Toxic co-workers: When a bad attitude becomes infectious

By Sharron Kahn Luttrell, Globe Correspondent, 9/22/02

There are federal regulations to keep workers from being exposed to hazardous material, bloodborne pathogens, noxious fumes. But what about when the workers themselves are toxic?

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As far as I know, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration does not require employers to screen their people for a chronically bad attitude. Yet, such workers can be as harmful to their colleagues as cadmium in the water cooler. They spread their poison throughout the organization, sapping motivation and weakening the entire culture.

Most every organization has at least one toxic employee. Their risk to others varies according to the culture of the workplace and the susceptibility of those exposed. Some environments are ripe for infection, so even when the source is discovered and removed, it eventually pops up again in a different carrier.

Toxic co-workers infect others through mouth-to-ear transmission and can cause symptoms ranging from mild irritation to critically low levels of morale. At their most dangerous, they result in a workplace teeming with virulent strains of hissing and grumbling employees.

In my experience, there are several classifications of toxic employee, each distinguishable by their mode of delivery and their effect on others.

Corrosive: This is the sort of co-worker who slowly eats away at your enthusiasm through word choice and cynical observations. They might refer to the company as ''the Titanic'' or compare your CEO to a rattlesnake. Compliments about your work are always accompanied by the prediction that your supervisor will take credit for it. The corrosive employee has been known to float the idea that everyone will soon be laid off, then made to interview for their old position at half pay and reduced benefits. A symptom of exposure is mental fatigue.

Flammable: This colleague regularly indulges in seething, sputtering diatribes about the new hire's salary or the inferior quality of their own desk chair. They're one keystroke away from carpal tunnel syndrome and spend lunch breaks surfing the Internet for examples of successful lawsuits against employers. Anything can cause these people to flare up, but be sure to exercise extreme caution when new directives come down from the executive suite. Reminders about personal phone calls or recreational Web surfing may cause small explosions. Overexposure to the flammable co-worker can result in elevated blood pressure.

Carcinogenic: Like a malignant tumor, this type feeds on healthy co-workers. This worker thrives by inflicting ill temper on others. They open conversations by asking, ''You know what's wrong with this place?'' and then answer before you can. Their goal is to convince you that they should really be running the organization since they know how to do everyone's job -- especially their supervisor's, who is so incompetent it's only through dumb luck that he finds his way to the office each morning. The carcinogenic employee causes malaise and low-grade depression in colleagues.

Viral: This is the most insidious, and therefore, lethal co-worker. While the others openly inflict their misery on others, the viral co-worker appears innocuous at first. They slowly inject themselves into your daily routine, beginning with innocent gestures and casual conversation. A wink when you slip into a meeting 10 minutes late. A roll of the eyes behind the boss's back. Before you know it, they're hoisting themselves on your desk so frequently to chat, that the finish has acquired a polished sheen.

At first it seems harmless. The talk may center around mutual interests, movie reviews, minor gripes about the daily commute. But eventually, they'll take a test swipe at a colleague, then gauge your reaction. Maybe it will be a whispered observation about the receptionist's inexperience, or a snipe about the expensive new computer that appeared in the boss's office. If you show signs that you agree, they'll splash out more bile -- asserting that HR is run by weasels and insisting that you're about to be passed over for a promotion.

Eventually, they'll have you believing that the boss keeps his anointed favorites well nourished with bloated salaries while you and the other minions have to claw and scramble for scraps of his attention.

By that time, it's too late. The viral co-worker has wormed into your system. You'll know for sure you've been infected if you find yourself spending lunch breaks figuratively grinding your employer into bonemeal. Eventually, your morale will slip, the quality of your work will sink, your productivity will plummet. Your boss will notice and you'll get a poor performance review. Then you'll really have something to grouse about.

OSHA won't make employers provide information and training to recognize and avoid these toxic co-workers. So it's up to individual employees to treat the threat seriously and protect against possible exposure and contamination.

Try to neutralize the toxic co-worker by negating their negativity. Point out that if the boss were really that incompetent, she wouldn't be a functioning human being, let alone employed. That nobody, not even your supervisor, needs a consultant to operate the coffeemaker. Remind them how unfair it is to second-guess somebody without all of the facts; that chances are payroll didn't conspire with the post office to lose the toxic one's check in the mail.

If that doesn't work, prepare an emergency response plan. Try donning protective headgear when working with toxic colleagues. A personal stereo turned up high will reduce the likelihood of mouth-to-ear infection. If headphones are unavailable or forbidden in your workplace, improvise with your own telephone. Pick up the receiver and hold an imaginary conversation when your colleague enters the room.

Execute an emergency evacuation. Should the toxic colleague enter your work area, don't wait for him to hoist himself onto your desk. Simply get up and walk calmly to a designated emergency shelter. These may include, but are not limited to: the restroom, the supply closet, the benefits office, or the snack machine. One caution: be sure to vary your destination so as not to invite speculation about health problems, pregnancy, or extravagant use of office supplies.

Isolate the toxic co-worker. Before your colleague can cause damage to yourself or others, divert her attention to other matters. Challenge her to identify the boss's resume on Monster.com.

Decontaminate. Determine the limits of your natural resistance to noxious colleagues. When they're exceeded, vacate your office until you have rid yourself of your co-worker's toxic influence. In other words, call in sick. But whatever you do, don't answer the phone. You may suffer a relapse.

Sharron Kahn Luttrell can be reached at kahnluttrell@yahoo.com.