Fuck. This. Job.

The BBQ Pit
1

For back story, see this thread.

Dragon Lady got better for a while. Then she got worse. This week, I worked 16 hours on Sunday, 13 hours on Monday, got three hours of sleep and was back at my desk at 6 AM on Tuesday, due to a giant proposal under deadline. During this time, I was also spending time at the hospital with my best friend, who’s Dad was near death. He’s recovering, at this point, but it was pretty bad for a while and she was not eating or sleeping much and really needed emotional support. Needless to say, I was very stressed. She felt this was a good time to pick on me, including lecturing me for ‘leaving it to the last minute’, despite the fact that I’d been working on it every second since I recieved it. Then, when it was finally done, she complained that the reason it was running late was because I’d sent a personal email during the day. I did send one email, but it was only one, one I didn’t even write while at work. We have no company policy that forbids or even addresses email usage, and considering I’d worked for 29 out of the previous 48 hours, with no breakfast, lunch, or dinner (I did have a bag of popcorn and some cookies while working), I don’t think one email telling my friend why I’d fallen off the place of the planet was out of line-- especially since I actually sent it AFTER the proposal was out the door.

So obviously, she’s been reading my email and snooping on my computer. Because this evening (at about 7:30) she sends me an email telling me that it’s come to her attention (gee, I wonder how) that I’ve been using my work laptop for non-company business. Again, there is no policy against this. I was never told not to. I don’t surf porn. I take my laptop home because I’m basically on call 24/7. I was threatened with termination. In a fucking email. She doesn’t even have the decency to say it to my face. After all the dedication I put into my work. After all the stress I’ve been through. For wandering the net and working on my book during my lunchbreak. I’m not sure how good a blowjob she gave the CFO to get him to okay this threat, but my back is pretty much against the wall.

So, you stupid peice of shit, good luck running the office alone. Good luck with my filing system. Good luck following up on all the crap I was taking care of. Good luck dealing day in and day out with our sales people, who despise you. Good luck actually doing your own job duties, since you can’t just dump them on my desk anymore. I don’t care if they offered me a million dollars, I won’t work another day next to your bony, poorly clad ass. Take that laptop and shove it right up there. Fuck you AND your fire-alarm pulling spawn. I wish you a ruptured gall bladder, peritonitis and gangrene. Your pompous, assinine email was the last motherfucking straw.

I feel better than I have in six months.

2

That doesn’t sound like a job. It sounds like insanity. Good thing you got out of there. I’ll never understand why people can think a job is more important than life itself, and try to impose this beleif on others. Your ex-boss needs to spend some time trying to figure out why she is here.

3

Is this woman’s name Yvonne Bxxxxx-Pxxxxxx? Did she used to work in the Seattle area?

There can’t be two women THIS full of hatred and bitchery. Damn, much sympathy to you. I hope you get an AWESOME job the day you walk off this one, and that 6 months later, this bitch is fired for stupidity(that’s what happened to me when I had MY run in with a Dragon Lady we called the wicked witch of the west).

4

Sadly, these types tend to be coveted in the business world, and competition for them is fierce.

5

Goodbye, shithole company. I ditched mine last monthk, and my mental health has improved immensely.

I wish you the best in finding a great job.

6

Obsidian, I read the entire previous thread about this evil woman. Goodness, I don’t know how you put up with it!

The thing that struck me was when you said you were starting to wish for injuries so you could get off of work. I am glad it isn’t just me that has had such thoughts. I kept on hoping that I’d sprain my ankle or something so I wouldn’t have to go to work. And it wasn’t nearly as bad as your job (but it had its own perils and stresses that I do not want to dismiss).

I quit that job a little less than a year ago, and sometimes I still have dreams (dreams full of dread) about it. And my mom (who has been retired for some years now) still has bad dreams about her hellhole job. I hope you don’t have bad dreams about this hellish job you are escaping, but if you do, don’t feel like you’re the only one. Yikes!

7

Are you sure that the threat of termination was approved by the CFO and that the Dragon didn’t simply send it without his knowledge?

8

Obsidian, is there some way you can communicate your grievances and unhappy history with that company to higher-ups and H.R.? It would be a shame if your boss (or ex-boss) gets away with all of that crap.

9

Congratulations, Obsidian! I’m so glad for you that you’re outta there.

I agree with The Scrivener - you should at least write a memo to your boss’ file. At the company where I used to work, one of the employees who quit because of my manager’s favoritism (needless to say, she wasn’t one of the blessed ones, and neither was I), wrote a searing memo to my boss’ file, copied her higher-ups and HR on it. It was very, very damaging to her reputation in the company, and I really wish that I had done it before I left (she promised me a glowing reference, then refused when I asked her to keep her word after I was gone). Just make sure that if you do do such a thing that you’re professional about it. Don’t curse and don’t get emotional in the memo - just state flatly why you’re quitting and the events that lead up to it.

Good luck! I know someone will snap you up quickly - you sound like a very dedicated worker. Any company would be lucky to have you.

10

I’ve had several really crummy bosses over the years and know what you’re going through.

Sorry about my hasty posting. I went to the older thread and read it completely; yours is a small (15 emps) company with no HR Dept. per se…

I think you need to ask your CEO for a private one-to-one discussion about all this. You need to know what your standing in the company is and what negative feedback the Dragon Lady has been sending his way. I also recommend you approach the CFO to ascertain his feelings about all this.

We’re all rooting for you, Obsidian!

11

This may seem like a pointless excercise, but have you tried talking to Dragon Lady about your greivances, with a third-party moderator (preferably her boss)?

Bang out a fancy PowerPoint presentation. Call it Dragon Lady: Queen Succubus, or something. Clearly state why you feel you are being harrassed, and forced to work in a hostile work environment.

Who knows, it just might work. :wink:

12

Actually, if you read her previous thread, it seems Dragon Lady IS H.R., for all intents and purposes.

13

So, how did she take it? Details!

14

We’re off today (and Monday), so it will have to wait until Tuesday.

I called my trusted, personal work friends and told them, however, and have secured references. Hot IT Guy told me he was proud of me for finally doing it, and that he was getting pretty close to that point himself. Maybe we can finally have uniterupted dinner and drinks like frickin’ normal people.

I did some math and realized I can get along for three to five months without a problem. I’m lucky in that my best friend’s mom will be our landlord in our new house, and she has agreed to reduce my rent if I need it. There’s also a little strip mall thingy down the street from my house just opening. Kinkos and Starbucks have help wanted signs out. It’s not great money, but it can help stretch my savings. If there’s someone out there who’d like to give me a crash course in living on a tight budget, I’d really appreciate that. I updated my resume last night and have begun sending them out.

I can’t decribe how good I feel today, with this decision made. I’m going to stop by tomorrow and clean out my desk. (I want to be able to sort through my stuff in private). Tuesday, I send a letter to the CEO, CFO, and senior VP, then head into the office to tell her where, exactly, she can shove it. My favorite sales guy made me promise I’d do it in person. He called me chickenshit (true) and told me I’d always regret it if I just slunk away quasi-fired instead of going in, quiting and telling her why. The letter is to tell her bosses why.

After that, I never have to go back. If i have to work at Wall-mart and eat kidney beans for every meal to get along, it will be a dream compared to that job.

To be honest, I know I’m very good at my job, and will have no problem finding a new job-- with more money. I was grossly underpaid at this job, and they don’t give raises. I’m talking 5-10K below market. I think this is the best thing that could have happened to me.

(I really do wish her gangrene in her abdominal cavity. That’s what’s wrong with my best friend’s dad, and it’s about the grossest thing I’ve ever heard a doctor describe.)

15

Damn! I’ll be offline after tonight, and I won’t know how it goes until I get back.

Please, take pictures, notes, hell, tape the damn thing on a camcorder. I want to know how this turns out.

16

Please make sure that the words “Hostile Work Enviorment” figure strongly in your letters.

Friends with any doctors? I’m sure that a stress finding would not be a hard thing.

Unenployment is your friend. Between the hours and the stress, backed up by your co-workers, you could well see benifits.

17

Good for you. Too many people think they can treat their employees like children instead of adults who deserve a basic level of respect and can be trusted with responsibility. And too many employees confuse “work ethic” with “putting up with unnecessary bullshit.” Addressing a letter to her bosses is exactly the right thing to do.

You’ve got the right attitude about leaving the job, too. Don’t worry about working at Wal-Mart and eating kidney beans; having to live with what you’ve got now is not living.

18

I’ve been very lucky then, only came across the one so far.

19

And the phrase “constructive dismissal.’”

Hi thee to an employment lawyer before you quit to ensure that you do not close any doors with regard to unemployment, or to sueing for a few months of cash.

20

I don’t have any advice or anything to offer, but I thought I would just chip in with a good luck wish to you. I know you’ll find a job that you will like and that will be worthy of you.