The week of January 18 was one of my worst workweeks. Afterward, I was seriously discussing my resignation with family and friends if I couldn't transfer to another job; and my friend's mom, who worked in HR for over 35 years, strongly encouraged me to leave, citing her observed incompetent handling of every issue she knew about. I desperately wanted to make things work. My entire life, I fought to get there, and this guy was going to torpedo everything I worked toward.
(As an aside...) Another problem is, when you seek out other opportunities within a company, people talk. People knew that Greg and I didn't get along. What I hoped, was that prospective hiring teams saw how much love I had for the people and the games (and still do). I adored (most) the people I worked with; I proved time and time again that I was a valuable resource on many projects; I collaborated well with people, building trust and good relationships across many in the organization. Greg Everage did none of that: he didn't like the people, he didn't like the games, he had zero trust, very few good relationships. Regardless, the situation was lose-lose for me. He was my boss. And as much as I tried to break through, his shadow was all-pervasive.
Tuesday, January 19
Our team had a regular weekly meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Mondays. On this day, Greg emailed the team earlier in the morning saying he was coming in late, and he greeted me in person around 10:15. He didn’t mention anything about rescheduling the meeting. At 10:30, I dialed into the call with the remote team, and after a few minutes, we noticed Greg hadn't called in. I ran over to his office--not there. I ran over to the break room--not there either. I ran back to my desk and we, as a team, resolved to continue the meeting in lieu of waiting. They had a lot on their plate and preferred not to reschedule. I said I would recap Greg whenever he resurfaced.
We ended the call around 10:45. Greg came by five minutes later. He asked when our team meeting was, and I told him it was at 10:30, our usual time, and we didn't know where he was. I said I could recap him.
- Greg told me I handled that all wrong. He was angry that I didn’t do everything in my power to make sure he was there for the meeting.
- I told him I went to find him in his office and the break room and he wasn't at either location.
- He asked where else I looked. I responded that there wasn't anywhere else besides the bathroom. And he said I SHOULD have checked in there. Greg raised his voice to the point in which I was shocked, uncomfortable, and embarrassed.
- I was at my cube, and I noticed the co-workers near me went silent as he spoke. He told me I was personally responsible for him missing that meeting.
- I tried to defend myself, but as usual, he told me to stop being defensive and do my job.
I was visibly upset after that conversation: Cindy asked me if I was OK over Skype, saying how it made her sick to hear that interaction. Colleen, a colleague that sat on the opposite side of the aisle, reached out over Skype, noting she found it unacceptable the way Greg spoke and continued to interact with me.
What I told HR about this incident: Unfortunately the pattern of disrespect has not improved over the past couple months with Greg. There was an incident on Tuesday I want to bring to your attention that made me feel intimidated. It made it difficult for me to concentrate on work, but luckily I had the opportunity to demo at a media event later that day and remove myself from the environment. This is not the first time this happened. Greg expects me to function as his personal assistant and berates me if I don’t comply. There have been other incidents since we last chatted, and I can review further. I truly need to work with you and HR to find a solution to this ongoing problem.
Next up: Later that week...
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