So many people rushing to defend their friends seem incapable of understanding that just because someone is nice to perceived equals doesn't mean that the same is true for perceived subordinates. But we see this in every case of toxic environments. Because targets are chosen

A story, which I have told before but not recently & certainly not since the books. Back in 2009 I got a job at DePaul. My boss at the time was a very popular white academic. I thought I had it made. And for a few weeks things were fine. Until it was time to reconcile his card

He had a corporate card issued by the institution & part of my job was to enter the receipts into the system & verify they existed. Pretty straightforward right? Except he gave me scribbled pieces of paper for major purchases & told me they didn't have receipts in Kenya. In 2009

I got the job in part because I had some minor financial services experience. I know a lie when I hear it. But he was the boss & all I could do was tell him that the online system (which was updated while he was away) explicitly didn't accept numbers scribbled on blank paper

Our relationship soured immediately & yet he never said it was about the receipts. It was about (according to him in writing to HR) me not getting inside his head to figure out what he needed instead of what he said he wanted. HR leapt to pay me rather than let that letter out.

If you asked anyone at the time? The problem must have been me. Because he was so nice & so well liked. And I am certain he was nice to other people. But my experience was of a condescending jerk who was incensed that I dared to refuse to sign off on bad financial records

He spouted a steady stream of things at me in those few months that were wildly inappropriate (not sexual at all, but certainly unfit for the workplace) and when I left I knew he was a jackals, but not why. Can you guess what he was doing? Go on guess.

He'd been casually embezzling for years & I was an annoying obstacle to that. Plus I didn't pander to his white savior routine about well...anything. He was a very nice guy to people who didn't report to him. He was also kind of a scumbag