No Good Deed . . .

No Good Deed . . .

By Marguerite Schneider

"This story is a fictionalized composite of several work experiences.  Names and identifying features of characters have been changed to protect their identity, as has the organizational setting and context. Any resemblance to actual persons, events or organizations is purely coincidental."

A new Vice President of Customer Service (VP CS) was appointed at OMEGA Corporation, a major IT firm headquartered in NYC that had the deserved reputation for being a Darwinian workplace.  Mephistopheles had been hired in an orchestrated process in which the other job candidates performed badly, having been misled about the subtleties of the open position.  Rumor had it that the new VP CS had a long-standing relationship with the relatively new Executive Vice President of Customer Engagement (EVP CE), to whom he reported.  

Mephistopheles positioned himself as a strategic thinker.  It soon became clear that much about him was a contrived façade.  Before joining OMEGA, he specialized in wining and dining top clients, so that he had little actual managerial experience.  His newly found managerial style was menacing, mercurial, unnerving, and undermining, an extreme style, even for a Darwinian culture.  

VP CS quickly alienated many under him by barging into their small, gray, non-descript offices to berate them, often in front of others.  Mephistopheles didn’t yell; he was a whiner, which is worse than a yeller, as that whining sound stays in one’s head for hours. 

It was announced that VP CS would be the keynote speaker at the Business Council’s annual dinner.  He was delighted that few from OMEGA planned to attend, for it indicated that his reign of terror was in process; fear was in the air. 

Maria,  a Customer Service Manager (CSM), was a middle-aged woman with a mortgage and two sons in college. She was one of relatively few female CSMs and had been with OMEGA for a decade, earning very good performance evaluations.  Maria strived to stay positive despite the pervasive odor of fear.  She decided to attend the dinner as did Sanjay, a colleague of hers with two decades at OMEGA who also earned very good performance evaluations. The two CSMs were the best of frenemies, being competitive while respecting and liking each other very much.  They had an odd relationship, sometimes arguing vehemently, like an old married couple, and then laughing to the point of tears.  No one else understood their relationship.  Indeed, neither of them understood it. They were joined at the event by the Director, a friend of theirs.  

Maria, Sanjay, and the Director mingled during the cocktail hour, talking to others while rendezvousing together now and then.  Sanjay was already agitated, proclaiming “Mephistopheles will embarrass OMEGA before this important crowd.  He’s so dangerous!”

 “He’ll lose his job if he trashes OMEGA too much,” Maria 1 replied.  “We’ll see how it goes.  In the meantime, let’s talk about other things.  How’s your latest weekend warrior home improvement project?” she queried.

“Thank you, my friend. You’re right, I must admit.  

“The two-week project is now at week five.  My wife Anita is angry, of course. But I’m stuck, I must finish it.  No good contractor would take over this mess!”  

The topic change was fleeting.  Sanjay again became agitated as they departed the cocktail lounge area and entered the dining room.  Maria and the Director, both women, decided (without speaking) to flank Sanjay in the seating arrangement, to give him a double-kick under the table if needed. 

The first courses of the dinner went well, with light, upbeat presentations being made. Then VP CS was welcomed to the podium.  Mephistopheles spoke in his usual whining tone, with his usual sarcastic smile.  Not much was said initially.  Then he unloaded.  

“I’ve been with OMEGA for a few months, and I’m amazed that it’s survived into the new millennium.  OMEGA is mediocre at best.  Several of the executives are dead wood, complacent minions.  Mark my words, there will be a major reorganization in OMEGA’s near future.

“As for the Customer Service Group, I’m buying a large broom to sweep away the mediocrity.  I’ll sweep each and every dark corner!  Many will be terminated and replaced with experience professionals who’ll develop and deliver an unparalleled level of service!”  

The women’s kicks under the table bruised Sanjay’s shins but didn’t diminish his fury.  He was muttering quite loudly. 

“Don’t take the bait!” Maria whispered to him.  “Cool heads must prevail!”

The women’s attempt to hold Sanjay down was failing.  He was bobbing up and down, bringing them with him.  Mephistopheles was glowering at them.  Really, how could he not? 

Maria looked her frenemy straight in his eyes. 

“Can’t you see that he wants you to make a spectacle, so that he can fire you for insubordination?  You and I are going to leave, so that you calm down.”  

Maria staged the exit.  She took out her phone, acted as if there were an urgent message, and they left together to “contact the client”.

VP CS ‘s eyes were fixated on the CSMs as they departed.  

The two re-entered the dining room just as the presentation ended.  There was only slight, weak applause.  No one spoke to VP CS afterwards.  But rather than being nonplussed by this reaction, he appeared to relish it.

Mephistopheles glanced menacingly at his employees as he left the room.  He’s going to become increasingly difficult, thought Maria, shuddering slightly. 

___________________________________________

VP CS received a mere slap on the wrist for his theatrics before the Business Council.  It was positioned that his “genius” made him somewhat unstable.  Mephistopheles promised to try his best to be a good boy in public from now on.  

But within Omega, VP CS was proving to be more than difficult; he was treacherous.  Without Maria’s knowledge, he exposed her highly preliminary proposal for improving some metrics of performance (denoted “Draft, not for Distribution”) in its worst possible light at the Executive Council.  Many on the Council were shocked by his duplicity.  But Maria nonetheless became associated by some with what had been exposed highly prematurely, resulting in pervasive gossip about the proposal, about her.  Her heart raced, pounded, from the pressure.  She could barely sleep even when taking melatonin and downing a few drinks.  And she had to show up and do her job well, despite knowing what was being said by some behind her back.   

It became increasingly apparent that VP CS demanded more than loyalty, he demanded to be both feared and adored.  Some CSMs joined Mephistopheles’ regime to gain favored treatment, others, for fear of his wrath.  These loyal soldiers had to fawn over him, reacting to his histrionics and sadism with lowered eyes, turned stomachs and weak smiles.  They had to do the dirty work of undermining and gaslighting their non-soldier colleagues.  Mephistopheles rewarded his soldiers for their efforts with greater compensation, lighter workloads, easier clients, and the more interesting projects. 

In order to strengthen the spiderweb entrapping the non-soldiers, several lower-level cronies were also recruited into the regime.  They rescheduled meetings and assignments, with the non-soldiers being the only ones not informed.  The non-soldiers faced great struggles processing travel arrangements and expense reimbursements.  While these cronies were rewarded with gifts and kickbacks, the best reward was  that they were made to feel special.  Imagine an important VP bringing an accounting clerk her favorite Starbucks drink; or bringing a treat from the latest hot restaurant to an HR assistant! 

The spiderweb was almost complete.  Upper management approved Mephistopheles’s request to terminate several “poorly performing” non-soldiers.  VP CS was culling his herd, to have mostly loyal soldiers and a few competent non-soldiers to gaslight for his amusement while they performed most of the group’s work.  

The final step was to do some hiring.  Mephistopheles hired two of his mistresses as CSMs.  He positioned himself as a feminist, and he certainly did support the women who slept with him.  And male friends with suspicious qualifications were hired.  They were often AWOL, their whereabouts unknown.  There was much discussion of golf outings and gentlemen’s clubs when they were in the office.  

Maria was increasingly assigned many of the most difficult clients.  Complaints were made about her, so that her performance ratings started to decline a bit.  She started to doubt her abilities.  A few of Maria’s colleagues who were experiencing their own victimization let her vent, as she did for them.  They assured her that she had indeed become the prime target of the regime.  

“Sometimes ‘they’ are actually after you.”

“You’re NOT being paranoid.  Don’t let them lead you into thinking that you’re being paranoid.”

The advice helped, despite its suggestion that more targeting would occur.  And wow, did more occur.   It was rumored that Maria was having an affair with OMEGA’s CEO.  To construe that a few conversations at public functions indicated an affair was outrageous, but the regime was outrageous.  VP CS once came out of his office and stated to Maria, within earshot of several people, that it was well known that she was having an affair with the CEO.  Maria tried to brush it off as one of his off-color jokes, to which Mephistopheles flashed his Jeffrey Epstein-like smirk before walking away.  

The daily onslaught became life consuming.  The regime won to a degree in infiltrating Maria’s head; she had become a bit paranoid and quite depressed. While there was never any threat to her physical safety or to that of her family, Maria’s mind was preoccupied with the possibility of threat.  Despite being worried that they would think she was bonkers, she advised her family to look around for anyone suspicious before entering or leaving their home.  Her family indeed worried that she was bonkers.  

The most surreal events Maria experienced occurred in her office.  In separate incidents, two of her male colleagues broke down, crying.  

“Why does VP CS harass me so brutally?  I recommended that he be hired!” sobbed the first colleague.  Maria never cared for this lazy, self-serving guy.  Was he secretly part of the regime, baiting her to say things that she shouldn’t? 

“I can’t take it anymore, VP CS is relentless!” bemoaned frenemy Sanjay, weeping profusely. 

A few days later, Sanjay was in a better frame of mind and presented a proposal.  The two of them would approach another Vice President, one who had been with OMEGA forever and was well beloved, for advice.  Maria agreed.  The frenemies made the leap from suffering solo to strategizing as a dynamic duo.  It felt wonderful. 

___________________________________________

The gods were with the CSMs, at least for the moment.  

The CSMs met with the well-beloved VP, who was personable and empathetic while retaining his corporate façade.  He would arrange for them to meet with the Vice President of Human Resources (VP HR), who had the authority to investigate further. The two CSMs were elated by the responsiveness.  

A few days later, the two met with VP HR in requisite separate meetings.  VP HR was also personable and empathetic while retaining his corporate façade.  He listened to Maria’s tale of woe and then advised her.

“Maria, you describe a hostile work environment.  HR is here to help!  While I believe you, this isn’t enough.  You MUST hire an attorney who’ll develop a formal written complaint, to be submitted to me. Only then can I take action.”  

“VP HR, your advice is, well, it’s very unsettling!  I don’t want to appear adversarial, and hiring an attorney is certainly adversarial.”

“It’s not at all adversarial, Maria, for you’ll be doing as I’ve directed.  I’ve also asked this of Sanjay.  The complaint is necessary.  It will provide sufficient gravitas so that I can do my job.”

“Well then, there’s no real choice here, my back is up against the wall.  You’ll get my formal complaint.  I really hope that I don’t live to regret it.”

___________________________________________

An investigation initiated by Maria’s complaint revealed that Mephistopheles was guilty of several violations of corporate policy, including misappropriation of corporate funds and preferential hiring practices.  The hostile work environment he created was at the bottom of the list of violations. An announcement was soon made that Mephistopheles had ‘stepped down’ and thanked him for his service. 

Sanjay never filed a complaint with VP HR, despite that both Maria and VP HR begged, beseeched him to do so.  Maria sensed that she was becoming known as “that woman who filed the hostile work environment complaint against OMEGA” but didn’t dwell on it, trying to be positive, not paranoid.   

The next VP CS was a blustery but kind fellow.  Florida beckoned him to retire after a short stint in the job.  But before leaving for the sunshine state, he spoke candidly with Maria. 

“Maria, your work is excellent, and I like you, you’re perky, despite that you can sometimes be difficult.  I’m advising her, in confidence, that some people continue to badmouth you at Omega and throughout the industry due to your hostile work environment complaint, and that complaint is fact, a matter of record.  Some resent the loss of their privileged status under Mephistopheles, and you’re easy to blame for that.  Others feel that you’re a traitor, disloyal to OMEGA. You’re in a tough spot.”

Ah, Maria thought, as I’ve long suspected, I AM “that woman who filed the hostile work environment complaint against OMEGA”.   No wonder I still feel the need to look over my shoulder! It will never end!

She promptly submitted her resignation. 

___________________________________________

After a well-deserved hiatus from the world of work and far too much contemplation of metaphysical issues, Maria developed a less work-centric life with a new set of challenges while consulting selectively, including at OMEGA.  Many there knew that Maria was very good at what she did and circumvented the strong suggestion that would inevitably surface to select someone else for the project.