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Bullies.....and, The Rest Of The Story......

A

Alias

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Joined
Oct 26, 2009
Messages
1,649
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State of Disbelief
Need a little advice on how to handle a bully. I have one contractor, A, in particular who comes in my office and is loud and demanding. On one occasion, he would not stop while I was trying to talk to him in a normal voice. He did back me into a corner, and, to tell you the truth, I felt threatened.

He was in my boss's office on Monday complaining about how I hate him, am out to get him, and am badmouthing him. He wanted my boss to tell me to knock it off. I talked with my boss about the complaints and his prior complaints to me and what the issues were.

And now, as Paul Harvey says, the rest of the story.......

What it actually boils down to is this Contractor A bought a house in town. It had been repaired after a fire. He now is complaining about various things in the house. Contractor, B, who repaired the home supposedly did a lot of work that should have had a permit. I have no knowledge of the other work and only permits for temp electric and roofing, which I offered to give him photocopies of for his records.

Contractor A now wants me to go after contractor B who did the work and make B fix the work that was done without a permit. I have explained to him until I am blue in the face that I legally can't go after contractor B as I did not catch him doing the work without a permit. Am I correct?

I did the final inspection on the job over 2 years ago, and the new owner, A, has been on me for over a year and a half to go after the other contractor. I am totally frustrated and truthfully afraid that this guy is out to get me.

I told him he needs to look at his disclosure agreements from the former owner and the realtor. To top it off, I think that he is losing the home due to foreclosure, actually, it is the original owner who is losing the home. This home might have been sold at auction last week.

Contractor A really doesn't like Contractor B wich is another portion or the equation.

If you have gotten this far, I want to say thanks for listening. I am sorry to dump this here but I really have no one I feel that I can talk to here whom I trust and understands this part of the job.

Thanks again,
 
I completely sympathize with you and feel you have been totally correct thus far, assuming you are telling the whole story. I believe the only way you can "win" in this situation is to always remain calm and professional and never, ever loose your temper or self control. You have to maintain a higher road or you will have nothing to fall back on.

My advice would be to give him the contact information for the state licensing board, state attorney, and any other regulatory agency that may be able to assist him with this CIVIL matter that no longer pertains to you or your office. You then have to make it clear, and in writing that the matter is closed and will not be pursued or considered by you from that point forward.

This person will probably be very unhappy with you and the world for a long, long time, but that is his problem, not yours. There is no way to make everyone happy, every time, all the time.

Don’t let him get the best of you and don’t let him know you are bothered or worried about him. Once he realizes that he has no control or sway over your decisions and actions, he will go away…

Good luck, even though I don’t believe in luck…
 
Alias,

I can say if it was me in your shoes, when this jack wagon acts this way just tell him "if you can't talk to me in a civil tone of voice, this conversation is over," and turn and walk away. I would also talk with your boss and let him/her know that contractor A has a threatening demeanor when speaking to you. Is there no men in your office that will stand up to the jerk? I have seen this type of contractor several times and this will keep happening until someone puts him in his place. The respect thing sould be both ways. I'm 6'4" and 250 lbs. always looked forward to dealing with the bullies.

Hope somebody helps you out. Good Luck
 
Continue to perform your duties forthrightly, with integrity, and, in as much as possible, do not allow yourself to fear this bully. What is the worst that can happen?

Also, as with most code enforcement issues that become ongoing, a bit more formality and documentation may be in order.
 
I agree you have done everything right as you stated. One question I do have is you stated you did the final inspections. Did you notice the other work that was done or being done at your finals?
 
There is a reason a desk has two sides, there is your side, and there is his side. He must stay on his side.

If he is threatening or abusive in language or deed tell him to leave and if he doesn't immediatly, call your front desk (if you have one) and ask them to send someone to escort him out.

Next time he comes in if at all possible have your front desk (if you have one) put him in a room that has a desk with two sides, or a conference room with a table that has two sides, leave the doors open and/or have someone come in and take meeting notes.
 
My advice would be to call law enforcement if you feel threatened.

Don't fool around with someone about to lose their house.
 
When you discover work that was done without a permit, you cite the property owner. Unless you physically saw contractor B performing the non-permitted work, hammer-in-hand, you don't know who did it: the homeowner at the time (and when was that time?), the cousin of the homeowner, etc... the owner has to take responsibility.

It's analogous to a parking ticket for parking in a red zone. The meter-reader may never see who parked the car, but that's irrelevant: the ticket goes to the registered owner of the car. It's up to the owner to settle it with whoever borrowed his car and parked it there.

Now, take it a step further - imagine a car owner coming into the police station saying, "my car is parked in a red zone downtown, and I KNOW the valet service at the restaurant parked it there. I demand you come out from behind your desk and give a ticket to the valet service!"

Back to the situation at hand: Apart from a civil action as described by other posters, perhaps another way the homeowner would NOT be ultimately responsible is if the nonpermitted "improvement" could theoretically be treated as property damage, like an act of vandalism by contractor B. Then it becomes a criminal matter.
 
Sue sounds like a he said she said between the contractors. You never caught anyone doing work without a permit, so don't know how they can involve you, sounds like a civil matter. If you PM me I can give you somebody to contact at the CSLB. Let them investigate. Never meet with this guy alone.
 
David & FMWB-

I informed my boss that I was no longer going to talk with this jack*** alone ever again. I will remove myself to the main offices and grab someone to be a witness. I am done.

As to the CSLB, I gave him the paperwork and he does know how to contact them. Contractor A has had complaints filed against him with the CSLB so he knows the process.
 
brudgers said:
My advice would be to call law enforcement if you feel threatened.Don't fool around with someone about to lose their house.
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I have the Chief's cell phone number on speed dial on my cell phone. ; )
 
rshuey said:
I agree you have done everything right as you stated. One question I do have is you stated you did the final inspections. Did you notice the other work that was done or being done at your finals?
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The work he is complaining about is 'hidden work' that once the sheetrock is in place, you don't see it. It started originally with 'the bathroom glass has to be obscure' to 'no R value because he has a $600 electric bill', 'it needs hardwired smoke detectors', and finally ended with 'the wiring in the kitchen (where the fire started) doesn't work right and that he knows that Contractor B used that unlicensed electrician from ------.' No amount of my telling him that the electrician on the job is licensed, is willing to talk to A, etc. etc. could convince A that the electrical is per code.

The home in question is probably close to a hundred years old and was completely remodeled about 15 years ago. I don't know how anyone else does a fire repair inspection but I don't find myself counting every piece of sheetrock at the job and standing around while each is installed. I did get calls for the electrical (permitted) and the roof (permitted) to be inspected.
 
Kevin Turner said:
Alias,I can say if it was me in your shoes, when this jack wagon acts this way just tell him "if you can't talk to me in a civil tone of voice, this conversation is over," and turn and walk away. I would also talk with your boss and let him/her know that contractor A has a threatening demeanor when speaking to you. Is there no men in your office that will stand up to the jerk? I have seen this type of contractor several times and this will keep happening until someone puts him in his place. The respect thing sould be both ways. I'm 6'4" and 250 lbs. always looked forward to dealing with the bullies.

Hope somebody helps you out. Good Luck
Click to expand...
Kevin -

I am a department of 1 in the old city hall all by myself. There was no room in the new city hall for the building department when the county dumped the city building inspections, etc., on the city in the early '90s hence I am off by myself.
 
"Time to hand this over to your legal department, municipal solicitor, etc. I would not be making decisions on a situation like this."

I agree witk Jeff. Tell your boss, turn it over to legal. Next time he comes and want to "chat" about it again, tell him to go see them, you are done with it. As soon as it he starts to ramp it up, ask him to leave, if he doesn't......time to use speed dial. I'd clue PD in that you may need their services, pronto. Ours are very responsive to employee issues.

Good luck. stay safe.
 
Forget about permitting.. I would be worried about your safety.

Cornering you is clearly a violation.. Harassment at the least.. Disorderly conduct, obstructing governmental administration would also be contenders.

brudgers is absolutely right.. people under that kind of financial strain will crack and somebody will get hurt.

Your office should have some sort of plan for these situations. Our entire building took training (believe it was federally mandated to meet NIMS requirements) on how to deal with these scenarios. In an office by yourself you don't have many options.. but you at least need something to separate yourself from the public (ie a counter). As soon as they cross the counter you have a problem.
 
Had this happen one time....and got advise from our city attorney.

In this state.....and probably others....it's a felony to threaten a goverment employee.

Call for backup....cuff him.....and let him tell it to the judge.
 
fatboy said:
I agree witk Jeff. Tell your boss, turn it over to legal. Next time he comes and want to "chat" about it again, tell him to go see them, you are done with it. As soon as it he starts to ramp it up, ask him to leave, if he doesn't......time to use speed dial. I'd clue PD in that you may need their services, pronto. Ours are very responsive to employee issues.
Click to expand...
This is great advice. You have the law behind you, and should have the back up of the PD and Judge. If you feel threatened to talk to this guy, and you have need to talk to this guy to perform your duties, I would not hesitate to ask a police officer to accompany you on your next visit, inspection, etc. Sometimes, it is beneficial to demonstrate that the force of law is clearly behind you.

I do think it is important that you, in as much as possible, do not let this persons behavior cause undue fear. It is good to recognize a danger, and respond accordingly, but is my experience dealing with bullies that you simply must exhibit to the bully a lack of fear . . . and a willingness to confront any bullying behavior head-on . . . without shrinking or shirking. I am not a big guy, and have only moderate training in self-defense, but have been served well by a willingness to confront bullies in a straightforward way.

In every walk of life you will encounter these creeps . . . and being established in a position of authority seems to bring out the worst in them. Still, you have been established in your position for a reason and have nothing to fear!
 
Good luck, you have received good advice. We have had those type of situations here...luckily PD is in the same building and we have a silent alarm button at the counter.

As soon as we are threatened verbally or with legal action, we end the conversation and turn it over to legal.
 
I want to thank everyone for all the good advice and taking the time to read my novella. I am cautiously optimistic that A will be working out in the county this year, thus eliminating my having to deal with him on a frequent basis.
 
Sue: I've found that one question will usually stop the guy in his tracks [if all he wants to do is complain]. When he's ranting, give the 'time-out' sign as for football. When he's quiet, ask him 'What do you want me to do?' When he starts ranting again, 'time-out' and ask the same question. Usually they don't have an answer to that question. I would take the time to invite a police officer to a meeting with Contractor A, and ask the question: What do you want me to do? Point out, if you can, the illegalities of what he wants, and get a nod from the police officer. Keeping the upper hand with this sort of fellow is not easy. Make him stay on his side of the desk. And don't put up with his shouting, any profanity he spews, or other untoward behavior. When he doesn't comply with your requests escort him out, and call the cops. When you call his bluff on the threatening behavior by calling in the cops, make sure he understands, via the cops, that his behavior has consequences, and you will not be intimidated. You may be a public servant, but that does not mean you have to take abuse from the public. The attorney for your jurisdiction should be able to help with any legal issues to stop Contractor A from his abusive behavior. Hang in there!
 
* * * *

Sue,

Lots of good advice given here!....Above all, your own safety is paramount over

everything else!.....Absolutely no more meetings alone with Mr. Sunshine.

Always have a 2nd city / county official with you.....If possible, find the biggest

hulkiest, bow-hunk of a police officer / county sheriff that you can round up

and have them present....That intimidation factor works both ways! :wink:

[ As a visual representation, ...imagine The Hulk when he is in full rage mode.

Yeah, get this type of police officer to sit in with you. ]

Also, a BIG THANKS to you for being transparent to your Forum family.

There are a lot of good people on here, who are trying to do the right thing,

and will gladly offer you some professional, prudent advice.

% % % %
 
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