Vault: She's In The Middle Of A Tough Situation With Her Boss

Summary

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The Bert Show – Vault: She's In The Middle Of A Tough Situation With Her Boss

Date: January 26, 2026
Podcast Host: Pionaire Podcasting
Main Cast: Bert, Kristin, Abby, Cassie, Tommy, and others
Segment Focus: Navigating workplace ethics and retaliation

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on a listener, Nicole (on a voice disguiser), dealing with a toxic situation at her new job in a pediatric center. The main issue: Nicole’s supervisor is attempting to have her disparage a colleague to help facilitate her firing. When Nicole refuses, she is subjected to ongoing workplace hostility. The Bert Show team and listeners (including peer callers and an HR expert) weigh in with ethical advice, strategies for self-protection, and personal stories, while acknowledging the complexities of small office environments and limited HR resources.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Nicole’s Dilemma

• Nicole’s Background
  • Recently started at a pediatric center; tension and drama began soon after.
  • Supervisor tries to oust another nurse (“the girl in the back”) by provoking Nicole to make negative comments about her to doctors ([00:21]-[01:56]).
• Pressure from Supervisor
  • Supervisor insists Nicole say something negative, even after Nicole firmly declines:

    “I just don’t want to get involved. I’m not trying to be rude. I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I just don’t want to get involved.” — Nicole ([02:38])

  • Supervisor threatens to withdraw support:

    “As your supervisor, I will no longer fight your battles for you.” — Supervisor (paraphrased by Nicole, [03:04])

• Escalating Hostility
  • Following her refusal, her work conditions worsen: arbitrary changes in hours, increased pressure, and a hostile atmosphere ([03:20]-[04:53]).
• No Formal HR Department
  • Nicole notes there is no HR department—her supervisor is the main authority under the doctors ([03:46]).

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The Bert Show Team’s Input

HR Advice and Realities

• Views on HR’s Effectiveness
  • Skepticism regarding HR’s real purpose in small offices; HR often seen as serving management, not staff ([03:20]).
  • Some staff recommend documenting every incident in writing to establish a record.

Suggested Approaches

• Expose in Writing
  • Discussion about catalyzing email evidence of supervisor’s intimidation, then escalating to the doctors with documentation ([05:21]-[06:43]).

    “She needs is something via email or something in writing … to be like, this is how she’s intimidating me.” — [Host D, 05:21]

• Risk of Retaliation and “Troublemaker” Label
  • Concern that escalating the situation could result in Nicole’s termination, especially in small, close-knit offices ([07:23]).

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Peer Caller Advice & Shared Experiences

Kristen’s Story (08:02)

• Similar experience with a punitive coworker and eventual job change.
• Emphasizes documenting everything clearly in writing and, if possible, having colleagues who can back up your claims.

Jancy’s Advice (09:35)

• Warns that formal written complaints can escalate retaliation.
• Suggests using legal one-party consent for audio recording in Georgia:

  “A lot of people in the state of Georgia think recording someone is illegal. But honestly, in the state of Georgia, if one party knows they’re being recorded...it is legal.” — Jancy ([10:00])

• Her evidence eventually led to disciplinary action against her supervisor.

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HR Expert Carlos’s Guidance ([12:03])

• Never Comply with Falsifying Records:

  “She is liable for what’s called ‘refuge’ because she’s falsifying records. So under no circumstances, she should not do it.” — Carlos (HR Expert, [12:31])

• Document Everything:

  “Document the fact that the supervisor has requested that of her … email to yourself or, you know, certified mail to yourself and to the HR department.” ([12:36])

• Chain of Reporting:
  • Even without HR, escalate to the next highest management; copy them and yourself to create a record ([12:54]).
• Legal Protection:

  “If you are fired, you can go back to them and get some type of damages or at least, you know, pose the legal threat of a lawsuit. It protects you.” — Carlos ([13:17])

• Long Term:

  “The situation does not turn around once you do this … best to get out. Yes, I would suggest you get out as soon as possible.” ([13:34])

• The hosts joke about Carlos being a model of compliance and integrity ([13:50]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Refusal to Participate in Unethical Action:

  “I just don’t want to get involved. I’m not trying to be rude. I’m not trying to be disrespectful. I just don’t want to get involved.” — Nicole ([02:38])

• Reality of Workplace Power:

  “She’s gonna get her way. The supervisor is gonna get her way. And there’s no HR to back you up on this whole thing? No.” — Host A and Nicole ([05:11])

• On the System’s Harshness in Small Offices:

  “They’re going to say, well, this girl’s gonna be a troublemaker. And you’ll be gone.” — Host B ([07:23])

• Personalized Survival Tactic:

  “Go to a computer…update your resume…and wait for a new job offer…” — Host B ([06:49])

• Legal Recording Advice:

  “In the state of Georgia, you can record a conversation with someone as long as one party knows they’re being recorded. And that one party, of course, is yourself.” — Jancy ([10:46])

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:15 – Nicole is pressured by her supervisor to lie about a coworker
• 02:38 – Nicole stands her ground
• 03:44 – Discussion about the limitations of HR support
• 05:21 – Strategies for documentation and escalation
• 06:49 – Advice to look for a new job
• 08:02 – Caller Kristen's parallel experience and documentation tips
• 09:35 – Jancy’s story: Using legal recordings to protect herself
• 12:03 – HR expert Carlos’s firm recommendations
• 13:34 – Final thoughts: documentation, legal protection, and career choices

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Episode Tone and Style

• Conversational, supportive, and empathetic
• Candid about the hardships of navigating workplace drama without institutional support
• Comedic relief amidst serious advice, staying relatable and authentic

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Conclusion

Nicole’s story resonated with both the Bert Show hosts and their caller community as a textbook case of the moral and professional traps found in small, HR-light workplaces. The consensus: Do not participate in unethical acts or falsification, document everything, seek legal and managerial protections, and ultimately—if possible—find a healthier work environment.

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For further resources or to share your own story, visit www.thebertshow.com

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Transcript

[A]

The Burt Show. When you need advice on an ethical question, call the Burt Show. We've always said.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Nicole, you're on the Voice Disguiser. Good morning. You're on Q100.

[C]

Good morning.

[A]

How are you today?

[C]

Pretty good, thank you.

[A]

What's going on? A little stressed out about work.

[C]

Yeah, it's just got a little crazy real fast.

[A]

What you got?

[C]

I work at this pediatric center. I just recently started there, and it's just been drama ever since I basically got there.

[D]

Okay.

[C]

And a month ago, say probably a month or two ago, my supervisor was going back and forth with one of the nurses in the back.

[B]

What do you mean going back? What do you mean, going back and forth?

[C]

She really doesn't like the girl that works in the back, so she was really trying to get rid of her. She, you know, trying to find something on her. But the girl, she's good at what she do, so it's really, you know, I don't know. I just didn't want to get involved with it. So every time she would discuss it, I either walk away, just go back to my desk, or just leave the situation alone. She comes to me while I'm sitting at my desk. She corners me with one of her friends and said, nicole, I need for you to do something for me. And I'm like, oh, God, you know, because I know it's just something that I don't want to even get involved with.

[D]

And this is your supervisor coming to you?

[C]

Yes, this is my supervisor. And she said, I'm still looking at my computer. I'm trying not to even give her eye contact because I know it's something.

[A]

A little bit like the teacher when he's asking about the homework assignment the night before. You just look down. They won't even pick you.

[C]

So she said, nicole, I need you to look at me. And I'm like. I said, yes. She said, you know that me. And I don't. I don't want to call the girl's name out.

[E]

Okay?

[C]

Me.

[F]

And so.

[C]

And so supposed to have a meeting with the doctors, and the doctors may come to you and ask you some things about.

[F]

About her.

[C]

And I need for you to say whatever bad thing you can think of about her.

[B]

Oh, no.

[C]

You know, And I'm thinking, please walk away, please. But I couldn't get up because I'm at my desk, and I'm like, don't ask me to do this. And I said, I don't want to get involved. And she said, nicole, you don't understand what I'm asking you to do. And I said, yes, I do understand what you're asking me to do. I just want to get involved. She was like, well, I need this from you. She's causing a lot of problems in the back. And if the doctors hear it from you, I think they would just really listen at this and see what they can do about it. And I just don't want her here anymore. And I'm like, you know, so. And I said, look, I understand the situation. I just don't want to get involved. I'm not trying to be rude. I'm not trying to be disrespectful. I just don't want to get involved.

[D]

Good for you.

[C]

So she says to me, well, if this person comes to you and you have a problem with her, who would you go to? I said, I will come to my supervisor, which is her. She said, well, as your supervisor, I will no longer fight your batters for you.

[G]

Oh, boy.

[C]

So. And I'm like. I said, I don't know what to do. I just don't want to get involved. So I didn't. And ever since then, I mean, it has just been problem after problem with her and myself.

[A]

You know, the easy answer is go to HR with it, or you should have gone to HR with it in the very beginning. But I think there's always this underlying thought that HR doesn't work for you. HR works for the management. Even though we have had HR people on before. That said, that's just really not the truth. But I think you always kind of feel like it's there on that side, not your side. They're not there really to mediate.

[D]

Yeah. Do you guys even have hr?

[C]

No. That's what I was about to say. The problem with that is we don't have an hr. She is the supervisor, and after her, there's the doctor. I work for three doctors. So I. It took me a minute to see which one I can trust the most to go with it and tell them about it before, you know, because I don't know what the relationship is. I am new there, but eventually I did. I went to one of the doctors. She said she was going to watch the situation, and she was, you know, absolutely floored by it. She couldn't believe it either, but she had had someone come to her and tell her certain things had been going on. So. But it's been, like I said, now, two months, and she's just making my job miserable. This a week ago was the first time I've ever taken out don't call in. Never late anything. And my divorce finalized last month, so I had to take off to go to court that day. She calls me later on that evening and said, effective immediately, when you get back on Thursday, your time, your hours have changed. And I'm like, what? So it's just like this all the time.

[A]

And so she's just making your job and your life really, really tough now because you won't go to bed for her on this.

[D]

So what do you do? This woman was trying to pick on the one girl in the back that she wanted to get fired, and now it's like, she's picking on you.

[A]

404-741-1005. You have any advice?

[C]

Okay.

[A]

In a case like this, you know, I mean, she. She's gonna get her way. The supervisor is gonna get her way. And there's no HR to back you up on this whole thing? No.

[D]

How. How could she expose the supervisor in writing somehow? You know what I mean? That's what she needs is something via email or something in writing that she could forward to the doctors or print out and take to the doctors and be like, this is how she's intimidating me, and this is how she's treating me unfairly, but have it somehow in writing, because the he said, she said thing.

[B]

But that. That could back their belief.

[C]

I thought about that also. Me and my sister, we've been going over this back and forth, and she has access to our encounters. So whatever encounters, we send it, go through her first. She can get to it. And, well, if you do.

[E]

If you do anything like that, you have to copy her on it. Only because I think it always looks bad from a supervisor standpoint if you jump. Jump a level to complain about somebody.

[D]

No, that's not what I'm saying. I'm saying expose the supervisor for the behavior that she's exhibiting right now in email.

[E]

I agree, but she has to copy that supervisor on that email, because if she just goes to the doctors and not to the supervisor, she's gonna look petty.

[D]

You're not understanding what I'm saying. What I'm saying is get the supervisor to intimidate her on an email so that then she has that in writing. You know what I'm saying?

[E]

I didn't understand that.

[D]

Not to contact the doctors without her knowing about it, but actually have some sort of conversation exchange with the intimidating supervisor and have it documented so she's got some proof.

[A]

Jeff's got some advice for you. And then Birch show listener Kristen was in the exact Same situation. And she may be able to help you out in a sec.

[B]

Here's what you need to do, is when you get a few minutes, go to a computer with Internet access, open up your word processor, update your resume, and then go to one of the job websites and post your resume on that website and wait for a new job offer to come in and then take it because.

[C]

Well, no, I'm way ahead of you. I've already done that. But I'm in a new field, so I need to put in my. At least a year in what I'm doing. So I have done it, though. I have put the resumes in. It's just I'm waiting. I'm sitting and waiting.

[B]

You need. What you need to do is get out of where you are because you work in such a small office that I think following. I mean, I would say the chances are far better than good that if you get this piece of evidence and you take it to the doctors, and the supervisor's been working with the doctors forever, and they have their systems in place and they have everything, you know, set up and in place or whatever, and you go to the doctors with that evidence, they're going to say, well, this girl's going to be a troublemaker. So here we have. Yep. So. And you'll be gone.

[A]

So let me get Kristen on with you here. Hey, Kristen, good Morning. You're on Q100.

[C]

Hey.

[A]

Hey. How are you?

[C]

Good.

[F]

Well, I was in the same situation whenever I. Right now I'm a cna. And whenever I got my first job after my certification, I had this nurse at the nursing home I was working at who was just hell on two feet. Every single thing that I did, she found something wrong with it. And she was trying to do things to get me written up with different residents whenever I was making rounds, making beds, everything. And so eventually, I got tired of it because I was crn, but I got tired of it and found another job. But if you want to keep your job, I would suggest that you write a letter detailing everything that's been going on so that no one can twist your words around and give that to her boss and explain that you don't want to cause any problems, but it's been going on and it's wrong. Whenever it was going on with me, I talked to different nurses about it. And there was one nurse who even.

[H]

Told me that he could see that.

[F]

It was going on, that she was actually picking on me. So the chances are someone else is going to be able to tell and.

[H]

They can back you up.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Most are calling up saying, maybe it's just time to get out of there. Let me take one more call. And we're trying to get our HR guy from our entourage.

[B]

Oh, yeah.

[A]

But it's going right to voicemail. Remember that dude we had on a couple of weeks ago?

[B]

Maybe he got fired and he's sleeping late.

[A]

He was so good.

[B]

Like, if he gets in trouble at homework, who's got his back?

[A]

Hey, Jancy, you're on Q100. You'll be the last call on this. Then we got to move on.

[H]

I understand. I had a situation with a boss that was just absolutely harassing me and Dick. And I understand when they say to.

[F]

Do things in writing.

[H]

But I'll be honest with you. Once you do that and make a formal claim to hr, then they'll come after you in different ways. It may not be that way, but I've seen it happen. So what I ended up having to do, even though I made a formal written complaint to hr, then other things started happening to me. So I took a small digital recorder and put it in an inconspicuous place, and whenever things would happen, I would turn it on and have those phone conversations to. To where they basically themselves over a matter of time. And a lot of people in the state of Georgia think recording someone is illegal. But honestly, in the state of Georgia, if one party knows that they're being recorded, which obviously was myself, then it is legal. So once that came to light, and I actually made a copy of the tape and sent it to hr, and they actually could see what was going on, then things changed, and my supervisor was fired. So, you know, sometimes you just have to resort to those type of tactics to put in a situation like that.

[A]

I want to get that Georgia law from you one more time.

[H]

In the state of Georgia, and I work with a lot. I work in the insurance industry for professional liability, so I do have a lot of, you know, lawyer friends. And when I had this situation present itself, I ran this past several of my lawyer friends. And in the state of Georgia, you can record a conversation with someone as long as one party knows they're being recorded. And that one party, of course, is yourself. And that's how a lot of these divorce lawyers get a lot of dirt on the other parties that they're divorcing by using this type of law in Georgia.

[A]

Well, that will certainly change the way we do business if it's true.

[H]

Well, I wish to call her.

[C]

Much love.

[H]

And, you know, I hope that maybe.

[F]

It turns out for her, you can.

[D]

Tell how passionate you are about it.

[A]

That you've gone through it. Well, I mean, if you've gone into that situation, you're back's in a corner there, and you want to stay at the gig, but they're making it impossible for you. All right, Nicole, good luck with it.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

You know what? We have our entourage guy, our HR guy from our entourage. So let me give him one minute, because this guy is so good. His name is Carlos, and we have this entourage that if you're an expert in one area, that when we need you, you just call us up and we throw it to you. And I'm hoping he was listening to your whole situation here. Hey, Carlos.

[G]

Yes, I just cut in. Okay, what's the situation?

[A]

Hey, Nicole, we got to do this quickly, so give him the 32nd version of it.

[C]

Just in a situation at work, I work with my supervisor, her sister, her best friend, and it's just been chaos ever since. She asked me to do something that I felt uncomfortable doing, and now it's just chaos with me and her.

[B]

Specifically, she's asking her to be misleading and even lie about the performance of another employee.

[G]

I wouldn't do it because she is liable for what's called refuge because she's falsifying records. So under no circumstances, she should not do it. She should document the fact that the supervisor has requested that of her and put it, like I said, email to yourself or, you know, certified mail to yourself and to the HR department. She doesn't go with it.

[A]

They don't have an HR department.

[G]

There is still then her immediate supervisor or the most senior management personnel at that site. But there has to be an HR representative somewhere in the company.

[A]

You've given this advice before where you email yourself along with the highest supervisor in the company, just so it's all documented for everybody to see.

[G]

Right, right. And then you protect yourself from what's called retaliation. You then have a basis. If you are fired, you can go back to them and get some type of damages or at least, you know, pose the legal threat of. Of, you know, a lawsuit. It protects you. It's still a very hostile work environment, and I'm sure what I heard somebody else say is best to get out. Yes, I would suggest you get out as soon as possible. The situation does not turn around once you do this.

[A]

Thank you, Carlos. Appreciate it.

[C]

Thank you.

[A]

All right, Nicole. There you go.

[C]

I appreciate it. Thank you.

[A]

That guy sounds so legitimate to me. Doesn't he sound so. Like his voice sounds so by the book.

[B]

I know. If I ever have a problem here, I'm gonna email him.

[A]

Like the guy never drives over 55 miles an hour. You the bird show?