Most legal action will not involve the direct supervisor, and it probably shouldn’t. A direct supervisor could have stepped in here and possibly made a difference. However, the idea that a direct supervisor will by design know when to violate company policy in order to safeguard an employee is not feasible… The company managers and those who are responsible for implementing state laws for protecting employees need to be held accountable. Direct supervisors should be documenting the policy issues that are a problem, and helping the union stewards to get the policies changed. In a perfect world… Unfortunately most companies hate working with unions and managers are too removed from the issues that are harming employees. The current system sucks.