I have a co-worker in my larger team who just doesn't like me. I don't know what the reason is, he never directly confronted me for anything, just heard rumors he's been spreading about me. I was ignoring it, but a few days ago he wrote a huge "expose" about me and shared it with higher-ups (one of them forwarded it to me). It's basically mumbling of his negative opinions without any evidence provided and exaggerating any minor errors I have made for the past ten years of my career. It's laughable honestly, I don't think it will affect anyone's opinion who is working with me directly. However, he went out of his way to find someone at my previous workplace talk shit about me and quoted in his letter. I don't know who his source is, I'm sure they haven't worked with me directly. Also my ex-employer takes confidentiality matters very seriously, I'm sure if I report this with their name they would get fired. (But I don't know the name) Safe to say this is starting to mildly annoy me, I'd appreciate any advice.
This is unacceptable, OP. If he did that, he will have worked behind the scenes to undermine you over time. Did you notice the effects of that?
Well sometimes I hear rumors about me like I'm some fictional character. But it didn't affect my work so far...
Did you notice some sort of unexpected and unexplainable hostility or rigidity when working with some of your colleagues?
I wouldnât worry about it so much. Writing a whole rant about another person to the higher ups is an incredibly petty act and unless thereâs any serious infraction theyâre accusing you of, they come off as unprofessional
Forgot to mention the expose is written in a way that is indirectly asking them to fire me.
Thatâs not how anyone gets fired. Likely would result in the person getting fired for harassment. Unless the person is whistle blowing you committing fireable offenses, itâs not there call If they had something important they would go to HR who would do an investigation and your manager would be included. Youâd likely be put on PIP if they found the persons assertions of merit. Or your manager would bring it up. It still looks bad on that person though, especially if there assertions are untrue
Get it on record with HR about harassment. Talk to manager and skip to make sure they know and how this toxicity will ruin team morale and is not to be tolerated. Cover your a$$ with a paper trail and document all interactions with this person.
Op you are right it looks bad for him. But your name is also popping up. So time to end it.
While itâs only starting to mildly annoy you, that is harassment and should absolutely be documented. Speak to HR and document the dates & events when things happen.
Until now I didn't have any written proof. My manager was furious and promised me he'll take care of it. But it seems like he's already tried to confront him with others attending, and the guy just talked over my manager the whole time. My manager thinks that guy is friends with the other higher ups in the mailing list.
How is this only mildly annoying? This would ruin my productivity until the situation is resolved. Escalate it via your manager and HR.
Don't let idiots get you down that easy đ€«
This is not about that idiot. It's about the perception that gets built. You never know which higher-up gets influenced by this and starts perceiving you in a certain way in the long term.
I'm pretty sure any smart higher-up would throw that out (probably the reasons why they shared with you rather than silently firing you) - it's obvious with that long of a rant that they have a grudge against you.
Exactly. If I were a manager in this situation I would scan the email for any complaints of merit (ie- anything I know to be a huge violation of policy). If it was just petty nonsense, I would disregard and share the email with the senders manager as a warning of unprofessional conduct and not using the right channels to file a complaint. If there was anything serious in the email they wouldnât have notified you of the emailâs existence and you would be hearing from HR
Eventually that person will get himself fired for all that BS
The thing is I don't know how to end it. I was thinking of doing a write up disputing his claims with evidence and providing a contact info of my manager from the previous work in case they have questions:? But I don't wanna put that much effort and I don't want to bother my previous manager on this bs. I will report it to hr for a record but I don't expect much.
Talk to your manager. Ask if you need to be worried about anything. Check with your HRBP about next steps and if you want to report it as harassment.
Complain to your manager and HRBP. This is bullying. Ask them what they are going to do to make it stop. Donât respond to the claims, they are immaterial. If you really want to pursue a defamation claim, then you need to talk to a lawyer before responding to anyone.
Do you know what the legal procedure is for such claims by any chance?
You contact a lawyer. That is the procedure. It isnât a DIY thing.
Tech Industry
Yesterday
1738
Women, help me understand why this is inspirational
India
3h
269
'Hindutva': The Radical Hindu Ideology That Seeks to 'Push Christianity Out of Indiaâ
AMA
Yesterday
756
PM Manager, early 40s, married and ENM (Ethical Non Monogamous) AMA
Tech Industry
Yesterday
3071
What happens when most of your team is Indian?
Software Engineering Career
5d
21904
What level would Zuck be, had he not created FB
đżđș