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.

‘If I produce this paper trail in my defence, then my line manager will be seen to be clearly culpable’

Currently you are being viewed as culpable and he had no issue putting you in this situation. You should not protect someone who has potentially thrown you under a bus.
You send the email trail showing your good work and that you recognised the situation far in advance.

Don’t let your reputation be affected because he’s covering his arse.

This manager you speak of @JockTamsonsBairns, clearly had no qualms of dropping you in it. As you have the email trail I would have no qualms about dropping said manager in it too.
They are probably earning more than you are as a manager and they should be able to manage.
I know we're all human and as such we can all make mistakes but if you have been on to them on numerous occasions, then they only have themselves to blame. You could see the headlights of the car heading straight to you - even with signposts and flashing lights he chose to ignore it and stick his fingers in his ears hoping the car would somehow avoid him. It didn't!
Sorry, that's my analogy :D

@PhilCornwall1

So tell the truth but show concern and compassion for your LM.

You are a better person than me. The Manager showed no compassion, so I'd find it hard not to hammer them into the ground if I could.

It's tempting but the problem of going nuclear is the fallout can often wipe you out too. The accused can reverse-victim and you end up looking like a vindictive arse.

Your should absolutely stick up for yourself.

However, did he actually throw you in front of the bus? From your post it doesn't sound like he's put any blame on you - just not acknoweldged your work. Will this end up with blame attached to you?

You would be helping out senior management by forwarding the emails. Your LM needs to be reminded of priorities.

Very. Almost every situation I have had to formally raise with supervisees has had some attempt at passing the blame to others. From a simple "Jackie said she would do x so I didn't do it" to full on almost getting someone else fired.

You can't let him get away with this. You have the evidence and you need to produce it to protect your reputation. I had a manager try and do this to me a good few years ago, but I had all the email correspondence and we then had to have a 'mediated' meeting with HR and they came out looking ridiculous. My card was marked, however, and I have never been promoted but I am happy in my role, never wanting to be a 'manager' and I serve as a constant reminder to him not to fuck with me. I have been with the organisation for 30+ years and am known for my integrity so a win for me.

This died happen but stand up for yourself or he will just use you again. I bc a out ways cover my arse I call it ACE (Arse Covering E-Mail). If I do anything verbally I send an e-nail ‘just to follow up our conversation...’ then outlinevwgatvv bc was discussed. In your shoes I would e-Mai senior manager and line manager. ‘Good Afternoon, Just to follow up our meeting please see attached copies of previous chasing e-Mails on x matter. These were also followed by voicemails left on x date. Please let me know how we should handle this in future as following the current process has failed and led to a complaint....pull him under that bus!

I would not hesitate to send the email trail.

This might affect your future job prospects otherwise, mightn’t it? And it’s just not fair.

The email doesn’t have to be aggressive - I like BashfulClam’s email.

After that I would start looking for another job either in that company or another.

Why should you be his fall guy? Was that in the job description? He sounds horrible.

Was the meeting not an opportunity to raise this e.g. I completely agree, I have been raising this since blah etc. Focus on solutions and way forward. Your manager has likely been told to address it and if they don't know what has happened then they can't. I appreciate they have assumed it was your fault but curious to know what is stopping you piping up, other than your utter shock. Nothing wrong with a follow up, further to our meeting on x I have had the opportunity to reflect on where I need further guidance. I attach correspondence relating to blah. I am pleased this has been resolved and would now like to ensure that I understand the process as to how we can avoid this type of situation in future.

No blame or finger pointing. Other people have to do their jobs properly equally we are human and need to learn.

Separate to sorting out the process is your personal feelings to your colleague/manager etc.

This has happened to me before. Thankfully I managed to dig an audit trail out so it didn’t go any further, but I made sure I got everything in writing from them ever since! Shame as I never looked at that person the same again and I’m glad I have nothing to do with them any more.

There is a lot to be said for the faux confusion tactic in cases like this 'I've attached some examples of where I tried to escalated this risk. Apologies if they weren't clear in their intent, I was trying to suggest how we could avoid this issue. Feedback on how I could handle this better in the future would be very welcome'

Totally up for putting my hand up if I have made a cock up. Like fuck would I take the blame in your scenario esp when you have a solid gold paper trail proving otherwise. Drop the bastard in it!!! Why on earth should you take the fall?

now is the best time to send that email.
send it and then switch off the computer/phone.
you can get it off your mind for the weekend.

Send the emails OP. And details of when you left the voicemail.

It’s very common. I lost my job because my duplicitous creep of a boss blamed me for a mistake he had made.

I wasn’t directly sacked, so I didn’t have any come back. My contact just wasn’t renewed as the big bosses thought I was crap.

Forward the lot. I would have no problem chucking him under the bus, as he didn’t seem to have a problem doing it to you.

Keep in mind what was going through your manager's head while the three of you were sitting in that office. How could he look you in the eye and pretend it was nothing to do with him? What was he expecting? Is he assuming that you'll go along with it to save his skin?

If it was me, I'd be furious at his assumption that I'd go along with it and not make trouble for him.

I'd be tempted to write some sort of overview/time line of events, make it neutral in tone and in the spirit of lessons learned. You tried to escalate the issue but your manager didn't have the capacity to take it forward, suggest there's some sort of red flag escalation process in the future. Send it to both your manager and the Director.

(and yes, it's more common than you think)

It happened to me twice. Once with a bully line manager who divided the team so much that without fail everyone would cover themselves to drop someone in it or lie to discredit someone. She did it as well. It was horrible and made me very sick.

The next time it was a line manager I had worked for and known for ten years. I was loyal and covered for him. But he did it knowing how upset I would be. No amount of my proofing he knew about the issues changed things and I was upset by his betrayal.

It is fortunate you have the emails. I would forward them and make it clear that he is the manager so the buck stops with him. Take no prisoners

Very common. Surprised these people aren't shamed when the accused presents email evidence.

I had this happen too. Someone I regarded as a friend, threw me under a bus and sent me for a disciplinary as a client had not received a report when it was due. When she told me, I just said, are you sure you want to do this? She insisted the firm did.

My disciplinary was two weeks later when HR could get to our office. First thing I did was give them printed copies of a dated email proving I had done the report before it was due, and had emailed everyone including ex friend to say this at the time. No further time was wasted with the disciplinary. However it was end of any friendship, and I started seriously hunting a new job.

I hope you have sent your email proof onto both of them to show you tried to sort this in a timely manner.

I manage a team. If we do well, they take the glory. If we do badly, I take the blame. It keeps me on my toes, and protects my staff. And I always make sure to recruit people who are better than me.

Sorry it's taken me so long to come back to my thread. I really appreciate everyone's responses massively.
I can't respond to everyone individually but, just to clarify on the main themes - I most definitely spoke up for myself in yesterday's meeting. I was a little shocked initially, partly because I was ill-prepared, and partly because I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I'd received a fairly informal email from line manager (LM) first thing, just saying 'Can we get together later to talk about X customer, does 1pm suit?'. I naturally assumed he wanted to set aside the time to talk about what I'd raised/what had gone wrong/why it had gone wrong/how we could rescue it etc.
I went to his office a little before 1pm, and was surprised to see the Director (D) go in before me. He's not generally visible around the workplace and, in fact, I've only met him two or three times. I was called in, and invited to take a seat which all felt a bit weirdly formal compared to our normal dynamic.
As I said in my OP, the general message was 'how has this been allowed to happen/what went wrong/we need to put swift measures in place' etc etc.
When I gathered my wits, I was very vocal about how I had first raised a concern back in November, that I had pointed out that we were facing a tricky situation, and it required attention. I said to them that I had anticipated a complaint (I didn't have exact date to hand, but I knew it was early Jan) but that things had been too slow to progress.
At the close of the meeting, D thanked me for my input into Customer X. My final point in the meeting was that this complaint had been completely avoidable, and he acknowledged that.
This might not surprise you but, even at my age (47), I'm still quite unfamiliar with the dynamic of workplaces. I worked very part time in low paid/low skilled work while my DCs were little, and it's only two and a half years ago that I've returned to the workplace "properly", so to speak.
That said, I have built up a reputation for myself in this firm for being competent and solid, and I know that I'm highly regarded. I'm on a fairly low pay grade, but that's entirely by choice. I'm happy at the level I'm at, and I know I can do my job well without any added pressure.

To give an update on today's events, I have gone with the confusion angle. I emailed D this morning, just saying I was glad to have the opportunity to discuss the X customer situation, that I thought I had acted in accordance with the company's escalation process when I raised my concerns, but that perhaps he could advise as to how I could have acted differently.
I got a short, but friendly, response - which pretty much thanked me for acting in accordance with reporting channels, and acknowledging the work I'd put in with customer X.
It was a little insipid, but I think that sums him up, generally.
I haven't spoken to LM at all today. I work in a small, open plan office, so it's difficult to get a word with anyone privately - unless you ask for a private word upstairs. He hasn't been particularly communicative with me today but, in fairness, that can be normal on busy days.

My last question is this. I would like to have a conversation with LM along the lines of "you threw me under a bus on Thursday, didn't you?". I feel like the best approach is to face it head on, and I'm confident enough to be able to do that. But, obviously, his response will be along the lines of "no I didn't".

I know I've got choices here, and I know that I'm in a fairly strong position.
Choice 1: I can battle back on this, knowing that the D recognises my worth. I could send that email trail (even although the D considers the matter resolved), and enter into a tricky dynamic with LM. I'm not sure how this would resolve itself?

Choice 2: I can rest easy, knowing that D values my worth to the company. I can rest assured that I acted in accordance with escalation policy, and that I cannot be seen as culpable here.
Let's be honest, LM fucked up big time - he knows it, and I know it. And I'm certain that D knows it too.
I'm tempted with going with this. Partly because it's the easiest, I'll admit that. But also because I need to be able to work with him in the future. I know how feeble that sounds, but I've got reasons . The office is local to me, I adore my job, I'm good at it, and I can pretty much choose my working hours to suit.

I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts.

@JockTamsonsBairns

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.

View it as a way to improve internal processes and show him the email trail.

Say the workplace needs an effective work prioritization system and design a process that helps with this. Maybe a once a week / month team governance meeting where key items and outstanding actions are prioritized in terms of their importance to strategy - with minutes and actions distributed clearly.