My Boss Humiliated Me in Front of Everyone—But I Quickly Turned the Tables
Workplace conflicts aren’t rare, but every now and then, someone handles them in a way HR could use as a training example. This story begins with a boss shouting in a packed meeting and ends with the new hire calmly teaching her boss the lesson he clearly had missed.
I’m new at the office. My boss seemed nice until he pointed at me during a meeting and yelled, “Your mistake almost ruined the project! I don’t know why I hired you!!” I felt humiliated and quietly left.
But 15 minutes later, he froze when I returned with the company’s Code of Conduct. I read aloud the section about “respect and professional behavior” in front of everyone, showing that nothing gave him the right to yell or humiliate employees. I calmly told him that if he wanted to avoid consequences, he should apologize immediately.
He didn’t apologize. He just said, “We can talk about this privately, although this whole thing is unnecessary.” I told him the yelling didn’t happen privately, so the apology shouldn’t either. He refused.
HR called me an hour later. Someone who was in the meeting reported the incident before I even had the chance to. HR asked for details, and I gave them the whole story.
My boss didn’t get fired, but he was removed as team lead and had to take some kind of management training. He avoids me now unless he absolutely has to talk to me, and he’s been weirdly polite ever since.
I still feel a bit unsure because I’m new, and calling out my boss wasn’t exactly a small thing to do. I fear it may influence my possible career growth. Do you think I have any future in this company?
Thank you!
Debra
