W
what-to_do?
Guest
I started working for a company last August as a QA Engineer. At the time there were only two employees working on the project and I was one of them. Over time, the project grew and others were hired. A woman who was a friend of an existing employee was hired as a contractor in December to write documentation for the project. When she arrived I had to show her our prodcut and how to use it. For the first month and a half she just learned how to use the product, and wrote some use cases for the engineers.
As we hired new people it was always my job to show them how to use the system. Of all the people I had to show the product to, this woman had the slowest learning curve and kept calling over to me asking me questions.
We did not have cubes at the time, so we were all set up on folding tables right next to each other. Not only was she very slow at understanding the application, she had very little general computer knowledge, not knowing how to adjust her setting etc, and always asking for help. It was annoying enough to be bothered every few minutes with a stupid question, but she would also just sit behind me and chatter endlessly about nothing. She would make comments on my hair, my clothes, my lunch. She was just a general antogonist who liked to play devils advocate in any conversation on any issue. So she was nitpicky and annoying, but that's not against the law.
I put up with her and didn't say anything to my boss because a) what was I going to say? she annoys me? and b) she was a contractor, not an employee and I was an employee so I wished she would someday disappear.
However, she did not disappear. In fact, I came in to work one morning in the end of January and my boss announced that he had not only hired her as a full time employee, but he had made her the PROJECT MANAGER!! (what?? she can't even adjust her monitor ) and he made her MY BOSS!!!
I told him no way would I work for her I'd quit first.(PERIOD!)
So he offered me another position working for someone else or I could go to a different division. This happened in the morning and he gave me all day to think about it. So I talked to my new prospective boss with the "other" position and also talked to the other department and at the end of the day I went back to his office and said I had decided to take the "other" position but stay in the department.
At this time he announces "In order to stay in this division you, me, and the woman previously mentioned, have to have a meeting and you have to tell her TO HER FACE why you REFUSE WORK FOR HER and why you would rather quit that work for her. "
So, I didn't want to do this. I couldn't see how anything positive or any improvement could come out of a meeting like that. And then I would have to stay in the department and work with her.
So I opted for the other department. AT THIS POINT, ironically, SHE found out I was going to the other department, basically being pushed out becasue she was made my manager with no notice etc, and she told me I should sue becasue it totally screwed up my career path into a developemnt engineer.
So I called a laywer and they said I didn't have a case. So I went to work for the other department and kept collecting paychecks.
Low and behold, on down the line, since she screwed up my career path in this company, I went interviewing and secured another position at another company.
I gave my notice to my curent company and they were way bummed. They offered me a really nice counter offer which is unheard of for these penny pinchers, and I actually almost stayed becasue I have alot of friends here, but in the end I realized in order to grow with this company I would have to work with HER. So after alot of hemming and hawing I finally accepted the other position and gave my two week notice.
One week later SHE was fired. In the meantime, many other employees had complained about HER. They technically got her for "intimidating or harassing" an employee or something and fired her. I don't know the details of exactly what happened.
I have 4 days left here. My phone rang, and it was my old boss (the one that hired her and tried to make her my manager and have the meeting). He said that SHE is suing the company for wrongful termination and he asked me to write a letter describing my experience with her.
So.... what am I supposed to do? Say she was a nitpicky *****? Is that against the law? Do I want to write this letter? Do I care? Do I have to? I would like to maintain a good relationship with this company, as I said I still have many friends here.
Thank you for your help
As we hired new people it was always my job to show them how to use the system. Of all the people I had to show the product to, this woman had the slowest learning curve and kept calling over to me asking me questions.
We did not have cubes at the time, so we were all set up on folding tables right next to each other. Not only was she very slow at understanding the application, she had very little general computer knowledge, not knowing how to adjust her setting etc, and always asking for help. It was annoying enough to be bothered every few minutes with a stupid question, but she would also just sit behind me and chatter endlessly about nothing. She would make comments on my hair, my clothes, my lunch. She was just a general antogonist who liked to play devils advocate in any conversation on any issue. So she was nitpicky and annoying, but that's not against the law.
I put up with her and didn't say anything to my boss because a) what was I going to say? she annoys me? and b) she was a contractor, not an employee and I was an employee so I wished she would someday disappear.
However, she did not disappear. In fact, I came in to work one morning in the end of January and my boss announced that he had not only hired her as a full time employee, but he had made her the PROJECT MANAGER!! (what?? she can't even adjust her monitor ) and he made her MY BOSS!!!
I told him no way would I work for her I'd quit first.(PERIOD!)
So he offered me another position working for someone else or I could go to a different division. This happened in the morning and he gave me all day to think about it. So I talked to my new prospective boss with the "other" position and also talked to the other department and at the end of the day I went back to his office and said I had decided to take the "other" position but stay in the department.
At this time he announces "In order to stay in this division you, me, and the woman previously mentioned, have to have a meeting and you have to tell her TO HER FACE why you REFUSE WORK FOR HER and why you would rather quit that work for her. "
So, I didn't want to do this. I couldn't see how anything positive or any improvement could come out of a meeting like that. And then I would have to stay in the department and work with her.
So I opted for the other department. AT THIS POINT, ironically, SHE found out I was going to the other department, basically being pushed out becasue she was made my manager with no notice etc, and she told me I should sue becasue it totally screwed up my career path into a developemnt engineer.
So I called a laywer and they said I didn't have a case. So I went to work for the other department and kept collecting paychecks.
Low and behold, on down the line, since she screwed up my career path in this company, I went interviewing and secured another position at another company.
I gave my notice to my curent company and they were way bummed. They offered me a really nice counter offer which is unheard of for these penny pinchers, and I actually almost stayed becasue I have alot of friends here, but in the end I realized in order to grow with this company I would have to work with HER. So after alot of hemming and hawing I finally accepted the other position and gave my two week notice.
One week later SHE was fired. In the meantime, many other employees had complained about HER. They technically got her for "intimidating or harassing" an employee or something and fired her. I don't know the details of exactly what happened.
I have 4 days left here. My phone rang, and it was my old boss (the one that hired her and tried to make her my manager and have the meeting). He said that SHE is suing the company for wrongful termination and he asked me to write a letter describing my experience with her.
So.... what am I supposed to do? Say she was a nitpicky *****? Is that against the law? Do I want to write this letter? Do I care? Do I have to? I would like to maintain a good relationship with this company, as I said I still have many friends here.
Thank you for your help