problems with someone at work

For the past two years I have worked for a small shop and was doing real good with everyone around me and
thought that I could go places within this company. A woman transferred from our other plant about 29 miles from the one I work at. This gal apparently has issues with me and from the get go tries to stifle me ....hold me back and she makes statements to me that are less then business like. I have tried in vain to make things right with her only to find out that it was in vain. The worse part is that I have talked to the head of human resource and the head guy at our plant and got nowhere with this. They do know that from her past that she had issues at other plant and moved her to the one I am at ! I just want some opinions on how to handle this and what I can do to make this right so that I can go to work without dreading going to work because of her! I am totally in a mode that comes close to depression and feel like the only option left to do is seek out another place of employment. In saying this in itself is a sign that things have got much worse in the past ten months. any ideas on what I should do to resolve this ? I have tried almost everything myself to make this better.

reply to post by seekingpeace


Just ignore her and do the job you were hired to do... unless shes your supervisor

Then you're screwed...

reply to post by seekingpeace


It sounds to me like you need to go further up the chain than just the place you work at. Talk with the bosses your head guy at te plant ha to answer to.

If that doesn't work your only options are to either treat her the way she treats you (Which from the sound of things won't work either ) or get another job if that is a viable option.

Originally posted by Akragon

Just ignore her and do the job you were hired to do... unless shes your supervisor

Don't do this

What you need to do my friend is when a new day of work begins, take this lady aside and tell her you would like to speak to her at lunch time about some problems you feel you may have been having with her in the time she has been there.

Her reply WILL be yes sure or that's fine etc

Now you have a couple of hour's to get together in your head what your problem is about her.
When the time comes you need to tell her what she has been doing to you and and how she's been making you feel in the work environment. And simply it stop's here now.

If you tell here like you MEAN it she will SEE that you mean it

Steal her stapler.

reply to post by seekingpeace


We're not employed so we can make friends.

Just what does she do, specifically...that irks you? Without knowing that, hard to advise...

Until then, you can do this...

1) Wait until she leaves her computer, but still logged in.
2) Take a screenshot of her desktop
3) Go to the display properties and set this screenshot as her wallpaper
4) Hide all icons

She'll get back, and find she can't do anything. She'll click like mad on icons (the ones in the screenshot), and never realize it's just part of ONE image (the wallpaper)... It's fixable (just go to the display properties), but will take a while to figure it out (probably a call to IT).

Originally posted by Gazrok
Just what does she do, specifically...that irks you? Without knowing that, hard to advise...

Until then, you can do this...

1) Wait until she leaves her computer, but still logged in.
2) Take a screenshot of her desktop
3) Go to the display properties and set this screenshot as her wallpaper
4) Hide all icons

She'll get back, and find she can't do anything. She'll click like mad on icons (the ones in the screenshot), and never realize it's just part of ONE image (the wallpaper)... It's fixable (just go to the display properties), but will take a while to figure it out (probably a call to IT).

edit on 2-8-2013 by Gazrok because: (no reason given)

Take it a couple of steps further:

in the monitor properties, invert the screen so its upside down, but screenshot the desktop so it looks right side up while you are looking at the monitor.

Flip the mouse movement in the mouse settings, so when you try to move the mouse, it goes in the opposite direction

99% of the world will be hopelessly lost with this gag.

reply to post by seekingpeace


If this woman is annoying, surely others must have issues with her, too. Right?

Seeing that she was tranferred from the other plant because of problems she caused, your higher ups should have called her in when you complained. Obviously this woman needs to be put in her place and told that her behavior will not be tolerated. The more you let her get away with, the worse it will get. I would keep going up the chain of command until I got results.

here is a list of the things that she has done
taken me into office and asked me if I was part of a piece of gossip that was going around and asked me if I liked her..?
then commenced to tell me that she did not have any friends ...only her husband ? TMI ....really? I did not want to know her personal info !
then told me that I came back from break too early after we had a bar-b-q event ? don't let it happen again?
there are others who also have problems with her and she has displayed unusual behavior at work place .

Originally posted by seekingpeace
here is a list of the things that she has done
taken me into office and asked me if I was part of a piece of gossip that was going around and asked me if I liked her..?
then commenced to tell me that she did not have any friends ...only her husband ? TMI ....really? I did not want to know her personal info !
then told me that I came back from break too early after we had a bar-b-q event ? don't let it happen again?
there are others who also have problems with her and she has displayed unusual behavior at work place .

Best advice you can get: outlast her. If she is erratic she won't last.

You and your co-workers are not the problem. She has personal problems and is taking things out on others. Ask her why returning to work early after a barbecue would be a problem? I mean good grief that is petty. She probably has low self esteem and acts the way she does to make her feel superior or whatever. Do not take anything from this person personally. She has issues and will only make things worse for herself.

I would say try to befriend her but then you would be taking on all her personal drama and that could be draining on you. I think in time, she will be put in her place or fired because she has already caused enough problems in one place and is starting all over again with your place. Hang in there!

reply to post by seekingpeace


Some people do not want to be life to be "right".
Otherwise, they'd have to find another hobby, other than the one that creates that cloud of drama.
It's your problem, only because she has a problem.
remember that it's HER problem.
And engage her as little as possible in anything other than getting the job done.
She's a coworker, not a friend, and you don't have to be her bartender/psychologist.
Do this without being overtly rude, just be busy with something else.

Just my opinion.

I think you have to get some leverage on her. Like anytime you talk to her have a recording device. Always put it on when you talk to her. That way if she says anything to you that's threatening or wrong you'll have evidence. With no evidence you have nothing at all. So start recording for starters. Like an easy way is with the cel phone. Just pretend you're txting, but you're turning on the recording device. If she's as bad as you say she's bound to screw up at some point, and say something stupid that will get her in trouble. Same with emails and stuff. Save any that give you some evidence. Then when you feel you got enough evidence don't tell her about it but present it to your boss and explain again what's been going on, this time with proof. That might help. If that doesn't you might want to start sabatoshing everything she does. Not so much that it becomes obvious. Just random times. But be careful as she might be recording you as well. And be careful of suvelance cameras and stuff like that. You don't want to get found out that you're fighting back. The easist way would be to try and make friends but you said you tried to reason with her and she won't have any of it. But you have to do this very covertly. Don't make it at all obvious that you have any beef with her. Act completely disinterested in her. Act completely naive of what she's doing and disinterested as well. Then on the odd time when you talk "record" and act if you're not trying to subvert what she's up to. You don't want to make it known that you're gathering evidence or anything otherwise the first time you go to sabatosh anything, then you'll be the first person they question since you had a beef with her.

thanks everyone for listening to me and letting me vent ....never has this problem before and it sure threw me for a loop. I will try some not obvious things first and then go from there. will let you know. it is awesome to know I can gain some instinct into what kind of person she is so I know how to handle this !
thanx again......!!!!