Advice on my Toxic Supervisor
Today was honestly the worst day I've had at work. I've been a library worker for 2.5 years, so I'm familiar with my job and workflow. However, my new assistant supervisor treated me like I was completely clueless. She kept repeating the most basic instructions over and over, speaking to me in a condescending tone as if I were a child. At one point, she said, “Okay, but I need to understand if you get this or not.” I’m 26 — I don’t need to be spoken to like that.
For example, the work involves matching A1 to another A1 shelf, B2 to another B2 shelf, and so on. I am a graduate student in this field and have more expertise than she does. I often correct her work, and I know how to manage the tasks effectively.
Then she asked me to “walk her through the whole process,” I thought she was asking about my actual workflow—the real steps I take when shelving, shifting, organizing, and so on—along with what I’ve been working on, since they always check in to see what you do when you’re alone, ensuring that the workflow is still running smoothly. I didn’t realize she meant something as basic as matching A1 with another A1 on a shelf. I’ve been doing this for years; I don’t need someone to break down the simplest tasks, especially since I’ve never needed that before.
When I explained my workflow, she rolled her eyes, sighed loudly, and acted annoyed that I didn’t magically know she wanted the baby steps. Then she said, “So I know you won’t make a mistake,” which felt super insulting.
After that, she walked away and started talking loudly to another coworker — loud enough for the whole office to hear — saying things like, “She doesn’t know what she’s doing,” and asking, “Do any other coworkers act like this?” It was humiliating and completely unprofessional.
I ended up reporting it to my upper supervisors because the way she treated me was not okay. Now I’m worried I’ll be seen as a problem or a “whistleblower” instead of someone who’s just trying to work and be part of the team. She mentioned she’s dealing with her own issues, but that doesn’t excuse yelling, negativity, or talking about me behind my back for 5 months (I took a year off, and came back). She constantly praises other people, but never praises me, and it feels really unfair.
I'm not sure if I made the right decision by reporting this situation, but it felt like a line had been crossed. I hope I don't get fired. She claimed that I am "inconsistent" with my book shifting, yet she assigned me shelf reading for three hours, and that was it. I can't be in two places at once. Now I'm on an informal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) because of her, and working at a university makes it even more challenging. She accused me of "discharging" books incorrectly at the front desk, which led to fines and fees. However, my supervisor explained that it was only one renewal issue that occurred when I was still learning the front desk procedures back in February. The Assistant chose to bring this up in April to undermine me.