CASE STUDY: GOSSIP GIRL

SUM: Four ladies in a New Hampshire municipality were sacked after circulating a story
against the town administration. According to the information provided, the administrator
was rumored to be having an affair with another local employee.
He filed a complaint with the local council, which initiated an investigation.
The council subsequently fired the four veteran employees for propagating a rumor and
refused to restore any of them. Two of the ladies will never be able to apply for jobs in town
again.

Q1: What do you think of this situation? Do you agree with the town council's
decision about the firing and refusal to reinstate the employees?

I disagree with this decision. Although the 4 women were dishonest and had words that hurt
the dignity of others. But these 4 women only talk about the problem of the director having
an affair, but it has not really affected the reputation of the president of the neighborhood
and the company, because in fact he did not have an affair. About dismissing and not
allowing applications to the town seems a bit heavy because it directly affects the lives and
future of these 4 employees.

Q2: As was stayed in the case, a recent survey showed that 60 percent of the
respondents indicated that the biggest pet peeve they have about their jobs is
workplace gossip. Research the topic of office gossip/ office rumors. Is office gossip
always harmful? Discussion. Could it ever be useful to managers?
Part 1: Most gossip involves sharing who did what with whom. This is not always negative.
Some other functions of gossip are to get or give advice about how to navigate a social
situation. Gossip also does not only or always involve an absent third person. It is possible
to gossip about oneself. Sharing reputational information about others assists group
members in identifying cooperative people. Uncooperative group members become more
cooperative because they get ostracized for bad behavior (Feinberg, Willer, & Schultz,
2014) Gossip, whether it is negative or positive, serves several purposes (Fox, 2001). "I
believe that rumors are neither good nor bad, but complex..
Part II: Experts believe that updating rumors in the workplace is healthy and beneficial to
managers and other people's careers. Although some rumors may also cause malice, in a
word, this activity is an unofficial exchange event and event, and there are people who do,
get along with and who. Gossip builds social relationships. However, I believe that if you are
going to engage in any kind of gossip it is important to trust the people you choose to gossip
with and learn what is and is not acceptable from your feedback.

Q3: In retrospect, what could these four women have done differently?

I believe these four women should have capitalized on their enterprise. Without factual
knowledge, they engaged in unethical communication. In unethical communication, the truth
is distorted or the audience is manipulated. I think they could have handled the situation
more professionally if they hadn't speculated and let their presumptions control their
feelings.
These women might have requested a meeting to discuss their worries about what they had
seen, and if the behavior persisted, they could have also notified the Human Resources
division to have the situation thoroughly investigated. Yet, I also think that the particular
tongue-wagging that resulted in the firings was only a small component of a dismal
workplace where whispering, gossip, and an unfavorable work environment pervaded.

Q4: What implications can you see for managers and

communication from this story?

Managers risk losing the respect of upper management and other workers as well as being
demoted from their existing positions due to unfounded assumptions and assumed
behaviors. A lot of managers find it difficult to address workplace gossip because it is too
insulting or personal.
Because of the rumors that have been disseminated and the sensation of not being able to
speak with the people circulating these stories due to a fear of further incriminating
themselves by saying something incorrectly or being at a loss for words, communication will
be impeded.