Overcoming The Bully

I went into a new position and was trained by a woman with whom I would job share the position. From the beginning I didn't trust her - the accusations, lying, stealing and 'set-ups', but continued to give her the benefit of the doubt and work at achieving the respect of other staff and retirement home residents. Her aggressive, angry attitude towards me continued.

The manager was in on it with the woman and after meeting with a union rep I started recording private notes on his advice. Yes, there was a pattern that was getting more aggressive. Planned activities with the residents were sabotaged. Projects requested by the manager were destroyed, emails permanently deleted, office equipment disabled, displays taken down and replaced by her own. The person whom I trusted to work in a cooperative manner with is a bully, coupled with a manager who is aware of the situation and takes no steps to stop it.

I worked in this position for almost one year and am glad to say that I stopped it by leaving the job but continuing to work in another with the same organization. I am 55 years old. It's not worth fighting a bully, they will eventually get punished when an extreme physical act occurs. I believe I did the right thing by meeting with a union rep and documenting. Not only children, teenagers but adults are afflicted by this terrible behaviour as well.