AIBU to hate what's just happened at work?

I’d be looking to leave Steve’s team and join the supportive manager’s team.

Yanbu to expect to be thanked equally but also I respect paul for sticking to his boundaries and working the hours he was paid.
On a separate issue though if you'd both worked your hours, fuck em for acknowledging the man of course and ignoring your effort.

How's it going OP? We're all thinking of you

I agree with this.

Also with the poster who suggested giving Steve an "out". Because that might help him not double down.
But I'd also be VERY careful of Steve going forward.

And good luck tomorrow @AbbotSade1985. We've all got your back

Talk to your mentor more and see what she thinks about the replies.

If the organisation takes this seriously, it needs to be highlighted as an issue in this situation.

Sorry op, he’s promoting his mate and youre collateral damage. It has been pointed out you led. But Steve does not have your back.

I think there’s your answer then really.

It sounds like you’re trying to reason with a fossil at the moment, who is too busy trying to protect his golf buddies to realise that your email offered him the perfect opportunity to save face. He could have said, ah yes apologies for the oversight - even if that wasn’t what he thought - but instead he doubled down, sent a response on cop on a Friday so that you wouldn’t get a chance to reply, and still saw best to deal with you in a private conversation.

If you email anyone this weekend, I would only make it a wtf do I do now message to the senior manager who has your back. None of us knows the culture of your workplace, and you are being given opinions on what you should do next that are very contradictory, some of which could be quite damaging.

Steve seems like a really slippery character, and clearly does not like having been pulled up for his message. The way he has replied offers you insight to how he will behave working forward.

OP said Paul was drafted in to replace someone who left.

The woman (let’s call her Emma) who forwarded you the message has the measure of Steve. She wanted to be sure you also had the measure of him.

If Emma’s worth her salt (and the fact that she made the disclosure suggests she probably is) she’ll be manoeuvring appropriately in the background.

Being told by a peer that someone more junior has behaved improperly ca be quite powerful.

I feel your pain. My original suggestion was to organise a face to face with him and say that a senior manager forwarded it to you saying it looked to that senior level like Paul had stepped in and led the project. And ask him what he was going to do to remedy it.

But I see from your latest post that wouldn't have worked either as he'd just have 'reassured' you in person. Ugh I worked for years with Steve's and thank fook im retired now.

If hes now acting as if its closed and you still feel angry I would speak again to the manager who had your back and ask what he/she advises.

Do not reply to him today but wait until Monday morning.

id reply suggesting that instead of singling one person out he should have recognised the full team, thanking them for all their work as singling one person out just demotivates and irks others who will have worked throughout the full project.

id also suggest to him that by singling the newbie who he goes drinking with isn’t very professional! However speak to your senior manager who helped you the last time.

i do feel senior management could have handled this better.

Exactly. What the hell is secretly forwarding it to going to do, except piss you off?

Agree - definitely do not do this!

Don’t send anything over the weekend

Do speak to him. You have to be political here.

Steve knows he’s behaved improperly. And he knows you know. Not unfortunately you need to give him an out.

Going on the attack will get his back up and it’s very very unusual to win a fight with your boss. It’s annoying but true.

I would suggest something along following lines:

“I really value your leadership and willingness to advocate for the team with the executives. I wanted to understand what drove the decision to highlight Paul’s work, as it would be helpful for me and the team in terms of where them and I focus and how we can have similar impact.”

You’ll have to grit your teeth and smile through the bullshit, but it will likely be the most productive way forward.

What. A. Fucking. Toad you are Steve....

Don't ask about your recognition

Reply
Copy and paste his OG email and highlight in yellow his comments Re:Paul's "leadership"

Say nothing else...
Send.
Let it hang....

Separately unless i got a big private apology and a big public recognition i'd looking to move out or up.
And depending on the lay of the land would be inclined to go to his manager for "career advice"

Something similar happened to me when a younger and considerably less experienced colleague was supposed to assist me. He was one of a tranche of new graduates that the organization had taken in and over promoted. He took credit for my work and I took it up with my manager. I was told that I had shown a "poor spitit" by complaining and that we were supposed to be a team. The result was that I cut down massively on the amount of work I was doing at home and re-directed my efforts into applying to go to uni. This was in the 1980s so a long drawn out process with no internet. I also allowed work to pile up and deadlines to get missed. My revenge came when I eventually had an appraisal with my manager in which he told me that I had "not been quite as productive" and he thought I had "lost my mojo". I was sitting there with a confirmed place at the RG uni of my choice and a very smug feeling. A few weeks later I resigned.

When you reply a second time op, are you able to reiterate that the issue is that was clearly worded in a way that made other colleagues question why you were not being recognised. This question didn’t originate from you.

Good god don’t do this.

Agree.
Steve isn't on your side and clearly is out to keep you down.

Don't be emotional in the email.
Stick to the facts.
Purely the facts.
Ask why he has created a completely false narrative about a project you led.
Spell out exactly what you contributed to the project in bullet point.

Ask for a specific response as to why he would imply otherwise?

What is his agenda?

It is reasonable to state that you have been contacted by multiple staff asking what the hell this is?

Why were others mentioned.
Why just Paul, who was only partly involved.

Is this NEW company policy to gaslight staff?
What exactly was his intention in sending out something so patently untrue, misleading and confusing for your team?

Going forward all work will be clearly marked as yours and you will recommending it to your team to protect the integrity of their work.

Also point out how damaginghis email is to moral.
He's a cheeky fxxker of the highest degree.

Yes you could say something like, suggest a follow up email recognising the wider team and my own leadership so it is not questioned by the team any more, as you’re concerned the team feel their contribution wasn’t recognised and also feel the questions over your friendship with Paul are damaging. Then say you are happy to send it yourself.

never call yourself out without the team as it just looks like jealousy.

Yes, I'd say something like this, rather than asking why you weren't singled out. It will sound more professional and be less likely to be dismissed as 'jealousy'. I'd also add to the email that, as a supportive manager, you are hoping he will follow up the email to make sure there is no danger of his praise of Paul's leadership being misconstrued amongst the senior leadership as a suggestion that your leadership was lacking or that Paul had needed to take overall lead of the project at the last minute. (You've already had one PP drawing that conclusion!)

Adding a clear request to the email gives @Steve a massive pointer as to how he can wriggle out of this in a way that gets you what you need. Otherwise you risk backing him into a corner trying to defend the indefensible.

I'd still be looking at alternative roles though.

Steve will be pissed off. Because listen love, you’re not paid to think. You’re paid to allow men to have all the work credited whether they did it or not and by not going along with that, you’re clearly a troublemaker. So make us a brew, yeah?

(In all seriousness, this may have activated Massive Bell End Mode in Steve so be vigilant.)