Employee Development

Communication

Integrity

Employee Empowerment

Knowledge

Authenticity

Comment

If hostile work environment had been a known entity at the time I worked for Rich, I would have had a slam dunk case. I had been with the company for 9 years when I started working with him, and not only had I never had a situation where I didn’t work well with a colleague, client, or vendor (and I worked with hundreds in various locations and roles, even countries during my time there), but literally everyone I worked with would have quickly told anyone asking that I was a pleasure to work with. I had received “consistently exceeds” reviews in every single role I held (4 in total), and I was placed on projects specifically because of my ability to work well and build relationships with people that reported to me, colleagues on projects, and clients. My turnover rate as a call center manager was the lowest across the board by far because people liked working with and for me. This is not a self-bias statement - there is significant data and documentation of this. Rich did not like me. I was a threat to him bc I was told by the person in his role before him (that I had a fantastic working relationship with) that I would be the person taking over the role Rich came into in “no time.” This got back to Rich, and when we started working together, it became clear that I was much more liked than he was. In fact, I spent considerable time sheltering the managers that reported to me from him because he was abrupt, rude, and inexplicably hostile towards them. He literally yelled at me in every meeting we had, and after those meetings, he bold faced lied about what was discussed. I decided to bring tape recorders in to prove it, and I did. And I caught him in several blatant lies that impacted my standing with the company and jeopardized my role. I proactively met with his manager to ask how I might better communicate with Rich (I did not share anything about his hostility but made it more so that I was having difficulty communicating with him and wanted his input). I asked my direct colleague (we were the only 2 people that reported to him at the time) for her feedback on ways I could be more clear in my communications. I did everything I could to try to work with him and “meet him where he was,” and as my manager, he did nothing to even try. I repeatedly asked for ways I could address the concerns he had (ex - I was in “too many meetings”, so I printed my calendar out and asked which ones I should eliminate - he had no suggestions). He made me sit at the end of the very long working space (picture at least a football field of cubicle sections) facing the WALL bc he wanted “access to me” instead of allowing me to sit with the team I managed. He complained that I answered some of his non-urgent emails at 12 AM —- yet it was the only time I had to so that as I worked 60-80 hour weeks that I never complained about! He wanted me out, so he went to an HR person he had in his pocket to gain access to my emails and communications. He did not find a single shred of evidence to back his claim (he tried to say I was sharing information with the people that reported to me that I shouldn’t have - and I was not so there was nothing to find). What he found were instant messages between me and my boyfriend (in another department/line of business). Both of us worked insane hours, and we would chat online well after regular work hours bc that’s what we were doing - still working! The messages were not always PG rated, but they were only between the 2 of us and were entirely consensual. The reason he gave for firing me was “inappropriate use of technology.” I had no recourse, though I did submit a 42-page document detailing all of the things that were happening that he knew about that he ignored (ex, people in direct reporting relationships having sex with each other ). And that he once proposed using MY client’s resources (that they were paying the fully loaded costs for) to “leverage” for use by another client without my client’s knowledge or consent. The only “nice” thing I can say about Rich is that he is very technically and operationally knowledgeable. He loves to say that he “likes people expressing their ideas,” but he truly only wants a “yes person,” and I was not that. It is worth noting that after I was dismissed, I was offered my job back by someone that ranked much higher than Rich (my former bosses and colleagues were horrified by his behavior and actions). I declined bc I felt too betrayed that a company I had given so much to for a decade of my life would allow someone like Rich to treat me that way and get away with it. He is a horrible person and an even worse boss. Everyone I worked with (no exceptions) left the company when I was let go. One quit on the spot learning what had happened. The others found other jobs immediately and left as soon as possible once they realized how much I was shielding him from them and were now exposed to his tyrannical management style. I truly do not understand how he has a job at all, much less at a company I respected for so long.