrow and speak with them about this…it is just beyond inappropriate. I really hope this doesn’t escalate.

chaosrob's avatar

Make sure you make it clear to them that you know exactly how much they screwed up here, and don’t hesitate to mention speaking to counsel. At a minimum, you should be asking for a written apology and that this guy be terminated. You are almost certainly entitled to more, probably in the $5–10k range in the lost wages from a summer of work and punitive damages, depending on your state statutes. Good luck!

Kay's avatar

@chaosrob: Thanks for the advice. I’m just worried that this guy is going to get pissed off and harass me or something. This whole situation is making me so anxious.

marinelife's avatar

@Kay Since he has your information, that is a very real and understandable fear. I would say to the manager that you expect them to make sure he does not leave that office with your personal information and that he never contacts you again.

He is probably innocuous enough and will be focused on having to find a new job.

mghb's avatar

You must have made such an impression, and must be very pretty.

Think very carefully before you call his boss. Maybe he has done this before, maybe not, you really don’t know. You may just be that pretty and nice that he can not help himself.

I think you should call him directly, as he did you, maybe at time when you know he won’t answer his phone if he called from his cell, and leave him a message. If he called you from the office, write him a note thanking him for the attention, but decline his generous offer to go out. You don’t have to give him a reason, and you don’t want to lie, just keep it short.

If he didn’t say anything disrespectful, or vulgar, try to handle it this way first. I mean he does have all of your info.

If he does not comply then call his boss ASAP. Don’t don’t crate more of a problem than there needs to be.

chaosrob's avatar

He can’t help himself? What nonsense. Calling him directly places her directly into playing the role of victim here, and places him back into control of the situation. Given the poor judgement and disrespect for appropriatel boundaries he’s shown, sending her back to this guy to privately ask politely that he pretty-please stop making advances on her based on the phone number he stole from work is totally irresponsible. She should never have to communicate directly with the guy again, if she doesn’t want to. His “generous offer?” Are you kidding me? You sure you’re not him?

Kay's avatar

Ok, so I called (at this point he had left 4 messages asking to “set up a lunch” with me) and they put me through to his manager who basically told me “Oh it’s not what you think it is, we take clients out to lunch all the time, blah, blah, blah” Basically trying to make me feel like I was coming out of no where with this. But none of the other temps from the company have ever been “taken out to lunch” or anything like that with the company; in fact they can never get a hold of their recruiter at all. I’m not a client; I was hired for a short-term $9/hour data entry temp job and there’s no reason for him to keep calling me and asking me to lunch. His manager was basically like “Well we’re not going to find any other work for you or be able to give you a good reference.” and I replied that that was fine as long as they never contacted me again. I’m so pissed off right now.

marinelife's avatar

How dare they blame you and then tell you they can’t find work for you! That’s outrageous. Is it local or a national company? If the latter, I would write the home office. I think I would also contact an agency regarding equal opportunity. Essentially, if I understand you correctly, this agency told you that unless you go to lunch with the recruiter, they won’t find you jobs, and they will give you a bad reference? That is potentially actionable. You may want to consider legal advice.

Kay's avatar

It’s a national company with local offices throughout the country. I just don’t know what to do; the manager I talked to was treating me like some idiot or something. I’m just wondering if it’s worth it to pursue anything any further or if the company is just going to do it’s best to make me look like an idiot/hysterical woman. I have had such an overall bad experience with this company; the job they sent me to didn’t have a supervisor (she disappeared after the first day), the job-site itself was DIRTY! (it was an office that looked like it never got cleaned. There were bodily fluids on the keyboards we had to use), and the contact number for the job-site they gave me simply hung up after 2 rings every time I called it. Every interaction I’ve had with this recruiting company has been horrible; I’m just so sick of dealing with them and all of their crap.

chaosrob's avatar

Please, please, at least speak to an attorney. Their reaction to this is totally unacceptable. If they get away with it now, they’re just going to do it to someone else.

marinelife's avatar

Kay, it sounds awful. I hope that the posts in this thread have at least let you know that your perceptions of what happened are right, and the agency’s behavior is inappropriate. Only you can decide if you are up to dealing with the hassles. Whatever you decide, I so hope your summer gets better. Do you need another job? If you want to PM me on where you are and what you are looking for, I can see if I can connect you to anyone in that area.

sndfreQ's avatar

Call Gloria Allred asap

allengreen's avatar

I think you should document the situation, save emails and texts and voice messages, AND SUE THE PRICK! You go girl!

deaddolly's avatar

Yeah, that’s a lawsuit waiting to happen. I would pursue it in the name of all the other ppl who have probably had trouble with. It’s clearly stressing you out. Documenting everything is imperative. It sounds as if this place is poorly run and probably has a few complains under thier belt. Talk to the lawyer as suggested. it can’t hurt.

tootough's avatar

OH YEA I WOULD SUE. I CANNNOT BELIEVE THAT A NATIONAL COMPANY WOULD TAKE THIS SO LIGHTLY. DON’T LET ANYONE RUN OVER YOU, STAND YOUR GROUND, TALK TO AN ATTORNEY!!! ALSO, KEEP ANY PROOF OF THE INCIDENT YOU HAVE OR CAN GET. THANKS TO ALL THIS CORPORATE AMERICA B.S. PEOPLE JUST GET SCREWED ALL THE TIME AND THEN LEFT WITH NO FAIR JUSTICE

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