Office Worker’s Boss Picks On Her Constantly, Gives Her Condescending Criticism, And Discriminates Against Her Disability, So She Used Her Boss’s Instructions Against Her

Ashley Ashbee

2 months ago

Female worker in an office, looking angry

Pexels/Reddit

If your manager has it in for you, it makes your life awful and it feels like it will never end.

Fortunately for this worker, she knew how to change things. See how she empowered herself.

Report everything that happens on these files – or else. Okay then..I will

I worked under a manager who could best be described as old-school battle-axe.

It was an hr office (I do not work in hr anymore and this is probably why).

I was an intern starting a white collar human resources corporate job after 10 years of blue collar work and excited to be in a climate controlled office.

She received the stereotypical treatment of an intern.

For years, I dreamed of this and put myself through university by my bootstrap. I would do anything for air conditioned office.

I had broken my back a year prior and had a difficult time finishing my final year.

She was known across the office for being impossible to please and for running through staff faster than the copier toner. Nobody lasted more than a year, I was told.

From my first day, I was on her radar.

I make occasional typing mistakes because of medication I was on that affects short-term memory. I always ran spell check and proofed my work carefully, but she treated every minor error like a personal failure.

It also got personal.

She would scold me for the smallest things. Once she gave me an hour-long lecture about professionalism because I wore a blue shirt instead of a white one.

I wore a sweater to a client meeting because their thermostat was broken and it was -20c outside. I got shouted at by my supervisor for wearing the sweater harder than I did on any work site. Every day felt like inhaling glass shards.

Then came the instruction that broke the camel’s back.

She told me I needed to deliver a daily oral report on every client file I managed.

These weren’t short updates.

She expected me to know every number, every email, every call from memory. Word for word what was said. If I even got one word out of the transcript off.. I was not fit to be there.

She said,

“From the moment the sun rises on this office to the moment it sets, you are to report everything that happens in these reports.”

She knew I had a memory-related disability from a past concussion. She knew it would overwhelm me.

But her supposed weakness became her greatest weapon.

So I decided to take her words literally.

That night, I opened Excel and began logging everything. Every keystroke. I wrote it all down. I even practiced my delivery so I could recite it perfectly.

The next morning, when she called me into her office, I began:

“Walked from my car to the building. Opened the office door with my right hand, moderate pressure. Entered the building. Greeted the receptionist. Made a coffee in the Keurig for 25 seconds. Sat at my desk. Adjusted my chair. Started computer. Open Excel. Began typing reports, ensuring keyboard sound remained within acceptable volume to avoid disturbing senior management arriving 45 minutes after 9am….”

I continued like that for almost the entire hour uninterrupted. She tried to interrupt, but I reminded her gently that I was “reporting everything that happens…”

This is the most satisfying part. Her efforts paid off.

When it was over, she just stared at me.

A week later, HR called me in (yes HR does have its own HR). I explained the situation exactly as it happened, that I was following her directive word for word.

I had detailed documentation (by this time I wrote down EVERYTHING that happened in that office). They agreed it wasn’t sustainable.

Within a month, I was transferred to a new department. I was laid off 3 m later because that boss quit but I got a good reference.

Here is what folks are saying.

I couldn’t stand a manager this terrible.