Beverly Kelly, a human resources manager for Charles Lesser & Co., a 30-person California real estate consulting and strategic advisory firm, heard snippets of a conversation in the company lunch room about a manager's verbal abuse. Kelly needed to determine if these employees were being subjected to a "hostile work environment" and, if so, to respond on the company's behalf.
Kelly asked the complaining workers to put their grievances in writing. When their memos confirmed what she had heard, she issued a formal written reprimand that was placed in the manager's file. The manager was enrolled in a training course to teach him how to behave properly and professionally.
SOURCE: "Censored! 'Free' Speech at Work" by Scott Hays, Workforce Management (September 1, 1999).