Bullying at work?

[ruthrel]

Hi. I'm hoping for advice on this as I'm not sure what I should do (or if I should do anything). This is the situation

Comments

[cosmicwonder]

I'm sorry that you're going through this situation. I don't have any advice except that you should consider emailing this issue to Ask A Manager (www.askamanager.org).

[ruthrel]

Thanks for your reply. I checked out that website and it was very interesting and I may consider emailing this issue.

One of my main points of confusion on the issue which I forgot to mention was that I don't really know this manager very well beyond the professional manager/employee relationship. Apart her saying things like "can you change the bin please?" and me saying things like "this customer has asked to speak to a manager" the closest get to social conversation has been speculation on how busy the store is today, or the weather etc.

So part of me wants to say to her, "I think you're being bullied, and if you wanted to make a complaint, I'd like to back up what you say / tell what I've witnessed, or if someone complains against you, I'd like to witness to defend that" but the other part of me is saying it's not my business at all, and she may even be insulted that I think I can try to 'help' her, or think I'm being nosy...

[cosmicwonder]

Yeah, this is why I suggested that you contact Ask A Manager. It's definitely a lot trickier when dealing with a supervisor, rather than a co-worker or someone you're supervising.