Manager is harrassing/bullying me at work

[scully78]

Hi,  I have been having difficulty with my immediate manager at work. She has recently been promoted to a higher role, and I have stepped into her old role. She is constantly trying to discredit me with my managers and colleagues. Gone so far to create the impression that im lazy and bad in my role. She has been doing and saying things over the past few months that I have been documenting, but this week someone put in a formal complaint because I dont wear my mask, but a few people including managers, dont wear them. She has since been watching me like a hawk and today managed to get me in trouble for recycling paper, which is akin to committing a crime in the laboratory I work for. She constantly looks for reasons to complain about me and once took something I said completely out of context to create the impression I am a deviant and dont intend to do my job properly. I dont understand why she targets me as all I want to do is work and forget about the place. She is an avid rule follower, so when I deviate from the rules, she feels the need to "punish" me, even though others do the same thing. What is wrong with this woman and what should I do about it?

[Mark Z.]

Hi Scully78,

Thanks for sharing your story. I'm sorry for your challenge.

If you think the entire culture of the lab is toxic, I'd support your decision of looking for other external opportunities. And it's also good for you to take a break.

Obviously your director manager is using a 'smart and skilled' way, it's ‘covert bullying’ and it's harder to argue. If you go to fair work without persuasive evidence, it's possible to fail. So my suggestion is to focus on external jobs, it is a perfect timing.

Mark

[scully78]

Hi Smallwolf,

Thank you for your perspective and I have tried to see this situation from her paint of view and have discussed this with another colleague. She was apparently a self proclaimed "rebel" in her youth, and has turned thing around. She does not deviate from rules of any kind and will make complaints against anyone who does, so she likes to impose her views onto others. We all have traumas/stressers in our lives. Its no excuse to behave this way.

I have been (by more than one colleague) told that she is behaving this way towards me because she feels "threatened" by me. I originally disregarded this as a likely reason for her targeted behaviour, but I am starting to think this might be the case. She likes to think the lab will fall apart in her absence, but recently took some time off and the laboratory was perfectly fine. I get the impression she likes to be rewarded and praised for her work, but has now disappeared into the shadows with her new role, which is mostly paperwork. People cannot see what she does, so she isn't getting the validation she desires (or so it seems to us onlookers).

I know she is stressed, as am i. But she is incapable of seeing that I am busy too, hence, her labelling me lazy. If I discuss things with her she always tells me I am wrong, even when Im right. I try to challenge her, and she gives vague responses. I find her very hard to trust.