Am I living in 2018 or George Orwell's 1984

[Yinkakin]

I am female, black African and manage a team of 7 male engineers.

Recently while on holiday, my manager calls a meeting with my team members to discuss my "management style". He ended the meeting with "she is shit at her job and I will manuover her out'.

He had beeen my boss for just a few days at this point.

HR have been informed & I have asked him to substantiate his claim.
However, I am not holding my breath as he is a powerful person and supposedly has the support of leadership.

I've stopped eating, can't sleep and if it wasn't for my daughter, I don't know what I could have done.

It really feels like I am in '1984' and I am stunned that he can do this with impunity and get away with it, while I am expected to leave and not cause a fuss.

I will fight this though & intend to make my tiny difference in the workplace so others never have to endure this dreadful treatment.

I need ideas on creative ways to overcome this horrible form of bias.

No advice, but I am so sorry you are in this position.

So he's made his assessment within a few days with time left over to set up a meeting with your team?

Document everything, save every interaction you've ever had with him. Transfer evidence to your own devices in case you get locked out of your work accounts.

Have you contemporaneous notes of everything that's gone on and all your contacts with this man, also a record of your own successes and achievements in work.

It sucks that you are going through this. Make clear you will sue for racism and sexism. Make a loud noise about it. Don't be quiet.

Are you in a union? Have you spoken to ACAS?

Don't talk to him alone. Don't agree to meetings with him without a witness. Don't agree to paid time off for stress while they investigate him: make them give HIM the time away from the office. And go to your doctor and record that you are suffering workplace stress. You don't have to give details of the situation, just, can't sleep etc. Make sure it's on your medical record.

I don't have any advice as others will have better knowledge than me but I'm sorry this is happening. It doesn't sound remotely professional or even legal IMO.

Best of luck.

Take the lead: be demanding. Don't let him control the narrative. Always speak in a low, calm voice about it and don't apologise ever.

Yes to ACAS. Go on the front foot. What a racist, sexist pig.

The fact that you know about this suggests that someone on your team must have told you. That person is a potential ally, so take strength from that - if your team believed him you'd never have known about what was said.

I'm really sorry to hear this

re the potential ally, I agree.

the politics that goes on at work is beyond 1984.

Is it possible that the manager in question was given the specific task of ousting you, or anyone else? I know someone who was employed in a director role and meant to "push out" two heads of dept. In the end she didn't do it - had an encounter with her conscience on the road! - but as this sort of thing happens so often, I'd consider your legal position and see if you'd rather be paid off quietly.

in which case, extract as much money as you can.

sorry you are going through this.

Yes definitely speak to ACAS

What the others said.

Document everything.

Go to ACAS.

And have some and some and all good wishes from me.

Hang on in there!

Many years ago we got a new departmental boss. The word out was that he was very suave, ambitious and was pals with all the top executives. He called to see us one at a time in his office. I had barely sat down, when he asked me to diss my manager. Although he looked suave at a distance, up close he had shifty untrustworthy eyes, and I told him nothing. Later I had a quiet word with my manager that Mr Suave had the knives out for him. Within 6 months Mr Suave had been moved into some bland executive job and my manager was the new departmental head!

Now this new guy has come in and seen that you are a threat to his job. Luckily your team have told you as they’re on your side. You have to keep your head down and just keep doing what your doing. Either this arse wants to move you out of the way as you show him up to much, or he wants to move some yes-man crony into your job to make his life easier.

Having worked in a very male-dominated heavy engineering, I know that to get to your position you must be great at your job!

I haven’t got any creative ideas. Maybe see if you have a quiet dig to find why this guy left his previous job.

This is an appalling attitude and behaviour on your manager's part, but he will not 'manoeuvre you out'. You are wise to and alert to his intentions. You have the support of your team. Stand your ground.

I agree with contacting ACAS. They might be able to give you some ideas as to how to solve this with a peaceful resolution. They certainly do not do an all guns blazing approach.

Good luck with it all. I hate bullying at work, which is essentially what this is and it also seems to me to have a discriminatory element as well - sexism and race.

Thanks everyone for your messages of support, please keep it coming.
Yes my team actually told me about this and I know I have their support.

My biggest concern now is that he would intimidate the team so that they would not provide crucial evidence against him if HR decide to investigate. They have already told me that they are scared to discuss this with HR.

It's terrible as we all still have to report to him and he is still free to act regardless of the ongoing investigations.

Thanks for your support

I would bet ££ that this is his modus operandi to “get on” and that his cv lists a rapid succession of posts.

It would be interesting to hear what his previous underlings have to say about him “off the record”.

Hi OP,

I am really sorry you are going through this.
If he is your direct manager then his behaviour would be evidence he is poor at his job, as a manager is supposed to support, encourage and constructively criticise their direct reports in order to improve things, not behave like this.

Has this person worked with you or has previous experience with you and your team? Is there any reason, however mistaken and unfounded (jealousy?), he has for trying to get at you?

R.e the unsubstantiated claims that you aren't good at your job - do you have an annual review of your work if you have been working there for some time as evidence you are doing your job properly? Are you given a performance score or rating, if so and you have a good / high one consistently in the past then his claims can easily be shown to be entirely unfounded.

I also think you should frame it as to what outcome you would like to see happening and how this can be achieved.

So he is your new boss, calls a meeting, discusses you in a disparaging and offensive tone, while you are on holiday?
That is upsetting on both a personal and professional level.
Your colleagues know you better than he does. This is the advantage you have over him.
Has you boss been brought in to do a hatchet job?
Be very careful now, as others have said, take a witness with you in meetings with him. Join a union, so a union rep can be your witness. As emails are considered written evidence, follow up your calls and conversations with an email.
Then email yourself so you have the evidence away from work.
This shows you mean business.

Be careful with your colleagues as they may be complicit by being passive. It is likely to be difficult to gauge where their loyalties actually lie. They will only be concerned with their own prospects.

If he is a bad egg, then hopefully he will slip up soon. Play the long game if you can.
Good luck.

I am so sorry to hear this awful thing is happening to you but SO impressed that you are going to fight it.

I had similar many years ago where I worked for a multinational company and relocated. Unfortunately a manager who had been at my previous location, and recently found guilty of sexual harassment, was relocated to the same location. It was meant to be a 'fresh start' for him . He made my life impossible to try to get me out as he didn't want people to know about his history (they already knew even before he got there due to company gossip and women warning other women ).

Nevertheless he blamed me and raised a series of unfounded complaints, including I wasn't dressing for work appropriately. When challenged, he said I had come to work with ripped stockings . Not true. My stockings had laddered at work one day. That was the level of pettiness he stooped to.
I was younger then and put up with a lot more shit that I would now, but eventually had to get the union involved and they sorted it out for me. He kept his job but was moved again shortly afterwards.

Please get union support. Document everything, even the small seemingly 'petty' things. It all adds up. And warn your friends and family what is happening so that they can give you out of hours support so work doesn't become too all-encompassing.

Well done to you though. I am so glad you aren't going to let this horrid man do this. He won't win.

This is all really good advice. Document every interaction and save copies of any evidence independently of your work system. And what Charlie says about only ever discussing this formally in a "low calm voice" - if you need to shout scream rant or cry come and do it on here and we will give you virtual and and