Unstable manager in the workplace

Hey everyone. First post here. I was wondering if some folks with more insight can help answer this issue.

What causes office managers to act in such a unstable, demeaning, degrading, accusatory manor?

An office manager in our office constantly screams at her employees. Now she isn't even my boss. I work in a different business unit out of that office so my regional manger is my boss and he works out of another office.

Anyway ... One day upon closing time the office manager made her way to the door. Before leaving she turns around and yells out loud at me.. "Why are you staying late? I know what you're doing! You're looking for another job and you're stealing company information!"

I'm a commissioned only employee and so are my co-workers in our business unit. We all often stay late to get work done and service our customers. it is not uncommon.

Two of her employees overheard her. One came over to me in utter shock and disbelief that she said that to me. Of course it is has no base in reality as it is completely false and unfounded.

I just ignored her.

Here are my concerns. If I go to my boss and let him know what she said, he might say that he is required by company policy to investigate her claims, even if she wasn't serious. Because most of corporate America protects their managers, that could make them sensitive and question anything I have done even if it has no correlation. It could just cause upset in my life. Of course when she is found false it would make her look like a nut job.

What should I do if her tirades and verbal abuse continues?

Thanks for your help

That definitely is a hard one. She probably suffers from a mental illness and goes untreated. She can't be happy about this. I would say record her. Get the documentation with recording. Can't believe she is not showing to her bosses. Good luck.

One other thing I wanted to add. I told one of my trusted female coworkers what happened.

She said that the manager (50's) is probably hormonal going though serious PMS. She also has a harsh NY or east coast accent and we all feel this might be where her harsh personality comes from.

My co-worker said that she may just be joking, as some New Yorkers joke like that in a harsh way. It is often hard to discern that type of joking from anger or seriousness with such people. She said in addition to that she probably lacks social graces.

My coworker said, that If I was to confront her, she may get the impression that I cant take a joke and then I'd be on her black list. She said that she may, in some twisted way, feel comfortable around me enough to joke like that.

Should I take this as the excuse for her behavior and just ignore it?

Should I approach her and tell her that I am uncomfortable with her brand of humor and I request her to stop?

Should I record her, and if it continues go to my boss with the evidence?

What do you feel about my co-workers advice?

People have mental issues that they are not getting treated for. She is probably under stress and is not able to cope in a healthy and appropriate manner. She needs to be reported. I would write down exactly what she said, the time and date. I would avoid her but still be cool, try to do your job. Don't anger her anymore than she already is.

In the meantime yeah
By the way she is, no surprise people leave. I would find a jnew job and use her as motivation to find a better opportunity

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If her claims are totally false, then I would go ahead and report her because that behavior is unacceptable. She is creating a hostile work environment.

Seesaw

I just gave notice that I am resigning due to a situation like that. Apart from him not fulfilling many promises to me regarding raises, bonuses and constantly loading me up with more work for the same pay, the guy is a bully and mentally unstable. He's a micromanager, very critical and impossible to have a resasonable conversation with. If you tell him something he doesn't want to hear, he snaps, even if it is the truth. I think he must have some sort of undiagnosed personality disorder. I'd stay start looking for a new job ASAP. Hugs!!

Since she's not your direct report to boss, I'd try to avoid her as much as possible. I would perhaps do an FYI report to your boss about her behavior. It sounds like she may be borderline.

Avoid her if you can. If you can't just keep a low profile and keep your responses as monosyllabic as possible.

It makes you wonder how people like that wind up getting management positions. Any half way intelligent person would see that managers like that cause good employees to run for the hills and eventually cause the company to go completely pear shape.

Thank you for the responses. Since her last crass outburst of false accusations toward me there hasn't been another one in that regard. However she's till crass though.

I've wondered that myself how the mentally unstable become managers. Perhaps her hiring manager didn't see it during and interview because she was able to hide her true self.

I think the problem in corporate America is most upper managers don't see the day-to-day behavior of their underlying managers. They only see the positive results and accomplishments the employees produce and think the manager is effective. However what they don't realize is great production is accomplished whether the manager is present or absent. It's the employees will to do a good job not because of an insufferable jackasses manager.

I've gone to my boss a couple times about her inappropriate outbursts in the past and he's done nothing. My boss is meek, which is good in some respects but ineffective in other ways such as confronting other managers. If so she would have stopped.

I'm capturing each day on video so if something inappropriate occurs I will have hard facts that can't be denied. At that point I will show my boss the evidence and demand her behavior curtailed or I will have no choice to go to his boss. I will also show her boss too.

Unfortunately, in my case the boss was the owner and one of those people who aren't capbable of any self-criticism or introspection. What he wants is what goes, so there is no way he would ever see his behavior and change. The company is circling the drain mainly due to this. I'd probably have been out of a job soon anyways if I hadn't quit. Someone else told me they are quitting soon for similar reasons and, as in my case, he will just see it as a betrayal, never realizing that it is his behavior that is causing people to leave.

Rojola - it sounds like a good idea that you are documenting what is going on.

Totally! I wonder the very same thing myself. How the hell do these people make it up the ladder? I've had some pretty effed up managers that made me wonder what the hell was up with them.

I remember when I worked at this store at the mall. The GM was PSYCHO. He would yell at us. He went out on one date with this gal that worked at Victoria's Secret. She evidentally saw he was a creep and said no to a second date. On breaks or whatever, he'd stand out in front of the shop. The security team had to tell him to stop doing that. But still that Mall Store said nothing about that.

Then he grabbed a coworker and slammed him against the wall. Nothing was done, I guess because nobody reported it.

The loony GM changed the schedule without telling me, so I came in late. He screamed at me and shoved me into a corner in the back. He then threw things at me and went completely batcrap crazy. I left and quit that very day. He would call me and harass me and say that he'll make sure I'm not employed anywhere in that city ever again.

Five years later, I went to the mall for Christmas shopping. I ran into someone who had the uniform of that store. I asked him if Loony GM still worked there.

He said "OMG! No! He hasn't for quite a while." Shortly after I quit, somebody reported his behavior to the regional manager. He got fired. He stormed out. Then he came back and started tearing up the place. He left before security got there. He had grabbed a bunch of company files and then went to his highrise apartment and threw them off the balcony. He then started threatening people. Eventually the law was involved and he got put away in the state hospital or something.

I was only 20 when I worked there and was afraid to report him. My coworker who was slammed against the wall was only 17. So we were both afraid to report him for some reason.

I have no idea how that crazy piece of **** managed to become a GM. Everyone was terrified of him.

Honestly I think those people who are unstable and end up in management positions get there because they can be super charming to people who don't know them. It's like a manipulation thing. Called "failing upward." People do it all the time.

Seesaw

Charm will get you whatever and whoever you want. Put two charmers together and what do you get?

But what happens when the manipulation fails? Guess they just look for other victims to harass. Don't be the next victim. Report and keep reporting until someone hears you.

Hi all...
Well here I am again with another altercation that occurred at work. This manager is truly psycho.

The other day about 30min to closing time, I approached one of the personnel to copy a few documents for me (this is their job to do). This wacko manager found out and came storming at me yelling that it was unacceptable that I ask her people to do that work so close to closing time because her people are busy trying to close for the day.

My reply was that I asked that coworker if she had time and if it was no trouble to do so and she said yes, no problem.

The manger looked at me and screamed.. "That's because she's nice and I'm not! "

I looked at her dumbfounded and replied "Yeah, I know you're not."

She grabbed the documents and made the copies which literally took her only three minutes to do.

...Fast forward a few days afterward... She has now made a complaint to my boss saying that I raised my voice to one of her employees and everyone heard. - which is totally false. I found out because the coworker who sit next to me informed me our bossed called him to ask if he heard me raise my voice, and he said no.

This lady is such a sick *itch I feel like I'm in an insane asylum, a weird horror movie, or a terrible nightmare.

Unfortunately I made the mistake of leaving my video spy camera at home because everything had been going smoothly since my last post.

Damn I wish I would have recorded her.

From now on the camera gets charged every night, it goes with me every day, and it stays on the whole day while I'm at work.

How do I handle this?

Recording her is a good idea. Does your company have stockholders? If so, they may be concerned about such a manager working in the company. See if you can find anything else on this person that is "off". Look for another employee that your boss likes and see if this manager ever hurt them. Maybe you can report together.

OMG.. The volatile loose cannon manager struck again. All of a sudden we all hear a blood curdling scream from her like a female cat that's had its tail stepped .. Then we hear "Get out! Get Out!" A customer ran out the door. Apparently she had an altercation with a customer.

When is the nightmare going to end.

I truly believe there are way more mentally ill people in the workplace than we even know.

Unless she actually physically assaults someone nobody is going to say anything because they're all afraid of getting fired or losing their jobs so they just sit there and deal with her mental illness.

Holy hell, my company had a director who would explode like that and it did turn out that he had mental health issues.

I'm so sorry you're facing this. If higher ups in management aren't willing to do anything, you might not have many options.