Employee discovers her CEO hired her toxic ex-friend as her direct manager, and put her in charge of training her new boss: ‘I feel trapped. It was the CEO's decision’

Author image for Etai Eshet
Etai Eshet • Editor
Jul 15, 2026 1:00 PM EDT

Mixing friendship and office politics is basically like combining ice with boiling water. Nothing good comes out of it, and both lose purpose. Only difference is, in the first case, definitely getting boiled and/or put on ice.

Getting talked about behind your back by someone you helped introduce to your entire social circle isn't betrayal exactly, it's more like handing someone the keys to your house and coming home to find they've rearranged the furniture and told the neighbors you're a mess. She had a whole group chat dedicated to trashing you, using mutual friends you provided as the audience. That's not friendship, that's running a smear campaign using your own contact list against you.

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement

  • ex friend becoming my boss

    Woman sitting on a couch with earbuds, looking concerned while working on a laptop near tall windows.
    via Luca Nicoletti

    Illustrative image only. 

  • Hello everyone, A few years ago, I met someone at work. We worked closely together, and after she left the company, we stayed in touch and became good friends.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • Last year, I was having problems with my manager and was laid off. She offered to refer me for a position at her current company.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • I accepted, got the job, and we became coworkers again. The problem is that shortly after I started, I found out she had been talking behind my back to mutual friends, many of whom I had introduced her to.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • She had created a group chat where she described me as a drink, possessive and can't separate pro/personal relationship at work.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • Woman sitting on a gray lounge chair with a laptop near tall windows and a floor lamp.
    via Luca Nicoletti

    Representative image. Individual in image is a model.

  • I confronted her about it, and she admitted it. Because we work together, I didn't want to create more drama.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • I told her I wanted to keep our relationship strictly professional from then on. Despite that, she asked me out for drinks four or five times after I had clearly told her I wasn't interested.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • It felt like she wasn't respecting the boundary I had set. Now I've just learned that she's going to become my manager, and I can't stop thinking about what to do.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • I feel trapped. It was the CEO's decision, and I don't want tell him about our personal history, especially since she's the one who referred me to the company in the first place.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • Woman sitting behind a laptop with a wary side glance in a windowed room
    via Luca Nicoletti

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

  • I genuinely enjoy my job, and the pay is excellent, so I don't want to leave.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • The issue is that our relationship is beyond repair. I don't think I'll ever be able to trust her again.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • We were close friends we traveled together, shared a lot of personal experiences, and even used hard drs together in the past.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • Because of that, I'm worried about what she could use against me if things ever turned sour.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • From what I've experienced, she can be very manipulative. Since finding out she's becoming my manager, she's suddenly become much friendlier.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • She asked me whether I was comfortable working with her. Of course, I lied and said yes.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • She also told me she doesn't understand why I seem to have something against her mentioning our personal story while we were on a Teams video call, of course I did not answer.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • To make things even more complicated, I'm currently the assistant manager and have been filling in for the previous manager while the company recruited a replacement.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • That means I'll actually be responsible for training her in her new role before she officially becomes my
    via That-Consequence-716
  • The thought of spending the next few years working so closely with someone I no longer trust is honestly weighing heavily on me.
    via That-Consequence-716
  • Has anyone been in a similar situation? How would you handle
    via That-Consequence-716

  • Setting a boundary only works if the other person treats it like an actual wall and not a suggestion. Asking someone out for drinks four times after they've said "strictly professional" isn't persistence, it's someone testing whether the fence has a gate they can sneak through. Boundaries aren't a negotiation tactic, they're the whole point.

    Then there's the sudden personality transplant the moment a promotion is on the table. Someone who spent months being cold and manipulative suddenly turning warm and chatty right as they're about to hold power over your job isn't a coincidence, it's strategy. Charm offensives before a title change are basically the corporate version of buttering someone up before asking for a loan you know they'll regret giving.

    Training your own future manager, someone who already knows your personal history and has shown she's willing to use it, isn't just awkward, it's handing someone a loaded piece and then teaching them how the trigger works. Shared history should build trust, not become leverage, and when it flips into leverage, that's the moment a friendship officially becomes a liability.

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

management workplace discussion employment issues boss workplace-stories bad friend hr coworkers friends girlfriend mean girls colleague Horrible Bosses red flag
Scroll Down For The Next Article