Roberta Branca
Aug 27, 2017 · 1 min read

I had first read this article and the HuffPost version a year ago when I was trying to piece my worklife back together over exactly this issue with a twist: I had NOT been silent about mistreatment by customers, and had gone out of my way to cc managers or seek advice exactly so that if the customer escalated, I could document that I was doing my best.

The upshot was that two male managers and one female manager determined that I took up too much of their time, that if customers felt I was being rigid then I need to be looser and if they got me tied up with complicated requests then it was because i was not setting boundaries.

A year later, and an understanding with HR that I am the best judge of how and what to communicate . . . the pattern hasn’t changed, in fact feels worse than ever because everything seemed to be smoothing out when in reality I am basically still being monitored for “lack of independence.”

I can’t just send her this article because of the swear words, unfortunately, so I wondered if you have any thoughts on what kind of support managers can give to female employees who experience this.

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    Roberta Branca

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    My past writing experience includes both journalism and fiction. Contact me at rbranca.librarian@gmail.com