Need advice for ongoing situation at work

[MRX]

Alright basically i started this job like 2-3 months ago and its alright, i'm not sure if i really trust the ppl in here as friends but they're decent workers. Theres one female around the age of 40-45 and the rest are 8 guys. Well the lady, jennifer, was fired about 3 weeks ago. The guys here had been talking shit even before she left...but never to her face. They'd wait till she left the room and then had at 'er. As soon as she walked back in they went back to being bitches and go all quiet. Well apparently she wasn't doing her job too well and wouldn't take responsibility for her mistakes and continously made mistakes that she'd been talked to about. Thats fine, thats just business and you can either do the work or you can't. The team leader who's technically like an assistant boss told us she was getting fired the day before she was gettin' canned (wish he'd never told us cause i felt guilty all day) and of course they start goin' off at the mouth about her cause she's not there. Now its 3 weeks later and they're still talking shit about this lady. She was a nice lady too, never said anything mean about anyone here, she helped me out with the info she knew, she just couldn't do the job as well as they would have liked. Its alright to have a little joke here and there but this is every day they go on a 30minute rant just bashing this lady makin' cuts about her lookin' like quazimoto (sp?), saying how fat she was, how the desk area smells funny, how she was stupid, an idiot, and this and that. I'm gettin' tired of it. I came here to work not listen to that mess. I think its immature and i think they're some straight up bitches for not saying a word to her face. Don't say shit about anyone unless u can say it to their face.

Now i would tell the team leader...but he's one of the culprits! I don't wanna go to the big boss cause i'm really not trying to get anyone in trouble i just want the blatant insults to stop. I'll probably just send an email to the team leader telling him how i feel...cause i'm not scared like they are.

[ACCLUDE91]

Is this the CAD job that you we're telling me about when I was down there?


I see a few options and maybe try them in this order.

1. If you can take some insults....is to try to steer the conversations and insults off of the lady and onto yourself. Sounds like it might be hurting you more hearing insults about this nice lady than it would hurt you to be insulted yourself. At least try to get the topic changed period.

2. Even tho the team leader is one of the culprits, you *should* still be able to tell them your concerns and they take it seriously and act professionally and appropriately.

3. Tell the big boss man and let him do what needs to be done...but don't do this first. Try whatever else you can first.

4. Find another job or a different department or something


Hopefully that helps! Good luck!

[h22sparkle]

Nah bro just let em talk their shit and steer clear and concentrate on your work. Dont divert attention to yourself believe me if they talkin shit with each other they are buddy,buddy. Just keep it to yourself and do what your gettin paid to do and thats just to make money anything outside of making money dont concern you thats it and leave it alone.

[ZigenBallZ]

either stay out of it and try not to get on their bad side... they can just as easily turn on you...

or start looking for something else...doesn't sound like a really positive atmosphere in the long run.

[ckyskater733]

ignore it.

[maroonaccord2.2]

I complained years ago about some crappy employees. My father, retired after 30 years at the same job. His words to me, "Russ, just do your job and shut the f*#k up....." Best advice he ever could have given me.

[ACCLUDE91]

I would stay clear of any issues too...but apparently it's bad enough that Antoine feels the need to do something about. If it's not an environment that you can keep to yourself and do your job, then the best thing would be to leave. I know Antoines not a quitter so what advise does anyone have for making the environment friendlier and more comfortable while still "doing your job and shutting the fu*k up"?

[MRX]

Yeah this is the CADD job but i couldn't keep quiet...its been 3 continous weeks of this mess every single day. When i finished posting this thread i immediately sent the team leader an email. He was apologetic and professional. But i don't want the apologies he should send those to Jennifer and i told him that. He agreed with me that it needed to stop immediately and didn't really make any excuses for the behavior but promised to make it stop. He even said i was right in standing up for her. We'll see how this goes tho.

I know i'm only here to make money but that was a big distraction and often upset me for the rest of the work day. I could see if the lady was a bitch and talked all kinds of mess about them but she didn't. Team leader sent out an email to the other guys but i haven't seen it yet. Even if it does back fire on me i atleast did the right thing and got that non-sense out of the work place. Besides, I'm pretty sure i could find some way to sue if they tried to get rid of me for this.

[MRX]

And usually i just put my little earphones on when they start their rampage but even that wasn't working all the time.

[Accord R33]

I think i would have taken a somewhat unorthodoxed approach? I probably would have slightly joined in with them a few times, and said "ou know, I feel bad talking about this lady, she isnt even here anymore". They probably would continue for a little while after that, but i think eventually guilt would get to them and it would stop...

[phatdoughnut]

Its called harassment(sp?) even if it isnt directed at you, and or being in a hostile environment. If it was distracting you from your work, your damn right you had a decision to tell them to stop.. if it keeps happening, take a recorder with you and record all their stupid conversations. Just incase they "fire you" for no reason.

[HondaFan81]

either stay out of it and try not to get on their bad side... they can just as easily turn on you...

or start looking for something else...doesn't sound like a really positive atmosphere in the long run.

I agree. Mainly because your direct boss is one of the culprits (if he wasn't I would say different). Anyhow, they would probably turn on you and start ripping on you saying things like you liked her, etc and probably elaborate on that if you get the vibe. Sure you may not care, but if you're getting annoyed with a lady taking hits....just think how annoyed you would be with them talking smack about you. Sooner or later you might snap back at them, then your boss will prolly give you the evil eye for a long time and keep an eye on your every move so if you mess up just once...he'll get on your a$$ and exaggerate the situation if he has to, to make you look real bad in front of everyone else.

Anyways, best advice I can tell you is...

Stay clear of their game, but stay cool with them. You can be cool with them, but not take part so basically stay neutral. Do a good job on what you do so you have your boss on your side. Then, I would behind the scenes start networking and talking to other departments/managers and hopefully take interest in another department...find out about job openings and line something else behind the scenes. So you will have your current manager on your side for a referral with good comments on you.

[HondaFan81]

Yeah this is the CADD job but i couldn't keep quiet...its been 3 continous weeks of this mess every single day. When i finished posting this thread i immediately sent the team leader an email. He was apologetic and professional. But i don't want the apologies he should send those to Jennifer and i told him that. He agreed with me that it needed to stop immediately and didn't really make any excuses for the behavior but promised to make it stop. He even said i was right in standing up for her. We'll see how this goes tho.

I know i'm only here to make money but that was a big distraction and often upset me for the rest of the work day. I could see if the lady was a bitch and talked all kinds of mess about them but she didn't. Team leader sent out an email to the other guys but i haven't seen it yet. Even if it does back fire on me i atleast did the right thing and got that non-sense out of the work place. Besides, I'm pretty sure i could find some way to sue if they tried to get rid of me for this.

Nice. I guess if it comes to it and they give you crap, you can take it to the next level and go to your manager's manager.

[MRX]

All has been quiet since i sent that email. Haven't heard her name mentioned once today after that. Team Leader doesn't seem to have anything against me and is acting perfectly normal. I don't think i'll have any more problems. And naw i wouldn't care if all that shit talking turned against me. Think about it, they weren't even man enough to say it to a middle aged woman's face...what are they gonna do against me ? I ain't sayin i'm BAD ya know but i ain't ever scared and only bitches talk shit.

I thought about recording it before and probably should have waited to send that email so i could record them. Would i need that as concrete evidence phatty? It wasn't just me that heard them tho, some of the neighboring designers heard it too. Not like they kept quiet about it. Also, AcccordR33 i remember one of the designers commented saying " man, how would you feel if you left and ppl were talking about you this way?" They just shrugged it off and laughed. That was over 2 weeks ago so naw i don't think they were gonna feel any remorse.

[h22sparkle]

I would definitely record it and hold it for evident but dont leave it lying around. And if they think about even firing you you can take that to the court. Or perhaps get in contact with the lady and she can sue them for harassment on her part. And you can double up and force them to pay up or give you a promotion and be over them.