update: my manager got demoted because of me – and now we have to go to a tropical island for team-building

by Alison Green on April 1, 2014

Remember the reader whose possibly unhinged manager had just been demoted because of her, and now they were all being sent on a trip to a tropical island for team-building? Here’s her update.

I decided the best thing to do was just go, act like I did not know she had been demoted, and avoid her as much as possible and have a good time.

I show up to the airport around 8:45 (we were supposed to meet at 9) and text everyone to see where they are. I get a message back a little later from the ex-manager saying (quite rudely for the language it was written in — not English), “Sorry, I’m sick and won’t be able to make it.”

The flight left at 10, so my coworkers and I had to call our big boss early Saturday morning to figure out what to do — remember, the only method of transportation was a car we had rented that only the ex-manager could drive. We decided to go and take local transportation as much as possible. We went and had a great time!

We get back on Tuesday, only to find out that ex-manager never bothered showing up to work on Monday! Big boss had to call and ask if she was planning on coming or not. Conveniently, she was sick.

HR then gets involved, and ex-manager got a doctor to say she was too stressed to work and it could aggravate her medical condition (which she does seem to have and she was out for several weeks last year handling it). It was decided that she would take a few weeks off on sick leave, and then come back to work.

We work in sales, so it was a bit stressful for my team member and I, because we had to handle her processes but were not supposed to get too involved. There were definitely some angry customers!

A couple of days before her leave is up, our big boss goes to meet with HR, the doctor, and ex-manager. They talk, everything is fine, she is planning on coming back in two days, which was on a Monday.

That Monday, I wake up with a bad cold. So I sent my big boss a message saying I will take the morning off, but will be in ASAP after that since ex-manager is coming in and we are supposed to have a team meeting.

I check my email while I am on it and see there is a message from one of my customers saying, “I heard your crazy manager left, good news for you!” I was surprised and and asked why she thought that. She said she received an email. I immediately messaged both my big boss and team member asking if they knew anything about it. A couple hours later, I find out that ex-manager came into the office several hours early so she could mass email everyone on her contact list telling them that she was leaving. Then she resigned immediately. She was escorted out, and I never heard from her again.

Of course, she is the gift that keeps on giving! Before leaving, big boss was asking her about any deals/processes she had going so we could be sure to follow up. She mentioned some that we knew about, and made a reference to one no one knew anything about. There was no record of it anywhere on our systems, and we finally had to go through her email. Through her email, it became obvious that she had closed this deal with the client, but never tracked any of the information! We called her to figure out what was going on, but she denied knowing anything and said that there was no deal. We finally just decided to give up on it, and write it off as a loss. She also left me one deal that turned into a huge mess, because the customer was not happy with the service and wanted a huge refund. And we have one other that could turn into a refund as well!

The good news is — my team mate and I kicked ass this quarter. Because her salary, etc. was still on our P&L, our target was for three people. Still, we achieved more than our target and my team mate and I get to go on an amazing holiday and forget about all of our troubles. All’s well that ends well!

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  2. On My Phone*

    Sounds like there may have been a little bad management from Big Boss and up if she had these deals falling through and angry clients that no one knew about. Glad everything has calmed down with her being gone.

    1. some1*

      Yeah, it sounds like this might be a case of the company should have skipped the demotion and gone straight to firing this woman.

      1. Liane*

        Before reading this update, I skimmed the original post & some of the comments to it. The OP mentioned that this was taking place in a country where it was very hard to fire someone.
        I am glad OP doesn’t have to deal with this woman any more, even if the messes she left still aren’t cleaned up.

  3. Clever Name*

    Wow, I totally should have grabbed some popcorn for that ending! Glad everything worked out for you. It’s nice when a difficult person is the one to leave rather than you having to find another job to not have to deal with them anymore.

  4. Public Accountant*

    HR and the big boss met with the ex-managers DOCTOR? I am so curious if this is even remotely normal? Surely there is some sort of HIPAA violation going on?

    Luckily I have never had to deal with any major medical issues so perhaps I am just naive but I can’t imagine convincing my personal doctor to meet with my manager and HR department. Sounds like quite the drama queen as well as a questionable doctor!

    1. Sunflower*

      I vaguely remember the OP not being from the US- not sure if other countries have a version of HIPAA but still a little strange?

    2. AnonHR*

      I didn’t read it as a meeting, just that a doctor verified the story somehow (like through a note or something similar to FMLA paperwork). Maybe I missed it?

      1. Apple22Over7*

        “A couple of days before her leave is up, our big boss goes to meet with HR, the doctor, and ex-manager.”

        Definitely sounds like the doctor met with everyone in person. Strange, although maybe justified if the ex-manager needed accommodations to do her job, and her doctor (consultant?) was the best placed person to recommend what accommodations?

        1. Apple22Over7*

          Or possibly “the doctor” is in reference to a company medic?

          Or possibly doctor who…

            1. Joy*

              This ex-manager was clearly trying to hide the fact that she was some sort of alien that feeds on human stress or something, so it would make total sense for Doctor Who to show up!

              This was an entertaining update, and I’m so happy for the OP and her teammate for handling everything so well in a tough situation. Great to hear a positive outcome that didn’t involve the OP moving on to a new job!

        2. AVP*

          I know this occurred out of the US, but didn’t we have a different question awhile back about an employee with a work-related injury who was being forced to go to the company doctor? I wonder if it’s something like that. Or, since it’s hard to legally fire someone where this is happening, can they ask to meet with the doctor to get more documentation for the firing?

    3. Leah*

      I think it could have easily been a doctor’s note since there was nothing about talking to the doctor directly. Ms. Crazypants starts calling in sick a lot and HR says you need medical documentation to continue taking time off and Ms Crazypants gets letter from the doctor. The specifics of the condition may have been disclosed by the doctor or by Ms. Crazypants herself saying, “Remember when I had this problem before? It’s back.”

      1. Public Accountant*

        “A couple of days before her leave is up, our big boss goes to meet with HR, the doctor, and ex-manager.”

    4. Ruffingit*

      Important to remember that not everyone here lives in the US and therefore HIPAA is not applicable.

      1. Jessa*

        And even with HIPAA you can get permission from the person to talk to the doctor. And it’s highly likely even in the US any time someone is required to give documentation there’s a clause in the handbook that says they can check up on that. Particularly if there’s FMLA involved, or an ADA accommodation.

      2. Pip*

        Indeed. I think it’s fairly in common in Europe for HR to consult with a doctor when the employee has a long-term or chronic condition that affects their ability to work. Mostly to discuss rehab or accommodations.

  5. Editor*

    It sounds like it was terribly messy, but now you don’t have to deal with her. What a relief for you — and congrats on the sales and the reward vacation!

  6. Apple22Over7*

    Enjoy your holiday OP! It definitely sounds like you deserve it after everything you’ve had to put up with from ex-manager.

  7. Former Professional Computer Geek*

    I missed the original post. I’m so glad this worked out very well for the poster!

    I had a somewhat similar situation as their first post — the boss wanted to get rid of me, badly. The boss would tell me things that other people allegedly said about me, would tell their boss (the UberBoss) horrible things I did, etc. I finally went to the UberBoss, who had an open door policy. UberBoss had only had the position for about 6 months, and told me that it sounded like a “personality conflict” and refused to do anything. So, I started job hunting.

    A couple months later UberBoss announced upwards evaluations: Everyone would evaluate their bosses, and the reviews would go to the person above their boss. That meant that UberBoss would be personally getting a mess of evaluations.

    A week later, I got a job offer. My last day there, it was announced that my boss was being demoted. It turned out that a) my coworkers had noticed how poorly the boss treated some of us, and b) the boss treated one coworker even worse than I, going so far as to publicly belittle coworker in a multi-department meeting. All of this was reported in the upwards evaluations.

    Apparently, after I left, Former Boss saw the writing on the wall and got some help. Former Boss still works there and friends who work under them say they’re a decent boss these days.

    1. Onymouse*

      How great to have a happy ending! thanks for sharing. It’s good to have a reminder that sometimes things do work out for the better.

        1. TheMinion*

          Makes me so proud to actually get all these references! AAM readers have the best sense of humor :)

  9. Ruffingit*

    It’s a shame about the irate customers and this woman’s unfortunate work habits that caused you some stress, but I think I’d rather have that kind of stress than the stress that came with working with her. Glad she’s gone and hopefully all of you can enjoy some peace now.

  12. Sandrine (France)*

    Nice ending. Love it.

    While I do like it when people find another job, a justified firing/departure and people staying in a job they like feels so much better…

    Yay OP!

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