Opinion ID: 1454051
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Michael's absence and Gooden's complaint, both on January 16

Text: Michael admits that on January 16, 2004 she worked from home rather than coming in to her office in Nashville. She had allegedly worked late the previous night and then woke up early the next morning, all in order to complete a time-sensitive year-end report that she had been assigned to produce. According to Michael, Tomlinson had implicitly authorized her to work from home by stating the she should do what she had to do to complete the report. Michael conceded in her deposition, however, that Tomlinson had not specifically authorized her to work from home that day, saying that [s]he never gave me direct authorization, not in those words. During the course of that day, Michael's online calendar listed her as busy. She responded to emails from Henry, but did not disclose that she was working from home. According to Michael, she began working from home early in the morning, and continued working and sending emails until 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. After realizing at some point during the day that Michael was not in the office, Henry contacted Tomlinson to ask whether she had given Michael permission to work from home. Tomlinson informed Henry that she had not given Michael such authorization. Also on January 16, 2004, Gooden, one of Michael's subordinates, complained about Michael's management style to Rezaii. According to Rezaii, Gooden asserted that he felt degraded by Michael because she would make him perform personal errands such as bringing her water, retrieving paper off the printer, or picking up lunch for Michael at Captain D's restaurant. Michael disputes the substance of the allegations, but she does not contest the fact that Gooden indeed lodged a complaint. Gooden also complained to Rezaii that Michael made a practice of calling McGhee and Holland, Michael's other two subordinates, at homesometimes as early as 5:00 a.m. Michael does not deny this specifically, but objects to the allegation as hearsay. When asked in her deposition if she felt that calling a subordinate at home at that hour of the morning was reasonable, she replied that it was. Rezaii relayed Gooden's concerns over Michael's management both to Henry and to Senior Human Resources Generalist Jackie Sweeney, who said that she would investigate the complaints.