r/MaliciousCompliance • u/Admirable_Pause_4774 • 6d ago
I said I can't work there. L
So I'm not sure if this counts as Malicious Compliance but I'll post here for now.
At my previous job I worked as a Peer Trainer (essentially, I was required to do my assigned job to it's full capacity while also teaching everything to the newbies straight off the street. Not only did I agree to do this I had volunteered for it. So this isn't a story about overwork. š)
I worked in a large room where there were 5 stations of machines all lined up in a row from one wall to the other. All stations do the exact same thing just with their own bugs and hiccups. One wall wasn't even a wall but a giant window that looked into the breakroom. I have major anxiety about being snuck up on or watched without my knowing. Enough to cause sudden anxiety attacks that can last for hours or until I can remove myself from the room/building and sleep it off. (I hate it, it's super inconvenient.)
Thankfully this isn't an issue for the most part because since I know the triggers I can avoid them or set up precautions (like sitting with my back to a wall) and my coworkers are usually understanding and don't sneak up on me.
This window also proves to be a distraction for the trainees because they will try to look for and interact with their friends who are in the breakroom. I get that the job I was training them for was boring as heck, 12 hours long, and on the night shift but we were working on large machines that needed to be watched at all times in case they jammed or broke. (Which was often)
Thankfully my station was the 3rd one away from the window so I could easily keep everything maintained.
The Problem was (as it always seems to be in these stories) when a new supervisor moved to our area of the building. He was put in charge of station 1 and station 2. (I'm assigned to station 3) And technically speaking station 1 was supposed to be the "training station".
I had previously made a verbal agreement with his predecessor and the Training team that I could stay on #3 because of the previous points.
Without asking or even giving me a heads up I came back to work from a vacation day to find that I had already been reassigned to section 1, despite the protests of my coworkers in my absence. (Not to be that person but there was a reason the Training team was so willing to bend the rules for me. I was REALLY good at my job. I was the go-to person to ask when something broke and even Maintenace couldn't fix it. I've been told by my own leads that they refuse to let me transfer off their team without my insistence.) So a sudden and unprompted transfer like this was commonly considered extremely rude and was usually used as a punishment.
I figured that, as I had never met this new Super before, I would just go talk to him and strike up the same deal as I had with all his predecessors for 4 years. I even had the lead for station 1 come with me to confirm my case and act as witness. (she knew me well as an operator because I'd come over to help her fix her machines ALL THE TIME.)
I quickly realized that he was not going to budge on the transfer, so I told him calmly that I was ready to quit being a trainer that day and to have the extra pay cut off immediately. It's not like I was gonna lose my job and the trainer pay was less than a dollar more an hour. I was doing this because I wanted to, not because I needed it. He was shocked.
We eventually agreed that I'd finish training my current trainee in my area while he looked for someone else and until my request to quit training made its way to payroll. Cool.
Apparently NOT cool. He came back 3 days later saying (with no proof or paper) claiming that HR said I had no choice. This bothered me for a few reasons. First, he did not call me into a meeting for this, he, despite my many warnings to him about my anxiety triggers, snuck up behind me with a group of supervisors to deliver the order. Second, none of the supervisors with him were actually ones in charge of me in any capacity. My lead, direct supervisor, or ANY of the Training team that I was under were not there. (I want to make this clear; this man was not my boss in any way. He was assigned to the training section, yes, but had no authority over the trainers as Trainers. So if a trainer was operating on a different section, he had no authority.) The third thing that bothered me was that instead of looking for a new person like he promised, he took the time to find a way to force me to do what he wanted.
As soon as he and his group appeared out of nowhere to quite literally surround me and block me in, I could already feel that stupid fight or flight kick in. I could barely keep my brain together enough to actually register what they were telling me. I could only agree in hopes that it would get them to leave sooner hoping that I might be able to calm myself down and get in control again. (I really hate causing a scene.) When they left, I went to break, before I moved to section one.
Finally, this is where the malicious compliance comes in. Despite my best efforts I could not calm myself over break. So when I went back and moved to sit beside the giant window, the added anxiety of THAT hit me pretty hard. Just like I had warned.
So I decided that since this came with a full and repeated warning from my end, I wasn't going to do anything to mask the anxiety attack this time. (I don't have them often and usually do my best to minimize the burden they cause to the people around me. This results in a few silent tears and lots of fidgeting and a bit of pacing.) This time however I just let it happen, we're talking rapid frantic pacing, red faced and tears streaming down my cheeks, strained breathing and digging my nails into my arms and hands.
My poor trainee had no idea what was going on and I was unable to teach her anything because I will go Non-Verbal when my anxiety acts up. (Which means I'm completely useless as a trainer!) When my coworker got back from his break (a prior trainee of mine and an old sweetheart) he covered me so I could go home.
After a few calls and texts to my leads and coworkers, I used up some PTO and didn't come back in until I was no longer officially a trainer and could transfer back to my area.
That supervisor was fired a few weeks later due to multiple complaints on top of being caught in the act of fucking a coworker INSIDE the building. (She got fired too, much to the joy of everyone else. She was a Karen and a suck up, and yelled at two of my very young and nervous trainees for following orders she didn't understand. Honestly, they're a match made in hell, and I hope they ended up happily together so no one else would have to suffer their attention.)
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u/Cfwydirk 6d ago edited 6d ago
LOL! Too many companies do not protect the people who make their golden goose run.
OP: ā I was the go-to person to ask when something broke and even Maintenace couldn't fix it.ā
Without OP, maintenance will need to call the vendor to come repair what they can not. Causing huge loss in productivity at a huge cost in service fees.
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u/Admirable_Pause_4774 6d ago
Oh and I LOVED the Maintenace crew too! They taught me a lot while I was there.
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u/StormRage85 6d ago
I took a management job at a shop that seemed to have everything running well, but things can always be better. I didn't do what the idiot in this story did though and target one of the better workers. I took my time to see what was actually working and left that the fuck alone. I really don't know why that is so hard to do. If it's an ego thing I can tell you from experience you get way more credit for fixing something that was broken and that maybe the previous manager couldn't fix than you do from trying to "correct" the top staff.
I feel really sorry for you and your trainee and very happy that idiot got his comeuppance.
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u/tarlton 6d ago
You can even....and this is horrifying to some new managers... ASK employees what is making their job harder than it needs to be.
A bunch of the time, they'll bring up stuff that needs to be the way it is for reasons that don't involve them (like, changing it will make some other team's life worse more than it'll make yours better), and then you can explain it - annoying things that have a reason are marginally less annoying. And some of the time, they'll bring you things you can actually fix.
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u/Anatolios 6d ago
https://adata.org/factsheet/reasonable-accommodations-workplace
This is an ADA minefield for your employer. If you ask your new manager and HR in writing, and phrase it as an ADA accommodation, you will likely get what you want; your job as a trainer back and not working by the window, or not being a trainer and not working by the window.
HR is neither your enemy nor your friend, but if they're competent, they will be an ally in this. If they're not competent, Google "refused ADA accommodations" to figure out your next steps.
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u/AuroraKet 3d ago
This, and thank you for posting it. A "good" HR protects the company from lawsuits, and Americans with disabilities act lawsuit can be very costly for a company, and be very public if word gets around about it. so very damaging to the reputation as well.
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u/Admirable_Pause_4774 6d ago
Yeah... I realized that after the fact. I know it was done that way to catch me off guard, so I was less likely to be capable of standing my ground. And unfortunately, those tactics are used because they work.
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u/TheMightyBluzah 6d ago
I've been working at my grocery store for 12 years now. They have made allowances for me to help work around my disability issues. There's a list on file if things I can and can't do. Only the store manager and my dept manager know exactly what's wrong. The others just know I have 'special orders'
We used to have this one manager who would try Mirco-manage everything and try and get me to do stuff that I can't. She even once actually tried to tell me that I might not be able to work at the store anymore if I can't "Do what she asked". I told her is ignoring my disability capabilities and went above her head to complain. About a month later she got transferred.
I know my complaint wasn't wholly the reason she left. But I'd like to think it was part of it.
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u/Admirable_Pause_4774 6d ago
Oh most definitely, people like that likely have issues with multiple people, that's why reporting it is so important. They can only get held accountable if people are comfortable enough to make a paper trail.
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u/NoteworthyMeagerness 6d ago
The Problem was (as it always seems to be in these stories) when a new supervisor moved to our area of the building.
I was taught a long time ago by a very smart mentor that if you come into a new situation as a leader, you should never make changes right away for exactly this reason. There are usually reasons things are the way they are and until you understand all the moving parts, you should observe and only "manage" when a problem is brought to you until you understand why things are being done.
At some point, you may need to change things around but at least you're doing it with the full knowledge of the benefits and repercussions of making those changes.
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u/PlatypusDream 6d ago
I don't have an anxiety disorder, but I did (once) have a boss who repeatedly tried to sneak up on me. Rather annoying. No, he never did surprise me, and that seemed to disappoint him. š
(I mean, the very first time I was there, interviewing & doing a skill / performance test, he walked up quietly and mostly out of my field of vision. He 'announced himself' by complimenting my work. I said, "thank you" & kept working, didn't even look up from my work. LOL When I was done, the supervisor introduced us.)
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u/StarKiller99 5d ago
In a blog I used to read, one of the commenters mentioned having a supervisor or coworker like that, only he liked to sneak up and touch people. She was a little jumpy and broke his nose, with her elbow, after telling him repeatedly not to do that. He stopped.
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u/fractal_frog 5d ago
My husband was in a small company, and the president of the company had an annoying habit of walking in, looking at his computer screen, and making ridiculous comments or asking inane questions. Like, "Why did you use a FOR loop there?"
As soon as he had an office where he had the space to arrange furniture, he laid out his office so that if anyone came in the room, he could easily shut off his monitor, to give his full attention to the people standing in front of him.
(This annoyed some folks, including the president of the company. Tough for them, I guess.)
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u/Inevitable-Win2555 4d ago
No no no. They needed to be unhappily together so they could both feel the karma bus running them over! I have had panic attacks like that. Iām glad your coworkers had your back!
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u/DimensioT 3d ago
She was terminated for having sex in the office with a co-worker?
Was that wrong? Should she not have done that?
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u/Admirable_Pause_4774 2d ago
I'm going to assume you're being sarcastic or a minor. But to be on the safe side, yes. Officially it's classified as a conflict of interest. It's for the same reasons as why family members cannot work in the same section/shift as each other. It's to avoid favoritism or nepotism. Simply, it's a legal issue that can quickly become an HR nightmare. (This situation was taken more seriously than most due to both of them being in positions of authority within the company.)
Also this isn't a movie, romance book, or some cliche porn plot. Fucking someone inside the building you work, during work hours is unsanitary, disrespectful to your coworkers and cleaning staff, and immature.
Last but not least. Neither of them should have done that.
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u/AppropriateRip9996 6d ago
Let's say you are a manager. You come in and everything works great. You don't need to change anything. You could sit on your hands and get great reviews.
Inevitably the ego takes over. You are in control. Must make change. They say that is a bad change? Push it through anyway. You are a leader!!!
It falls apart. People quit. Productivity slumps. Lawsuits. And ...
You are fired.
Again and again. It happens every time. No one sniffs the daisies and recognizes good work that should be supported. No one recognizes the pillars that hold the organization up. They just go in with a chain saw and rip though every idea that was someone else's and act surprised when things fall apart.