I work as a Community Assistant in a new apartment complex near my campus; we are technically employees of the Univ. Housing department, but we also work with the leasing office (who handles anything financial, leasing, and so forth).
We have a woman on staff who was previously an Assistant Resident Director on campus (grad student, 26 years old); her position got cut because of budget cuts and so they offered her this position as a place to live until she graduates. There has been some tension between her and the other three CAs, because she used to be in a supervisery role with one of the CAs and is now on an equal footing. There isn't quite the same tension between her and myself and the other man on staff, but it does exist.
This particular question stems from this thread. This came up in a discussion we were having in the office, and I did end up going out and buying a voice recorder - I bought it to use in lectures, but also planned on having it handy if I needed to confront a particularly thorny situation while on duty. I later found out that recording conversations is illegal in WA state unless both parties consent, so I canned it because of that.
In a conversation we were having in the office on Saturday, this woman, myself, and the Assistant Manager of the leasing office, this woman brought the subject up, asked me why I felt insecure about it, basically insinuated that she felt I was doing something improper or wrong, or that this was a signal of an inability to competently perform my job duty. She also stated that she felt uncomfortable with the idea of me having a voice recorder around.
My response was that I hadn't bought the thing precisely for that purpose, and that, yes, when I first thought about buying one I was feeling a dose of paranoia - not stemming from my conduct, but from the fact that I would be completely on my own to corroborate any accusations or problems that might come up on duty. Once I found that it was illegal to tape conversations in said manner, I decided not to use it for that purpose.
I fear she may bring this up yet again in the next staff meeting. I am trying to phrase my response so that it will be professional, but firm. "It is not your duty or your place to critique my actions or to berate me. If you have an issue with my conduct, you are free to talk with (our boss), but this is not an appropriate time or place."
Thoughts?
We have a woman on staff who was previously an Assistant Resident Director on campus (grad student, 26 years old); her position got cut because of budget cuts and so they offered her this position as a place to live until she graduates. There has been some tension between her and the other three CAs, because she used to be in a supervisery role with one of the CAs and is now on an equal footing. There isn't quite the same tension between her and myself and the other man on staff, but it does exist.
This particular question stems from this thread. This came up in a discussion we were having in the office, and I did end up going out and buying a voice recorder - I bought it to use in lectures, but also planned on having it handy if I needed to confront a particularly thorny situation while on duty. I later found out that recording conversations is illegal in WA state unless both parties consent, so I canned it because of that.
In a conversation we were having in the office on Saturday, this woman, myself, and the Assistant Manager of the leasing office, this woman brought the subject up, asked me why I felt insecure about it, basically insinuated that she felt I was doing something improper or wrong, or that this was a signal of an inability to competently perform my job duty. She also stated that she felt uncomfortable with the idea of me having a voice recorder around.
My response was that I hadn't bought the thing precisely for that purpose, and that, yes, when I first thought about buying one I was feeling a dose of paranoia - not stemming from my conduct, but from the fact that I would be completely on my own to corroborate any accusations or problems that might come up on duty. Once I found that it was illegal to tape conversations in said manner, I decided not to use it for that purpose.
I fear she may bring this up yet again in the next staff meeting. I am trying to phrase my response so that it will be professional, but firm. "It is not your duty or your place to critique my actions or to berate me. If you have an issue with my conduct, you are free to talk with (our boss), but this is not an appropriate time or place."
Thoughts?