Intel worker cries after being subjected to ‘Kick Me’ prank, suit says

[undeterred]

Source: Fox News

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Intel workers secretly taped a "Kick Me" sign to the back of a co-worker as a pranked, then kicked the confused man a number of times as employees at the Rio Rancho Intel plant laughed hysterically at the episode, according to a federal lawsuit.

The Intel employee, Harvey Palacio, said in the complaint recently filed in Albuquerque that once he suspected something was taped on his back during the August prank, he went to senior staffer Randy Lehman to ask if something was there. "Lehman said turn around and as Palacio did he saw and heard (another employee) yell out `Don't read it, just do it'," the lawsuit said.

Lehman then kicked Palacio three times in his buttocks, according court documents. Another employee, Chris Zeltinger, who the lawsuit said exchanged Christmas gifts with Palacio, kicked him twice as he was seeking help to remove the sign.

"Palacio decided that this could not continue and walked back in front of the group to ask someone else to remove it," the lawsuit said. "Palacio felt demoralized and assaulted and he began to cry during the drive home. He could not tell his wife because he was so embarrassed and ashamed."



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/05/07/intel-worker-cries-after-being-subjected-to-kick-me-prank-suit-says/

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These are adults in the IT industry. Amazing.

[ZRT2209]

1. assholes. fire them all.

[Kelvin Mace]

2. Words fail

[PeaceNikki]

3. But, to clarify, that's a manufacturing plant not developers.

Yes, if true that's ridiculous. Yes, they are adults, but it's a plant.

[Dash87]

4. IT industry? That explains a lot.

Just kidding. Some adults never grow up, and this is a perfect example of that.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. Every single person who kicked him should be out of a job

and arrested. A "kick me" sign is a dumb prank. Kicking him is a physical assault.

[sakabatou]

6. Some adults are still children.

[DotGone]

7. Tha adult world is no different than high school

People just engage in more subtle forms of bullying. Alas, in the case, they didn't even try.

[Blue_Tires]

14. Hell, you can say it's not that much different from kindergarten...

in how we relate to one another...

[maynard]

8. bullying at all ages

This is why it is so hard to stop bullying in schools. The kids have great role models who condone this behavior. If dad does it....OK for me to do it too. "harmless prank".........wrong!

[PatrynXX]

9. standard treatment

been there etc. never sued over that particular thing. did try to sue over losing a fingertip but Travelers decided not to do so so I couldn't X_X

[TrogL]

10. If they tried that in my office, I'd have each one of them charged with battery

I've already warned them autistic, that I'm not going to "get" a lot of office humour and am litigious.

A number of years ago, as a subtle joke, some of the contractors decided to put Rush Limbaugh on the radio. I filed a sexual harassment complaint and had them fired.

[leftyohiolib]

11. so you falsified a complaint and had people fired over a lie?

[stevenleser]

13. The question you mean to ask is, what did Limbaugh say that constituted harrassment

Leaping to an accusation of a false complaint is making an assumption and jumping to an unsupported conclusion.

[leftyohiolib]

16. i guess a better question would be how can something you hear over the radio that isnt addressed to

you or about you specifically be sexual harrassment? perhaps it's the same question reworded but regardless i dont believe you can therefore the false complaint.

[stevenleser]

18. Oh broadcast radio/sound or video/tv can definitely be sexual harrassment

I can think of several radio episodes by Limbaugh and Howard Stern that an HR department would agree could create a hostile environment for women.

[leftyohiolib]

19. i understand hostile environment i didnt think it would be considered sexual harrassment

we are covered periodically in sexual harrassment , discussing elevator eyes etc. but never did choice of radio station come up. perhaps therein lies my confusion.

[TrogL]

20. I recently came out at the office. Limbaugh was on a particularly homophobic kick

I think this was around the time of Matthew Shepherd.

[stevenleser]

21. Oh, real funny of those people. Sorry you had to deal with that.

[TrogL]

23. It's not like they weren't warned.

They were given the Sexual Harassment policy in public and when I came out I said I would be following it to the letter.

[snooper2]

22. I put a note on a co-workers desk saying

"Your cubicle is not sanitary, cluttered, and in general a mess. Please contact facilities upon receipt of this notice"


He called, even more funny called on speaker-phone, and starting telling our facilities dude about the note, who was clueless. It was hilarious all around LOL...

[SoapBox]

12. WTF?

...I'll ditto those that say to fire them.

[wickerwoman]

15. I did a diversity training class at work about a month ago

and they showed a video of an apprentice from an auto body shop who sued his boss and coworkers for bullying. They duct taped him to things (a fridge, inside an oil drum) for hours at a time and threw lit matches at him.

The really disturbing thing was we were supposed to discuss the video at our tables afterwards and the only comments I heard were:
"We did a lot worse things than that to apprentices when I was young"
"It's not like they called him a fag or anything"
"Sounds like someone had a serious sense of humor failure" (meaning the victim)

It just makes me wonder WTF goes on in peoples' heads. It would never, in a million, millions years even as a small child have occured to me to throw lit matches at another person (or to kick them- except in play kung fu where they were kicking back). Nor has/will that ever seemed like a "joke" to me.

Sense of humor failure indeed.

[marble falls]

17. Prank, my aunt Fannie's tutu. Putting the sign up was a prank, kicking the guy...

was physical assault. and doing all the other stuff definitely added up to a hostile workplace. How did no Intel boss find out about this whole thing and fix it in a couple of days?