Thank-you pbutton. I really appreciate the support and anger on my behalf!

She has been in the department 15 years. I have only been there a few years. From what I've been told, she did something similar to 2 other women before me. There was another new female faculty hire who, being new and wanting to "fit in" and "make friends," quickly became her BFF. When she felt that my colleague was beginning to suffocate her, she politely asked her to back off. After awhile, she was much more blunt. Then, my colleague starting telling the senior faculty that this new hire was lazy, not relating well with students, not on top of her subject matter, and coming to her for help because she couldn't cut it on her own. Keep in mind this is a male-dominated department where, if you're a woman, you have to work twice as hard. When it came time for this woman to be up for tenure, this colleague fought against her. She got denied tenure and was asked to leave the department. I was also told that my colleague called this woman's husband and tried to make-up stuff like she was cheating or something like that. Again, I heard this second-hand so I don't know if it's true-- but I wouldn't put it past her.

In the other case, the woman was a senior colleague. She was in a better position to stand up for herself. However, she got fed up with the situation and asked to transfer to a cross-listed department. She got the transfer and has maintained her distance. I've seen them pass each other in the hallway-- it is ICE COLD. She still talks s--- about this woman all the time, says terrible things about this woman's marriage (which she couldn't possibly know about), and tries to make her look bad at any opportunity.