Unfortunately, I am (and I note others are) posting anonymously. And, we all know why: The retaliation and retribution that is real; has done real damage to bright, talented, capable women (and others); and has real long-term detrimental effects on one's finances, retirement, benefits, ability to obtain other work, let alone one's psyche. And, this type of unprofessional, non-leadership, abusive, hostile, degrading, demeaning, bullying stuff is disproportionately done to women and other vulnerable groups. And, it is unacceptable. There are laws against each of us doing this kind of stuff to each other in public, why aren't there laws that hold these people's feet to the accountability fires??? This is not leadership. It is destructive to an organization's bottomline and to our economy as a whole. It is past time that there be a STRONG movement that calls this stuff out and firmly and definitively deals with it--and not just in the executive suites as the people who many of us knew were "essential" (yet, are jacked around with part-time hours necessitating working multiple part-time jobs, no benefits, no health insurance, no bonus or recognition for a job well-done, etc.), experience this type of damaging treatment on a daily basis. Equally unfortunate is the fact that many hiring practices still employ the use of checking with prior bosses or supervisors. When my staff wanted to do this, I said "absolutely not!" as I bore witness to a boss sitting there telling someone who was checking a reference that the employee was "lackadaisical" which was a bold-faced lie. The employee was stellar and the boss did not want to lose her. Because of that boss' lie, the employee did not get a better job with better pay and better benefits. I am totally against US citizen's giving up their rights to legal redress because hiring systems demand that potential employees give up the right to hold someone accountable for falsehoods when references are checked. I feel for this person as I have witnessed, stood up for, and helped people in these types of positions. It is devastating to have something like this happen then to try to put on a brave face, hide how you are feeling (angry, sad humiliated, etc.) during interviews, especially when HR is astute at picking up on demeanor, attitude, feelings, etc. And, it is also tragic that some in HR now protect rogues like this--that is until a tell-all book that names names is published or a post on social media gets the higher ups to finally do something. So, I am concerned that if this person goes to HR or someone higher up, if this type of behavior has not been reined in, perhaps it is part of the destructive culture. Also, in some companies, if they find out you are looking for another job, they fire you which is ridiculous!!!! Another troubling strategy some rogue bosses, departments, and organizations use is to give someone so much work that they cannot possibly get it done. Then, they write the person up and begin a campaign of hostility (also known as "constructive discharge). I hope the union holds this boss and the organization to the values and ethics I bet they espouse in their vision, mission, and handbook. This type of stuff will remain rampant in the workplace as long as we have people who make the laws (people in government) who do not make laws consistent with our values. And, how is this or the other troubling posts I've read about toxic, abusive, etc., bosses and employers consistent with "family values", "strong economy" and more? These values are destructive to both and so much more and there is voluminous data to prove the cost of brain drains, reputation damage when this type of stuff gets out--and it does, decreased wages because people leave jobs or are paid less or are not as productive which results in less money/taxes in our economy. It's a mess and we know what can fix it.

HR’s allegiance is to the company. Even if they seem helpful, they are always seeking the greater good vs. your personal best. File a grievance with the union, that’s your best bet. And if you have evidence that it’s due to discrimination, file an EEOC case.

I recommend thinking long and hard before going to HR with a major issue or complaint. Their job is to protect the company, not the company's employees. If you do, and the issue has legal implications, I HIGHLY recommend speaking to a lawyer before approaching HR. (Advice based on firsthand experience!)

I suggest that your friend to make typed notes with dates of all conversations and everything that was said. Add notes as further conversations happen. Maybe write a memo or e-mail addressing each item they were scored on, provide solid examples of work they did that met the criteria of those items ending with questions on specific things they could to to improve their scores. Add any notes of that conversation, even if the boss doesn’t put it in writing. I understand companies having limited funds to pass around, but the fact that your friend knows they are at 45 percent of the pay grade means that if he/ she left, another candidate could ask for more money up front And possibly get it. When we are “negotiating” (ha) getting hired seems to be our best opportunity to get paid more, the company can start someone at 25 perfect of that pay grade, or for whatever reason start a new hire at 60 percent of the pay grade. File a grevience with the union including the notes even though the manager didn’t put it writing. Make note of that within his/her document. Do this in a calm, professional manner and don’t be argumentative. Update their resume and look for a job for higher pay. Don’t share all of that with a hiring company, or talk badly about your current employer. If nothing else, this will be an empowering exercise and experience. Iv’e never belonged to a union but I suspect they might be a better ally than HR. ALSO, during this process reread the employee manual to gather any useful information. I’m not an expert but this is based on situations I have observed throughout my career and how they played out.

Since he's in a union, he should take it to HR and the union. Sounds like a toxic manager, and the beauty of unions is that they can actually sometimes get rid of these poisoners.

If they are Union then they need to reach out to their rep and let them handle it from there.

yikes. i had a manager who kept delaying my review for over 3 months while aggressively reminding me (almost every week) that he’d be writing my performance review. the workplace got so toxic while he was going through a divorce (he would yell at his ex on the phone during work hours and be generally disrespectful to women at work after these calls) i finally turned in my laptop and gave 2 weeks notice. in those 2 weeks, he would heap on a rediculous amount of tasks with zero budget for execution, knowingly setting up failures. he would almost daily threaten to fire me too. so the moral of the story is, theres no cure for a bad boss. some of them will explode with vindictiveness when you put in a resignation to save their own hides, make sure to document everything and get out with your pride and dignity.

With all due respect, you don't (and never will) have the whole story. You just don't, no matter how much you trust your friend. The best advice you can give him is to grieve it with his union and let them handle it.

One thing that comes to mind is that it is very difficult for Your Friend to "grieve" a process that gave them a higher score than their supervisor thinks they should have. There are processes for the opposite, but not what you describe. A second thing that comes to mind is how these scores are used to affect wages. The part that Your Friend can address is that - that the performance review as written supported a raise, and a raise was denied. The consideration for Your Friend is that it may be, possibly, that the Supervisor might then lower the written evaluation next time to support not giving a Raise, if the Supervisor doesn't feel it's warranted. The realistic choices for Your Friend seem to be, ask to have the raise revisited (and potentially have the supervisor's concern about performance brought up). or let it go. A private conversation is hard to document, it would be very easy for the supervisor to say "I was just warning about drop in performance that wasn't significant enough to reduce the rating", and in any case, there's no advantage in having both no raise and a written poorer performance evaluation. I also recommend that Your Friend seriously consider whether this is a warning that will result in a lower evaluation next year. It's typical to have a signaling conversation ("your performance is slipping") and then follow that with a score change ("last year I told you your performance was slipping, and you haven't changed, so this year I'm reducing your evaluation"). If I had to guess, this rather weird sounding conversation with the Supervisor might have been intended to convey what I just wrote.

You definitely were mistreated. However, I learned the hard way that going to HR without solid proof can backfire. If you are complaining against Senior Management you may get an investigation in name only. I know it’s easier said than done but it’s time to update your resume and start hunting. You sound like a person who would make a valuable employee and who deserves a better boss.