I have been dealing with a co-worker that has been seriously affecting my mental health.
I have been working for the same department for several years now but in the last 2-3 years I was transferred to a new supervisor to assist 2 engineers. My main tasks are focused on extracting data from databases so the engineers can create reports or the top brass can make decisions.
After working for the new supervisor for a few months one of the engineers asked me to pull some data for him which I got to him quickly. After I sent the data, he complained that it doesn't look like how he wants it to. I told him, normally I just pull the data and formatting the report is up to you. He gave me a, “we need you to move out of your comfort zone to help assist us” type reply. This guy is my co-worker not my supervisor. So I called my supervisor and explained the situation and told him, I have never been asked to do this type of work and it is outside my skillset and job description. He said he would take care of it. Called me back in an hour and basically said, do whatever the other co-worker requested.
So for the next 2 years he has slowly been asking for more and more. Not only formatting the reports, so they look like the finished product he wants but to also read into the information in the data to make higher level decisions if the data is relevant to the situation or not. The type of work that requires an engineer in the field. Numerus times he supervised over my shoulder as we went cell by cell through the data I sent him so I could read along and delete the records he did not want in the finished product. The back and forth and his condescending replies when I tell him this is not my job, has been triggering my PB, anxiety and depression to the breaking point. A few times I needed to leave the office for fear of taking the keyboard to his face. (yes I have anger issues that BP does not help with)
Today, I got sick of it. I went to my supervisor's supervisor, and asked her what her vision for me in this department is. She gave me a long response which in all sounded really really good, and not what I have been doing. I told her, “that sounds great…. let me tell you what I have been doing in the meantime” and she just shook her head with a very disappointed and shocked look on her face. She agreed with me completely. Said she would handle the co-worker and try to educate the supervisor and make him take a more direct role in assigning and managing my tasks. That he can't just let my equals assign tasks to me. And I should never be given tasks where I should be making an engineers decisions of what is important or not.
It's the best I have felt in the last 2 years at work but at the same time I know there will be some fallout with my supervisor and co-worker. But in the end, its my own mental health I need to watch out for.
Not going to lie, lurking this reddit for the last few months gave me the courage to try to fix this situation again after the last attempt ended so badly. Thanks!