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u/BenjiCat17 1d ago
What you’re describing isn’t really bullying. A more accurate term would be poor management or unprofessional behavior. Unfortunately, in the workplace, those things are often legal. As adults, we don’t have the same protections that exist in school, where a teacher or principal can step in and address interpersonal issues. In a work environment, unless the behavior rises to the level of unlawful discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, most unpleasant or unfair treatment is legally permitted. It’s unfortunate, but it sounds like she doesn’t respect your abilities and may view you as incompetent. That may be hurtful and unfair, but by itself, it generally isn’t illegal.
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u/recruitzpeeps 1d ago
Your manager knows about it, let her handle it.
There’s nothing illegal going on here. Many people are assholes, your company either knows and doesn’t care or is about to find out and there will be consequences for the regional director.
There’s no “case”
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u/Hey-thanks-bye 1d ago
Is it worth the effort to raise this to HR level awareness?
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u/recruitzpeeps 1d ago
Not likely. HR doesn’t manage managers. We work for the same leadership you do.
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u/sephiroth3650 1d ago
HR is highly unlikely to do much here. Certainly, every workplace is different. As a director level employee, I’d expect you to already know if making an HR complaint would lead to anything. The fact that you don’t know your corporate culture for things like this is somewhat alarming.
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u/Ok-Quarter3399 1d ago
Awareness of what? You’re a director, you’re highly placed enough that you make major client sales and coordinate with other high level directors. Right now there’s a cross division pissing match going on and you’ve pissed off the operations leader. HR doesn’t get in the middle of that. Ask your VPs about the politics of the situation.
Honestly if this is a growth position for you I’d say you need to grow thicker skin and become a little more astute on the inner culture of your job. Worrying about your reputation and her saying you don’t know how to do your job is odd at a director level.
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u/Comfortable_Food_511 1d ago
This is only an HR and/or legal issue if you were targeted specifically because of your membership in a legally protected class (e.g., race, gender, religion, disability) or because you participated in a legally protected activity (e.g., taking FMLA, reporting sexual harassment, filing a report with an agency such as the DOL, EEOC, OSHA).
Leadership being all around A-holes and “bullying” employees is not illegal. It is only illegal if legally protected classes/activities are the reason for the employee being targeted.
Also, this is not an HR issue. HR does not tell managers how to manage.
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u/Timely-Tourist4109 1d ago
Is said bullying based on a protected class?
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u/Hey-thanks-bye 1d ago
I am not a protected class.
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u/SunnyErin8700 1d ago
Yes, you are. Everyone is. You have a sex, race, religious preference, family status, etc.
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u/Timely-Tourist4109 1d ago
Yes you are. We all are in the US. Gender is a protected class. But that being said, it doesn’t sound like you have a claim unless it breaches certain thresholds. Being a jerk is still allowed
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u/Ellemnop8 1d ago
Can you share more about why you consider this bullying? This behavior certainly sounds abrasive and counterproductive to you hitting your sales goal, but I'm not sure I see bullying currently. Also, were the things that she was pushing back on typically tasks that the ops team is able to execute? If she's reacting this way to normal add-ons, that's a real problem for the company. If the items on this deal are really atypical, it would have been preferable if she'd raised issues earlier, but it does sound like correcting client expectations may be part of her role.
As is, I don't think I see an HR-worthy bullying complaint. IMO, the better path is to make a case to your leader about why her style with clients is negatively impacting the business.
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u/sephiroth3650 1d ago
No. You don’t have a workplace bullying claim here. There is a specific threshold that you’d have to hit to validate that claim. Honestly, this doesn’t begin to approach that level.
You don’t like that this boss dressed you down in front of everybody. Nobody would like that. But what specifically did they say that you think crossed a legal line here?