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Hosile Superiors

Posted by: carrine
Date: 9/30/2006 1:20:13 PM

For nearly two years now, I have work for a law office and after being there a month or more I became the target of some horrible verbal harassment from my co-workers. I was new at the job so I naively believed that it was the stress of working the legal field and trying to meet the demands places on all staffs, which caused their reaction to me.

I tolerated their caustics behavior in silent for as long as I could, and because of it, I started to withdrawing more and more from the group around me. Taking my complaints and concerns to my supervisors and boss proved worse, and I was warned against becoming viewed as someone who was causing all the strife when I was actually trying to stop their harassment of me.

After, a while I learned that such attacks where very common there, and that it showed up more often at evaluation time, a new job posting, promotions, and whenever anyone discovered who was making complaints about the mistreatment.

I learned that with the frequent turnover in staff that the problems were not improving but that the long time staff and those who went along with the harassment would mislead the new superiors who would finally turn on the person who was seeking their help. The superiors intimidate, change that scopes of assigned workload, put down assertiveness, demean and belittle a good work done, and hand out poor evaluations basic information gathered from the original harassers.

Because of the continuous harassment, I tried to avoid conflict. I have turned to doing my work, and I speak as little as possible so not to inviting further harassment or mistreatment. Especially, after have I tried to trust them again but to have turned into a scene and a false compliant toward me.

I have never worked in such an environment, and I have given more to this job than had been acknowledge by my supervisors. I want and know I need to file a grievance form, but I am at a lost because the form state to give it to the supervisor. The superiors are part of the problem, and I have been condemned for wanting to learn more which would help me to be a better employee, and I possess numerous skills that are not utilized or acknowledged as assets to the performance of my duties which were the very skills that got me hired in the first place.

Quitting this job is not an option at this time because I need it, and I have been seeking part-time work to add much needed additional funds to my income.

I am at a lost and praying for the harassment to stop is not working.

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