One toxic coworker can sometimes be enough to ruin an otherwise wholesome company atmosphere. Here’s the issue though: you might not know that you’re working with someone like that because they hide it so well. Then something shifts and you see their true colors.
Case in point, redditor u/No-Lobster-177 revealed how she learned just how narcissistic and nasty her (now ex) supervisor could be. The harassment started when the OP decided to take a position at another company. Scroll down for the full story, as well as to see what the r/MaliciousCompliance community had to say about the work drama.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of the viral post, redditor u/No-Lobster-177, and she was happy to answer our questions. She shared her thoughts on what happened, as well as some of the red and green flags to keep an eye out for in managers. You'll find our full interview with the OP below!
Toxic managers can make your life hell if you let them trample over your boundaries
Image credits: Sora Shimazaki (not the actual photo)
A woman opened up about how her supervisor began harassing her the moment she decided to quit
Image credits: Anna Shvets (not the actual photo)
Image credits: George Milton (not the actual photo)
Fortunately, the manager soon got her comeuppance
Image credits: u/No-Lobster-177
Bullying in the workplace shouldn't ever be tolerated
What the author of the post had to deal with was utterly atrocious. There’s no nice way to put it: she was sabotaging the OP’s last two weeks at work. Not only did her former supervisor take away her work account access, but she also moved her desk and even called her in the middle of the night.
This is classic bullying, leaning on harassment. And this shouldn’t be tolerated. Redditor u/No-Lobster-177 pointed out that the owner of the company seemed to be on her side. However, it still seems strange that he tolerated the supervisor’s disruptive behavior for so long.
Companies live and die based on their reputations—especially small ones. If there’s a particularly problematic employee who’s making their coworkers’ lives hell, clearly, it’s an issue that should be dealt with sooner rather than later.
At the end of the day, everything turned out fine. The OP jumped ship to her new job. Meanwhile, her old supervisor got a taste of karma: she got fired and then sued for destroying company property after a massive meltdown.
According to the author, she uncovered that her supervisor had been taking advantage of her by unfairly distributing the workload. "After I put in my two weeks, it was revealed to me kind of late that I was doing a lot of her own work," u/No-Lobster-177 shared with Bored Panda.
"I understand managers delegate tasks, but usually not their own. I was doing roughly 80% of her own tasks, with zero accounting experience," she said.
Image credits: Yan Krukau (not the actual photo)
A good manager is someone who is willing to actively listen to your concerns
The OP told us that one of the most blatant red flags that a manager might be toxic is so-called 'love bombing': acting overly nice. Another thing to look out for is a deep desire for managers to be liked by their own bosses.
Other warning signs include taking small offenses and blowing them way out of proportion. Or escalating situations that don't really require reprimands.
That's not to say that all managers are bad at their jobs. There are plenty of good ones out there, too. "I think a sign of a good boss would be someone who actually listens to your needs and concerns and sees it from your perspective," u/No-Lobster-177 told Bored Panda.
According to her, good managers also give you a space in the office where you feel comfortable bringing up workplace issues "without you feeling like a 'snitch' or making you seem like you're the problem for bringing it up to them."
Meanwhile, Bored Panda was interesting in the advice that the author would give anyone who's stuck in a similar situation as she was, dealing with workplace bullying.
"Anyone who's in a similar situation as me I'd tell [them to] bring it up to the owner/supervisor/higher-ups IMMEDIATELY. If it's a safe space, you should absolutely advocate for yourself. If it's not a safe space, you need to look at the company you work for in a different light," she shared her perspective.
"Those companies that don't allow you a safe space are likely seeing you as just a number and not a person, [just] someone who either brings in the profit or loses the profit. If you're dealing with toxic coworkers, you need to stand up for yourself and set boundaries," u/No-Lobster-177 pointed out that this is easier said than done.
"Record as much information about your interactions with that coworker, and bring it up to a supervisor. If they treat the situation casually, when it's serious, then you need to do everything you can to get out of there. Do not let a job crush your self-worth."
The company needs to step in if some of its employees are harassing others
Image credits: Anna Nekrashevich (not the actual photo)
If you are ever in a similar situation with a toxic colleague at your place of work, it’s important that you enforce some healthy boundaries. First off, you can try talking to them about their behavior.
Next, if your company has a human resources department, bring the issue up with them. They’ll either step in to protect you or help mediate the entire conflict. It really helps if you have some evidence to back up your claims—it’s best to document specific examples of toxic behavior. Some people are extremely charismatic and manipulative, so you need facts to cut through all the bull.
If that doesn’t bear fruit, work your way up the corporate food chain. Talk to your boss. Then your boss’ boss. Serious issues need to be dealt with, not ignored.
Toxic managers may have some deep-seated issues that they can't handle in healthy ways
Image credits: Andrea Piacquadio (not the actual photo)
In the meantime, if you find that your values don’t align with those of the company or that your issues are being ignored, you’d best start looking for another job ASAP. Sure, it’s a scary step. But it’s far better than staying somewhere where you’re burned out, demotivated, stressed, and harassed daily.
Toxic managers usually lack empathy and have lots of insecurities, so they lash out at others. Instead of dealing with their own issues, they take their frustrations out on their subordinates.
They tend to micromanage their employees, criticize anything and everything, and rarely (if ever!) give positive feedback because they’re envious of others’ achievements.
On top of that, toxic bosses tend to take credit for other people’s work, are expert gaslighters, and see themselves as being far more important than anyone else in the company.
The author shared some more context in the comments of her post
Here's how the internet reacted to the work drama
Some readers had stories to share about what proper managers should behave like
