Pulling the knife out

The guy from the last post has been removed from the kitchen and into another job at my request.  He continued to make snide little remarks until I finally had to talk to him about it.  That was about a week and a half ago.   He has an enormous chip on his shoulder, and he was determined to make me the enemy.  When they needed to take someone from the kitchen to fill the other position, I asked that they take him.  I was told that I’m not the only one who’s had problems with him and his attitude.

Later in the day he came to the kitchen…his face was beet red…he was either really embarrassed, or incredibly angry.  He had just received the news that he would be moving to the other job.  He said…”I want to apologize to you if I did anything to upset you.  I loved working in the kitchen, and with you.”  The kitchen was full of people, since he chose to approach me right in the middle of lunch and all I could manage to way was, “Ok.”

I wanted to talk to him privately…to explain that in a “real world” job, he wouldn’t have lasted two days if he talked to his supervisor the way he talked to me.  I wanted to ask him the question…”When the director asks me my opinion on who she should take out of the kitchen to fill another position…who should I say?…one of the guys who try really hard and are respectful to me?…or the one who has a chip on his shoulder and is always making passive/aggressive comments to me?”  At any rate, I’m sure he knows the answer to that, but I still feel a sense of guilt over it.  I really and truly want my guys to succeed.  I want to teach them skills to get a job in the real world.  I care for them very much…and when one spits on me (figuratively speaking)…it hurts.