u/CatExpress523

The remote employee is almost never at his desk. He responds to messages hours later, if he responds at all. Calls usually go unanswered. He misses meetings or joins late, and then doesn't follow up afterward. Deadlines are treated as if they're just suggestions, and tasks stay stuck unless someone keeps chasing him several times.

The difficult part is that I only have documentation for 3 missed meetings, 2 clear examples of work that was left undone, and 3 instances where he was unavailable at odd times even though he was supposed to be working. I've only been at the company for 4 months, so I'm still trying to understand the history of the issue as well.

In a one-on-one, I tried to talk to him about the pattern and what needed to change, but instead of hearing me out, he became defensive and argumentative.

Then in the follow-up meeting where I shared the PIP document, he refused to acknowledge it and said he would sue the company. Honestly, I wasn't expecting things to escalate this quickly, and now I'm wondering if I handled something incorrectly.

I'm asking the other managers here - how would you have handled this situation differently?