Dream Company, Nightmare Boss — Part V - 2015 Bits and Pieces

After my initial visit with HR, and the subsequent visits to ensure my responsibilities were clearer and his behavior improved, conditions were somewhat normalized. Temporarily. 

Greg Everage's behavior soon reverted back, with me typically in the crosshairs—or adjacent to—his hostility.

Assorted Inappropriate Comments 

I realized that Greg wasn't only a bad manager but a bad person to boot. When we were out to dinner after a late workday, I mentioned to Greg and two other colleagues that another colleague, Kristy, and I attended weekly cycling classes. Greg said that was a good thing, noting that Kristy needed to exercise more. I asked him why he would say such a thing, and he lamented how she used to be cute, but she had gained too much weight. Seemingly reviewing his rolodex of female employees, he continued, saying our department admin, Tara's, weight increased and her appearance had gone downhill in the past year. I looked to the other two colleagues and said, "Wow." I was the most junior employee at that table—and the only woman. How does a senior manager think it’s OK to talk about young, female employees like this? We take mandatory sexual harassment training, with managers taking more extensive training.

On Cindy's eventual last day, Greg, Cindy, and I were chatting about how well Greg was getting along with his new boss, Derek. He told us that Derek was much better at his job than Christa—and that she was too emotional to handle the job. He was simply happy to work for a man again. Greg told his two female subordinates all of this without pause. 

OK, maybe this one's just weird: Greg brought in pots and pans his blogger wife got for free from cooking events to sell to co-workers. I ignored the sales attempts, knowing he got them for free and was trying to turn a profit. After a few weeks, and fewer pots sold, Cindy and I were in his office discussing work topics. He pointed out the pots hogging space under his desk.

“Do you girls want these pots? You can have them. I need to get rid of them.” 

Cindy and I both agreed that we would take them if he’s going to give them to us. 

Relieved, he said, “So, how much will you pay for each one?” 

...What? How do you position giving your employees the free mommy-blogger cookware no one will buy, and then ask them for money? I said I misunderstood his offer and declined. Cindy took more time to hem and haw, before ultimately declining as well.

You Should Read My Mind (And My Inbox)

On multiple occasions, Greg berated me for not immediately knowing things like a photographer’s day rate or where a shipment was. And if he couldn't remember something, he expected that I had the answer for him—immediately.

While I always attempted to find the answers he sought, there were hundreds of instances where the information he asked for was not available to me. For example, he would reference meetings I didn't attend and emails that I wasn't on, expecting me to understand him. If I tried to explain that I was not privy to the information, Greg turned hostile when I didn't—and couldn't—have the answers he wanted.

Here are a couple examples:

1. Greg came to my desk asking what was going on with the wardrobe from a video shoot. I hadn’t heard anything from the production company, so I let him know I wasn’t sure, but I would contact them for an update. He insisted that there was an email about it, I was the one handling wardrobe, and I should have the status. Confused, I told him I would search my inbox.

I searched all my emails, deleted and otherwise, and came up with nothing. I went over to his office, telling him if there was an email, I couldn’t find anything. He said I was once again failing my basic job duties, and that I'd have to find out what happened. I called the production company, leaving a voicemail inquiry.

Later, he walked by my desk saying—in passing—that he found out what happened with the wardrobe. He forwarded me the email with the wardrobe communication and—surprise!—I wasn’t on it. Three weeks prior, Greg and one of our Washington employees were on the email thread with the production group, not me. Greg responded to them with directives and the wardrobe was sent to our Washington teammates.

I asked Greg why he was sending me the thread if it was already resolved and, most importantly, why he didn't redirect them to me in the first place if I was responsible.

He said it was to prove that “the conversation occurred,” and I should have been included. I told him I was frustrated—mistakes and misunderstandings happen, but he chastised me. When he falsely claimed it was my mistake, I failed my basic job duties; when the mistake was revealed as his, all was forgiven. 

 

#2: Greg called me into his office after a video shoot—one of the many that I did not attend. He asked how much the photographer's full-day cost was. I told him I wasn’t sure of the exact amount off the top of my head, and if I grabbed my laptop, I could get the information from the project sheet. He told me I couldn't leave as it needed to be resolved "right now." We’d figure it out together.

I sat and watched as he looked through his inbox for the email. He asked me if the photographer's rate was $75 per hour, how much a full day with overtime would be. I asked how many hours he worked, the overtime rate, and for a calculator. 

Greg said, “Oh, come on. The math isn’t that hard. I hired you because you’re smart, right? Are you telling me you can't do simple math?”

I excused myself and said I would grab a calculator so I could answer his question. He told me to stay, but I continued to walk out. You can tell the difference between someone teasing and someone being an ass—he was always the latter.

About five minutes later, he forwarded me an email thread—that I was NOT on—with the photographer’s rates and how much the full day was, saying:

"If I am asking you to be responsible for these then you do need to be cced on all of the correspondence and that will take place moving forward. The best approach is when we discuss this that you are all in. Not to be defensive because once someone becomes defensive then they are blind to what is needed. Cool?"

This was the norm. Nearly daily he would ask me for things I didn’t and couldn’t have answers for. Answers that HE had. He would confuse and condescend me, I would defend myself, and then he would tell me not to get frustrated. 

I semi-diplomatically responded to his message: "Greg, I would ask to be looped into these conversations when they occur so I’m better aware of what’s going on and can anticipate your expectations. Thanks!"

 

This was what working with Greg Everage was like, every minute of every hour of every workday—he never owned up to his mistakes. I was slowly losing my sanity to each frustrating moment working with him.

Next up: Health and Confidentiality