Several years ago, I worked in the most toxic environment I’ve ever experienced. It was one of those workplaces where you’re either with the in-crowd or you’re nobody. My role was unique in that for the longest time I was excluded from that circus due to my role being audit-related.

[Coworker] was totally “in,” beloved by the in-crowd, could do no wrong, and was hailed as amazing, but in reality was completely false and useless. She was a senior manager with a lot of power. I’d had a few causes for concern, but nothing too significant.

Then, one day, I let her know she had an external audit approaching for her area. I used a checklist for external audits to ensure the department was fully prepared, but it turned out they were less than prepared; they’d not done a single thing they were supposed to be doing for quality assurance. After a bit of a panic, I managed to work out a way for me to do their internal audit without too much conflict of interest; my role is supposed to exist in somewhat of a bubble, kind of like auditing the internal auditors.

To start, I needed to get their product blueprints so that I could measure outcomes against the intended product. I asked [Coworker], who gave me a completely blank look.

Coworker: “What’s a blueprint?” 

Me: “Erm, the instruction manual if you like, the description of what it is you’re supposed to be making.”

Coworker: “…”

Me: “So, you’re making the product, and to make the product and tell others about the product, you need the plan of what the product is supposed to be, the measurements, the material needed, and the intended purpose of the product.”

Coworker: “Oh, erm, yeah, so I couldn’t actually find one.”

Me: “Did you ask for one from the client?”

Coworker: “No, I didn’t know to do that. I just found a poster advertising the product and used that. Why? Is that a problem?”

Me: “So… you used a picture of the product and made it up from there? How do you know it’s right? How do you know it will function?”

Coworker: “Well, because it looks pretty.”

Yes, folks, she’d legit been making it up for over a year, and because of the nature of the work, no one knew. 

I had no choice but to take it to the chief operating officer because this type of thing is not only malpractice in our field, but it could have serious consequences. But, of course, the big boss didn’t believe for one second that her amazing [Coworker] would do that; she’s too amazing. She teaches others how to manufacture using this exact process. 

So, [Big Boss] went through the exact same process I did and, of course, realised I was right. So, what could [Big Boss] do apart from immediately suspending [Coworker]? Well, knowing [Coworker] couldn’t stay in that role, she created a new job just for her using my exact job description, earning double my salary, to be my new boss.

When I challenged this and pointed out that, under our employment law, I was entitled to that promotion because it was my exact job description, [Big Boss] panicked and basically admitted that she needed me to continue doing all the work I was doing. [Coworker] would simply “oversee.” (Read: take credit and have a cushy job where she never had to actually do any work.)

I left with a very nice payoff. Of course, it all imploded because [Coworker] had absolutely no clue what she was doing and it couldn’t be hidden from the external audits. Last I heard, she is working a basic job with a basic salary in a completely unrelated field.

I am beyond happy to be out of that place, and as far as I know, not a single person I worked with is still there… because [Big Boss] got fired, too, by the board. 

Karma.

This story is part of our Best Of July 2021 roundup! his is the last story in this roundup, but if you’d like to read more of our favorite stories, you can always check out June’s roundup next!

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I’ve just begun seeing this psychiatrist for treatment for ADD after having been diagnosed by a different doctor who, unfortunately, was too far away for me to see him regularly.

First, I go over history, habits, etc. with her.

Me: “I’ve read that [Drug #1] is more commonly used to treat this, but [Drug #2] has less anxiety-inducing side effects, and I think that that might be the better choice for me—”

Doctor #1: “Oh, no, you don’t want to take either of those. They can both be addictive, but [Drug #3] works just as well and doesn’t have nearly so many terrible side effects.”

Me: “Oh, all right! That sounds a lot better. Let’s try that!”

She then goes over what she says are all the potential side effects I need to worry about and writes me a prescription. Two weeks later, I return for my first follow-up.

Doctor #1: “So, how do you like them?”

Me: “I don’t know. They make me sick to my stomach. Most days, I throw up for the first time pretty soon after taking them, even if I’m sure to do it with food and without anything else that might upset my stomach, so I don’t think they’re actually being properly absorbed, and then I’m sick throughout the day. When I can keep them down, I still get very nauseous. I’m having headaches and feeling really tired.”

Doctor #1: “That’s normal while you’re starting the medication. You just need to keep taking it; your body will adjust.”

Me: “Even though I’m throwing it up almost every day?”

Doctor #1: “Yes, it’s still getting into your system. You’ll see.”

Me: “And the headaches and tiredness?”

Doctor #1: “The headaches will go away, and tiredness isn’t a side effect of this drug. You need to make sure you’re maintaining a good sleep schedule; that way, you’ll be able to separate your regular feelings from the medication. Just stick with it.”

Two weeks after that, I go back again.

Me: “I haven’t been getting sick quite as much, but the headaches and drowsiness are really bad, even on days when I’m getting eight hours. Also, does this medication react with alcohol at all? Because I was at a party and I had a drink, and I started feeling way too intoxicated for just having had one drink.”

Doctor #1: “What? You must never drink while you’re taking this medication! You shouldn’t drink at all — it’s so bad for you — but if you drink while you’re on this medication, it will kill you!”

Me: “I told you in the intake interview that I drank occasionally. Why didn’t you warn me?”

Doctor #1: “You shouldn’t drink at all! It’s terrible for you! You’re so lucky nothing else happened to you!”

So, I give up drinking. At her insistence, I keep taking the medication, in part because she’s told me that she won’t prescribe me anything else, despite me requesting that she change it multiple times. I assume that since she’s a doctor, she must know better than I do, even though the side effects still remain and I haven’t noticed many changes in my symptoms.

After ten months, I start seeing a psychotherapist for different reasons, and when she hears about what’s been going on, she insists that I take her referral to a different psychiatrist.

Doctor #2: “So, you’ve been taking [Drug #3] for eight months? Have you noticed your symptoms improving?”

Me: “A little, I guess. I think it’s hard to tell because I’ve been so tired lately. I know that that’s not supposed to be a side effect for [Drug #3], but I’ve been making sure I get enough sleep and it’s still a problem.”

Doctor #2: “You noticed you were becoming tired after you started [Drug #3]? You know, just because something isn’t one of the listed side effects, it doesn’t mean it can’t possibly happen. So that’s made it hard for you to tell if your symptoms are improving?”

I’m encouraged that he hasn’t just dismissed me.

Me: “Yes, definitely. And the headaches. They’ve been so bad that I can’t focus at all sometimes.”

Doctor #2: *Taking notes* “Are those all the side effects you’ve noticed?”

Me: “Well, it doesn’t happen as frequently now, but probably once a week I’ll end up throwing up from the meds.”

Doctor #2: “Once a week isn’t frequent?”

Me: “It used to be almost every day. My old doctor said it was just my body adjusting to the medication.”

Doctor #2: “How long did that go on?”

Me: “The first few months? When I first started, I’d be sick throughout the day, but after a while, it would just happen right after I took the pills. Now, though, I’m usually just nauseous for a while, but sometimes that gets so bad that I need to lie down.”

Doctor #2: “So, we’ve got drowsiness, nausea, and headaches. Anything else?”

Me: “No. The only other weird reaction was when I drank, which I found out I wasn’t supposed to do.”

Doctor #2: “Not supposed to drink?”

Me: “Yeah, my other doctor told me afterward about how it can be deadly, so losing some of my equilibrium seems like a fair trade-off since that’s the only bad thing that happened.”

Doctor #2: “There are warnings about drinking on [Drug #3] because it can increase the effects of alcohol on your system, but the only life-threatening concerns are for binge drinkers, because [Drug #3] could exacerbate liver damage. Your doctor told you drinking on [Drug #3] was prohibited?”

Me: “She basically told me that it would be fatal.”

Doctor #2: “All right. Well, first of all, that’s not true. Second, since you’re having such bad side effects from [Drug #3] and you haven’t noticed much improvement, I’d recommend switching medications, all right?”

He ended up prescribing me [Drug #2], the same drug that I requested from my first doctor during our first appointment. It’s been a month, and all the drowsiness, nausea, and headaches are gone, along with a lot of my initial symptoms. Let this be a warning: if your doctor refuses to work with you to find an acceptable course of treatment and you have any other options at all, explore them! An MD doesn’t always mean that the doctor knows best.

I work for a housing company. I have this approximate exchange via email.

Day 1:

Customer: “I need to cancel my mother’s rental agreement. She has dementia and was admitted.”

Me: “I am so sorry to hear that. Here is the cancellation form. If she can no longer sign herself, we need proof of that — for example, a power of attorney from the courthouse, or her registration at the facility with her moving notice made at city hall.”

Customer: “She can no longer sign herself. She has dementia. She has no idea what is going on.”

Me: “I understand. Please give us proof, like [same as listed above] or anything else that is a legal document.”

Day 2: 

Customer: “I don’t have that.”

Me: “I understand, but we are not allowed to cancel a rental contract without the signature of your mother or any other proof.”

Customer: “Why?”

Me: “It is to protect your mother. We don’t want to make any mistakes, and we want to handle this delicate case correctly. Plus, it’s the law.”

Day 3: 

Customer: “But my mother has dementia and I am her son!”

Me: “I understand, but we need proof. Any kind of proof.”

Customer: “Why are you making this so hard? This is an old lady we are talking about!”

Me: “And we want to do this right for your mother. But again, we need proof.”

Day 4: 

Customer: “My mother rented this place for decades! Is this how you treat your loyal customers? She always paid on time, never raised a fuss, never asked for repairs… You are a cruel and heartless lot!”

Me: “Again, I understand your concerns, but we need proof to avoid fraud. Please arrange the proof needed and fill in the attached form.”

It was at that point that I also sent a copy of this interaction to our Fraud Department. I get that you don’t want to fill in forms, but four days have passed and this could’ve been dealt with within one or two days. It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to cancel the rent of someone else out of malicious intent.

[Coworker] works in another department and is around my level of authority. He often bothers my boss for information that he could easily find out for himself if he just learnt how to use a piece of business software.

But instead, he makes all sorts of excuses and often pulls the age card, despite the fact that there are many other employees older than him using the software every day and the fact that he uses plenty of other software when it suits him.

In a remarkable move, my boss manages to offload [Coworker] onto me. Until now, I didn’t understand just how frustrating he really is.

Coworker: “Hi. I need some information relating to this serial number: [number].”

Me: “This isn’t a unique serial number; it could apply to any number of parts.”

Coworker: “…”

Me: “So… what part are you looking for? What’s the number for the part?”

Coworker: “Oh, it’s a [part].”

I sigh internally. I can hear my boss stopping himself from laughing.

Me: “There should be a twelve-digit part number. I don’t know them all off by heart, unfortunately. Do you have it?”

Coworker: “Oh, yes, it’s [part number].”

Me: “Okay, great. I’ve sent you all the records relating to that part number and that reference that serial number. There look to be twenty-four in all.”

Coworker: “Okay, thanks.”

He goes to walk away but turns back.

Coworker: “Oh, of those twenty-four records, do they have any effect to [different part]?”

Me: “That’s a pretty technical question that could only really be answered by the department who created them. Plus, it would mean going through all twenty-four records in turn, and then all the sub-records. There could be hundreds, each with specifically technical limitations.”

[Coworker] just stands there expectantly.

Me: “No, I’m not going to go through hundreds of records. You will have to talk to the department in question.”

Coworker: “Oh, okay.”*Sighs* “I guess I will go talk to them. Thanks, anyway.”

He walks off and I turn to my boss, who is smirking.

Me: “That guy has been working here for how long?”

Boss: “Ohh, thirty-five years?”

Me: “And how long have we had [software]?”

Boss: “In one form or another, at least twenty years now.”

[Coworker] was so close to retirement that no one wanted to do anything about him. I did manage to stop some of the noise by referring him back to the people who would actually know the answers. He didn’t like running around, but it made my life a whole lot easier.

A few of us get transferred to a new department. A few weeks in, I get a comment that I’m not as “keen” or as “enthusiastic ” as one of the other guys that moved over with me. Turns out [Coworker] is giving me a bad name by being on the ball, and I should take his lead, or else.

This shocks me as [Coworker] is, in fairness, an idiot. He is utterly useless and can’t manage some of the simple tasks. It isn’t his fault this job just isn’t suited for him.

I am surprised, embarrassed, and a little humiliated, but I suck it up and spend some time with him. Maybe he’s found his element and has some niche.

The next day, I stick with [Coworker]. He starts by spending thirty minutes trying to find the tools he put away yesterday — only to find them in his toolbox where he left them, where he always leaves them — and another thirty minutes deciding what to do first. He then spends two hours doing a job that should take twenty minutes and rewards himself with an extra-long tea break.

Me: “I’ve heard you’ve been doing really well.”

Coworker: “Really?”

Me: “Yeah. Apparently, [Department Head] thinks a lot of you.”

Coworker: “Oh, I know him. He asks me if I’m doing some job or another and I tell him that I’ll do it next.”

Me: “Do you… actually do it?”

Coworker: “Well, by the time I finish whatever I’m doing, someone else has picked it up and it’s normally done.”

Me: “So… as far as he knows, the jobs he’s asked about, you’ve done?”

Coworker: “Maybe. They don’t let me do the important jobs.”

Eventually, and after getting berated again and again for not being as good as the superstar [Coworker], I had to point out that, actually, I was working hard. Someone got the wrong end of the stick and [Coworker] was inadvertently taking credit for other people’s work.