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AIBU?

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AIBU to suspect a colleague’s behaviour may relate to my nationality?

209 replies

oneofthems · 12/09/2026 08:21

I have a colleague who is new to our function, although not new to the company, and from fairly early on I had the sense that something was quite off in her attitude towards me.

I hope people know what I mean. Nothing you can formally put your finger on, but a pattern of small things. Meetings I am left out of, emails that don't get forwarded, deliverables I am only brought into at the last possible moment. We are at the same level.

Every individual micro incident is absolutely in nothing to see here territory. Taken together (been six month) they paint quite a clear picture.

I thought I'd make a very intentional effort to build bridges. I looked at her public social media to see whether there was anything we might have in common, I don't know, something very innocent, a first step. Dogs, travel, hobbies, sport, whatever. Her own feed is very mainstream, mostly food, travel, family events and fashion, occasionally some local news reposted.

However, I discovered that her partner, whom she publicly tags as being in a relationship with, has a very specific prejudice against people of my birth nationality.

To anonymise this, imagine I'm Argentinian (I'm not), with apologies to any Argentinians reading. More than 50% of his posts are things (mostly reposts, with some crazy conspiracy-theory shit) along the lines of "deport all Argentinians back to Brazil if Argentina is so bad for them ", reposting crimes no matter how minor committed anywhere in the world by Argentinians, "lock Milei, lock Milei" protests, stats on Argentinian corruption, or claims that Argentinians are all Nazi descendants and shouldn't be allowed into the UK. I am actually surprised some of what he reposts is not automatically flagged by algorithms as hate speech.

Neither he nor she appears to have any connection whatsoever to Argentina that I can work out, or even to anywhere in South America, which somehow makes the fixation even stranger.

I OBVIOUSLY know his views aren't automatically hers, and I certainly don't want to hold someone responsible in my head for everything their partner posts. There were views my partners held that I didn't, and vice versa. Still.

AIBU to wonder whether I found the reason?

OP posts:
Mumofoneandone · 12/09/2026 20:48

Just keep records, as suggested.
You always know when a colleague is trying to undermine you in some way, for whatever reason. It doesn't matter, the work colleague is out of order.
If there is anyway of ensuring things are copied to both her and you are the same time, that would be a way to remove some of her power. Or flag up with others that you need to be copied into everything, to ensure info gets to you in time.

MaggieMop · 12/09/2026 20:08

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Laylay100 · 12/09/2026 20:07

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TaptheCap · 12/09/2026 20:05

oneofthems · 12/09/2026 08:57

For example, fresh off the fire. A client emailed mid week asking for something by the end of the week, something specifically delivered by my team, say a piece of research. The email was forwarded to me at 1pm on Friday with, "oh, apologies, I didn't notice there was something for you in here, pls send directly to the client"

Technically? Yes, I received it before the end of the week.

Practically? I'm working today to get it done.

Have I ever made that sort of mistake myself? Of course, who hasn't during busy times. Have I made that same sort of mistake twenty times with one particular colleague, while somehow managing not to do it with anyone else? No.

I am pretty sure I am not imagining it by this point.

You aren't imagining it. It's a form of racism and as you say, micro aggression.

Keep a log and raise it with a union rep/ manager etc.

Callsluvsbunnies · 12/09/2026 19:45

Are you Muslim by any chance? Just wondering why you felt you had to anonymise your nationality!

JJWT · 12/09/2026 19:26

PuppyMonkey · 12/09/2026 08:36

Is it actually an out and out racism thing?

Sounds more like conscious and unconscious bias. HR need to provide the offender with some "advice" and get her to do a training course!

Trillie · 12/09/2026 19:26

I’m not sure why you are troubling yourself about the reason. The problem is you are being left out of loops you need to be in - speak to your manager if it continues. Why really isn’t your problem.

DuggansBakery · 12/09/2026 19:06

CoventryCity · 12/09/2026 17:11

Tetchy. I just wondered.

Goady

Drowningnotwaving74 · 12/09/2026 18:54

You will drive yourself mad trying to figure out the why.
I have the same thing my union have advised the informal route first diarise everything for formal.
I ended up going off midway through the day one day this week when I was excluded yet again and he was silly enough to write a email that's tone was obvious.

FaceIt · 12/09/2026 18:41

@oneofthems
Give her a taste of her own poisonous medicine and very cleverly do it back to the bitch.

MaggieMop · 12/09/2026 18:34

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anon666 · 12/09/2026 18:19

I'd be very surprised if someone was going with unprofessional conduct because of nationality.

You say youre all first generation immigrants which leads me to think its Israel / Palestine or Ukraine/Russia. Only because they are the only two countries where there is sufficient back story for the conspiracy elements.

I really feel for you but I'm not sure what the answer is. If it is one of those two national groups, I'd maybe even suggest recording the behaviours, then raising it with management purely to get it on the record.

maudelovesharold · 12/09/2026 17:55

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Oh, I think not. I’m well-versed in the basic facts. The UK Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee report on the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict states -

On 7 October 2023, Hamas launched by far the biggest surprise attack against Israel that had ever been experienced, in violation of the May 2021 ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Sadly I think they lack the ability to learn from this.

Sadly, I think you do, too.

Switchnow · 12/09/2026 17:40

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Is that you Bibi?

Switchnow · 12/09/2026 17:38

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You think Gaza invaded Israel? I’m intrigued.

Kilofoxtrot99 · 12/09/2026 17:25

Hi OP. It really isn’t relevant what reason she has for this behaviour, the only thing you can reasonably do is keep a record as previously suggested to illustrate any pattern or trend in behaviour. Micro aggression can take so many forms from eye rolling, tutting, casual low level lack of civility, usually things that on their own don’t seem like much. Added all together they can really impact someone’s life. It’s always about the impact not the intent. It may be that you need to gather some concrete incidents and ask her if she is available to have a conversation to clarify whether something is wrong, and make sure you are able to approach it from a professional perspective. Keeping quiet is allowing the behaviour to continue Avoid saying “you have done x, y, z” but it may be that she needs to hear how her actions are being perceived and impacting your joint efforts. Things like- I want to make sure there is no issues between us that I need to be aware of, or I want to ensure we are aligned with x task, puts the ball in her court and makes clear you are willing to address it and have an uncomfortable conversation. If it goes badly, you can escalate. If it goes well, then you have had a result. Good luck with it all.

Starbri8 · 12/09/2026 17:24

Charley50 · 12/09/2026 14:01

  1. Israel’s government isn’t committing genocide. It’s a lie which been disproved but is very effectively serving its purpose in demonising Israel, Israelis and Jews worldwide.
  2. OP I think you should purely concentrate on the issues in work and as has been suggested, respond to the late forwarding of requests etc, with a comment as to the lateness and copy in your line manager (is it the same person?). If she doesn’t change her behaviour soon, either speak with her 1:1 about it or raise it with her and a manager to sort this undermining behaviour out. I wouldn’t raise anything about her partner’s views at all.

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry: This independent panel concluded that the State of Israel has committed and continues to commit acts of genocide.

Isrsel is responsible for the etchnic cleansing of Palestine , they are committing genocide and most of the world agrees on this though they are doing fuck all about it . To say it’s not genocode is like saying the holocaust didn’t happen …..Denial in the face of truth .

Its not antisemitic to denounce what the Israeli government are doing .

MaggieMop · 12/09/2026 17:22

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CoventryCity · 12/09/2026 17:11

oneofthems · 12/09/2026 12:26

@CoventryCity Is there a nationality that would make this acceptable from your perspective? Feel free to imagine I’m a MAGA American if that makes the situation easier to visualise.

Tetchy. I just wondered.

THisbackwithavengeance · 12/09/2026 16:58

PuppyMonkey · 12/09/2026 08:36

Is it actually an out and out racism thing?

That’s not how racists operate.

Most racists know their views are socially unacceptable and if they openly come out with racist views in the workplace they will face disciplinary action. They’re not stupid.

So most racism outside of anonymous internet posts is insidious. It’s micro aggressions. Sly comments and small behaviours that you can’t quite pin down.

And until you’ve been on the receiving end you can’t empathise because it’s horrible and leaves you second guessing yourself.

maudelovesharold · 12/09/2026 16:47

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I shall comment as I see fit.

Slimtoddy · 12/09/2026 15:23

I don't think you will ever know for sure what is behind her behaviour. It could be she dislikes you because of your nationality or because she just doesn't like you. And then her actions or inactions could be directly because of this dislike. Alternatively she could just be useless. You just have to go with your gut/intuition.

MaggieMop · 12/09/2026 15:17

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Nearly50omg · 12/09/2026 15:15

You need to go to your manager and HR and give them a list of all the “oops I forgot to send you this work/ let you know about a meeting etc” plus then a screenshot of the partners views on your country. Don’t say anything else just allow them to add 2+2 together

maudelovesharold · 12/09/2026 14:36

Israel’s government isn’t committing genocide. It’s a lie which been disproved but is very effectively serving its purpose in demonising Israel, Israelis and Jews worldwide.

As the thread has been derailed already, I can’t let this go. The assertion that the Israeli Government is committing genocide has only been disproved by the Israeli Government, which finds itself and the IDF innocent of any wrongdoing with monotonous regularity.
No-one needs to demonise the Israeli Government. It’s done a great job of that by its own actions, past and current. Of course it should go without saying that Israeli citizens and Jewish people worldwide are not to be held collectively responsible for the sins of the Israeli Government. Just as the people of Gaza should not have been held collectively responsible for the sins of Hamas. Yet they were…

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