a coworker is harassing my neighbor (who’s having chemo) — Ask a Supervisor

A reader writes:

I reside in a high-rise rental advanced and work for a outstanding and huge (10,000+ worker) healthcare system.

My rental advanced has a listserv that will get despatched to the 1,000 or so residents — sadly with little or no moderation. Over the previous few months, however significantly as we speak, someone who works at my group and occurs to reside in my constructing has been sending listserv messages that I take into account more and more harassing in nature over occasional barking from a neighbor’s canine. For context, we’re a pet-friendly constructing with a vet’s workplace renting industrial house on the bottom ground. Right this moment, I came upon they’ve additionally taken to periodically standing on their balcony and screaming on the neighbor by way of the neighbor’s window.

The neighbor is present process therapy for breast most cancers, and their rescue canine is diabetic and wishes insulin photographs each 12 hours (and barks on the needles). The neighbor and their partner have, apparently, carried out the whole lot from altering begin occasions at work to altering the occasions of chemotherapy therapies to attempt to alleviate barking at odd hours.

Usually, I don’t consider in going to HR except it’s about one thing that occurred at work and immediately entails me. The individual doing the harassing doesn’t work in my division, and I’ve by no means met them. However I’m questioning if I ought to discuss to HR anyway as a result of:
a) The harassment of a most cancers affected person
b) The screaming off the balcony
c) The airing of grievances to 1,000 folks over electronic mail

They haven’t named our employer, however they’ve acknowledged they work in healthcare as a justification for his or her criticism they usually state their full title. It’s not troublesome to trace them again to our employer. Additionally, they work as an workplace administrator–it’s not like they’re working odd shifts as a scientific practitioner. This looks as if a reputational threat for the group.

I’m actually considering I ought to deliver this to HR, however is that this even one thing inside their purview?

It’s actually not, I’m sorry. In case your neighbor had been throwing across the title of your employer, then perhaps — however in any other case this can be a jerk being a jerk who occurs to have a job someplace.

Nonetheless, you definitely can — and will — complain to your rental administration! Your coworker/neighbor shouldn’t be utilizing the constructing electronic mail record to harass one other resident. If they’ve an issue with the noise, it’s time for them to take it up with the constructing administration immediately, not harangue a sick neighbor again and again. (This is able to be true even when she weren’t sick, after all, however it’s significantly egregious to hound somebody who’s sick and possibly exhausted and who has clearly tried to resolve the issue.)

And the irony of complaining about noise whereas screaming by way of a sick neighbor’s window is … properly, I hate your coworker.

Along with reporting his habits to the constructing administration, ideally you or one other resident would additionally reply on the e-mail record immediately with one thing like, “Please cease harassing this resident. When you’ve got a noise criticism, it’s best to converse with the constructing administration, not harangue them and the remainder of us over this electronic mail record.” I understand you may not need to do this since you’re employed collectively however it might be a kindness to the focused neighbor for those who had been keen to. If not, are any of your different neighbors keen to talk up? It sucks that that is going to 1,000 folks and nobody else is pushing again (at the very least not publicly).