Managerial Decision Making About Employee Grievances: The Impact of the Grievant's Work History

This study uses field data to examine whether managerial decisions about employee grievances are influenced by the grievant's work history with the organization. Additionally, because aspects of the grievant's history may be contractually relevant when evaluating grievances over disciplinary issues, the study examines whether the impact of the grievant's work history varies with the nature of the grievance. The results suggest that managers, at later stages of the grievance process, are influenced by the grievant's work history‐even when that history is not relevant to evaluating the merits of the grievance. In finding this, the results suggest that inconsistencies exist in terms of the treatment of employees within the grievance system.