It’s no surprise that Millennials are taking over the workforce; and pretty soon Generation Z members will be, too. What these new employees need are mentors to help them learn the ropes and navigate their fresh careers, and supervisors can make for great mentors! However, one instance in New York has taken mentoring to a whole new level.
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According to the New York Post, a 21-year-old Millennial woman is suing her former employer after she was being “mothered” too much—and ultimately terminated. The woman worked as a receptionist at a temp agency in Manhattan, New York. About 6 months into her job, a colleague asked how old she was, which she replied that she was 21. From there on out, the woman had to deal with a barrage of age-related comments.
It started with “Wow, only 21?” but it quickly turned into being called a “little girl.” The woman’s supervisor, who was 45, constantly made remarks about being her “work mother” and forced the woman to do tasks that were not related to her position as a receptionist. For example, she had to regularly clean the kitchen and the bathroom … wait, this is starting to sound a lot like the classic Cinderella not like an HRSBT!
One day, the supervisor berated her in front of clients who were waiting to be interviewed (which begs the question, would you want to work for a company after witnessing that?). The supervisor said the woman wasn’t cleaning the bathroom fast enough. The supervisor allegedly remarked, “No, little girl, you need to go clean the bathroom right now, missy,” and then snapped her fingers in the woman’s face.
The woman claims to have said, “I told her, ‘I’m tired of being called a little girl. I’m a receptionist and you’re calling me ‘little girl’ in front of people who are waiting for interviews,’ ” she recalled. “And she (the supervisor) said, ‘Yes, but you are a little girl . . . I’m your work mother. That’s what mothers do to daughters.’ ”
The supervisor claims that the woman was a hard worker, but she was not “seasoned” and “seasoning comes with age.” The woman finally snapped and lashed out at her supervisor saying, “I’m getting tired of you speaking to me like I’m a child.” Two weeks later, the woman was terminated with no explanation. This is a prime example of how mentoring can go wrong! Make sure your supervisors are properly trained on how to “season” their workforce!