Hello, I am looking for advice as I have reached a point where I feel it necessary to complain to a higher up in the company about a manager who I feel is mistreating me.
The manager in charge of my department has made it so I can’t access the same opportunities, promotions, pay advancement, and fair treatment, compared to several other employees. I have worked here for over a decade, and in the last five years I have noticed more of a pattern and gathered evidence of this.
This person I’m complaining about is the supervisor of my direct supervisor. I am planning to go to the supervisor that is above all of them, in hopes of advocating for myself and getting fair treatment from the company. The company I work for has locations in multiple states, and it is owned by one of the richest families in the United States. There are several layers of management above all of these people I have mentioned.
My plan is to basically say: “I have been with this company for more than a decade and I take my work very seriously, I am a high-performing employee, but I feel like it has been demonstrated to me several times in the last five years that I am not receiving fair treatment. I am mostly talking about opportunity for promotion, advancement, and increased pay, which other employees have received. I have specific examples if you would like to talk further.”
Some more info: I have noticed a junior management type position was created in other smaller locations of my company in the same state, but no such position was created in the office where I work. The last time a management position opened, I asked for an interview and was not given one (from the person I am complaining about). I have seen people get promoted without a college degree, when I have a college degree. I consider myself a high-performance employee, and I believe I have evidence, I have even won some of the top state awards in my industry as recent as last year.
My fear is that the person I am complaining about will go on the offensive against me, but I am not too worried about that because I am sick of being mistreated and I believe the truth is on my side. I do know at least one former employee who quit (in large part) because of unfair treatment from the same person. I know this former employee told one manager that was a factor in why they quit.
I know some of this behavior could be illegal, but I don’t think a lawsuit would be worth my time in this case. I really just want to get fair treatment from this company, maybe change some policies so that others can get fair treatment, and continue to focus on my important work. Oh backpay would be great, but I don’t think that will happen. But the longer it goes on, the more I feel I am put in a hole financially and professionally.
Any advice? How would you handle this? I am looking for other places where I can do my work, but I’m in an industry where job mobility isn’t super easy, in my experience.
TLDR: A supervisor where I work is not treating me fairly. This is affecting my life, financially and professionally. What should I do to handle this situation and improve my life?