Being Annoying At Work Could Cost You
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Can you get fired just for being annoying?
An IT worker in New York City's Health Department was suspended without pay for answering the help desk phone on at least five occasions in a robot voice. Hello. You have reached Technical Support, how may I help you?
(Because dealing with the help desk isn't annoying enough. Did you try rebooting. Yes. Well, technically, no. But I'm sure that's not it.)
The worker said he was doing nothing wrong and that he was reading from a script provided by the supervisor. Nothing except being completely annoying.
Can you actually be disciplined just because you bug people? The answer is yes.
Provided that your boss isn't bugged by you because of your gender, race, national origin, or other characteristic that would be discriminatory, disciplining a worker on the basis of the fact that he drives people nuts is not discriminatory.
Look, no one wants to create a mean girls environment where you get disciplined for not being a cool kid - but after pointing out a behavior that is grating, an office has the right to expect a worker will knock it off.
And you can be disciplined if you don't, so let that be a lesson to you, R2D2.