Bullies @ Office

When you’re a kid, bullies intimidates you physically. You are constantly under risk of getting physical abuse whenever he/she sees fit.

When you’re an adult, bullies now also does psychological intimidation. Which is worse.
It kills your productivity, and your boss will become upset at your lack of performance – which in turn makes you more frustated (because it’s not your fault)

On developed countries, there are numerous laws that intended to curb bullying. An example of such law in action can be read in this excellent BBC article.

However;
The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws” — Tacitus

And vice versa, the more numerous the laws, the more corrupt the state — because there will be numerous loopholes that can be exploited by the wicked.
Therefore, even a victim can be actually the bully.

An example; one of my past colleague is actually a bully. He talks sweet to important people, but he stomps on the less significants. He tried to stomp on me too, trying to make me do what he wished. I stood up, and, quite wisely, he never tried to cross path with me again.

My manager was not so lucky.

This bully is actually quite incompetent and lazy. And to think that he’s paid more than me (at first). Anyway, I can see that he kept on trying to avoid doing his task, and finally he hit jackpot.

One thing about this bully is he’s very well-versed with employment laws, and he keeps on trying to find a loophole that he can exploit for his own gain. One day he got it – my manager got a bit harsh on him, he got the proof, and before my manager knew it; he was reported for bullying to the HR department.

I was flabbergasted.

HR department is tend to be politically correct, and this bully has a way with words. He managed to convince HR guys that he’s the victim here, and he won the case.
Since then, my manager no longer able to fully control this bully, and he was able to do whatever he pleases. Leaving US to do his job.

Needless to say, I was VERY pissed off.

Applying law/rules without knowing what really happened is plain dumb. Yet, this is what happens today. Criminals got away with their crime, for their knowledge of loopholes in the system. And honest people got punished for things others did.

Thankfully, it has a kinda happy ending. After some time, and a few lobbying from our side (here’s the key folks – you have to do something [1] about it), finally senior management realized what he really is, and pressed him to do his work. Bumbling his way around, because he’s really not an IT expert (even I, with my weaknesses, am still much better than him), he finally had to earn his pay.

It may not always the case everywhere though.
So, just say no to bullies !

[1] – Among the work I’ve done was hacking his computer to find evidence of his bullying activities. A colleague said that he suspected this bully was stupid enough to store his private files in his office computer, and asked me to hack my way into it. I was only too happy to comply, and managed to found several evidence there.
My manager also managed to find several evidence on his own, and together we worked to bring this bully down.

17 thoughts on “Bullies @ Office

  1. It is interesting to hear that people in office environments are using there own knowledge of employment law to justify poor attiude and bad behaviour towards colleges. Employers must treat all of these accusations with the highest importance and get to the bottom of any issues. I like the conversaitonal style of this post. Very informative with a personal touch.

  2. After reading your post i noticed that same thing happens to me not only at my level but even my manager is bulling me which has a lot of psychological effect on my mind.

  3. This one is so important. These tips sound like they’d be just as effective in nonwork situations like schools, clubs, community organizations and churches. Anywhere there is an organization, there will be some responsibility and liability for harassment.

  4. Office bullies are individuals who utilize direct and indirect methods of coercion to order to intimidate others and get their way in the workplace.

  5. You can upload graphs from Model as a guest if you don’t have an account, but you won’t be able to make changes to them afterward.

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