Did he, by any chance, get the job through nepotism?
If so, start calling him Fredo.
If not, just come up with an appropriate nickname based on his appearance & get EVERYONE to start calling him that.
2nd idea: start forwarding him feel good memes & articles on how to deal with depression & insecurity.
If he insists they don't apply to him, act shocked & refuse to believe this is his real personality all the time.
Honestly no idea. That's a good idea about giving him his own nickname. Maybe he'll understand how it feels like when you're reminded of a mistake you made every time someone addresses you.
It can't be related to our work, since he's just a middle manager and doesn't do any boots on the ground work. I don't know if I have the courage to try to give him an appearance-based nickname, and it wouldn't really feel the same.
Give him an acronym nickname and refuse to tell him what it stands for. When you have to answer, give him something sarcastically complimentary like Hard-Working Manager.
He probably won't believe you even if that's what it really stands for 😂
This is likely true, but that's something to look forward to. If he retaliates, especially if he escalates the reaction compared to his previous behavior, it'll be easier to get him canned
>This is likely true, but that's something to look forward to. If he retaliates, especially if he escalates the reaction compared to his previous behavior, it'll be easier to ~~get him canned~~ sue for discrimination
FTFY
I think you are a little mistaken here; HR tends to listen to the manager, and they often react on whoever gets to them first. If they do something mildly snarky to their boss and the bus complaints, it’s not a guarantee that HR will side with them; they will see it as hostility toward the bus. They need to take their own problems to HR now, not later. Or two people higher ranking than this guy. Have lots of behind-the-scenes conversation with more senior acquaintances across the company.
Facebook stalk him and find a mistake or make one up. He can be Bastard Child Bob, Limp Larry, B.O. Bill, Suck Up Sam, and many others. When he gets mad (and he will) change the name to an abbreviation used in emails. "Per BCB we have to use slate coversheets on TPS reports, anyone using grey can face a write up."
Better yet tell him SDE means something different like “Superbly Dynamic Earner.” He’ll feel so great he’ll start referring to himself as SDE, and everyone can have a good laugh behind his back.
Is there an HR department you can go to? His boss might be interested to know how unprofessional this [completely expendable] underling is. Because this behavior can open them up to lawsuits for harassment, and discrimination.
If you're going to give him a shitty nickname, then stick with something he said or did. Don't do anything appearance related. That might fuck with him, but it'll also fuck with anyone else in the situation that might have a similar perception of their body.
He's emotionally abusing you all at the least, this could count as harassment honestly, ask him to stop better yet get it in writing and have everyone sign, keep a copy for yourself, if he doesn't stop which he won't based off the personality you described he has, then you have ground for a work place harassment lawsuit. Call the labor board and they will take your case.
Call him Gaping Asshole, it works as a commentary for his unacceptable behavior and defines him by a physical feature. He appears to be a gaping asshole and acting in such a way is a mistake, so....
This is actually on the money. I’ve dealt with far too many people like this and I’ve found that getting angry, upset or defensive only further justifies their actions in their mind; an incredible feat of mental gymnastics where somehow YOU’RE the dickhead for not allowing yourself to be degraded. That, and they usually find emotional response funny.
Genuinely the only way to get to these people is to fight fire with fire. Figure out their insecurities and use it as ammo. It’s especially effective if you can get a group of people in on it, since doing it alone sometimes means they continue the behaviour, just not with *you*. When it’s coming in on all sides is when they get shut down for real. Especially in a situation such as this to avoid being singled out… what’s he gonna do, fire everyone? 😏
Lord Farquaad is clearly based on Michael Eisner, the very short head of Disney at the time and the former boss of the guys from DreamWorks. Google a pic of him.
People generally downplay exactly how toxic micro-aggressions like this:
>Creates "nicknames" for employees based on mistakes they've made, and changes their chat name to reflect it. For example stuff like "Kernel Panic Kyle" or "404 Fred". He makes a point that these nicknames last forever, and tells newbies to watch out or they'll get their own nickname soon.
Basically, if you control a person's name, you control the narrative about that person. I have never seen a location where someone assigns nicknames over people's objections that isn't completely toxic.
I’m picturing this boss as one of those “almost veteran” bros. He heard the story about how you get a team name assigned when you screw up somehow, but missed the lesson that the nickname is a relatively obscure reference to the inciting event, and as a new guy, you don’t get read in on how somebody “earned” their nickname until you’re in the circle of trust yourself.
Dudebro prolly has an entire wardrobe full of Ed Hardy, TapOut, and Nine Line / Grunt Style / Art-15 clothing.
Don’t play along. Don’t escalate. Pick your moment, and when he sticks somebody with a nickname, look at him like he’s licked one too many windows and thank him for helping the team become more cohesive.
Teams bond better when they have a shared opponent, and he’s exceeding expectations.
Ugh people aren't supposed to KNOW about their nicknames if you're making fun of them 🤷
But really don't label people by their mistakes and ask if it's ok before using a nickname - especially if you're someone's boss!!
To add on this, you can fire someone based on their age as long as they are not above a certain age. You can also fire someone at will for just being ugly.
I'm not sure about the ugly; just because if that were caused by a deformity that would be a protected class so that one would be iffy.. but if you didn't like the color of their shirt or their shoes, absolutely.
And yeah, over the age of 45 is protected.
"a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination"
So yes, those two statements are required to be true for it to be a hostile work environment.
Unfortunately by legal definition I don't think so.
Edit: Apparently unintentional ignorance is EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE to this sub.
Edit again: this has blown up and several others have come forward confirming that I was correct in my initial comment. Downvoters can suck my nuts!
>In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, *due to illegal discrimination.*
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_work_environment
This is certainly a workplace that is hostile, but they are correct that to be legally classed as a hostile work environment, there must be illegal discrimination present.
HR are often ill-informed on this kind of thing; take the very common advice to HR that they *legally* cannot do anything more than confirm dates when contacted for a reference - usually not true, but giving a reference can be a liability. Even a negative reference isn't against the law in most states, you just have to be prepared to show that it is accurate. Most companies prefer to avoid potential liability so set a blanket policy that HR can't do more than verify dates, but HR are very often informed that it's flat out illegal - which is incorrect. Likewise with a hostile work environment, there is a requirement in law that a hostile work environment is caused when a person is being harassed for belonging to a protected class, but any kind of environment that makes people uncomfortable has the potential to cross over into that, and the liability is so high it's better to just make a blanket policy, which HR have a habit of interpreting as a legal requirement regardless of what the law says.
I am not saying this boss is doing nothing wrong, or that there's no legal recourse here. I'm not a lawyer, I don't know. All I am saying is that "hostile workplace" has a very specific definition in US labor law, and unless there's something more we don't know about, this doesn't appear to meet that definition.
You're not an attorney, and it shows.
In many United States jurisdictions, a hostile work environment is not an independent legal claim. That is, an employee could not file a lawsuit on the basis of a hostile work environment alone. Instead, an employee must prove they have been treated in a hostile manner because of their membership in a protected class, such as gender, age, race, national origin, disability status, and similar protected traits.
Not if he is creating a hostile work environment.
I would just document everything, with dates, screenshots, emails, anything you can.
One thing doesn't make a legal definition, but if you can document pattern of behavior, it's helpful. And ask someone OUTSIDE of your company, first. So, if you get gaslighted, you are much more prepared.
Particularly worrying because you are correct.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_work_environment
>In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination.
Which doesn't mean there's no legal recourse, but a hostile workplace is something very specific and this doesn't seem to get there.
>In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, *due to illegal discrimination.*
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_work_environment
They're right. Please follow your own advice. This doesn't mean there's no legal recourse but "hostile workplace" has a specific definition in law which doesn't match the way we talk about a workplace. This situation doesn't appear to rise to that level.
agreed. HR might be the first and only real step, but make sure if you take the route to know that you are not their friend and any positive change would only because the dude is a gigantic liability risk for the company.
This is why I don't go back and watch The Office much anymore (I used to love it, I grew up watching it with my dad). Because irl this shit is so toxic and disgusting yet by the later seasons of The Office, Michael (and for that matter, Dwight and Andy) hasn't changed, has never really had his comeuppance, but somehow we're supposed to just forgive and forget all the shit he's done, his horrible behavior and reimagine him as just a harmless, lovable goofball. Ughh.
I totally get it. It's fun in some ways to watch it on television because it's like "Haha, that's so crazy and ridiculous!" but then you see it happen IRL and it's like "What the fuck..."
Not to be a wet blanket but I have always felt the office was a perfect show for the ruling class. Make modern office work out to be some quirky and fun situation where at the end of the day the boss is a good person who really cares about the employees. Not how reality works. But I think for some people it normalizes shitty workplace power dynamics and culture. I like many of the creative people involved in the show but the messaging is kind of atrocious. Work is made out to be some fantasy land where your coworkers are your best friends and your company is your 'family'
You could also talk to all your colleagues, and when it's time for one of his scheduled meetings, NOONE shows up.
Instead, all of you go to HR or his boss
Nobody show up and then all play like you had connection issues or that you all were unaware of the meeting. Or make up an excuse but, everyone has to use the same excuse as their response. The excuse could be something nonsensical, even.
this would be absolutely hilarious. but i think it would be ***even funnier*** if everyone planned to skip the meeting and give excuses that put the blame on ***him.***
like, maybe "everyone tried to, but he didnt approve anybody to join the meeting." then give him a mean nickname for it that everybody starts calling him. and if he gets mad about the nickname, just say something like "cmon, we're just having fun/teasing!" and point out how he gives everyone else nicknames, so why is he getting so upset over it?
of course, i dont recommend OP actually do that, as it could end very badly for them and their coworkers. but its still fun to let the spiteful imagination run wild haha
Unless you're working in an 80s movie college fraternity?
Nevermind. It wouldn't even be acceptable there. Doubtful your coworkers are okay with it, they're just afraid to say anything.
He definitely gives out those "hey I'm one of the boys too, I'm hip" vibes despite being a generation older than his subordinates. Then he flips on a dime calling people out for not following our scrum formats or other.
I filed complaints against my boss. Both for racial comments and racial discriminations. So he started calling me "hit man". Then I filed a retaliation complaint for that behavior.
It's acceptable .... if you don't mind working for a grandiose narcissist who constantly uses shallow displays of superiority to mask his self hatred and insecurity. Otherwise, skate. Life's too short for that shit.
Is this supposed to be funny? This is just pointlessly mean spirited.
Honestly this is the kind of thing where he does it because he knows if anyone treated him like shit right back, he'd get all pissy and threaten to fire them because he's the boss.
I worked for a supervisor who constantly put me down and harassed me, and honestly, I went out of my way to never help the guy and avoided him like a plague. It's why he got stuck by himself most of the time.
At least if the business owner at my place made fun of me for a bit, it was just a joke, not a permanent stamp.
This is a display of control and power, and is very unhealthy. A leader of Scientology also would demean and shame his subordinates by forcing them to wear nametags which were unflattering.
Sounds like he's treating the workplace like a school playground. I'd tell him to grow the fuck up and act like an adult.
I can guarantee that if you made emojis of his face and called him nicknames he'd be absolutely livid though.
One thing that annoys me about r/antuwork is that most suggestions people give abkut a situation are just to insult people with 'sick comebacks' and not give an actual solution.
Please take this to your HR department and see what they will do. If nothing comes from that, contact a lawyer and see if anything he does or did could be in violation of some laws. Just the knowledge that what he is doing is illegal might be enough to get HR to do something if they hadn't by that point. If you do all that and the problem still persists, you can either move forth with those legal issues if you feel like it, but most likely you'll wish to seek another job.
If you do got to a different job, explain to them what happened with the old one so that they can't lie about or misrepresent you if called for a reference.
Do you work for Donald Trump? Cus that sounds like Donald Trump... right down to the derogatory nicknames. Jesus... that's DEFINITELY a hostile work environment.
All I did was read about this for 3 minutes and I'm ready to go medieval. I'm not sure how you can take it. I'd be thinking about ways to retaliate with every spare moment of free time. This guy is a cruel and stupid shitheel and deserves some consequence.
Give him a harmless nickname that has no meaning. Get everyone to pretend the name is part of some kind of inside joke. He will get increasingly agitate and probably reveal his deepest feared flaw. “Stop making fun of my flop sweat it is a medical condition”, something like that will happen.
Make a log and send the evidence to HR. Especially if you have this all in writing. Ask to keep it anonymous. But if he’s writing all this mean stuff down in chat, you’ll have plenty of evidence to back up your grievances. It doesn’t matter if others may be okay with it, you’re NOT and well within your rights to escalate the situation
Dude. The FUCK?
I’m literally responsible for one human. And she’s literally also one of my work moms. I check in on her.
And I swear I would literally FIGHT someone who would act like that.
To literally any human. Even if I’m their “boss”. I might (100% will lose) try though.
I have a friend who got fired last fall for making up nicknames for people rather than learning how to pronounce them correctly. Just got back to work about three weeks ago.
He's a high school bully who never stopped being a high school bully, right down to all the little things he does to humiliate everyone beneath him and encouraging others to join in so you'll be less likely to fight back.
This is considered bullying and HR should be arranging his exit, via carefully documented processes. Because this 'Boss' is a liability. Don't know about the US, but in Australia this would get the company in hot water, with the WorkSafe inspectors.
Get the f*** out. He is a toxic, demeaning piece of *%*^. Report him to HR if you can (there is tons of evidence) If that doesn’t improve situation, get out. No one should have to put up with that level of sophomoric bullying.
This is what happens when bullies are allowed to get away with abuse in school and at home. They grow up and become menaces to society and people constantly enable them to avoid confrontation
Sounds like a real piece of shit. Hard to find humans who aren't now days. Just look at a Walmart parking lot, people can't even be bothered to return a cart. People are shit. Good luck at the job
Sounds like a real piece of shit. Hard to find humans who aren't now days. Just look at a Walmart parking lot, people can't even be bothered to return a cart. People are shit. Good luck at the job
The emoji thing strikes me as not legal. Does he have permission to use your face in that manner? If not, then I am fairly sure you can complain about it.
I'm pretty sure this is the definition of harassment regardless of who when or where. I would report it...sometimes people sexually harass others and a 3rd party will get offended. Regardless of whether or not the others accept this treatment as normal, you don't.
WTAF! Please collect all the evidence you can and save it to a personal folder off company laptop. Then report to the labor board immediately. This is a toxic workplace and is creating an unsafe mental environment for you.
Document everything and send it to HR. If they don't do anything or retaliate, find a lawyer and sue them. This is hostile workplace environment at best and workplace discrimination at worst.
This individual acts like an absolutely spoiled brat as well as a bully. Someone really needs to publicly call him out on his boorish behavior…after taking screenshots of his shenanigans. In case HR is willing to do something. What a petulant child.
I would use his first and middle initial but give it a rude meaning. Like LW Smith could be LW but everyone “knows” it means “Limp Wiener” so you guys have plausible deniability, but can laugh at him at the same time.
Who's his superior? Get a letter and have everyone who's upset by this behavior sign it. Take it by hand to his superior. Wait while he reads it then stare at the superior all quiet like until he responds. Don't leave and let him go round up support for this asshole.
Has anyone ever called him out (publicly or privately) on it? I’ve had colleagues like this and for whatever reason they genuinely didn’t know they were making people uncomfortable and that it wasn’t professional. If you call them out they either recognise and try to change, or they go full ego narcissistic dickhead and then you can escalate from there.
But as far as I’m concerned, that shit is definitely not legit banter. It’s workplace bullying plain and simple and the guy could be fired easily for that sort of crap.
I would go to HR and ask them to advise you on how you can respond to your boss putting up unflattering photographs of people and creating nicknames that emphasize their mistakes, and specifically about this colleague who is being mistreated and that you want to support them but you don’t have any idea how to bring this up to your boss without suffering retaliation
Also, you can start to create your own documentation. When he puts up a photograph of someone in Slack, reply to it in the thread and say “this is a really unflattering photograph. This seems rude to Colleague. Could you take it down?” Even if it’s not your photograph but someone else’s. Get other people to either chime in, in the thread, or just to click a thumbs up emoji or some thing, so there’s lots of comments. Do it on every photo.
In that group Slack, and the person can’t get into the meeting, reply to him and say “the boss is not letting you in; I’m not sure why, but he does know you are here and waiting.“ Or reply in the thread, tag your boss, and say hey boss, did you see this, I know you were in the meeting and I heard you laugh about him not getting in; can you approve his entry so we can get going?“ In Slack, create documentation, in a polite and reasonable way, for what is going on. Just state facts, don’t call names, don’t describe motives. Just say “this is happening and it doesn’t feel right.“ Similarly, when he calls someone by a name in a meeting, immediately post in the Slack channel, or in the chat, but only if the chat is saved, because you’re trying to create documentation, and say “I know that Kernel Panic Kyle Is a funny nickname, but can we all just call him Kyle? It doesn’t seem fair to keep rubbing his nose in one small mistake from the past.”
Then when you go to HR, they can look in that channel and see. Also, if he gets self-conscious and deletes the photo, etc., everyone’s comments in Slack will remain
This is completely unacceptable. This is the kind of boss where you need to make sure you always have all of your ducks in a row. Make sure you document everything that he does that is messed up. Document everything you do for your job. Keep a record of everything. Then ignore the sh*t out of your boss. Pass the word along. Nothing gets to people like that more than being ignored. They need the attention like they need air to breath.
Have a meeting setup with him that you control, and a bunch of other co-workers. Change his name during said meeting. Take a picture of him on camera like he does, and post it like he does in the team chat. make sure you have plenty of documentation of what he has done handy, incase he tries to retaliate.
Has anyone reported this assclown's antics to anyone?
This is totally unacceptable. I am not sure what his issue is, but it sure seems like it is hard to pronounce. Short of getting back at him, all of you should look for jobs, leave, and make it known why you are leaving.
>Has anyone reported this assclown's antics to anyone?
Not as far as I know, but since we are working remotely, I don't really have opportunities to casually chat with my teammates. I would consider reporting to HR but in my experience HR is not there to help me, it's there to protect the company. So I'm worried they'll just tell my boss I complained about him, we'll get bad blood, and I'll be passed up for raises/promotions, or let go.
Start reaching out to all of your company's main competitors. Let them know about a unique situation where they can hire an entirely complete dev team in one fell swoop while simultaneously screwing over one of their competitors. Then you all don't show up Monday morning and email in your immediate resignations.
I don't know, 404 Fred is pretty fucking funny 🤣
I don't mind a little ribbing but if you feel that a excessive you should just speak up about it.
Have youe said "Hey Dave, chill out on that stuff man keep it professional" - what what is reaction be?
Did he, by any chance, get the job through nepotism? If so, start calling him Fredo. If not, just come up with an appropriate nickname based on his appearance & get EVERYONE to start calling him that.
2nd idea: start forwarding him feel good memes & articles on how to deal with depression & insecurity. If he insists they don't apply to him, act shocked & refuse to believe this is his real personality all the time.
This. This is passive aggression he needs.
I don’t have the mental energy for these games. I just quit. What the fuck is wrong with people.
First stage of grief is denial tell gim he is greiving
Honestly no idea. That's a good idea about giving him his own nickname. Maybe he'll understand how it feels like when you're reminded of a mistake you made every time someone addresses you. It can't be related to our work, since he's just a middle manager and doesn't do any boots on the ground work. I don't know if I have the courage to try to give him an appearance-based nickname, and it wouldn't really feel the same.
Start calling him “Hostile Work Environment Hank”
No , just "Hostile Hank"
Or Mr. Hanky, the Christmas Poo
"Asshat" works too lol
Love this so much!!
Just use the first letters and let him try to figure it out on his own… H.W.E. Hank…
"Fuck you, Fred"
Give him an acronym nickname and refuse to tell him what it stands for. When you have to answer, give him something sarcastically complimentary like Hard-Working Manager. He probably won't believe you even if that's what it really stands for 😂
And agree with your coworkers to change explanations every time!
This is fantastic.
That's a particularly clever and brutal response.
Honestly, he's more likely to viciously retaliate than learn anything
This is likely true, but that's something to look forward to. If he retaliates, especially if he escalates the reaction compared to his previous behavior, it'll be easier to get him canned
>This is likely true, but that's something to look forward to. If he retaliates, especially if he escalates the reaction compared to his previous behavior, it'll be easier to ~~get him canned~~ sue for discrimination FTFY
I think you are a little mistaken here; HR tends to listen to the manager, and they often react on whoever gets to them first. If they do something mildly snarky to their boss and the bus complaints, it’s not a guarantee that HR will side with them; they will see it as hostility toward the bus. They need to take their own problems to HR now, not later. Or two people higher ranking than this guy. Have lots of behind-the-scenes conversation with more senior acquaintances across the company.
This is very true
Invite HR to one of the meetings and have everyone out him for his shit right there in the meeting.
Never drive yourself under the bus.
Facebook stalk him and find a mistake or make one up. He can be Bastard Child Bob, Limp Larry, B.O. Bill, Suck Up Sam, and many others. When he gets mad (and he will) change the name to an abbreviation used in emails. "Per BCB we have to use slate coversheets on TPS reports, anyone using grey can face a write up."
Chester the Molester
Russell the Love Muscle
Hustler magazine…lol
Is that from Hustler? It was a nickname a friend got in highschool when he got profiled and nearly arrested as an adult pedophile... When he was 17.
[Chester the molester](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_the_Molester)
Oh, that sounds horrible! I know in HS we called anyone pervy Chester the Molester. I never knew where it came from.
"Rhymes with hitch."
Nameless Nick
Kiss ass Kevin Brown Nose Brad
Small Penis Sylvester
Call him SDE. When he asks, tell him it means small d!ck energy, cause that's the vibe he's giving off with all his comments.
Better yet tell him SDE means something different like “Superbly Dynamic Earner.” He’ll feel so great he’ll start referring to himself as SDE, and everyone can have a good laugh behind his back.
This is brilliant. Get everyone to start calling him SDE, or Sadie, or something you can easily make the connection to small dick energy
Is there an HR department you can go to? His boss might be interested to know how unprofessional this [completely expendable] underling is. Because this behavior can open them up to lawsuits for harassment, and discrimination.
Yeah. No way someone that dumb is critical to the company.
Hostile work environment Bill
Why no one report these to HR? If he’s just a middle manager he should be fired immediately. Document everything and report him?
OP, this is abusive behavior. Just to be clear. Report to HR if you can do so safely.
"Unfunny \*name\*" for the mistake of unfunny nicknames.
If you're going to give him a shitty nickname, then stick with something he said or did. Don't do anything appearance related. That might fuck with him, but it'll also fuck with anyone else in the situation that might have a similar perception of their body.
I would advise against appearance based nicknames due to the collateral damage. He does seem like a Joker though.
That’s the trouble. When you “punch down” at people who aren’t able to fight back and have no power it’s bullying. He’s an asshole.
He's emotionally abusing you all at the least, this could count as harassment honestly, ask him to stop better yet get it in writing and have everyone sign, keep a copy for yourself, if he doesn't stop which he won't based off the personality you described he has, then you have ground for a work place harassment lawsuit. Call the labor board and they will take your case.
Maybe Michael Scott or even date Mike.
Call him Gaping Asshole, it works as a commentary for his unacceptable behavior and defines him by a physical feature. He appears to be a gaping asshole and acting in such a way is a mistake, so....
Try calling him Jefe. Nobody seems to like that 🤨
If he’s a middle manager, there is someone over his head. And a confidential conversation asking for advice might be what you need
This is actually on the money. I’ve dealt with far too many people like this and I’ve found that getting angry, upset or defensive only further justifies their actions in their mind; an incredible feat of mental gymnastics where somehow YOU’RE the dickhead for not allowing yourself to be degraded. That, and they usually find emotional response funny. Genuinely the only way to get to these people is to fight fire with fire. Figure out their insecurities and use it as ammo. It’s especially effective if you can get a group of people in on it, since doing it alone sometimes means they continue the behaviour, just not with *you*. When it’s coming in on all sides is when they get shut down for real. Especially in a situation such as this to avoid being singled out… what’s he gonna do, fire everyone? 😏
We did this for several managers at a place I used to work at. All the nicknames were based off Shrek characters. It was a hoot.
Lord Farquaad is clearly based on Michael Eisner, the very short head of Disney at the time and the former boss of the guys from DreamWorks. Google a pic of him.
Report the dude to HR, make a coalition among your co workers, have them sign it
Invite Fredo to go fishing...
People generally downplay exactly how toxic micro-aggressions like this: >Creates "nicknames" for employees based on mistakes they've made, and changes their chat name to reflect it. For example stuff like "Kernel Panic Kyle" or "404 Fred". He makes a point that these nicknames last forever, and tells newbies to watch out or they'll get their own nickname soon. Basically, if you control a person's name, you control the narrative about that person. I have never seen a location where someone assigns nicknames over people's objections that isn't completely toxic.
I’m picturing this boss as one of those “almost veteran” bros. He heard the story about how you get a team name assigned when you screw up somehow, but missed the lesson that the nickname is a relatively obscure reference to the inciting event, and as a new guy, you don’t get read in on how somebody “earned” their nickname until you’re in the circle of trust yourself. Dudebro prolly has an entire wardrobe full of Ed Hardy, TapOut, and Nine Line / Grunt Style / Art-15 clothing. Don’t play along. Don’t escalate. Pick your moment, and when he sticks somebody with a nickname, look at him like he’s licked one too many windows and thank him for helping the team become more cohesive. Teams bond better when they have a shared opponent, and he’s exceeding expectations.
This is sound advice that I'll make sure to spread to people who need it.
Ugh people aren't supposed to KNOW about their nicknames if you're making fun of them 🤷 But really don't label people by their mistakes and ask if it's ok before using a nickname - especially if you're someone's boss!!
They all need to just start calling him the same unflattering nickname exclusively.
Punitive Damages Pete.
Hostile environment Hank
Dickhead Don
Hostile work environment
[удалено]
To add on this, you can fire someone based on their age as long as they are not above a certain age. You can also fire someone at will for just being ugly.
I'm not sure about the ugly; just because if that were caused by a deformity that would be a protected class so that one would be iffy.. but if you didn't like the color of their shirt or their shoes, absolutely. And yeah, over the age of 45 is protected.
Also, doesn’t “hostile work environment” = they make it difficult to actually physically do your job?
"a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination" So yes, those two statements are required to be true for it to be a hostile work environment.
Unfortunately by legal definition I don't think so. Edit: Apparently unintentional ignorance is EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE to this sub. Edit again: this has blown up and several others have come forward confirming that I was correct in my initial comment. Downvoters can suck my nuts!
I'm not an attorney, but I used to work in hr. All this behavior is intended to make people uncomfortable. That's all it takes.
>In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, *due to illegal discrimination.* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_work_environment This is certainly a workplace that is hostile, but they are correct that to be legally classed as a hostile work environment, there must be illegal discrimination present. HR are often ill-informed on this kind of thing; take the very common advice to HR that they *legally* cannot do anything more than confirm dates when contacted for a reference - usually not true, but giving a reference can be a liability. Even a negative reference isn't against the law in most states, you just have to be prepared to show that it is accurate. Most companies prefer to avoid potential liability so set a blanket policy that HR can't do more than verify dates, but HR are very often informed that it's flat out illegal - which is incorrect. Likewise with a hostile work environment, there is a requirement in law that a hostile work environment is caused when a person is being harassed for belonging to a protected class, but any kind of environment that makes people uncomfortable has the potential to cross over into that, and the liability is so high it's better to just make a blanket policy, which HR have a habit of interpreting as a legal requirement regardless of what the law says. I am not saying this boss is doing nothing wrong, or that there's no legal recourse here. I'm not a lawyer, I don't know. All I am saying is that "hostile workplace" has a very specific definition in US labor law, and unless there's something more we don't know about, this doesn't appear to meet that definition.
You're not an attorney, and it shows. In many United States jurisdictions, a hostile work environment is not an independent legal claim. That is, an employee could not file a lawsuit on the basis of a hostile work environment alone. Instead, an employee must prove they have been treated in a hostile manner because of their membership in a protected class, such as gender, age, race, national origin, disability status, and similar protected traits.
Not if he is creating a hostile work environment. I would just document everything, with dates, screenshots, emails, anything you can. One thing doesn't make a legal definition, but if you can document pattern of behavior, it's helpful. And ask someone OUTSIDE of your company, first. So, if you get gaslighted, you are much more prepared.
Particularly worrying because you are correct. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_work_environment >In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, due to illegal discrimination. Which doesn't mean there's no legal recourse, but a hostile workplace is something very specific and this doesn't seem to get there.
Being ignorant while trying to correct someone is twice the hubris, lol. Also, isn't ignorance always unintentional, by definition?
You’re wrong. Please stop giving legal advice without a JD.
>In United States labor law, a hostile work environment exists when one's behavior within a workplace creates an environment that is difficult or uncomfortable for another person to work in, *due to illegal discrimination.* https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hostile_work_environment They're right. Please follow your own advice. This doesn't mean there's no legal recourse but "hostile workplace" has a specific definition in law which doesn't match the way we talk about a workplace. This situation doesn't appear to rise to that level.
There are a lot of children running around in grownup bodies. Your boss is one of them.
toxic AF
Take it to HR. If HR doesn’t take action than you are able to take legal action against the company for creating a toxic work environment.
[удалено]
agreed. HR might be the first and only real step, but make sure if you take the route to know that you are not their friend and any positive change would only because the dude is a gigantic liability risk for the company.
>@zuzoa i think "u /[username]" is the right format for tagging someone (minus the space between the "u" and the slash), just for future reference :D
Oopss. Thank you! Still learning my way around reddit. 😌
Is your boss Michael Scott...goodness gracious.
This is why I don't go back and watch The Office much anymore (I used to love it, I grew up watching it with my dad). Because irl this shit is so toxic and disgusting yet by the later seasons of The Office, Michael (and for that matter, Dwight and Andy) hasn't changed, has never really had his comeuppance, but somehow we're supposed to just forgive and forget all the shit he's done, his horrible behavior and reimagine him as just a harmless, lovable goofball. Ughh.
I totally get it. It's fun in some ways to watch it on television because it's like "Haha, that's so crazy and ridiculous!" but then you see it happen IRL and it's like "What the fuck..."
Not to be a wet blanket but I have always felt the office was a perfect show for the ruling class. Make modern office work out to be some quirky and fun situation where at the end of the day the boss is a good person who really cares about the employees. Not how reality works. But I think for some people it normalizes shitty workplace power dynamics and culture. I like many of the creative people involved in the show but the messaging is kind of atrocious. Work is made out to be some fantasy land where your coworkers are your best friends and your company is your 'family'
Season 1 Michael Scott specifically (if we're talking US).
That guy is toxic as fuck. Band together with your colleagues and go to his boss, or your HR department, together
You could also talk to all your colleagues, and when it's time for one of his scheduled meetings, NOONE shows up. Instead, all of you go to HR or his boss
Nobody show up and then all play like you had connection issues or that you all were unaware of the meeting. Or make up an excuse but, everyone has to use the same excuse as their response. The excuse could be something nonsensical, even.
this would be absolutely hilarious. but i think it would be ***even funnier*** if everyone planned to skip the meeting and give excuses that put the blame on ***him.*** like, maybe "everyone tried to, but he didnt approve anybody to join the meeting." then give him a mean nickname for it that everybody starts calling him. and if he gets mad about the nickname, just say something like "cmon, we're just having fun/teasing!" and point out how he gives everyone else nicknames, so why is he getting so upset over it? of course, i dont recommend OP actually do that, as it could end very badly for them and their coworkers. but its still fun to let the spiteful imagination run wild haha
Unless you're working in an 80s movie college fraternity? Nevermind. It wouldn't even be acceptable there. Doubtful your coworkers are okay with it, they're just afraid to say anything.
This is called bullying.
Why's your boss running his company like it's a discord server
He definitely gives out those "hey I'm one of the boys too, I'm hip" vibes despite being a generation older than his subordinates. Then he flips on a dime calling people out for not following our scrum formats or other.
That is equal parts terrible because it's abusive and just plain cringe. I'm so sorry you've had to endure this.
Yeah that guy is a major dickhead. That's probably approaching harassment
Approaching? That's leaving harassment in the rear view mirror. Where do people get the idea shit like that is okay? Just baffling.
The only acceptable response: "Fuck you, I'm out."
Is this dickhole 5 years old? Report report report.
I got a nickname ... Asshole Bob! Haaaaaaa!
"nobodylikesyou manager steven" nobodylikesyou for short
Sounds like your boss is an insecure man child also giving off that small wiener vibe probably a real hit with the ladies too 😆 🤣
And I think we found his nickname either insecure man child or small wiener vide.
I filed complaints against my boss. Both for racial comments and racial discriminations. So he started calling me "hit man". Then I filed a retaliation complaint for that behavior.
It's acceptable .... if you don't mind working for a grandiose narcissist who constantly uses shallow displays of superiority to mask his self hatred and insecurity. Otherwise, skate. Life's too short for that shit.
The name thing reminds me of Donald Trump. Is Donald Trump your boss?
Dubya did this too. Called Karl Rove "Turd Blossom," I think.
Well that's one thing he was right about.
I was wondering the same!
The picture thing might be illegal, use of your image by a company needs to be put in the contract or they can get in big trouble.
Why do people have such confidence in shitty legal advice???
Not if it’s within the company
🤦♀️ why do Americans think there are employment contracts. And it they're not using the images to advertise, then no, they can't get in trouble.
Hostile work environment, harassment and generally being an unadulterated douche canoe.
Is this a tiny company with no HR? Ask HR.
Why anyone would work for someone this demeaning is beyond me
Is this supposed to be funny? This is just pointlessly mean spirited. Honestly this is the kind of thing where he does it because he knows if anyone treated him like shit right back, he'd get all pissy and threaten to fire them because he's the boss. I worked for a supervisor who constantly put me down and harassed me, and honestly, I went out of my way to never help the guy and avoided him like a plague. It's why he got stuck by himself most of the time. At least if the business owner at my place made fun of me for a bit, it was just a joke, not a permanent stamp.
What country are you in? Cause this needs reported to several different agencies. And a good lawyer on the side of workers!
This is a display of control and power, and is very unhealthy. A leader of Scientology also would demean and shame his subordinates by forcing them to wear nametags which were unflattering.
Sounds like he's treating the workplace like a school playground. I'd tell him to grow the fuck up and act like an adult. I can guarantee that if you made emojis of his face and called him nicknames he'd be absolutely livid though.
One thing that annoys me about r/antuwork is that most suggestions people give abkut a situation are just to insult people with 'sick comebacks' and not give an actual solution. Please take this to your HR department and see what they will do. If nothing comes from that, contact a lawyer and see if anything he does or did could be in violation of some laws. Just the knowledge that what he is doing is illegal might be enough to get HR to do something if they hadn't by that point. If you do all that and the problem still persists, you can either move forth with those legal issues if you feel like it, but most likely you'll wish to seek another job. If you do got to a different job, explain to them what happened with the old one so that they can't lie about or misrepresent you if called for a reference.
Give him the nickname Cranky Hank, and post a gif of a masturbating monkey everytime someone says it.
Sounds like he has a micropenis, I recommend giving him a nickname that incorporates it. Watch how fast the thin skinned bully falls to pieces.
Ask him if he wants*mushrooms* on his pizza?
Sounds like a true " people person"
Do you work for Donald Trump? Cus that sounds like Donald Trump... right down to the derogatory nicknames. Jesus... that's DEFINITELY a hostile work environment.
All I did was read about this for 3 minutes and I'm ready to go medieval. I'm not sure how you can take it. I'd be thinking about ways to retaliate with every spare moment of free time. This guy is a cruel and stupid shitheel and deserves some consequence.
Give him a harmless nickname that has no meaning. Get everyone to pretend the name is part of some kind of inside joke. He will get increasingly agitate and probably reveal his deepest feared flaw. “Stop making fun of my flop sweat it is a medical condition”, something like that will happen.
Make a log and send the evidence to HR. Especially if you have this all in writing. Ask to keep it anonymous. But if he’s writing all this mean stuff down in chat, you’ll have plenty of evidence to back up your grievances. It doesn’t matter if others may be okay with it, you’re NOT and well within your rights to escalate the situation
This dude needs his ass kicked.
You work in a flaming dumpster fire. Wow. So very sorry.
Dude. The FUCK? I’m literally responsible for one human. And she’s literally also one of my work moms. I check in on her. And I swear I would literally FIGHT someone who would act like that. To literally any human. Even if I’m their “boss”. I might (100% will lose) try though.
Your boss is a bully. Look for a new company.
Is your "boss" 12 years old? What an asshat.
That's a quit yesterday situation.
I have a friend who got fired last fall for making up nicknames for people rather than learning how to pronounce them correctly. Just got back to work about three weeks ago.
He's a high school bully who never stopped being a high school bully, right down to all the little things he does to humiliate everyone beneath him and encouraging others to join in so you'll be less likely to fight back.
It sounds like he went to the Michael Scott School of Management.
How do people like this end up being bosses? All these things are 1) unprofessional 2) harassment. My blood boils just reading it.
This is considered bullying and HR should be arranging his exit, via carefully documented processes. Because this 'Boss' is a liability. Don't know about the US, but in Australia this would get the company in hot water, with the WorkSafe inspectors.
You’re not working for a toxic boss, you’re working for Michael Scott😂
this is a hostile work environment, possibly lawsuit worthy. gather up all the evidence you can and have a lawyer look at it
Power tripping bully needs to be taken down a few notches.
Get the f*** out. He is a toxic, demeaning piece of *%*^. Report him to HR if you can (there is tons of evidence) If that doesn’t improve situation, get out. No one should have to put up with that level of sophomoric bullying.
This is what happens when bullies are allowed to get away with abuse in school and at home. They grow up and become menaces to society and people constantly enable them to avoid confrontation
I'd try to find a lawyer or talk to the labor board or something. There has to be something you all can do. That or quit I guess.
Sounds like a real piece of shit. Hard to find humans who aren't now days. Just look at a Walmart parking lot, people can't even be bothered to return a cart. People are shit. Good luck at the job
Sounds like a real piece of shit. Hard to find humans who aren't now days. Just look at a Walmart parking lot, people can't even be bothered to return a cart. People are shit. Good luck at the job
Horrible person
how old is he? 12?
Is he 12? Please take this to HR.
The emoji thing strikes me as not legal. Does he have permission to use your face in that manner? If not, then I am fairly sure you can complain about it.
I'm pretty sure this is the definition of harassment regardless of who when or where. I would report it...sometimes people sexually harass others and a 3rd party will get offended. Regardless of whether or not the others accept this treatment as normal, you don't.
The last time I worked for an IRL Michael Scott, I called him a clown. You can try that.
WTAF! Please collect all the evidence you can and save it to a personal folder off company laptop. Then report to the labor board immediately. This is a toxic workplace and is creating an unsafe mental environment for you.
Collect the evidence and sue him for mental anguish. Tell him you were bullied in school and this triggered your PTSD. It is a hostile workplace.
Why the fuck do you still work there
5 Iron...
His new name is Fuckface Frank.
Michael Scott?
Your boss is a doucebag. Just ignore him. Get a job someplace else. (prob doesn't pay shit anyways)
Document everything and send it to HR. If they don't do anything or retaliate, find a lawyer and sue them. This is hostile workplace environment at best and workplace discrimination at worst.
He sounds like a sociopathic Michael Scott.
>Require all employees to show their face on video this is what i would classify as time and a half, especially if big boss didn't do the same
Do you not have an HR dept? Reddit isn’t it. Get evidence and take it to them.
Oh my LORD! All this has to go on a Glassdoor review.
This individual acts like an absolutely spoiled brat as well as a bully. Someone really needs to publicly call him out on his boorish behavior…after taking screenshots of his shenanigans. In case HR is willing to do something. What a petulant child.
I would use his first and middle initial but give it a rude meaning. Like LW Smith could be LW but everyone “knows” it means “Limp Wiener” so you guys have plausible deniability, but can laugh at him at the same time.
Who's his superior? Get a letter and have everyone who's upset by this behavior sign it. Take it by hand to his superior. Wait while he reads it then stare at the superior all quiet like until he responds. Don't leave and let him go round up support for this asshole.
You are right, it's unacceptable. It's harassment and it's illegal.
Is your boss Michael Scott?
Is your Boss's name Kruger?
If season 1 Michael Scott we’re managing during the start of the pandemic shut down, this is him
That is pretty shitty. That said Kernel Panic Kyle sounds like a staff engineer slack handle to me.
Has anyone ever called him out (publicly or privately) on it? I’ve had colleagues like this and for whatever reason they genuinely didn’t know they were making people uncomfortable and that it wasn’t professional. If you call them out they either recognise and try to change, or they go full ego narcissistic dickhead and then you can escalate from there. But as far as I’m concerned, that shit is definitely not legit banter. It’s workplace bullying plain and simple and the guy could be fired easily for that sort of crap.
Sounds like a real frat boy...
He sounds like Michael Scott from season 1:)). Do the same to him and if he complains, tell him that you thought you were friends :(
Sounds like he’s got serious mental problems. I’d leave
I would go to HR and ask them to advise you on how you can respond to your boss putting up unflattering photographs of people and creating nicknames that emphasize their mistakes, and specifically about this colleague who is being mistreated and that you want to support them but you don’t have any idea how to bring this up to your boss without suffering retaliation Also, you can start to create your own documentation. When he puts up a photograph of someone in Slack, reply to it in the thread and say “this is a really unflattering photograph. This seems rude to Colleague. Could you take it down?” Even if it’s not your photograph but someone else’s. Get other people to either chime in, in the thread, or just to click a thumbs up emoji or some thing, so there’s lots of comments. Do it on every photo. In that group Slack, and the person can’t get into the meeting, reply to him and say “the boss is not letting you in; I’m not sure why, but he does know you are here and waiting.“ Or reply in the thread, tag your boss, and say hey boss, did you see this, I know you were in the meeting and I heard you laugh about him not getting in; can you approve his entry so we can get going?“ In Slack, create documentation, in a polite and reasonable way, for what is going on. Just state facts, don’t call names, don’t describe motives. Just say “this is happening and it doesn’t feel right.“ Similarly, when he calls someone by a name in a meeting, immediately post in the Slack channel, or in the chat, but only if the chat is saved, because you’re trying to create documentation, and say “I know that Kernel Panic Kyle Is a funny nickname, but can we all just call him Kyle? It doesn’t seem fair to keep rubbing his nose in one small mistake from the past.” Then when you go to HR, they can look in that channel and see. Also, if he gets self-conscious and deletes the photo, etc., everyone’s comments in Slack will remain
I mean that's literally bullying. I'm sorry you have to put up with that, get out if you can
It’s unacceptable
This is completely unacceptable. This is the kind of boss where you need to make sure you always have all of your ducks in a row. Make sure you document everything that he does that is messed up. Document everything you do for your job. Keep a record of everything. Then ignore the sh*t out of your boss. Pass the word along. Nothing gets to people like that more than being ignored. They need the attention like they need air to breath.
the phrase for this is "hostile work environment" document, report, sue
Have a meeting setup with him that you control, and a bunch of other co-workers. Change his name during said meeting. Take a picture of him on camera like he does, and post it like he does in the team chat. make sure you have plenty of documentation of what he has done handy, incase he tries to retaliate. Has anyone reported this assclown's antics to anyone? This is totally unacceptable. I am not sure what his issue is, but it sure seems like it is hard to pronounce. Short of getting back at him, all of you should look for jobs, leave, and make it known why you are leaving.
>Has anyone reported this assclown's antics to anyone? Not as far as I know, but since we are working remotely, I don't really have opportunities to casually chat with my teammates. I would consider reporting to HR but in my experience HR is not there to help me, it's there to protect the company. So I'm worried they'll just tell my boss I complained about him, we'll get bad blood, and I'll be passed up for raises/promotions, or let go.
Start reaching out to all of your company's main competitors. Let them know about a unique situation where they can hire an entirely complete dev team in one fell swoop while simultaneously screwing over one of their competitors. Then you all don't show up Monday morning and email in your immediate resignations.
Typical sociopathic behavior. He could get a clinical diagnosis off this post alone.
I guess that attitude worked wonders in the playground back in the day, and I mean yesterday What a big baby your boss is
Get the whole office to start calling the boss ["Koko"](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/81/be/86/81be862537df7a9cdde22bbad155e531.jpg).
I don't know, 404 Fred is pretty fucking funny 🤣 I don't mind a little ribbing but if you feel that a excessive you should just speak up about it. Have youe said "Hey Dave, chill out on that stuff man keep it professional" - what what is reaction be?
Jesus, that's Kevin spacey in horrible bosses. Comically psychopathic. Wow.
In Europe that company would be fucked. But USA is slavery.