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Toxic Boss Is Freaking Out After Employee He Harassed Stops Reacting To His Comments
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Toxic Boss Is Freaking Out After Employee He Harassed Stops Reacting To His Comments

Interview With Author
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Considering how much toxic behaviors at work are being called out online, you’d think the culture would be changing at this point. And while it might be the case that there’s progress, the battle is far from over.

A Redditor recently shared their unbearable work experience of having to deal with a toxic, narcissist boss who quickly changed his attitude once the employee started showing signs of quitting. It’s a bit too late for damage control there, buddy.

Toxicity at work is an issue that has received quite a bit of attention in hopes of change. But it’s still far from being resolved

Image credits: fauxels / pexels (not the actual photo)

A woman started “gray-rocking” her boss who in turn started getting uneasy about it, in fear of the woman leaving the job

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Image credits: Jonathan Borba / pexels (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: Yan Krukau / pexels (not the actual photo)

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Image credits: RDNE Stock project / pexels (not the actual photo)

Image credits: AdMysterious7891

Ironically, he often bashed the employee for being lazy, but he’s fearful of having no one who could do it at all

The story goes that Redditor u/AdMysterious7891 has been applying for jobs for some time now because her current one has become simply unbearable. Long story short, the boss is as toxic as they come: abusive, narcissistic, fosters a culture of gossip, backstabbing and the like.

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Well, enough was enough for OP one day and she, sensing she’s going to have another job soon, started seriously gray-rocking. For the longest time, the boss was trashing the employee, saying she’s lazy and whatnot. But once he caught wind of what’s up, he seemed to grow fearful of it and changed his game 180 degrees. But we all know it’s a fake kind of nice.

Folks online were all pointing out that it’s no longer a toxic working environment—rather a hostile one. As such, it deserved a zero day notice. And, on top of that, some suggested plotting against the tattletale, rejecting exit interviews, not getting HR involved (mostly because of their past inactivity), and possibly spreading a rumor of not getting a job and then leaving.

Image credits: Edmond Dantès / pexels (not the actual photo)

Bored Panda reached out to the Redditor for an interview. OP explained that the post was a way to vent their frustration with the whole situation to a community they knew doesn’t tolerate toxicity at work.

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“Were the [community’s] insights helpful? I suppose they were; I learned that many people had gone through, or were going through, a similar situation, so it made me feel less alone,” elaborated OP. “I also got a few comments accusing my story as being fake which, to me, also helped me realize that what I was going through was so bad, the people thought it sounded fake.”

While OP doesn’t have a job lined up just yet, they are supposed to hear back from one soon. And it’s their last day on the job, so good things are coming! “Once the workday ends, I’m going to hand my key in to our HR rep, tell her I’m leaving, and never step foot here again. I do not plan on giving a two-week notice, nor do I plan on speaking to my boss at all.”

As for the boss, OP doesn’t have hope that he’ll learn his lesson. Apparently, he’s surrounded by yes-men all the time who will feed into his fantasies so that he thinks he’s never at fault.

Lastly, we asked OP if they had any advice for those dealing with similar situations. And it was concise and spot-on: “Run, don’t walk.”

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Image credits: Burst / pexels (not the actual photo)

For context, gray-rocking is when folks minimize talking, give straightforward answers, and are emotionally absent

You can say it’s a method of sorts for dealing with people most would want to throw into an active volcano. Like toxic bosses. However, OP mentioned that the boss acts super narcissistic. And gray-rocking is actually often used against such behaviors.

You see, folks with things like narcissistic personality disorders feed on attention and thrive off it. By going the extreme disinterest route, the demand for attention is not fed and hence the narcissist often leaves the person alone. Consider it a certain kind of vampirism—once a victim is dry, they move on. And you can force yourself to be dry in this case.

There’s more to it, but essentially the idea behind the method is to stop emotional and other kinds of abuse. While there is no formal proof of whether it actually works, there is the theoretical chance of people using it as part of a detachment tactic, distancing themselves from the abusers and leaving them with less options for abuse.

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And there’s always a risk involved. Gray-rocking a narcissist might elevate the situation and thus the aggression, it might exhaust the initiator as it requires a lot of energy and discipline, and it can thus take a toll on the person’s mental health. That’s why emotional self-care is key to balance the act out.

Whatever the case, we’d love to hear from you. What is your take here? Got some mischievous ideas of your own to one-up OP’s approach? Share your ideas and stories in the comment section below!

Many commenters pointed out that this calls for a zero-day notice and some petty revenge on the tattletale

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Robertas Lisickis

Robertas Lisickis

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Read more »

Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

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Robertas Lisickis

Robertas Lisickis

Writer, BoredPanda staff

Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

Gabija Saveiskyte

Gabija Saveiskyte

Author, BoredPanda staff

Read more »

Hi there! I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. My job is to ensure that all the articles are aesthetically pleasing. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from all the relationship drama to lots and lots of memes and, my personal favorites, funny cute cats. When I am not perfecting the images, you can find me reading with a cup of matcha latte and a cat in my lap, taking photos (of my cat), getting lost in the forest, or simply cuddling with my cat... Did I mention that I love cats?

Read less »

Gabija Saveiskyte

Gabija Saveiskyte

Author, BoredPanda staff

Hi there! I am a Visual Editor at Bored Panda. My job is to ensure that all the articles are aesthetically pleasing. I get to work with a variety of topics ranging from all the relationship drama to lots and lots of memes and, my personal favorites, funny cute cats. When I am not perfecting the images, you can find me reading with a cup of matcha latte and a cat in my lap, taking photos (of my cat), getting lost in the forest, or simply cuddling with my cat... Did I mention that I love cats?

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Insomniac
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

1/2 I had worked a particular shift for an organization for 8 years. It was tough, caring for disabled adults with major trauma, but I did it decently. And then they doubled my workload. I told them it was too much; I'd get the list done, but I'd work 12 hours no break and the residents needed more attention. Coordinator got pissed, so he made me start working with a coworker who had assaulted me (they didn't believe me because I'm too fat, but the compromise was I didn't have to work with him again). I ended up in the psych ward. The coordinator had to take my next shift because nobody else would, and he had to call the police because he couldn't handle it. My shrink wouldn't sign off on me returning to the job. Creep coworker got fired for assaulting others. They tried for a year to replace me. Couldn't. They ended up having to reorganize that wing of the organization because NOBODY could do the job I'd been doing. They BEGGED me to come back. Sorry, shrink says no.

Insomniac
Community Member
7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

2/2 It's the law here that if you have a severe mental health crisis from a job, you cannot return unless your psychiatrist allows it. I know he was protecting me. And I'm glad that they had to deal with that massive, expensive reorganization because they'd dicked me over so badly.

Load More Replies...
Stephanie Did It
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hugged her because she made it known that she didn't want to be hugged? That's not sexual harassment, that's SEXUAL ASSAULT. She should have filed a police report immediately.

Jessie
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hugging is not sexual or assault. That’s physical harassment.

Load More Replies...
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Insomniac
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

1/2 I had worked a particular shift for an organization for 8 years. It was tough, caring for disabled adults with major trauma, but I did it decently. And then they doubled my workload. I told them it was too much; I'd get the list done, but I'd work 12 hours no break and the residents needed more attention. Coordinator got pissed, so he made me start working with a coworker who had assaulted me (they didn't believe me because I'm too fat, but the compromise was I didn't have to work with him again). I ended up in the psych ward. The coordinator had to take my next shift because nobody else would, and he had to call the police because he couldn't handle it. My shrink wouldn't sign off on me returning to the job. Creep coworker got fired for assaulting others. They tried for a year to replace me. Couldn't. They ended up having to reorganize that wing of the organization because NOBODY could do the job I'd been doing. They BEGGED me to come back. Sorry, shrink says no.

Insomniac
Community Member
7 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

2/2 It's the law here that if you have a severe mental health crisis from a job, you cannot return unless your psychiatrist allows it. I know he was protecting me. And I'm glad that they had to deal with that massive, expensive reorganization because they'd dicked me over so badly.

Load More Replies...
Stephanie Did It
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hugged her because she made it known that she didn't want to be hugged? That's not sexual harassment, that's SEXUAL ASSAULT. She should have filed a police report immediately.

Jessie
Community Member
7 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hugging is not sexual or assault. That’s physical harassment.

Load More Replies...
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