You've Got to Be Kidding!: How to Keep Your Job Without Losing Your Integrity

The Abusive Coworker

The abusive coworker problem is equally as damaging to an employee’s psyche and a company’s bottom line. Here’s a beauty I received:

Dear Nan:

There is a bully in my department who criticizes me for no reason, goes out of her way to embarrass or discredit me in front of other employees, and seizes every opportunity to make my life miserable. She has even told outright lies about me. She rebuffs all my efforts to become friends, and I feel like a fourth-grader on the school playground. She either (1) is just plain jealous of me, (2) wants my job (for which she is unqualified), or (3) just wants me gone for some reason. I hesitate to mention it to my boss because he’d probably tell me to grow up and ignore her, and I wouldn’t blame him. I love my position, my boss, and my responsibilities, but I don’t even want to go to work anymore. What can I do?

—Tim in Stillwater, OK

• Take it seriously. “In situations where a coworker is attempting to discredit, embarrass, and/or spread lies about you, then it’s no longer an issue of ‘hypersensitivity.’ . . . Your job, your reputation, and your career are now on the line,” says Tami Dickinson, CPS, executive assistant at Sodexho Laundry Services in Marietta, Georgia.
• Document every incident. Include dates and circumstances and keep this tracking journal long enough to make your point. And as Diane Johnson-Hung, an administrative assistant for WEA Trust in Madison, Wisconsin, suggests, “Make sure your documentation is written ...