New job!

I have a new job. I asked to be reassigned to another department. My first boss with the government (who is a wonderful lady, not to mention exceptional supervisor) heads up a department within the same organization I have been in for the last 7 1/2 years. It was effective last Monday and while I am still busy and working hard, I am so happy to be with someone who cares about her employees and is honest and kind.

I never would have asked for the reassignment if the new boss at my old group wasn't psycho. Talk about a whackjob! Our most recent supervisor (another lovely lady who was a joy to work for) left in April and the senior staff (myself included) rotated the job of acting boss each week. It was hard, but we were able to keep the place running just fine. Everyone was happy, just a tad bit tired. New boss - who shall now be referred to as Whack-a-Doodle - came the second week of August. By the end of the first week we knew we were doomed.

She is suspicious, sneaky, paranoid, and completely unqualified for the position. She has never been a supervisor before, and while everyone has to start somewhere, the folks we service are very high profile with a lot of power and they are very demanding (think people who wear uniforms with more than one star on their lapels). She very quickly started "throwing people under the bus" and it hasn't just been with our group. She's doing it to our partner group who shares the same office. If our boss's boss worked in our building this wouldn't be an issue, but our Deputy Director and Director work in another state, 70 miles south. They aren't here every day and so Whack-a-Doodle feels she can do what she wants because no one is watching.

To make matters worse we have within the office a typical ass kisser. He quickly determined Whack-a-Doodle was easily manipulated and he spends most of the day in her office spreading gossip and telling her information he has gathered from the floor. The sad part is everyone knows he is a weasel and has stopped talking to him. But that hasn't changed their behavior. What was once a really tight group of co-workers who liked each other has turned into a "hostile work environment" (which is a huge no no in the Federal government). People are talking about going to MER (Management/Employee Relations office) and filing complaints.

The final straw for me was when one of my co-workers came to me to and let me know that Whack-a-Doodle told her info about me. Complete lies. She told my co-worker that she had to counsel me for inappropriate behavior. I almost fell over in a faint when she told me that. Co-worker knew it was a lie, which is why she told me. The worst part? Even if it was true, a supervisor is not to divulge disciplinary information regarding one employee to another. She totally lied AND in telling the lie, violated employee confidentiality (even though it was all a lie!). Still following me?

So I did something I have never done before. When you work for the Federal government and especially for the Department of Defense, they insist on following the 'chain of command'. So I should have gone to Whack-a-Doodle first, then our Deputy Director if I didn't get any satisfaction, and then I would have gone to our Director. I totally went over both of them and called our Director from home. She was super nice, listened to everything I had to say, and then told me that I was not the first person to complain. She knew there was a problem and they were working on fixing it. I told her that even though I was going to a new job I was very worried about the folks who had to stay. They are all very unhappy (except for the Weasel - but the Director knows all about him and what he is doing - she was not surprised at all) and I am worried what this idiot can do to them and their careers. Hopefully Whack-a-Doodle will be removed soon and they'll get someone in there who can fix the damage.

New job is just as crazy busy and I've already worked 8 hours overtime in my first four days, but I'm so happy to be back with the best boss ever!