My boss reprimanded me and some of my other coworkers for avoiding a smelly coworker.

[joel666]

I am a 34 year old male and i work as a web developer. I am fairly good at it my work and get along with most other coworkers.

But there is this one coworker that started 2 months ago. I will refer to him as tom.

Tom is good at his job but there is problem with him.

Ever since i met him for the first time, he always had a strong stench to him. His odor is a mix of weed and unwashed body odor and on top of that, his breath smells really bad.

But i always tried being polite but me and some of my other coworkers who also noticed how bad he smells avoid him but we tried not to be rude about it.

For examples. When tom would sit near us, my coworkers and me would tell each other "why don't we go seat over there. This table is a lot cleaner. Why don't we use this computer instead. This one is kinda slow. When you come back from the bathroom, join us on that other table next to the window.

And when we would be in the lunch break room, we would stand there, wait and see where tom would sit and we would make sure not to sit next to him.

But on the bad luck that he would sit right in front of us, i would cover my nose with my hand. And my other coworkers would do the same.

But again we try not to show our disgusts. We don't gag or make any disgusted facial expressions.

But just a week ago, our bosse called me into his office and he tells me that tom feels excluded and me and the other coworkers are creating a toxic work environment and my clique attitude will nog be tolerated.

I admitted to my boss why we avoid him. I told him that i cannot stand the stench coming off tom.

My boss argued and said this is disrespectful and he could very well have a health condition that causes him to smell unpleasant.

My other coworkers later told me that they also got reprimanded.

How would you deal with this ? Health or not, i cannot stand smelly people. I try not to be rude but when someone smells bad my first instinct is to avoid them.

Your boss is right, you're creating a toxic environment he might have a medical condition.

You do sound like a bunch of bully’s in school to be honest, all getting up to move when he comes near and avoiding sitting with him at lunch so he is on his own.

I can’t believe as a grown adult you can’t see how wrong your behaviour is and I’m really glad management are behaving appropriately in pulling you up on it.

Huh? Why would anyone want to be around a stinky person?

This has to be a joke? Surely you can see how rude your being?

if there are personal hygiene issues your boss wouldn’t be unreasonable to politely check in with him and mention it but a group of adults covering their mouths when he is close is called bullying!

Well it’s not pleasant but you’re behaving like a 12 year old. You just have to suck it up.

Your behaviour has been unpleasant. The adult thing to do would be to ask your boss to have addressed the issues of Toms smell with him before it got to this stage or one of you take him aside and sensitively speak to him about it. Probably safer for the boss to do it.

I tried not to be rude about it. Its not like we are picking on him.

Your boss has a responsibility here. Has he actually raised this issue with Tom? It may be that Tom just needs to up his personal hygiene regime.

Yes you could be a bit more tactful but it's human nature not to spend time near people who smell. If you knew that he had a medical condition that meant he couldn't help his smell you would probably (hopefully) all make an effort to include him more.

Come on. He doesn't have a medical condition

He's a dirty stoner

Perhaps the boss should have been honest with Tom. Stop smoking pot indoors

Your boss can also smell him. If he can still interact normally with him, you can too.
(If your boss has no sense of smell, it would have been useful to mention that in your OP.)

Yes you are picking on him, you’re all getting up to move away from him, you’re all sitting together for lunch and specifically excluding him.

As management have rightly pointed out, your behaviour and that of your colleagues is toxic and nasty.

Maybe suggest he is promoted to share an office with the boss.......

Moving away when he sits with you under some guise of “this computer is better” IS picking on him, and he knows this.

I think your boss needs to bring up your co-workers hygiene issue with him. I’m sorry but it’s not acceptable to come into work stinking. He may have a health condition but weed and not washing either himself/his clothing often enough to cause BO is a him problem not yours and it needs tackling by your boss. What the heck is it going to be like when the weather gets warm .

But you can't be rude to him

Having said that; in could not eat lunch with his smelly bod

I thought he wouldn't catch on because me and my coworkers always have excuses when we move.

Your manager has to talk to Tom if he hasn’t already. You can’t be expected to put with this at work. Revolting

Your boss needs to get a grip and have a serious conversation with Tom - who wants to work with someone who smells, and the stale weed suggests that it's not purely medical. That's partly what your boss is paid to do - be in control of his team.

You're excluding him which is also a form of bullying.

You didn’t think he would notice when he is never invited by any of you to move WITH you, and is left on his own? Really? When he sits alone every day and you all actively move away from him, you thought he wouldn’t notice that?

It does NOT sound like you're trying not to be rude. You're being openly discriminatory.

why don't we go seat over there. This table is a lot cleaner. Why don't we use this computer instead. This one is kinda slow. When you come back from the bathroom, join us on that other table next to the window.

And when we would be in the lunch break room, we would stand there, wait and see where tom would sit and we would make sure not to sit next to him.

But on the bad luck that he would sit right in front of us, i would cover my nose with my hand. And my other coworkers would do the same.

Fault on both sides. Tom probably does not have a health problem that makes him stinky. It is much more likely that Tom does not wash himself or his clothes often enough and is lazy enough to think that that is acceptable in a workplace. Tom needs to be told, in private, by a manager, to step up his hygiene routine.
The rest of you need to stop forming a clique that is based only on Tom's exclusion. That's bullying.