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So I need some help as of what to do about this. Basically, the cooperate boss will pop in on my workplace once in a while. He's a little older than me, and my job has a lot of women as employees. Well my boss (a woman) and many of the other employees all kiss up to Mr. Corporate and treat him like he's God's gift. He's egotistical and gets off on it too.
Well anyways I haven't encountered him that often in person, and when I had he always gave me a bad vibe and I kept my distance. I've always been professional towards him, but I don't give him the kiss up/ego stroke that the others do. If anything, I'm distant and just focus on my work tasks like he isn't there.
So anyways I'm working with a woman coworker when Mr. Corp comes in and she goes into pickme mode: giggling and chatting it up, flirting with him. he had a balloon on him and kept inflating and deflating it to "scare" her. I minded my own business and kept to my work. She seemed to start getting annoyed and then he stopped.
Later on he found a plush animal in the office and started playfully throwing it her to get her attention. It wasn't causing me or anyone else issues so I kept ignoring them and doing my work. Then I heard that he started negging her in a teasing way about the man she was dating, saying he didn't like him, and mentioning how they have too much of an age gap. She seemed emabrassed and he then got quiet.
Then all of a sudden I feel something on me and I recoil and look to see what the hell happened. Here mr. Corp. threw the plush at me, intentionally. I see his evil little smirk and I simply said "what the hell?" And he starts giggling. I just acted confused and said I didn't know what that was and carried on. He walked away and I was hoping that was it.
Then he did it a few more times randomly throughout the day to me, blowing the balloon up and letting it deflate and tossing a plush animal near me and giggling. I laughed in a way that was clearly confused and uncomfortable.
Then I was on my break, shopping online, eating my food and THUMP. I felt something graze my cheek. It wasn't anything that would have hurt me, but it started me enough to get up, and look at what happened. I thought something fell, or broke somewhere and was actually concerned.
Then I heard his damn little giggle - he threw one of those little soft bouncy balls at me. It grazed my face. While I was on my break and thought I was alone and relaxing. "What the hell" I stammered, annoyed. And he teased about how I had been "on my phone". I mentioned how it scared me and he said he aimed to hit near my lap so I'd "lookup from my phone". He asked if I was hurt and I said no, he said sorry I meant to hit your lap, and then walked off.
I'm honestly grossed out by this imbecile and that he's the one running the whole show. I don't like the way he tried embrassing and negging my coworker either. He is like a man-baby who constantly needs a woman's attention. I wanted to mention it to my boss and coworker but they all act all over him when they see him, and Rave about how he's such a sweet guy and great boss.
The bouncy ball though could have actually done damage if it hit me elsewhere, or broke something if it landed in a bad place, or someone walking in could have tripped on it. Another male coworker was cleaning out his birthday balloons from his office and played around with deflating them without trying to whack us or scare us, he did it in a safe and actually amusing manner.
So I don't really feel comfortable telling my boss about it, and I don't think an anonymous call to HR would really remain anonymous or be hard to figure out it was me. I need this job now and feel like he will retaliate even if I politely ask him to stop. Basically everything we do passes through him.
I'm still too new (and I need to save up money to get a different landlord as this one's a pest) to transfer and I don't have enough "experience" to get a similar payout job yet. I want to let it slide because it's easy, but I also would like to possibly collect more evidence if I do need to make a case. I feel if hes already stirring up problems being around him more will only lead to more issues. Notice how he didn't throw things at the male coworkers or the older ladies working today. 🙄 and of course they weren't around to witness it either. Ugh.
i got my scrote boss fired because I documented - Time, Date, Event, People over the course of weeks. Submitted it officially through HR channel. Even if you do not end up submitting it, having it documented will help you understand the pattern and think through mitigation steps. Sending you virtual hugs, fellow Queen.
Okay so I had a boss who actually threw a pen at me (not playfully). I was so used to the toxic environment that it didn’t occur to me how completely wrong this was until months later, i mentioned it to my mom and she GASPED bc she was so shocked.
My honest advice-get out as soon as you can. Put in your time and look for other opportunities. It will not get better. Trust me.
Say ‘Stop that’. Not politely. No other explanation.
Firmly say it, and nothing else.
Saying nothing else can prevent it becoming a potential problem, if he does retaliate as he won't have anything to go off from what you've said. It lets him know that you won’t tolerate his abuse.
Sorry you’re experiencing this abuse, from a scrote. Workplaces shouldn’t be like this.
Wtf? How old is this asshole? Document what he does and report him. I bet the other women are sick of his shit. Or maybe get other women on your side and report him.
He sounds scrotey and juvenile. Though the stuff he did today may have been ostensibly friendly, watch out that he doesn't escalate to yelling and other abuses of power. Maybe he was just testing boundaries today to see what people would tolerate. There are 1000 other ways he could have chosen to be "friendly."
As you search for another job: Document everything. Say, "Please do not throw things at me," clearly. That exact phrase. Document every time you say it along with everything else, so you have a clear, non-aggressive response from you on the record to avoid a claim of "she was playing along with me, too" or "I didn't know she felt it was hostile." The other women are giving him cover with their pick me behavior.
In my 20s, I worked briefly for a boss who also "playfully" threw things at me (mostly garbage that happened to "miss" the trash can).
This is abuse. He is creating a hostile workplace, and at least part of him knows exactly what he is doing. The fact is at this point, you cannot work without a reasonable fear of bodily harm. People have sued over these issues.
I'm not sure what your financial situation is, but if I were you, I'd try to find a new job. I would hesitate to bring this up with HR, assuming your workplace even has an HR department. As we all know, HR is not our friend.
Definitely start collecting evidence. A 40 dollar off brand go-pro can film up to 8 hours.
Ugh I'm sorry that this is happening at work. That's highly inappropriate, childish behavior on his end. I don't really have any advice. I have no idea what I would do. Sending you positive energy ❤️
The egotistical insane behavior of middle management will never shock me. They are always the same: selfish, stupid, short-sighted. I definitely believe he was testing boundaries and he knows he can get giggles at your office. I personally would spend time in the bathroom / getting coffee or tea away from him while he's around