How common is it to throw a colleague under a bus as an arse-covering exercise?

[JockTamsonsBairns]

It's happened to me this week, and I'm a bit taken aback. The details aren't particularly relevant, but I've been working hard on something for months which has required some input from my line manager - I've been asking for this frequently over the past two months, but it's been pushed down his priority list.
I have always had a good working relationship with him, and I fully accept that his workload has been overwhelming lately.
I emailed him on Friday of last week, giving him a final nudge, and saying that if we didn't make some changes then we could be facing a potential complaint against us.
I didn't hear anything over the weekend (fair enough, but we do regularly keep contact out of hours), and so I rang him first thing on Monday morning. Call went straight to voicemail, and I left a message asking him to ring me as soon as he got a chance. He didn't.
Tuesday morning saw the completely predictable complaint. Almost word for word, it lists what I have been asking my line manager to do since November.
On receipt of this complaint, the entire dept springs into action, and starts to implement the measures I've been trying to introduce for three months. Ok, I'm happy that things are finally moving forward.

This morning, I was summoned to my manager's office. He was sitting alongside the top director person, which I hadn't expected, and began a spiel about how we could have done things differently, and what lessons we could learn from this.

The outcome isn't relevant here, but I'm very interested in how common this is? Do people generally fuck over their team members, in order to cover their own arses?

I'm reeling.

I had it done to me this week too, Ive seen it done many many times in other jobs Ive had

Id forward the email trail to them and say, yes i agree, sadly fuckface didnt.

I've had it attempted on me in the past but I also worked in consulting a long time so always kept emails and then stated the facts that the issue was raised previously by myself and list the dates. Then suggest a traffic light tracking system so that things aren't lost (defending yourself and suggesting a improvement so being proactive)

I had a colleague attempt it once but luckily our overall manager was excellent and could see exactly what was happening and didn't let him get away with it.
I was genuinely surprised that my colleague was ruthless enough to blame me for something that was entirely his fault.

Sadly I suspect it is quite common. It needs calling out by explaining there needs to be a better system for getting a management response.

Sadly more common than you'd think. But you have an email trail. Do you have this for the times you raised it with your line manager? If so I'd be along to HR with all that in the morning. I probably would anyway on what you've said.

In that situation I would stick up for myself!

But my manager wouldn't ever do it and I wouldnt do this to anyone I line manage.

I've worked alongside someone whose first response to anything going wrong is to blame someone else, anyone else; followed by lying about what their involvement was even when we had proof.
I just distanced myself and make sure everything was in writing and preferably with someone else bcc-ed in.
Didn't stop them lying, but it meant when they did so, I could just refer them back to the email.

What did you say in response to his spiel?

Also, as people have said, this is why all communication should be preferably via email, then it's written down.

You need to stand up for yourself and forward on all these emails.
I certainly would not take the fall for his fuck up.

It happened to me once, never again. I keep a note if everything, and when someone tried the same I just batted back with my biggest learning is to make sure I start chasing you daily for information I need when you miss a deadline

Then explain how many times you have chased etc etc

Soon shuts them up and puts the blame where it should be

Send a timeline and all emails (plus times of phone calls) to the director, copy in manager stating how you made every attempt to sort this before a complaint was made. Suggest a new route of escalation or something to be proactive in making sure this doesn't happen again. Don't be accusatory, they might say you should have alerted someone higher up.

I know nobody likes to be a 'grass' but you need to show how hard you tried to move this along.

But yeah, I had one particular manager who would have thrown me under an actual bus to cover up her mistakes. Learnt a lot from her on how not to manage.

Thanks for everyone's responses. I'm fairly meticulous, so I do have a documented email trail of the whole saga.

But my manager wouldn't ever do it and I wouldnt do this to anyone I line manage

I honestly would have written this a week ago today. We worked so well together, and I genuinely thought he would never do this. I have thought highly of him over the past couple of years, and I'm pretty certain he's thought highly of me.

But, when it came to it, and his neck was on the line, he covered his own arse first.

I've been dwelling on this all evening, and I'm not sure if I can get past this. I could never trust him again.

Yes it seems common. Happened to me last year over something completely unnecessary.

Sadly I think its just a reflection on them and their own failings. Its usually dead weight middle management.

I love the suggestion upthread of a traffic light system - it makes you look in control and organised (which can't be said for your boss).

I'm not sure if I can get past this. I could never trust him again.

I agree. Is it possible to transfer to another team or something?

I dob’t know but your thread title gave me an interesting mental image

Please tell me op that you stood up for yourself in the meeting op?

I have a lengthy trail of emails on this issue, and I would have no difficulty whatsoever in absolving myself. I can produce emails spanning back to November, highlighting that there was an issue which required immediate attention.
Had my concerns been heeded, we could have definitely avoided a complaint - no question.

I just feel strange about this. If I produce this paper trail in my defence, then my line manager will be seen to be clearly culpable. This time last week, I would never have dreamed of dropping him in the shit, so to speak. But then, this time last week, I never could have imagined he'd drop me in the shit.

This is awful. I've no idea what to do.

Drop him right in his own shit, no question.

You need to let the director have the paper trail. Otherwise this could haunt you for the rest of your time with the company. Don’t take the fall for your manager because you want to be nice. It’s not worth it. You don’t need to people please.

if you could see the problems, why weren't you able to make changes yourself? in no way does this absolve your manager, but what would have happened if you simply went ahead and made the changes?

i'm not sure about sending the emails now - either raise it in the meeting or accept that the moment has passed. some big managers just aren't interested in who did what, just how the customer feels. they could also see your earlier concerns as evidence that you didn't make the changes earlier.

but i suspect that this is quite common as something that happens in work places.

I have a lengthy trail of emails on this issue, and I would have no difficulty whatsoever in absolving myself. I can produce emails spanning back to November, highlighting that there was an issue which required immediate attention.
Excellent. Print these emails off and show or send them to your manager.
Had my concerns been heeded, we could have definitely avoided a complaint - no question. Yes. These exact words need to be in the email or face to face with your manager. And yes, I would be asking to transfer to another team as well.