When do coworkers cross the line?

[yearning]

I guess this is part of academia and co-worker relations. But basically, I'm a student intern for the summer, organizing an event. There's this staff person who is in charge of a certain portion (never know who is reading the Internet these days) of an event, and I am in charge of making sure everyone does their job, creating timelines, etc.

So....this portion that she/he is in charge of is LACKING, and this other person from another campus organizing the same event is doing a superb job, so I mention this to her/him, and ask her/him if she could exchange ideas with the other person. Notice how I did not mention anything about what she/he is doing, but merely that we should be exchanging ideas.

Then, she/he blows up at me and tells me to basically be careful of what I'm saying (which is almost kinda "threatening") and that she/he took it as criticism. Then he/she proceeded to tell me to calm down, stop being a worry wart, and drink less coffee (that was pretty rude of her/him).

The thing is, she/he is NOT my boss, and my boss is actually really frustrated/annoyed at him/her as well about this. Everyone on the team has to do a lot of the stuff this person is supposed to do, but not getting right and it's slowing us all down.

I almost feel that just because I'm a student, she/he feels that they can say b.s. to me and take out her/his frustrations on me unprofessionally just because he/she is ranked higher up on the hierachy even if he/she is not my boss.

What do you think about this? Should I stand up for myself and tell my boss? I don't want to be a "tattle-tale", but I also don't want to be stabbed in the back by this person.

[imthatlady]

I guess this is part of academia and co-worker relations. But basically, I'm a student intern for the summer, organizing an event. There's this staff person who is in charge of a certain portion (never know who is reading the Internet these days) of an event, and I am in charge of making sure everyone does their job, creating timelines, etc.

So....this portion that she/he is in charge of is LACKING, and this other person from another campus organizing the same event is doing a superb job, so I mention this to her/him, and ask her/him if she could exchange ideas with the other person. Notice how I did not mention anything about what she/he is doing, but merely that we should be exchanging ideas.

Then, she/he blows up at me and tells me to basically be careful of what I'm saying (which is almost kinda "threatening") and that she/he took it as criticism. Then he/she proceeded to tell me to calm down, stop being a worry wart, and drink less coffee (that was pretty rude of her/him).

The thing is, she/he is NOT my boss, and my boss is actually really frustrated/annoyed at him/her as well about this. Everyone on the team has to do a lot of the stuff this person is supposed to do, but not getting right and it's slowing us all down.

I almost feel that just because I'm a student, she/he feels that they can say b.s. to me and take out her/his frustrations on me unprofessionally just because he/she is ranked higher up on the hierachy even if he/she is not my boss.

What do you think about this? Should I stand up for myself and tell my boss? I don't want to be a "tattle-tale", but I also don't want to be stabbed in the back by this person.

sorry, i found this whole post to be amusing but that particular line made me lol'ed =X

but yeah, ofcourse you should stand up for urself. "tattle-tale" my *** because ur boss had already noticed her lack of work ethics. don't worry, ur not stabbing her back either 'cause to me, u can only stab someone's back if u have a GOOD, close relationship with them i.e best friend, family member keke. this is a co-worker you're talking about; if u see something wrong and KNOW it's wrong, speak up or else this WILL continue ya know.

[mind_wander]

Yearning,

In this case, as ImthatLady said, your boss already knows about he/she situation; not sure how serious is it. Your job is to make sure everything is in check because he/she not listening to your boss; due to the fact your boss gave you an order to go check. Ok, go report to your boss and say all I did was give he/she some suggestions, then he/she just took the wrong way and attacked me.

[ChestNut]

honestly if I'm u, I'll only say something if my boss actually asks me bout his/her performance instead of initiating it.. good thing for u is, ur boss has already noticed it, so who cares about him/her, will prolly lose the job soon.. I'll be just focusing in doing my own thing and helping other people who honestly need my help.. people like them can just soak it up all they want for all i care.. yes it's slowing the team down - but things like this always happen and u cannot just always report to ur boss as there are many people like that.. I'll just live with it and move on

[LTD]

If you have a good relationship with your boss, then tell him/her how you feel...not like you're ratting the person out, but more like you're confiding in your boss your feelings and frustrations. Don't make it sound like you are pointing out their negative qualities as a worker, but point out the way you feel about the situation.

[annaaa]

oh wow. something like this happened to me the other day.
some coworker started b*tching his arse off at me and acting like he had authority over me.
so what i did was tell him to eff off and i told my boss and she said that i shouldt worry about it and i no longer have to do certain things yay.

so yes, tell your boss. whats there to tattle about? he/she was wrong and why should he/she drag you down with them. by saying nothing, its not going to solve anything.

[yearning]

Hm, I agree with you guys, but I guess I'm just waiting for the right moment to talk to my boss. Don't realy want to make it into a huge serious discussion.

She/He slacked AGAIN today...and it's majorly slowing us down. My boss was NOT pleased at all. I suppose at this point, I don't really need to say too much lol.