I just need to vent...

April 13, 2012

I know this isn't the place for workplace complaints, but I have a extremely

passive-aggressive co-worker who has been meddling and screwing things up, and

I'm totally irritated. Fortunately, at this point, things are under control

because I have been discussing the issues with our COO, but only after the

problem escalated so high this morning that the co-worker started sending out

emails informing people that she was making decisions on certain matters and I

could take it up with our CEO. And that's when I had had enough. She didn't have

the authority to make those decisions, and her doing that, taking things over,

is what has resulted in a number of mistakes and now problems/issues with a

campaign I am running, which I am responsible for bringing in a large sum of

money--upwards of $50,000.

I ended up having a 2-hour discussion with our COO, who was totally aghast to

hear of this co-worker's behavior, her finger pointing, and her inability to not

take things personally when they aren't her job and needs to let the person who

does that and has experience do them.

But even after that, something she did that I explicitly told her NOT to do and

that was publicly acknowledged as a task I would handle, is now going to be a

major procedural problem in the campaign. Thank you so much, jerk.

In addition to all that, I have discussed these behaviors with her before, and

she just blows it off like saying stuff like " Well, I would never take it that

way. No one would ever get that out of what I said/did... " and of course,

hinting that I'm wrong. She likes to take on other people's tasks and take on

projects then, when she can't do it all, say crap like " well, I took this on as

an added duty and it wasn't in my workplan " as if we all weren't doing anything

for her that was outside our workplan. It really pisses me off because after she

determines that, yes, she can fit in a project, don't come back to me

fingerpointing when you can't get it done after you said " yes " . Certainly you

can tell me that it's taking more time than you thought, but don't fingerpoint

and blame when you take on too much. Own up to it and admit it.

She spouts about working as a team, but she is anything but a team player. And

of course, I feel awful because I don't want to have to have these conflicts

with people, but I was specifically brought into this organization to bring it

up to the next level and make a lot of cultural, procedural, and overall changes

to advance the organization. And so my job, inevitably, becomes a lot of

conflict because people think they know what they are doing or think they are

doing a good job and they're not. This woman thinks she is this amazing writer,

and everything she writes is a boring press release. It's ridiculous. And she

can't handle being told that what she is writing is not right for what we need,

because it's mean. So anything you say about her work is " mean " or becomes a

major conflict. The worst part is that all these things are things she takes

over (without asking, by the way) that me and my department have in our queue to

do, and then she sends them to us like she did us a favor, but instead we have

to re-write them or entirely redo them, and then it's just a waste of everyone's

time. And then she gets pouty and upset because she was " helping " and she took

time from her workplan to " help " .

And of course she hired a little cohort to be just as annoying, rude, and

inappropriate and unprofessional as herself. It's just totally awesome at work

right now.

I was so angry today that I was crying. (And I was crying because I couldn't

throw things.) Talked to COO and she understood how difficult it was dealing

with this person, how I had tried, numerous times, to diplomatically discuss her

behavior and how it wasn't helpful and how she can help, and how this person

just continually ignores me and does whatever she wants. And then this thing

blows up because she's desperately trying to control and that means finding a

way to override me, which I won't let happen. And I also told the COO, I can't

even talk to her about things because it has to be " congenial " and I'm sorry but

when you're having a dispute like this, it's not going to be all hunky dory. She

has been behaving badly and she's not going to get out of taking responsibility

for it by saying we can't deal with the problem unless we are all " congenial " .

Certainly I don't want to just lay into her, but I'm mad, and she needs to hear

it. She needs to see that she isn't going to railroad over me to get her way.

Okay, done venting.

Would love thoughts--please no contradictions. Last time I vented about her on

here someone told me to suck it up and be nice because I was new, which is

exactly NOT what I was hired to do.

Thanks again,

April 13, 2012

It makes me wonder why this awful woman is still employed there; she must know

where all the bodies are buried, or perhaps she's dating the owner or something.

Wow. It never ceases to amaze me when really horrid, destructive, inept,

incompetent people *who drive the good employees to quit* don't get their asses

canned immediately, let alone after repeated screw-ups.

I'm flabbergasted.

-Annie

>

> I know this isn't the place for workplace complaints, but I have a extremely