Q: My wife found discrepancies in the managers' receipts, which launched a serious investigation that led to the manager being fired for embezzlement. Three other managers were and still are friends with this former manager, and have spent the last five years harassing my wife. They have bullied her and sabotaged her work to get her fired. One manager has since retired, but the other two still work at the company. My wife has worked there for 16 years and been harassed for the last five. What can she do?

A: Just because these managers openly harass your wife does not mean that others at work don't share their feelings. Hopefully, your wife has not confided in anyone at her company since the time of the incident because even people who are not antagonistic may not be on her side.

Your wife probably feels she was just doing her job, but people with corrupted values might have "buried" the information and falsified the reports. Whistle-blowing shows honesty and strong ethics but can also place the whistle-blower in a threatening or dangerous position. Though your wife was right to report the financial discrepancies, she violated the clandestine one-hand-washes-the-other club formed by these managers. Trust-keeping lies hold another person responsible for keeping a lie under wraps, and her honesty and courage has them scared.

If your wife has not documented all the undermining incidents, she needs to start now. She should describe their behaviors in detail in an email, sending it from her work email to her personal email. A company email address is company property, so she will want to keep a record of the incidents in her private email account.

The human resources department of any company represents upper management, company culture, policies and procedures. Though reporting missing funds is pro-company, it also upsets the status quo, which greatly upsets certain types of people. If HR was not included in the embezzlement discovery and the result, your wife may not want to include it just yet in the harassment issue.

The executives who expressed appreciation for her uncovering embezzlement may be the only ones on her side now. If she recalls such a person, have her tell that executive what she has been experiencing since she reported her manager's wrongdoing. Let the executive bring in HR and guide the next steps. If she can't go to upper management, consult a lawyer before going to HR.

The other two managers may have an immature and misplaced loyalty to their dishonest friend, or they may also be guilty and are afraid of being discovered. Something is motivating them to harass your wife, and it will not stop until she takes action.

DIRTY JOB TO CORRECT DIRTY EMPLOYEE

Q: I have noticed that a jovial and friendly employee I recently hired has changed. Her hair often appears matted and dirty, and her clothes smell bad by the week's end. I think she might be living out of her car. How do I approach the subject before my customers and employees complain about her odor?

A: Be kind but direct. Basic hygiene is important and expected. If her odor builds anew each week, it is likely she is not showering often and not wearing clean clothes. She was OK when you hired her, so she understands the concept of washing and smelling fresh. If you sense she is having troubles that might have led her to living in her car, ask if there is anything that might hamper her being successful in the job. Tell her cleanliness is important for you, your employees and your customers, and offer to research places she could use if she doesn't have the proper facilities where she is living.

Email your questions to workplace expert Lindsey Novak at LindseyNovak@yahoo.com and follow her on Twitter: @I_truly_care. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and to read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Website at www.creators.com.