America’s Worst Bosses in 2013

by Dec 20, 2013

America’s Worst Bosses

According to eBossWatch, the 2013 America’s worst bosses have costed their company over $52 million dollars in lawsuit settlements. This year, California is named the state with the highest number of bad bosses. Let’s take a look at the top 5 worst bosses.

Bob Filner (San Diego, California)

Bob Filner is the former mayor of San Diego. He was accused of sexual harassment by 19 women, and has recently plead guilty to felony assault, false imprisonment and battery. He has earned himself three months of house arrest and forfeited his right to vote (now that he has a felony). So far, he has costed the city of San Diego $4 million in taxpayer money.

Derek May (Largo, Florida)

Derek May was the general manager of Four Amigos Travel and Top Dog Travel, a high volume telemarketer for vacation packages in Florida. There was a sexual harassment case that gave out $20 million to eight former employees of Four Amigos Travel and Top Dog Travel.

Raphael Olivo (Rikers Island, New York)

The city of New York paid $600,000 to four female correction officers in order to settle their sexual harassment lawsuit by their male superiors. Raphael Olivo was a deputy warren at Rikers Island’s New York City Department of Correction.

Fred Fuller (Hudson, New Hampshire)

The EEOC has filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Fred Fuller Oil Company. This is the second time Fred Fuller is being sued and he agreed to pay $780,000 to five women to his earlier lawsuit settlement.  The EEOC has even stated that Fred Fuller has engaged in almost every possible form of sexual harassment, short of rape.

Maurice Wightman (Syracuse, New York)

The Simmons Institute of Funeral Service has agreed to pay $30,000 in order to settle a sexual harassment lawsuit. The school’s president, Maurice Wightman, had subjected female students to sexual harassment while discriminating against pregnancy.

Although this is only the first five from the list, eBossWatch has a list of the top 50 worst bosses in America.

Do you know how much money chronically bad behavior costs your company? Spoiler alert – it’s a LOT higher than you want it to be. Download our data and worksheet to see how it’s costing your organization and what you can do to fix it.

 

About Catherine Mattice

Catherine Mattice, MA, SPHR, SHRM-SCP is President of consulting and training firm, Civility Partners, and has been successfully providing programs in workplace bullying and building positive workplaces since 2007. Her clients include Fortune 500’s, the military, several universities and hospitals, government agencies, small businesses and nonprofits. She has published in a variety of trade magazines and has appeared several times on NPR, FOX, NBC, and ABC as an expert, as well as in USA Today, Inc Magazine, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, and more. Catherine is Past-President of the Association for Talent Development (ATD), San Diego Chapter and teaches at National University. In his book foreword, Ken Blanchard called her book, BACK OFF! Your Kick-Ass Guide to Ending Bullying at Work, “the most comprehensive and valuable handbook on the topic.” She recently released a second book entitled, SEEKING CIVILITY: How Leaders, Managers and HR Can Create a Workplace Free of Bullying.

3 Stories That Prove Positive Culture Change is Possible

When SHRM launched their #CivilityAtWork initiative, it felt like a rallying cry for everything we believe in and have been fighting for these last 15 years. Respectful, thriving workplaces are the dream we all share, but let’s be real—getting there isn’t always easy....

A Look Back and Look Forward: Where Are You Headed with Culture?

Culture can make or break a workplace. If that sounds dramatic, but consider this: 94% of executives and 88% of employees believe a strong workplace culture is critical to business success, yet 69% of employees say their organizations lack a culture where feedback is...

Celebrate the Season Without Dividing Your Team: Inclusive Holiday Tips

The holiday season may be billed as the most wonderful time of the year, but it’s often a minefield of conflicts waiting to happen. Holidays are deeply personal, sparking joy and nostalgia for some while leaving others feeling excluded or stressed. With 44% of...

3 Ways to Manage Post-Election Stress at Work and Home This Holiday Season

Elections are more than debates and opinions—they’re emotional whirlwinds that don’t end when the polls close. This year, presidential election stress is breaking records, with reported levels higher than in both 2020 and 2016. And the fallout lingers. A University of...

Post-Election Chaos: 3 Ways to Keep Psychological Safety Intact

According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, nearly 70% of Americans view political discourse as a significant source of stress, and workplaces are no exception. In fact, SHRM reports that political and social tensions have driven workplace...

Your CEO thinks HR is operational, not strategic?

Do these comments resonate with you?  Owners don’t understand that we’re not just paperwork. HR is a punching bag expected to resolve everyone’s mess. There’s no HR budget, no support, and a team of 2 for 300+ employees. Even after a workforce survey, leadership still...

Free Webinar: Unlock Your Managers’ Leadership Potential

Being good at your job doesn’t make you good at managing people. You know this.  You also know the outcome when an individual contributor moves to a manager role without receiving the right training – a struggling team, unclear expectations, conflict, disengaged...

5 Tools for Pitching Culture Change to Leadership

You already know that a strong culture leads to engaged employees, lower turnover, and a healthier bottom line, but convincing leadership? That’s a different story. It's exhausting pushing for changes that are dismissed as “soft skills” or shot down because they don't...

Why leadership’s ‘Hands-Off’ approach to culture is costing you more than you think

Picture this: you’re actively working to foster a positive workplace culture, but managers and leaders are adopting a 'hands-off' approach. At first, it seems harmless, even convenient—but beneath the surface, it's quietly wreaking havoc. Top talent? They're slipping...

Elections and Leadership: 3 Ways Your Reaction Can Impact Your Team

Election season tends to bring division and tension, and it’s hard to avoid. Even if you’ve reminded your team to steer clear of political conversations at work, it’s likely that the topic will still pop up here and there. The truth is, having employees with different...