There are two sides to every story, and village officials aren’t saying anything yet about allegations that village officials are mistreating some village employees.

But if the allegations are true, the village officials in question should be ashamed of themselves. And, taxpayers should be upset, because private companies have been sued for such behavior if it creates a hostile work environment.

Jill Ackerman, a CSEA labor relations specialist, was joined by about 15 village CSEA employees at Monday’s Village Board meeting. Complaints that a personnel specialist was told not to speak with Ackerman regarding village employees’ complaints violates basic management principles.

Even worse are allegations of emails from a trustee that Ackerman described as harassing. Even if the trustee feels justified in his feelings regarding upset employees, those feelings should be kept behind closed doors rather than boiling over into the employees’ workplace.

Labor relations, particularly in the public sector, are often messy and contentious. Village officials would do well, however, to keep the mess contained to the bargaining table rather than allowing it to spill into employees’ daily work space. No good can arise from the behavior detailed by the union earlier this week — particularly when the sniping is happening in emails.

One must be a legal adult to run for office and to work for local government. It’s time to start acting like adults rather than upset teenagers.