Jodi has a good point. I was picturing this as a smaller firm, but if not (“one of the premiere general contractor businesses in the state”) you have to deal directly with SusieQ, and that means taking off the gloves. Call her on her bullshit and be prepared to handle the fallout. As Jodi said, put up a big calendar (if you use outlook, you can set up the truck as a resource and reserve it - be sure to block out working time as “For Business Use Only”). And when she pulls the penny-ante bullshit, say “That’s penny-ante bullshit.”
Don’t be afraid that she won’t ‘like’ you. That’s already true, despite what you may have perceived previously.
Just as a footnote, Boss may have only 15 employees but company has at least a hundred subcontractors that work for us in the residential arena only, and another 50 or so who work exclusively for the commercial division. Boss is a real estate broker, and has a large number of smaller LLCs set up for his land investments. And we own a gravel pit, and a newly-remodeled resort house in Mexico. So–not a big company per se, but we build some 60 homes a year and concurrently have a dozen or so commercial ventures going, mostly using our subcontractors. HUGE for this area, and company has an excellent name and reputation as well.
Still–4 bookkeepers, and two of them part-time, do the lion’s share of the office work. I love everything about this particular company except the bullying.
Why? If the OP loved the job before the truck thing came up, why is the bloody truck so important to fight over, even if it means that the OP will then hate the job? How is that possibly worth the trouble of months of hassle, just to have “possession” of some ogdamn truck?
The boss has been yelled at for needing the truck, he’s sure as shit going to understand if the OP says that scheduling to use it is more trouble than it’s worth. He’s the one footing the bill for mileage, and it’s his problem. This truck didn’t create a problem for the OP, it’s a windfall and just ignoring the truck isn’t going to make her worse off than she was beforehand.
Sure, it’s not fair. But fairness has a value and for this situation, I can’t imagine that value outweighing the cost of dealing Suzie-überbitch-Q through the holiday season. Fuck it, man: discretion is the better part of valor, and valor is the better part of success. I say the OP should be downright magnanimous, and let Mr. Owner reckon the cost of SuzieQ’s misbehavior on his own. He just lost an experienced, loyal, and valuable employee because of this woman—or at least as far as he knows, he did!—which means lost productivity, search costs, training costs, &c. all heaped on top of the mileage reimbursments he thought he was getting rid of. Remember, it’s cheaper to rent a car to send me to a conference than it is to pay me the IRS-established rate! That’s fucking expensive!
The OP is no worse off than she was before, the boss can be told that she would have stayed on if it weren’t for SusieQ, and he’s not saving as much money on the truck as he had hoped he would be saving. Let SuzieQ stew in her own shit. If the boss can’t perceive the problem at this point, then going to the mat will mean fighting a lot more than SuzieQ herself.
When I wrote my post, I hadn’t seen Rebecca’s response, regarding her leaving after the holidays. Personally, knowing I had 3 months left would make me even more brazen in dealing with asshole coworkers. Not everyone can do it.
With the new information, I’d simply forget about the truck benefit - it doesn’t exist. I also would not pretend to be anything more than a frosty co-worker. I’m good at separating what is needed to get my job done and my personal feelings (a necessity when you consult and your team changes often). That would be my way of handling it.
This is what I was thinking as well. If the truck’s available, great, go for it, but don’t schedule anything dependant on it being there. If something work-related comes up that requires the truck, and SusieQ is making that a problem, then go to the boss and explain what’s up. Otherwise, just pretend the truck isn’t there, and put the whole situation out of your mind for the time you have left. SusieQ’s obviously striving for diva-hood, and you probably won’t be able to change that.
FYI, Jodi, b/f has taken a job with the largest electronic/appliance retailer in Montana that is exclusively Montana-owned, and someday we MAY end up in Helena with him at the helm of that branch outlet. I’m sure you know which company I mean. I’m more than willing to throw my effort behind HIS advancement with that company rather than mine with this one at this point…but I didn’t always feel this way.
js_africanus, I like very much allowing Boss to believe that SusieQ “ran me off”, as that is essentially what will have happened. And I had already decided to forget about using the truck (I don’t truly need it, after all!) but the bullying and the inclusion of other office staff in the bullying has really diminished the pleasure of this place for me. THAT needs to be made clear to someone now and when I leave. I like D_Odds freezing stares & behaviors towards SusieQ quite a bit.
Tomorrow could be a new day for me in general contracting!
He’s also unprofessional as hell, negligent as hell and not-overly-good-at-anticipating as hell. No offense, but based upon your OP, this is what he is really facing:
The day will come when he is hit with a lawsuit. Or two. Siince he has purchased the company truck with company funds, I suspect the state registration and insurance cards name the company as well as him as owner, and as you mentioned specifically, it was purchased to be used to run vehicle-required errands such as filing forms and papers, he has quite clearly in the eyes of insurance and ownership made this a Company Car.
His generous as hell behavior has already created an unprofessional situation- witness everything you wrote in your O.P. Additionally, when SusieQ makes a bad turn into the local Dairy Queen and kills Mrs. MacGillicuddy and her 11 month-old triplets by t-boning Mrs. MacGillicuddy’s mini-van with force sufficient to flip it over, SusieQ is not the only one who will be named in the suit. So will Mr. Gruff But Great As Hell, as will his corporation as a separate entity.
IANAL, but simple adult understanding of how the world WORKS brings me to what I wrote above. I am not trying to dispense legal advice, nor pose as an attorney in any manner. Let’s be really clear about this. Having just recently purchased a vehicle, I am very aware of- at least in New York State- how specifically the owner’s name must match between insurance card and registration card. SusieQ is not the owner. You are not the owner. Being covered under the company liability policy while driving around during the day is dicey enough. Have you asked Mr. Boss very clearly to call his auto insurance and business liability carriers and ask if this specific use of the vehicle covers yourself and your co-workers, or if in fact you are personally liable because you are using his car, during the work day, to do his bidding, but you are in no way insured by his auto carrier to do such? Work making him or the office manager call both his liability carrier and auto carrier, and ask for the answers in writing, on paper. Not an email. I’d do it, and as I said before, I’m not a lawyer- just a person who is paranoid enough about exposure to liability and risk. No doubt some of our Doper attorneys will come along to tell you I’m fulla bunk for thinking along these lines, but in your position- being told to use his car to do business on his time?- I’d make darned sure that I was specifically named in his auto policy.
You are wise to avoid the use of this vehicle, at all costs. I honestly think this guy is just begging for a tragedy to take out his personal and professional assets. Steer clear, pun intended.
