How would you handle this?!?

[joeshow5]

I have recently been doing very well with personal training in my area. I have a solid clientelle, and have been with the gym for a couple of years.

Well, just the other day one of my clients called to inform me that the receptionist at the gym told her I was an incredibly lousy trainer and pretty much proceded to slam everything from my character to my physique.
I am his supervisor and have known him for about 5 months now and he is always nice to my face, but my client is extremely honest and would not lie about such things.

The receptionist isn't even a trainer or in good shape. He lifts heavy weights but is fat.

Pisses me off to no end!!!!!

I'm not sure how to go about handling this..
any suggestions?

 

[Gunsmith]

Kill him , beat him to death with a 3 foot section of extension cord !

Sorry the holidays kinda get me edgy and today being the first had the gym loaded with retards

I'd concfront him about it and have him fired

 

[joeshow5]

Will a 2 foot extension cord work? lol

 

[Caladin]

I would confront him. Ask him whats with all the shittalking

 

[6.8SPC]

Kill him , beat him to death with a 3 foot section of extension cord !

Sorry the holidays kinda get me edgy and today being the first had the gym loaded with retards

I'd concfront him about it and have him fired

In a legal sense, what your coworker did could be construed as slander I believe??? I agree with gunsmith that the best way to handle it would be to call him out first and see how he reacts. If he is man enough to explain himself, apologize, and promise to never let this happen again, then maybe give the poor bastard a break. If he gives you an ounce of guff, I'd say shit-can his ass.

 

[joeshow5]

I will definately confront him. On a personal level I would love to have him fired and it would be easy to do, but as his supervisor I can't deny that he does a good job.

I'm gearing towards a write up and a coaching from the owner.

I may have another manager handle it.

 

[joeshow5]

He works out in various colorful and color-matched spandex suits with matching bandanas and wrist bands. He steps into the gym with his lifting belt on and ready to go regardless of muscles being worked. He knows everything there is to know about training for every concievable goal. You know the type?

And he is fat.

And I will talk to him first thing in the morning with a write up in hand.
You guys are right on. He crossed a major professional boundry.

 

[gtj220]

I will definately confront him. On a personal level I would love to have him fired and it would be easy to do, but as his supervisor I can't deny that he does a good job.

I'm gearing towards a write up and a coaching from the owner.

I may have another manager handle it.

he's jealous of you for some reason and his actions are very unprofessional and he should be given a final warning! it's no different than if he's falsely saying the equipment is crap and unsafe to use, he's an employee, if he has a problem with you he should have gone to the owner.

 

[joeshow5]

he's jealous of you for some reason and his actions are very unprofessional and he should be given a final warning! it's no different than if he's falsely saying the equipment is crap and unsafe to use, he's an employee, if he has a problem with you he should have gone to the owner.

True. I had always thought of us as a team. I would never put down any of my teammates. If I had a problem with one of them I would address them personally. Not slander their name when they are not around.

I wonder how many other people he has said stuff like this to. A final warning oughta do good. He's either on the team or off. I'll let him choose.

 

[RINO]

People talk behind others backs all the time.It's not right but it's done.
I know where I come from if you bad mouth the boss and he finds out.Bye-Bye. Something he would've known before he Bad mouthed you .

 

[oldfella]

He has committed professional slander. It can be dealt with in a legal sense and he will lose, providing you are willing to get your client to testify or give a sworn statement to what was said. it can become very uncomfortable for many. in the first instance I would call the gym owner into this and also the guilty party. Behind closed doors you spell out your concerns in front of the gym owner. Make sure you know what you will accept as settlement of the matter. IE if it is this person's job, then that settles it, if it is a sincere apology and a promise (in writing) to never address your clients in this manner again then so be it. Just remember, what this person has done is jeapordized your earning potential and future work. This is worth a lot of money down the road!! This is a very serious matter and should be dealt with as such!!

If it were me, I would do two things, First front him/her up and get it in the open. make this person know you are aware of their actions and that you may decide to persue legal remedy for the damages caused. Then I would go straight to your client and ask them (very professionally) if they are preparred to make a statement. Bear in mind that to sue an individual they need to be worth sueing. No point if all you are going to do is send them bankrupt. if they have sizable assets then it may be worth the exercise. if they have reasonable personal wealth then again probably worth persuing. But i would think in this case, not really worth the expense. But do keep in mind that this individual may have already cost you countless hundreds maybe thousands in lost revenue that you have missed out on because of his/her mouth!! it is in your best interest to have them shut it!!

 

[rotty]

He has committed professional slander. It can be dealt with in a legal sense and he will lose, providing you are willing to get your client to testify or give a sworn statement to what was said. it can become very uncomfortable for many. in the first instance I would call the gym owner into this and also the guilty party. Behind closed doors you spell out your concerns in front of the gym owner. Make sure you know what you will accept as settlement of the matter. IE if it is this person's job, then that settles it, if it is a sincere apology and a promise (in writing) to never address your clients in this manner again then so be it. Just remember, what this person has done is jeapordized your earning potential and future work. This is worth a lot of money down the road!! This is a very serious matter and should be dealt with as such!!

If it were me, I would do two things, First front him/her up and get it in the open. make this person know you are aware of their actions and that you may decide to persue legal remedy for the damages caused. Then I would go straight to your client and ask them (very professionally) if they are preparred to make a statement. Bear in mind that to sue an individual they need to be worth sueing. No point if all you are going to do is send them bankrupt. if they have sizable assets then it may be worth the exercise. if they have reasonable personal wealth then again probably worth persuing. But i would think in this case, not really worth the expense. But do keep in mind that this individual may have already cost you countless hundreds maybe thousands in lost revenue that you have missed out on because of his/her mouth!! it is in your best interest to have them shut it!!

Slander is extremely hard to prove. You have to prove malice and also prove that you were harmed in some way. If your client is the only person that he has said it to and he's still your client there is no case. You haven't been harmed. If he has said it to other people and you can prove that you have lost clients because of this then you may have a case, but slander is an extremely difficult case to win because you have to prove intent and impact

 

[No-Go]

Just confront him and see i have been told what you said? Whats up with that bro? He will be a quibbling mess because he has been caught out then he looks stupid. And if he gets cheeky pummel him!!

 

[joeshow5]

I got a written statement from my client and took it to the owner. I tried to confront my slanderer personally and he was real nice until I told him about the statement. Then he just bumbled, got angry, and walked away. The club owner has apparently been told similar things from some of his friends who work out at the club. So apperantly this guy just doesn't know when to shut up.
It is in the owners hands now as he is not worth the hassle of a lawsuit.
I'm sure this will be his last week.

 

[BOOMSHAKER]

Joeshow, catch him in the locker room and stand right in front of his face and tell "the next time you try to take food off of my table it's on between you and me Muther F-kr"!

 

[blackhole2]

Don't play clean with a dirt player...

You confronted him and the results where not ideal.

Hire a part time receptionist and cut his hours in half, if he doesn't quit hire another part timer and give him the busiest shifts plus weekends at that point if he has not quit you will have 2 fully trained receptionists to take over his position and you fire him.

w

 

[flexmaster]

all confronting him and getting in his face would do is cause drama and headache. plus, how is that going to look to your clients/other members who know who you are and would possibly hire you in the future? i would have done exactly as you did joeshow...take it higher and have some form of proof that it happened. a few years ago some guy was trash talking me to another member and i saw it happening from across the gym. i followed him to another part of the club while he was setting some stuff up and got in his face and told him he's not involved in the situation at all, but if he wants to be we can go out to the parking lot right now! after it was all said and done i was the one who got written up, and had to (verbally and written) apologize to him for intimidating him.

 

[joeshow5]

all confronting him and getting in his face would do is cause drama and headache. plus, how is that going to look to your clients/other members who know who you are and would possibly hire you in the future? i would have done exactly as you did joeshow...take it higher and have some form of proof that it happened. a few years ago some guy was trash talking me to another member and i saw it happening from across the gym. i followed him to another part of the club while he was setting some stuff up and got in his face and told him he's not involved in the situation at all, but if he wants to be we can go out to the parking lot right now! after it was all said and done i was the one who got written up, and had to (verbally and written) apologize to him for intimidating him.

Damn, your story started out good but shifted on the ending! As much as I would love to call him out I only see that causing more issues. Although every time I see him I get that pit-of-the-stomach feeling of pure "I wanna pound your face in" adrenaline.

Sometimes it really sucks to be the bigger man.

 

[dragonfire101]

Why don't you let the owner know its upsetting the clients. So it makes this otehr guy look bad. It sounds like he is new so the owner would take your side. I don't see how you would be working there for 2 yrs if the owner did not think you weren't a decent trainer. Better yet try to get the client who told you to make a complaint to the owner and put in a nice compliment for you and have them act as if you didn't even know of this situation.

 

[MightyJohn]

Why don't You just be the better man & let it go....hell he is a receptionist...LOL