‘You see what’s happening, right?’: 31-year-old professional calls out a totalitarian manager's workplace retaliation in front of HR, then she quits on the spot and reports him to the California Employment Bureau too

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Sep 8, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

When your manager hates you, you can feel the burning hot fury of their gaze from across the entire workplace. However, they're not allowed to give you much more than a cold shoulder, which is why this woman decided to turn her totalitarian boss in to the State Department when he started playing favorites, or LEAST favorites, too blatantly in the workplace.

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  • Not everyone is going to be liked at the office, but luckily for a work environment, most employees keep things civil for the sake of their jobs. But this boss, a hotheaded nincompoop who sabotaged every project he touched, found himself boiling every time he saw one specific employee: A woman who refused to cower to his bad temper. 

    She was a professional, through and through, and imagined that when she was hired to do a job, she'd be given the respect of a seasoned professional. However, this guy gave her nothing but flak, which she returned in spades... Right in front of the HR department.

  • Cheezburger Image 10549645568
    via SDI Productions

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Reported manager to HR. Manager retaliated with HR in the same room. I quit on the spot and reported the retaliation to the state. Let's see what happens!
    via Alpha_Aries
  • Been at a new job for 3 months. The first two months, I literally had ZERO projects. Whatever, right? Some places are slow at times.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • Not whatever. Got a manager who wanted me to perform like a scared intern when I am a 31-year-old woman with 10+ years of work experience.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • When I asked him questions, he took this as a challenge. I believe because I wasn't into his "iron fist" type of management, and I asked questions and pushed back, he didn't like this and began to set me up to get fired.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • After reporting to HR, HR seemed to actually take my side. They said, "we assigned him manager training. He needs to speak nicer to you. He needs to not single you out."
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I thought, wow, a promising sign. Maybe he will take the training and clean up his act. Wrong.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • For my 90-day performance review, he tells me, "let's meet in person to go over this." I told him I would like someone else present for this meeting. He said ok, and he invited HR himself.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I thought, there's no way this will go badly. If he's too harsh, it'll look like retaliation. I underestimated how little he thought this through.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • In the 90-day performance review, IN FRONT OF HR, he gives me almost all poor ratings, insults my skills, and says, "we tried to train her, but she keeps making mistakes over and over."
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I said, "I was only assigned a project two weeks ago. I think it's interesting that the last time we spoke in person, you didn't have anything to say about my work, but now, after I reported you to HR, you have all these negative comments."
    via Alpha_Aries
  • Then the kicker - he LIED to them. - He said "I have caught Aries rolling her eyes at me several times." And gave me 1 star on interpersonal skills.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • He had not even SPOKEN to me, in person, at all, since the HR report. This was a straight-up lie.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I recognized what was happening, thank god, and looked at HR: "you see what's happening, right? This looks really bad. This looks like retaliation." HR was silent.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I leaned back in my chair and realized it was time to quit. I said, "you know what... we can finish this 90-day review, but after, I'm done. This is my last day. I can't work with someone who micromanages and who LIES to HR. My character is being insulted and I will not stand for it."
    via Alpha_Aries
  • That was pretty much the end of the performance review. I told HR I was going to consider an EEO. They said "you gotta do what you gotta do." Lol. K.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I told the manager that I thank him for the opportunity and wish things could be different. He said, "I wanted things to be different too, and I'd really like to work with you."
    via Alpha_Aries
  • I said, "I don't want to work with you." He's red in the face and trying to stay calm, and I'm smiling and calm.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • In the exit interview with the SAME HR ladies, I ask, "is he going to take his manager training?" They said, "yes, we're going to coach him. We see the issue. We're going to email his manager too."
    via Alpha_Aries
  • So HR took my side both times, but only in front of me. I left with my pride intact, but I still reported these a h_les to the state (California) for retaliation. We'll see if anything comes of it.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • The best part was watching him lose his cool in front of HR. He clearly didn't expect me to stand up for myself. He thought he was going to put a young woman "in her place" and put her in line.
    via Alpha_Aries
  • Nope. Year 31 is the year of not taking this sh anymore. Thanks for reading!!
    via Alpha_Aries
  • ErraticPhalanges Just for future reference for anyone that ends up in a similar situation, refer to the interaction as "creating a hostile work environment" and you're golden. That phrase gives HR a lot more leverage in building a case etc.
    via ErraticPhalanges
  • pareidoily ⚫ also recommend to record all meetings with your manager whether or not other people are present.
    via pareidoily

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