Toxic work colleagues

[stormcat]

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Where I work there is a woman about to retire. I already have been doing her job a little and doing it much better than her over the past few years. [...] Anyone been in this situation?

Yes. I worked in one packaging design firm where I was on a 1-year contract to cover a maternity leave. One of my co-workers was hell to work with. Every day was another slew of insults. And I mean, full on abuse. Not just directed at me, but at all of the female employees in my department. It's one thing to take it with good humour and a grain of salt, but day after day it gets tiring and starts wearing people down. Some women from other departments would actually walk around the long way to keep from having to walk through our department.

I went to HR and put in a complaint about it. I got fired!

 

[braveheart]

Take a dump on her desk. Like a Boss.

+1 :lmao:


BTW. whats with the people that are saying MAN up, and STFU.

only a pussy would STFU. a MAN would end it.

go to her house and kill her cat. Old chicks usually have one or more cats.
the next morning, ask her how her cat is.

maybe even take a dump on her dead cat

 

[braveheart]

Go into work early, and leave a pile of dog feces on her chair at her desk. Or you could leave it behind her computer monitor and she could be wondering what is that smell all day long.

+1
whats with people that think leaving pooh in places will solve their problems ?:lmao:

 

[oilycreek]

I'm so glad I could help you learn the words cathartic and venting.

Here's an idea, if you want to vent aka cry, how about doing it with the co worker. If I was your boss, and you came to me crying about a co worker, I would ask you , what have you done about it? have you talked to her about it?, and if you said no, I would consider you a whiner, and give you zero credibility on any future complaints. I guess you have no balls, since you can come on a forum and vent, but not say **** to the co worker. Grow up, how old are you 12?

 

[Rob MacLennan]

Here's an idea, if you want to vent aka cry, how about doing it with the co worker. If I was your boss, and you came to me crying about a co worker, I would ask you , what have you done about it? have you talked to her about it?, and if you said no, I would consider you a whiner, and give you zero credibility on any future complaints. I guess you have no balls, since you can come on a forum and vent, but not say **** to the co worker. Grow up, how old are you 12?

Then you've likely never been in charge of anything bigger than a lemonade stand.

 

[Nyx13]

Seriously...for all the people that think 'granny' must be easy to deal with just 'cause she's older (so what...65? Big whoop)...get real. Unless you know the OP, and you know the woman and the place they work don't sit here and go off about how he's a pussy etc. and question why can't he 'handle' her.

I work for the government and I can tell you if you don't handle things the way THEY want it handled - you can end up getting canned. I'm sure we're not the only business run that way either so the OP has the right idea questioning his next move.

As to 'granny'...we had a woman like that several years ago. She was fired for creating a 'toxic work environment' cause she was so miserable to so many people. Just 'cause you have competent bosses that will deal with toxic employees or an HR dept. that stands up and does their jobs, etc....doesn't mean everyone else does. The OP has the right to go to work everyday and do his job in peace without someone deliberately trying to sabotage his job. I can't blame him for asking...hoping someone here might provide a constructive answer or guidance when he obviously is unsure as what is the best move. Too bad he ran into the usual keyboard warriors. At least some people gave good advice.

I ran into someone recently that left here because of all the stupidity, been hearing that more and more and it's a shame this board is getting a bad rep.


Rant over.

 

[invictus43]

Then you've likely never been in charge of anything bigger than a lemonade stand.

+ 1

 

[nobbie48]

Seriously...for all the people that think 'granny' must be easy to deal with just 'cause she's older (so what...65? Big whoop)...get real. Unless you know the OP, and you know the woman and the place they work don't sit here and go off about how he's a pussy etc. and question why can't he 'handle' her.

I work for the government and I can tell you if you don't handle things the way THEY want it handled - you can end up getting canned. I'm sure we're not the only business run that way either so the OP has the right idea questioning his next move.

As to 'granny'...we had a woman like that several years ago. She was fired for creating a 'toxic work environment' cause she was so miserable to so many people. Just 'cause you have competent bosses that will deal with toxic employees or an HR dept. that stands up and does their jobs, etc....doesn't mean everyone else does. The OP has the right to go to work everyday and do his job in peace without someone deliberately trying to sabotage his job. I can't blame him for asking...hoping someone here might provide a constructive answer or guidance when he obviously is unsure as what is the best move. Too bad he ran into the usual keyboard warriors. At least some people gave good advice.

I ran into someone recently that left here because of all the stupidity, been hearing that more and more and it's a shame this board is getting a bad rep.


Rant over.

Thank you. I know someone going through it . Talk is cheap when you've never been in the front lines.

 

[oilycreek]

Then you've likely never been in charge of anything bigger than a lemonade stand.

As usual you make assumptions when you know nothing about me. I used to manage a printing company. The first step in any conflict is to appraoch the other person involved and try to solve it at that level, and only after that do you take it to the next level. I had more important things to do ; when managing; then get involved in an employee dispute, especially if I only have one side of a storey. Being a mod on a motorcycle forum doesn't qualify as being in charge of any thing.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

 

[Rob MacLennan]

As usual you make assumptions when you know nothing about me. I used to manage a printing company. The first step in any conflict is to appraoch the other person involved and try to solve it at that level, and only after that do you take it to the next level. I had more important things to do ; when managing; then get involved in an employee dispute, especially if I only have one side of a storey. Being a mod on a motorcycle forum doesn't qualify as being in charge of any thing.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

Employee conflict dispute is part of the job, as a manager. I was supervising people who were twice and three times my age, when I was in college. I've been a manager in three different computer manufacturers, in my lifetime. It's obviously gone beyond the level of peer dispute resolution.

 

[oilycreek]

Seriously...for all the people that think 'granny' must be easy to deal with just 'cause she's older (so what...65? Big whoop)...get real. Unless you know the OP, and you know the woman and the place they work don't sit here and go off about how he's a pussy etc. and question why can't he 'handle' her.

I work for the government and I can tell you if you don't handle things the way THEY want it handled - you can end up getting canned. I'm sure we're not the only business run that way either so the OP has the right idea questioning his next move.

As to 'granny'...we had a woman like that several years ago. She was fired for creating a 'toxic work environment' cause she was so miserable to so many people. Just 'cause you have competent bosses that will deal with toxic employees or an HR dept. that stands up and does their jobs, etc....doesn't mean everyone else does. The OP has the right to go to work everyday and do his job in peace without someone deliberately trying to sabotage his job. I can't blame him for asking...hoping someone here might provide a constructive answer or guidance when he obviously is unsure as what is the best move. Too bad he ran into the usual keyboard warriors. At least some people gave good advice.

I ran into someone recently that left here because of all the stupidity, been hearing that more and more and it's a shame this board is getting a bad rep.


Rant over.

Do you know the woman involved? Do you know the circumstances involved? The only fact here is, posting this on a motorcycle forum won't solve anything for him, if it's that bad he has to take it up with his Co worker and solve it that way,

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[short stop]

As usual you make assumptions when you know nothing about me. I used to manage a printing company. The first step in any conflict is to appraoch the other person involved and try to solve it at that level, and only after that do you take it to the next level. I had more important things to do ; when managing; then get involved in an employee dispute, especially if I only have one side of a storey. Being a mod on a motorcycle forum doesn't qualify as being in charge of any thing.
Sent from my A500 using Tapatalk

This isn't always true. You don't automatically attempt to solve it at the peer-level if you honestly don't feel comfortable doing so, or you don't feel as though it would be a constructive situation. If the conflict has escalated to a certain point, there should be no issues taking it right up to the next level. I also work for the gub'ment, so I've sat through all the mandatory HR b.s.

What happens when trying to hash it out with a toxic co-worker goes off the rails? Would you finally step in as a manager to resolve it? Or do you have more important things to do?

 

[oilycreek]

Employee conflict dispute is part of the job, as a manager. I was supervising people who were twice and three times my age, when I was in college. I've been a manager in three different computer manufacturers, in my lifetime. It's obviously gone beyond the level of peer dispute resolution.

How do you know it's go beyond peer dispute resolution? are you basing this on one side of the storey? if so your managing skills need refining. whether a manager likes a certain employee or not, if it comes to managing a dispute, it is his/her job to do it fairly, and that means gettihg both sides, and more. talking to other employees is where the truth usually is.

 

[Rob MacLennan]

How do you know it's go beyond peer dispute resolution? are you basing this on one side of the storey? if so your managing skills need refining. whether a manager likes a certain employee or not, if it comes to managing a dispute, it is his/her job to do it fairly, and that means gettihg both sides, and more. talking to other employees is where the truth usually is.

If one employee reports the situation the way that the OP did, then it has gone too far and must be dealt with. It doesn't matter if it's just one side of the story. If it's true, then the situation needs to be dealt with. If it's false, then the situation needs to be dealt with. Either way it impacts productivity.

Your first comment indicated that you thought there was no need for the manager to get involved. Now you say it's his job to get both sides of the story. Are you going to make up your mind, sometime soon?

 

[oilycreek]

This isn't always true. You don't automatically attempt to solve it at the peer-level if you honestly don't feel comfortable doing so, or you don't feel as though it would be a constructive situation. If the conflict has escalated to a certain point, there should be no issues taking it right up to the next level. I also work for the gub'ment, so I've sat through all the mandatory HR b.s.

What happens when trying to hash it out with a toxic co-worker goes off the rails? Would you finally step in as a manager to resolve it? Or do you have more important things to do?

You don't know if it would be constructive, unless you try. If they couldn't work it out, then yea I would look in to it. How do you know the op isn't the toxic one?

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[Wingboy]

The only co worker i have no use for is a new guy that started a football pool with a bunch of the other long time employees.They won a big pile of cash and when it came time to pay out he claimed that the pool was between himself and his neighbour and the other co workers split the third which amounted to diddly squat.Lying,cheating thief! the guy walks around very proud of himself.It'll catch up with him someday.

 

[oilycreek]

If one employee reports the situation the way that the OP did, then it has gone too far and must be dealt with. It doesn't matter if it's just one side of the story. If it's true, then the situation needs to be dealt with. If it's false, then the situation needs to be dealt with. Either way it impacts productivity.

Your first comment indicated that you thought there was no need for the manager to get involved. Now you say it's his job to get both sides of the story. Are you going to make up your mind, sometime soon?

Again you're wrong. Read my post again, I said first step is to approach the Co worker, and only then he takes it tot he next level, but the question is, what is the next level? His boss or his union? He by passed the Co worker and the union, and went straight to his boss., and what was his second step? Post it on a motorcycle forum, tells me a lot about the op.

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[ZX600]

This is more of a cathartic excercise in venting but any advice is good too.

Where I work there is a woman about to retire. I already have been doing her job a little and doing it much better than her over the past few years. Over the past few years I also did some work outside the dept that was totally legal and above board but she just didn't like it, I won't explain but it made her look bad but I was just doing a job. Over those years she's taken every opportunity to belittle or criticise me and I just shrugged it off. I just received a promotion and am doing pretty well truth be told. I have a good position in the dept etc. This woman's latest e-mails have been to me but also cc'ed to my boss etc and she has accused me of lying, etc. Again, I did have some choice words written down but shrugged them off. I went to see the boss to explain and he advised me to just ignore her. I think he's more or less on my side.

Thing is, it's hard to ignore someone so intent on causing trouble. I explained to her that I've been to see the boss etc but I get the feeling this witch will not back down. I think it's another 4-5 weeks at least until she retires, maybe longer though.

I looked at an article about bullying in the workplace and it seems as though it's more or less written with her in mind.

Should I be the better person and just ignore her completely or is it time to call the union and ask for libel charges to be brought etc? I get the feeling that if there's a fight no one will win. I'm wondering if I just ignore her she might shut the **** up too. She seems like the type of person to thrive on argument. Her latest e-mails have been quite bizarre and very unreasonable.

Anyone been in this situation?

every time I have sent an email or acted in defense from someone's attacks, it always came back to bite me in the ***, perception at work is more important than reality, last thing you want is to go above your manager and embarrass him when He already told you to let it go, if you go to the union it will make him look like he didn't act when he should and even if that is the truth you would be the one looking bad in his eyes and not the crazy woman

Let it go dude, write everything down including the conversation you had with your boss but keep it on locked key, if something happens then you can use all that info to defend yourself, just don't act on it without your bosses backing

 

[Rob MacLennan]

Again you're wrong. Read my post again, I said first step is to approach the Co worker, and only then he takes it tot he next level, but the question is, what is the next level? His boss or his union? He by passed the Co worker and the union, and went straight to his boss., and what was his second step? Post it on a motorcycle forum, tells me a lot about the op.

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And you're assuming there's a union involved. If there is then it's the boss who it gets reported to and then the union, if the boss gives no satisfaction. The union is there to back you up, when chain of command fails. It doesn't replace it. Whether by lack of action, or action that has failed with respect to talking it out with the co-worker, it's beyond that now.

Posting it on a motorcycle forum, talking to friends, asking your shrink; these are all things you can do, at any step in the process. Belittling someone, for looking for insight, is petty.

 

[nobbie48]

I used to manage a printing company.
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The OP wasn't trying to resolve the problem on this forum. He was venting and also looking for ideas to help resolve the situation. Not everyone is a bull in a china shop.

In the mean time he could shop for a goodbye card for her. Something that says "I hope your tomorrow is pleasant. Mine is going to be fantastic."

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