I had a boss one time that hated me and was always out to get me. I gave as good as I got but boy was it tiring. He told me one time he had set up a meeting for us with his supervisor (who was also a p&*ck) to discuss ‘things’. I took a tape recorder in and set it on the desk and said....you don’t mind if I record this do you? haha Meeting was very nice and went really well. lol
He also knew that if he said anything out of the way in the meeting that I would bring up something totally inappropriate he had said to me. ;)
I had identical scenarios, sheana.
After awhile, I learned most of the dirty tricks that nasty co-workers and crappy bosses would pull to make your life hell, so you’d either quit or you’d do something they could use to justify firing you.
E-mail is a great thing nowadays, especially when you learn how to save it. Because bosses and/or co-workers love abusing people over e-mail and/or ignoring you when you warn of problems down the road that will reflect badly on the department.
Inevitably, crappy bosses will attempt to delete evidence of wrongdoing, and get very surprised when you hand over a CD or a USB stick full of their shenanigans and tell them, “Here is your copy, I’ve got plenty of others.”
The lawyer from my last workplace got me to sign a non-disclosure agreement about my exit, and gave me a little extra cushion in my severance package to cement the deal.
Not anywhere near 6 or 7 figures, mind you, but good enough for me.