I have a very niche job as a neuroscientist. Y he whole field attracts the most toxic personalities. There is a colleague who is verbally abusive and aggressive towards women scientists in particular. He gets away with a lot because he is family to the supervisors. His laundry list of toxicity so far: frequent outbursts of anger, shouting, name-calling, and sudden hysterics like crying when overwhelmed. He has even gone so far as to stand in a doorway to prevent me from leaving a room until I submitted and agreed with him over the placement of surgical equipment in the room. I was so shocked I ran for my life out of the room.
Twice this employee verbally abused me but today he raised his hand to me as if he would strike me. All I did was I insist that we follow a protocol that was developed with our team. He wanted to make unapproved changes that violated the IACUC. This is egregious and could effectively shut down the program.
I reported this employee at least 5 times. Today, I had to report him to the CEO because I fear for my safety.
I have no idea what to do at this point. I applied to HUNDREDS of other jobs worldwide DAILY. I apply for EVERYTHING. I don’t even care at this point. I was so desperate that I applied to Starbucks and I was rejected because I have no food service experience! I have a PhD, I think I can figure it out with training.
Any advice would help.