Sorry for the late response; been a LONG day. First, She is my BOSS (past tense pending).
Second, her fingers made contact with my chest as she yelled “bang”.
Third, she laughed at the humiliation that she had caused and just walked back to her desk.
Fourth, I’ve filed reports with both HR & the police (Sting says hi). I’m not sure if I can work on that floor anymore; I Know that I can never work with or for her again. Period.
Fifth, this is Definately her idea of a ‘all you Caucasians are so Stupid! Ha-Ha.’ sick joke and she was Definately playing up the VT thing. I’m Not Laughing.
Sixth (possibly lastly) if you don’t see me posting further, think ‘discovery’ and ‘litigation’. This was my Dream job. I don’t give up my dreams easy or cheap.
I can’t imagine making such a fuss over such a minor thing; if someone put their finger against my chest and yelled “Bang” I’d probably clutch my chest, scream “I’m hit!” and fall to the floor. So would most of the people I’ve worked with; maybe I’ve been lucky in working with people who had a sense of humor.
I can understand why some might think you are overreacting, but I do not agree. You were right to report her. That behavior is completely unacceptable for anyone, but especially from your superior.
The woman made a threatening gesture (using a mock gun to pretend shoot you) and made direct physical contact, then laughed. The OP clearly felt threatened and is uncomfortable working with her. Her actions made for an uncomfortable workplace environment and that is worthy of it being reported to HR.
Please keep us informed on what happens next. By the way, can you tell us what type of work you do? You don’t have to be specific, just in general terms…
I’m having a hard time believing so many people think this is a harmless joke.
I’m sorry, but if my BOSS comes up to me and pretends to SHOOT me, at the very least I’m going to her boss, then to HR if needed, whomever I can complain to.
It’s unprofessional, it’s hostile, it’s insulting, it’s childish, no matter what their ethnicity. It’s unacceptable behavior, and if the company defends the boss in any way, makes excuses for her, tells you “it was just in fun”, run, don’t walk to the nearest exit and never look back.
Is there some sort of additional background that makes this seem like a credible threat? Has she stalked you? Does she always mention her large, scary boyfriend? Does she go on and on about her gun collection?
Why is this anything other than her acting like a goof ball?
Put me in the “what’s the big deal?” camp. From your description it seems like she was just being silly. If you could go into more detail on the subtle animosity that you mentioned in the OP, maybe it would shed more light on situation for us.
I’d have to know more background. I used to work with a guy who was not my direct boss, but who was higher in the pecking order than I, and had authority. He also had a vile temper, and was mentally unbalanced. He screamed and yelled and cursed and threw things. Once, he kicked the wall right beside me and broke quite a substantial hole in the wall. We worked the night shift, and so we were often the only two in the building.
If he had done what the OP describes to me, I would have been completely terrified and reported it to anyone who would listen. (He was also well known as a hunter and would have access to a number of weapons.) If there’s been a long-standing pattern of intimidation and inappropriate behavior, the OP isn’t overreacting.
I didn’t stay at the job long, in case you wondered.
Unless there’s a whole lot of background that has yet to be mentioned, the idea of being frightened or reporting this to higher-ups is asinine.
Either there’s more, or somebody needs to grow up. Mommy won’t always be there to keep the big, bad person from pointing a finger and saying “bang”. You should have been able to handle this yourself.
Hint: LouisB’s idea of clutching your chest, falling back and saying “Ya’ got me” would have been a suitable response.
I still say take it to HR and let them sort it out. You don’t play with the idea of shooting your co-workers.
Count Blucher, it sounds like you have a much more involved story with this boss than you’ve told us here for this to scare you so much. I would think that would be inappropriate, but I don’t see where the fear is coming from.