"You stole my chair!"

[PastryGoddess]

^^^

To those above.  The OP does not have to ask another co-worker for permission to follow her bosses orders.  Please note that the chair is COMPANY property and does not belong to either one of them.  OP specifically said that she asked boss to order a new chair.  Boss choose to have her take the chair that was already in house.

The boss (not OP) also told the SL (snarky lady) the reasons behind the chair switch and that they were ordering another chair for her.

The boss is the one who prioritized a full-time worker over a part time worker. While the OP could have handled the initial chair switch better, it's not rude of her to follow her bosses instructions.   

[June24]

^^^

To those above.  The OP does not have to ask another co-worker for permission to follow her bosses orders.  Please note that the chair is COMPANY property and does not belong to either one of them.  OP specifically said that she asked boss to order a new chair.  Boss choose to have her take the chair that was already in house.

The boss (not OP) also told the SL (snarky lady) the reasons behind the chair switch and that they were ordering another chair for her.

The boss is the one who prioritized a full-time worker over a part time worker. While the OP could have handled the initial chair switch better, it's not rude of her to follow her bosses instructions.

Just because a higher-up tells you to do something doesn't mean that you get to abdicate responsibility for it. It's still your actions and your behavior that counts. You still take responsibility for your actions that affect other people. I wouldn't do something for my own comfort that I thought wasn't right just because my boss gave me permission. People who have done bad things because an authority figure told them that it was ok were still held responsible in a number of historical legal cases. Now I am NOT comparing what the OP did to those people's actions at all, but I just want to point out that by doing what her boss told her to do, she is saying that she thinks that it's an ok thing to do. She could have chosen not to do it, but she did it because it benefits her. So in my mind her boss "telling her it's ok" is irrelevant. The OP has to think that it's an ok thing to do to another person in order to be willing to do it. The fact that she thinks that it's ok is what I have a problem with. I find it rude and dismissive to essentially tell someone "my comfort is more important than yours, so I'm going to hide behind boss's authority while I take away something that you were using first without even telling you, even though you may need it just as much to avoid being in pain". The fair thing to do would have been to discuss it.

[Raintree]

Not really your fault, OP, but I think your coworker has a right to be PO'd (though the snarky comments at you are uncalled for). Maybe she has back problems too! It's a VERY common problem, and bad chairs are a common cause. Even if she only works three days a week, a few hours in a bad chair is enough to cause pain and undo whatever else she is doing for her back that might be good. Why does the boss get to decide who has the worst back or the most pain? Not everybody speaks up about pain. I think your boss is making some wild assumptions about this other woman's need for a good chair.

Mind you, I think EVERYONE should have a decent chair if they are required to sit in it for much of the day. Sitting in horrible chairs is a legitimate workplace hazard.

[MariaE]

No way would I have taken her chair.  At the very most I would have used it while she was not there and put it back on her days in the office.  Then I would have waited for my new chair to arrive.  I don't blame her for being PO'd.

I don't blame her for beng PO'd either, but I blame her for being PO'd at the OP. Just because you would have acted differently doesn't mean the OP was wrong to do as the boss said.

[JamFly]

No way would I have taken her chair.  At the very most I would have used it while she was not there and put it back on her days in the office.  Then I would have waited for my new chair to arrive.  I don't blame her for being PO'd.

I don't blame her for beng PO'd either, but I blame her for being PO'd at the OP. Just because you would have acted differently doesn't mean the OP was wrong to do as the boss said.

Pod. The Snarky Coworker is a temp who is filling in for someone out on leave. In my mind, a full time worker takes priority over a temp who (I'm assuming) won't be there next year. If Snarky Coworker has a problem, she should be talking to the boss, not making snarky, bullying comments to the OP.

If I were the OP's boss, in fact, I would think seriously hard about firing the Snarky Coworker, because someone who would be so petty and bullying isn't someone I'd want in my office.

And I think some of you are making interesting assumptions about the Snarky Coworker. We don't know if she has any back pain; the chair belonged to the Coworker out on Maternity leave. Snarky Coworker could just as easily be mad because she just plain ol' liked the more comfy chair over the slightly less comfy one she has now (because the boss gave her two choices, and she picked the nicer chair then the OP's orginal.)

[PastryGoddess]

No way would I have taken her chair.  At the very most I would have used it while she was not there and put it back on her days in the office.  Then I would have waited for my new chair to arrive.  I don't blame her for being PO'd.

I don't blame her for beng PO'd either, but I blame her for being PO'd at the OP. Just because you would have acted differently doesn't mean the OP was wrong to do as the boss said.

Pod. The Snarky Coworker is a temp who is filling in for someone out on leave. In my mind, a full time worker takes priority over a temp who (I'm assuming) won't be there next year. If Snarky Coworker has a problem, she should be talking to the boss, not making snarky, bullying comments to the OP.

If I were the OP's boss, in fact, I would think seriously hard about firing the Snarky Coworker, because someone who would be so petty and bullying isn't someone I'd want in my office.

And I think some of you are making interesting assumptions about the Snarky Coworker. We don't know if she has any back pain; the chair belonged to the Coworker out on Maternity leave. Snarky Coworker could just as easily be mad because she just plain ol' liked the more comfy chair over the slightly less comfy one she has now (because the boss gave her two choices, and she picked the nicer chair then the OP's orginal.)

Pod to this.  SC is a temp, not a full time worker.  She can be upset all she wants, but I notice she's not getting snarky with the boss, she's doing it to the OP. 

[Oh Joy]

I think that some of the posts are missing a distinction that often gets lost in our threads: the difference between exercising a right and demonstrating a courtesy.  We have the right to not hold a door open for someone, but sometimes it's courteous.  Our OP had the right to take the chair, but communicating differently with the coworker could have been more courteous (and possibly prevented the resulting hurt feelings and nasty behavior, not that there's an excuse for CW's choices).

[Audrey Quest]

I agree with June and auntmeegs

You starte the ball rolling on this; the boss didn't tell you to switch chairs on a whim, but at our request for another chair.

And the boss handled it very poorly but you went right along with it.  No protestations of "I wouldn't dream of doing that, I'll just wait for a new chair to be ordered."

Your boss was inconsiderate to the woman and so were you by going along with.  There are many things which bosses tell us to do that we must do.  This was not one of them.
 

[June24]

No way would I have taken her chair.  At the very most I would have used it while she was not there and put it back on her days in the office.  Then I would have waited for my new chair to arrive.  I don't blame her for being PO'd.

I don't blame her for beng PO'd either, but I blame her for being PO'd at the OP. Just because you would have acted differently doesn't mean the OP was wrong to do as the boss said.

Pod. The Snarky Coworker is a temp who is filling in for someone out on leave. In my mind, a full time worker takes priority over a temp who (I'm assuming) won't be there next year. If Snarky Coworker has a problem, she should be talking to the boss, not making snarky, bullying comments to the OP.

If I were the OP's boss, in fact, I would think seriously hard about firing the Snarky Coworker, because someone who would be so petty and bullying isn't someone I'd want in my office.

And I think some of you are making interesting assumptions about the Snarky Coworker. We don't know if she has any back pain; the chair belonged to the Coworker out on Maternity leave. Snarky Coworker could just as easily be mad because she just plain ol' liked the more comfy chair over the slightly less comfy one she has now (because the boss gave her two choices, and she picked the nicer chair then the OP's orginal.)

I don't think it's an "interesting assumption" at all. We don't know that she doesn't have back pain. That's why it's polite to take others into consideration and talk to them before going over their head to the boss.

[JamFly]

No way would I have taken her chair.  At the very most I would have used it while she was not there and put it back on her days in the office.  Then I would have waited for my new chair to arrive.  I don't blame her for being PO'd.

I don't blame her for beng PO'd either, but I blame her for being PO'd at the OP. Just because you would have acted differently doesn't mean the OP was wrong to do as the boss said.

Pod. The Snarky Coworker is a temp who is filling in for someone out on leave. In my mind, a full time worker takes priority over a temp who (I'm assuming) won't be there next year. If Snarky Coworker has a problem, she should be talking to the boss, not making snarky, bullying comments to the OP.

If I were the OP's boss, in fact, I would think seriously hard about firing the Snarky Coworker, because someone who would be so petty and bullying isn't someone I'd want in my office.

And I think some of you are making interesting assumptions about the Snarky Coworker. We don't know if she has any back pain; the chair belonged to the Coworker out on Maternity leave. Snarky Coworker could just as easily be mad because she just plain ol' liked the more comfy chair over the slightly less comfy one she has now (because the boss gave her two choices, and she picked the nicer chair then the OP's orginal.)

I don't think it's an "interesting assumption" at all. We don't know that she doesn't have back pain. That's why it's polite to take others into consideration and talk to them before going over their head to the boss.

"Go over their head to the boss"? The OP didn't "go over their head to the boss". She asked for a new chair because of her back pain, the boss said to take Snarky Coworkers, because the OP couldn't do their job due to the back pain.

Since the OP is there full time, while Snarky isn't, it's more important for the OP to have a more supportive chair. The OP said Snarky is only there three days a week, I think it's a little much to expect the OP to suffer through her back pain, and ignore what her boss told her, for at least a full day just to talk to Snarky.

And given how Snarky is acting, I sincerly doubt she would have let the OP have the chair. So what's the OP supposed to have done while she waited for the chair that was ordered to arrive? And I'm sure her boss would have noticed the OP ignored what the Boss told her to do, also, which could make the Boss wonder what else the OP ignores, which could effect the OPs rel@tionship with Boss, and possibly her job as well.


The Snarky Coworker isn't suffering with her possible bad back with the OP's bad chair while she waits for the new one ordered for her; the Boss gave her a choice of chairs, and the OP said Snarky Coworker picked the chair that was more supportive then the OP's orginal chair, but not as nice the chair the OP needs and has now. Considering her much her back puts her out of commision, and thus unable to do her job, I don't think this was unreasonable. Maybe the boss could have handled it better, yes, but that's still no reason for Snarky Coworker to bully and snark at the OP.

I think some of you are putting yourselves in Snarky Coworkers place, and just thinking, "I come into work, and my nice chair is replaced with Average Chair," without remembering that Snarky is being a snarky bully to the OP instead of acting like an adult.

[June24]

We'll have to agree to disagree then. I just don't see this as anything but wrong. I'd feel pretty snarky too if someone did this to me. It's just disrespectful in my eyes, and I don't think that the woman's behavior after being disrespected is indicative of how she would have behaved if she had been approached more politely.

[Minmom3]

Maybe it says a lot about places in which I have temped, but AS a temp, I would consider myself astoundingly lucky to have had the use of the comfy chair for as long as 'I' did.  Having it taken away for the use of a full time permanent employee would suck, but be totally normal and expected in each and every place I have temped.  All supplies being used by temps are open season- I've had my chair swapped out for a lousy one, I've had my computer and monitor swapped out for who knows why; about the only thing that hasn't been taken out from under me was the phone itself when I was a temp receptionist.  Also, being nasty about it to a permanent employee?  Would get reported back to the temp agency, and I'd be lucky to have any job after that, let alone at that same company.  Temp work is thin ice, it's always risky to be anything but polite and well mannered!  In Silicon Valley, a temp is most definitely a second class citizen, by law.  You do NOT have the rights and perks a full time permanent employee has.  If she wants to irritate Boss enough to ensure she doesn't get extended or renewed, she could keep up her current behavior.

[LilacRosey]

I'm really sorry about your back problems I think you are fine because she's only part time and you didnt stgeal it, you got permission from your bosses! Just say you're sorry but she needs to wait until you arent using it. And smile because that always helps., lilacrosey

[Lauren]

POD. Boss may have "told you" to do it, but I think you're still responsible for your actions. It's not cool to take someone else's chair without asking. You're basically telling her that your comfort is more important than hers. I'm not surprised that she's upset.

But that's not how jobs work. The OP has a medical issue. One that is affecting her ability to work. She advised her boss who has ordered a different chair for her, but until that arrives OP still is having a medical issue that affects her job. So there is another chair in the office that is suitable. By someone who is a temp worker and who is in the office less time than the OP. The obvious answer is for OP to get the part time worker's chair. So she can do her job while not in excruiating pain.

Yes the co-worker has a right to ask where her chair is. She even has a right to be a bit miffed (we can't help our feelings) What she doesn't have the right to do is bully the co-worker who REQUIRES the chair so she's not in excruciating pain while at work. Which she is currently doing.

If I was the OPs boss, the TEMPORARY worker would be losing her job. One for trying to override a co-worker's medical issues and two for the bullying of said co-worker for her medical condition (which could open the company up to all sorts of legal issues)

[Wench]

After reading this thread I am appalled that any person would have to go through a situation where they have to sit in agony just to do their job.  I won't go in legal or medical territory but in all my jobs it was a requirement of the employer to ensure that all their staff permanent or temporary worked in a safe environment which would not lead to an employee getting health problems due to an employer's negligence. 

I found even though I don't have a bad back if I seat in an ill fitted chair then my back will hurt and everyone I work with will ensure that their chair is correct and comfortable or they will speak to their manager to ensure they they do get a correct fitted chair.

I think the OP and the coworker should  go and speak to boss and explain how desperately they need the second chair.  Frankly the OP has an awful boss who basically causing problems among the staff.  If you can't get your boss to mover quicker I would buy your own and bring it in.