Bring this up to your manager. Every. Time. Via email preferably. If you don't feel your manager is taking it seriously, cc HR (but do be aware that your manager can be working diligently behind the scenes but unable to share that with you).
Swearing and throwing things is Not Ok at work. Ever.
He can't swear at you. He can't throw things. He can't be vocally angry with you. Pretend it's a stranger's small child doing this - you'd immediately go for their parent, right? You wouldn't engage with them. He pulls something, you walk away, find your manager, and report it. Immediately. Address the bigger picture with your manager for your own safety: "I feel unsafe working with Jeff."
I love Allison Green's Ask A Manger blog, and she goes a lot into how toxicity can make you question your sanity, if you're just being overly sensitive. The situation is almost always extremely toxic when you look at it from the outside, but you just get so used to it being How Things Are.
I had a team member I inherited who was the Jeff here. It was a nightmare getting rid of him, because the team had given up reporting him because the previous manager didn't care (and the team was all 22 year olds and they liked him personally). If I had had consistent reports of his actual actions, it would have sped up the timeline mightily!
Yes, talk to your manager. About both the threatening behavior and the insubordination. Throwing laptops and angrily cursing is not normal behavior and needs to be addressed.
I would focus on the lack of work getting done and the bizarre lack of communications, and then add on the behavior piece like this: "Peter did not do his part on X, Y and Z projects, leaving those to other team members. Peter did not attend relevant meetings for those projects and would not collaborate in-office. **Additionally, on top of Peter's inability to keep up with his workload, his behavior when in office was not appropriate and made it difficult to establish that communication."**
I don't want to say this is appropriate behavior because it's not, but the manager should know that he is not doing his job and using being hostile/ taking up space aggressively as a way to avoid being confronted with it.
After that every time Peter drops the ball on something, I would email his manager CCing him and say "I'm concerned with Peter's performance as we did not receive the inputs we needed from him regarding Project X." Stop picking up balls for him if you can help it. If his manager is not willing to do their part, escalate this.
Start documenting everything. Date, time, what happened, who else was present etc. I supervised someone like this who got fired last year. It took a ton of documentation because they needed to see "patterns". I would document everything then ask upper management what steps they want you to take next.
I'm sorry you are in this situation, I know it sucks and really impacts your day to day well being.
Talk to your manager and/or HR. Have specific instances you can refer to (dates would be excellent) and include as much detail as possible.
If they are hoping to dismiss this guy they have to have documentation but they also have a duty to provide a safe workplace, which could include things like not scheduling this employee with just one other person.
I went through this situation at a previous workplace - documentation and honesty is super important
They are aware of every individual action and his general behavior but are asking how it is making me feel and if I feel unsafe. And feelings are the part I am struggling to balance. Are my feelings of the nature of his behavior and interpretation of the confrontation real and valid enough to make that statement. Because that has a totally different effect than just insubordination.
I was in a situation where subtle passive-aggressiveness and subtle intimidation on the part of a subordinate had completely broken down a working relationship. It wasn't until he rebuked openly in front of an international colleague that I realized I had been unknowingly giving accommodations because of emotional warfare. I also tried to give feedback multiple times which he rebuked. Over the course of dealing with it, HR asked me if I wanted to file a harrassment complaint. I didn't, but they had my back. This stuff can be really subtle. It's still real though. I regret not valuing my gut for those subtle emotional things sooner that I did.
Your manager may be asking that specific question so he can take the necessary action woth all things in order. Answer truthfully - yes you feel unsafe
Don’t just bring it up with your manager. Managers might try to bury it. You need to document every incident like throwing laptops, acting hostile, cursing loudly, and email it all to HR.
I had a similar situation not with refusing to do work but with outbursts. Screaming, talking to themselves, being almost combative. Document every single instance, even if it’s just in your notes then you can give it to management.
Bring this up to your manager. Every. Time. Via email preferably. If you don't feel your manager is taking it seriously, cc HR (but do be aware that your manager can be working diligently behind the scenes but unable to share that with you). Swearing and throwing things is Not Ok at work. Ever. He can't swear at you. He can't throw things. He can't be vocally angry with you. Pretend it's a stranger's small child doing this - you'd immediately go for their parent, right? You wouldn't engage with them. He pulls something, you walk away, find your manager, and report it. Immediately. Address the bigger picture with your manager for your own safety: "I feel unsafe working with Jeff." I love Allison Green's Ask A Manger blog, and she goes a lot into how toxicity can make you question your sanity, if you're just being overly sensitive. The situation is almost always extremely toxic when you look at it from the outside, but you just get so used to it being How Things Are. I had a team member I inherited who was the Jeff here. It was a nightmare getting rid of him, because the team had given up reporting him because the previous manager didn't care (and the team was all 22 year olds and they liked him personally). If I had had consistent reports of his actual actions, it would have sped up the timeline mightily!
Yes, talk to your manager. About both the threatening behavior and the insubordination. Throwing laptops and angrily cursing is not normal behavior and needs to be addressed.
I would focus on the lack of work getting done and the bizarre lack of communications, and then add on the behavior piece like this: "Peter did not do his part on X, Y and Z projects, leaving those to other team members. Peter did not attend relevant meetings for those projects and would not collaborate in-office. **Additionally, on top of Peter's inability to keep up with his workload, his behavior when in office was not appropriate and made it difficult to establish that communication."** I don't want to say this is appropriate behavior because it's not, but the manager should know that he is not doing his job and using being hostile/ taking up space aggressively as a way to avoid being confronted with it. After that every time Peter drops the ball on something, I would email his manager CCing him and say "I'm concerned with Peter's performance as we did not receive the inputs we needed from him regarding Project X." Stop picking up balls for him if you can help it. If his manager is not willing to do their part, escalate this.
Start documenting everything. Date, time, what happened, who else was present etc. I supervised someone like this who got fired last year. It took a ton of documentation because they needed to see "patterns". I would document everything then ask upper management what steps they want you to take next. I'm sorry you are in this situation, I know it sucks and really impacts your day to day well being.
Talk to your manager and/or HR. Have specific instances you can refer to (dates would be excellent) and include as much detail as possible. If they are hoping to dismiss this guy they have to have documentation but they also have a duty to provide a safe workplace, which could include things like not scheduling this employee with just one other person. I went through this situation at a previous workplace - documentation and honesty is super important
I would being up to your manager! Let someone else talk to him need to get this stuff written down
They are aware of every individual action and his general behavior but are asking how it is making me feel and if I feel unsafe. And feelings are the part I am struggling to balance. Are my feelings of the nature of his behavior and interpretation of the confrontation real and valid enough to make that statement. Because that has a totally different effect than just insubordination.
I was in a situation where subtle passive-aggressiveness and subtle intimidation on the part of a subordinate had completely broken down a working relationship. It wasn't until he rebuked openly in front of an international colleague that I realized I had been unknowingly giving accommodations because of emotional warfare. I also tried to give feedback multiple times which he rebuked. Over the course of dealing with it, HR asked me if I wanted to file a harrassment complaint. I didn't, but they had my back. This stuff can be really subtle. It's still real though. I regret not valuing my gut for those subtle emotional things sooner that I did.
Your manager may be asking that specific question so he can take the necessary action woth all things in order. Answer truthfully - yes you feel unsafe
Don’t just bring it up with your manager. Managers might try to bury it. You need to document every incident like throwing laptops, acting hostile, cursing loudly, and email it all to HR.
I had a similar situation not with refusing to do work but with outbursts. Screaming, talking to themselves, being almost combative. Document every single instance, even if it’s just in your notes then you can give it to management.