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Christine1123 · Jan 11, 2009, 08:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zelev

I am teacher studying for my MSE and credential. This past summer, I worked as a teacher for a very small privately owned company that specialized in early intervention education. There were only three of us counting myself and the boss. The pay was low but I did it for the teaching experience.

Computers are my hobby and because business was slow I volunteered to set up the network at work, set up the company website and configure software, etc. My co-worker started to feel threatened and a lot of times would take credit for my work or ask me how to do things and tell the boss she did it on her own.

Despite my best efforts to ignore her behavior and be friendly, it got to the point where my co-worker refused to speak to me. She would leave the front office to go home and turn off the lights while I was still inside. She refused to take items from my hand or hand anything to me. If I reached out to take documents from her, she would drop them on the desk instead.

I eventually quit. My main reason for quitting was to return to school full-time to finish my teaching credential but also partially because my co-worker and I worked very close together in the same room and I could no longer deal with her attitude. I had a decent relationship with my boss so I figured I'd let things go so I could use the job as a reference.

I trained my replacement and set up the computer access for her. After I quit, my boss emailed me about a computer problem and I solved the problem for free. I never received a thank you. Now I wonder if that was just my co-worker using my boss's email address which was common for her to do when I was working there.

Recently the office computers had a virus and the same co-worker emailed me for help which I ignored. Today she called my house but I did not answer.

I was very upset with the way I was treated but at the same time I might need to use my boss as a reference when I start looking for jobs this year. Will dissing my ex-coworker burn bridges needed for a good reference? Do you think I should consider helping even though I hate this person's guts?

Ignoring this rude ex-coworker will in no way affect future job references. This person does not deserve your help. I wouldn't help her at all. There's an old saying called "you reap what you sow."