Please help, difficult work situation...

I am a Nurse & recently was offered a part-time job (in addition to my full-time job), working directly with a group of doctors, answering their pages, giving other Nurses medication orders, etc.

The Doctors I am working for are all males, except for one. The female doctor is a great doctor, but very aggressive in everything she does & notorious for belittling Nurses & other staff members.  

The other day one of the male doctors asked to speak with me in private.  He informed me that all the doctors are happy with my work & think I am a great asset to their team, but wanted to forewarn me about the female Doctor. He informed me that she does not like me because of the way I look. He specifically told me that she is trying to lose weight & can't stand me because I take care of myself. She has made comments about me dressing up (professionally of course) for work & such.  He also informed me that he knows she is going to try to push me out of the job & will do everything necessary, including embarrassing & discrediting me in front of my (regular full-time job)co-workers, in hopes that I will quit.  He actually told me that he feels sorry for me, for what I am up against.

I am disheartened that I have to deal with this particular situation in what is suppose to be a professional environment (you would think this was high school).  I really enjoy this job & want to keep doing it, but find this situation ridiculous.  I would just like some opinions on how to deal with this  & some suggestions of things I can say if she tries to embarrass me in front of my co-workers. I refuse to quit just because someone does not like the way I look.

Original Post by bettypage4:

kathygator is right. Even if this doctor is rude, she doesn't have any power over you.

Maybe it's not about YOU. If this doctor is rude and interrupts, maybe she does it to everyone. De-personalizing her actions will take the pain and fear off of your shoulders.

Keeping a journal is not good enough. You have to report behavior to your superior, because if you never report it, then it looks like you were just saving up evidence for a law suit and that you didn't really try to use the process to resolve it.

What's going to happen if they fire you? The Supreme Court recently ruled that a generally unpleasant environment does not constitute a hostile work environment. Unless you are denied a promotion, face monetary penalties, or endure a change in type or duration or time of day work is performed (aka retaliation for a complaint), AND it was on the basis of discrimination or sexual harassment, you don't have a case. But, again, this is not legal advice so take it with a grain of salt.

HR person #2 agreeing with this. You can't sue because someone was mean to you.

I could be wrong, but if she interfered with another job you have, that actually might be actionable.