BellaOnline Forums Career Career Training coworker is verbally abusive

my dept hired a new lady a year ago. she was very nice for the first seven months but in recent months her personality has changed and she has well...become crazy. she constantly has an attitude with a few others and myself. she is mad if we dont help her with her work and she gets made if we do help her. she is constantly in this state of rage and she takes it out on us. she has even thrown things in her temper tantrums. she believes she does everything right and better and we do nothing right (even though we have alot more expriance than she does and she makes alot of mistakes)

management has been notified but they say they never see or hear any of this. while due to the location of their offices that may be true, I think they should say something to her.

ignoring her only makes her push harder and if you ask her to stop yelling, she wants to get it on with a week long arguement. we just cant win with her. I have never encountered a bully quite like her. she even likes to act like she is my boss!! she will be snotty and ask if I am on the clock when I refill my coffee mug or water bottle, yet she can take a 45 minute personal phone call in the hall and thats okay.

my question is, how do I handle her? what is the best way to deal with someone like that so I can have a semi-peaceful day at work? as of now, I have just been waiting for her to do something so over the top management has to take notice.

p.s our guess is that she is so insecure that she has to tear apart everyone in order to feel better about herself or she has some sort of mental disorder.

Do you have a human resources department? If so, I'd report her to them. You shouldn't have to take that kind of abuse at work and the company is setting themselves up for trouble by allowing it. If your managers won't do anything, go over their head if necessary. Also, you might try to make a recording of what is going on for proof.

Good luck!

Julie

Hi Marie,

Witnesses to the action should also report to HR. Your post did not state the size of the company. Some HR managers or HR period in small companies don't really work the way they do in larger companies. Some companies are so small, they think they can get away with a lot and no one would press charges.

Find out if your company has a grievance policy and if so follow their procedures to file a complaint against her. If it's truly harrassment that you're feeling - follow the harrasement procedure as stated in your company policy.

If your unit has team meetings - ask the supervisor if they can address the issue of team work in the meeting without mentioning names. If she's going to act out, she will definitely show management during the meeting.

- Has anyone really spoken to her?

The first time she threw something - she should have been written up and/or terminated.

- It's true she may have some sort of mental disorder, however it is management's job to make sure that employees work in a safe environment. They could be afraid that she may be covered under diability and are afraid to take action - big mistake.

If the company is unwilling to take action even when faced with possible legal action, unfortunately it is you that will need to decide if you can work in that type of environment. Hopefully that is a last resort.

Keep us posted!!!

Hi, There is nothing in the law that states that employers must behave and cannot be an absolute jerk, other than an employer must not discriminate (single out) someone or several persons due to their age, disability, national origin, pregnancy, race, religion, gender or other statuses protected by state or local law. Also, an employer may not retaliate against a person who is protecting his/her legal rights, such as filing a complaint of discrimination or filing a claim of workers compensation. Thanks, Kelly.