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Topic: Women who've dealt with toxic coworkers
| Author | Message |
| scriverla | Posted – 2/1/2007 4:29:27 PM | show profile | email poster For a pitch to a national women's mag, I'm looking for women who have been tormented by a toxic coworker. Do you dread heading into the office for fear of seeing so and so? Do you tense up when getting assigned to a project with someone who makes life at work hellish? How did you cope? Did you think about quitting? What made the situation better? Would love to hear your story ASAP! |
| beenthere | Posted – 2/1/2007 6:24:10 PM | show profile Can this be anonymous? I work with the most narcissitic megalomaniac I've ever met. Seriously unbelievable. Great stories, though. |
| scriverla | Posted – 2/1/2007 10:56:20 PM | show profile | email poster Yes! Names and job locations changed to protect the innocent. Please email me directly and share your story. |
| Mag Girl | Posted – 2/5/2007 4:13:25 PM | show profile | email poster I had a toxic boss who gave me hives daily and was so neurotic as to seem unbelievable. You can e-mail me if you're interested in hearing about it. |
| writesonwater | Posted – 2/7/2007 12:45:33 AM | show profile | email poster I had a toxic colleague -- but would only talk under condition of anonymity. Feel free to email me off the board. |
| austen | Posted – 2/7/2007 1:49:08 PM | show profile I was a toxic co-worker Aren't we all at some pt in our careers? A reason to become a freelancer! |
| clark | Posted – 2/7/2007 7:05:56 PM | show profile | email poster me too I too have been tormented |
| IslandConcierge | Posted – 2/15/2007 2:12:48 AM | show profile | email poster There was a really good article, "Bosses From Hell" in some Business magazine about 2 yrs. ago...I am trying to re: which magazine...I may have saved the article?! I'll see if I can find it!! i would positively love to read your article~when you are done!!! |
| lilo20 | Posted – 3/13/2007 9:16:42 AM | show profile | email poster Toxic Co-Worker I worked as a freelancer at a popular publication where a staff member in my department was extremely toxic. She unabashedly talked about people behind their backs -- from editors to interns -- and seemed to systematically undermine freelancers she didn't care for, to the point where some (including myself) were let go. It was amazing, and frightening, how she managed to do this undetected by her higher-ups who all seemed to be intelligent, reasonable people. I'm willing to talk about what I experienced and witnessed. Also, on Today Matt Lauer did a report on toxic co-workers and spoke to two men who I think wrote a book on it. This was something that aired last May or June. It seems to be very prevalent and there are theories about why. |
| questomodo | Posted – 3/14/2007 3:20:20 PM | show profile I had a toxic boss who was a great editor but could be extremely difficult to work with. Once, after he came into my office bemoaning the fact that he couldn't stop blowing up at *his* boss, I suggested anger management counseling. Without any sense of irony, he snarled, "I don't need anger management counseling!" He was eventually fired, but something should have been done about him long before. |
| Lotus665 | Posted – 3/15/2007 6:34:10 PM | show profile In your article, make sure to draw a distinction between a toxic coworker and workplace harassment (sexual, and the "hostile workplace" scenario). The latter are legally actionable. As opposed to just being ulcer-inducing... |
| beenthere | Posted – 3/15/2007 6:53:32 PM | show profile My lovely coworker talks to herself, giggles, hums, taps, and bangs ALL DAY LONG. She has admitted to having been diagnosed to being bipolar, but she meditates instead of taking medication because she doesn't believe in drugs. Oh, and she and her brother used to play "multiple personality disorder" when they were kids. It's a new game from Hasbro -- haven't you heard of it? She's a total looney. I mean seriously f-ing crazy. She called herself a douchebag and a loser one day. She stood up and said. "Loser! Loser, why are you standing? You're such a loser." And then sat back down. I could not make this shit up. |
| redheadedone | Posted – 3/18/2007 1:44:09 PM | show profile I worked with some one who would pick on a different member of the staff during closing. Suddenly, her attitude would change from thinking that they were a great member of the team to consigning them to the depths of hell. It was always just one member of the team, and it was always during closing. This was a few years ago, and she still can't figure out why she can't keep staff members. This woman honestly thinks it's not her. Every once in awhile I get an email from her asking met to come back to the fold. No way in hell. |
| The phashionista | Posted – 3/20/2007 10:03:58 AM | show profile | email poster I had a co-worker who decided she didn't want to be a part of the team anymore. She wouldn't come to meetings, she would close her door and she stopped talking to her co-workers ? on a three-member team. I had to walk through her office to get to my office. There was so much tension and she wouldn't tell me what was wrong. I found out that she did this because she found out that the other team member was dating the art director. She thought that was inappropriate (and I did too, but I didn't even know they were dating), so she just thought everyone approved of it since no one addressed it. Unfortunately, toxic co-worker changed her attitude and decided to be a part of the team again too late. She was fired. I work at a place now where people start crazy rumors and management just lets it slide. I wear headphones a lot so I don't get sucked in. |
