Thu 23 Aug 2007
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
We all remember that silly childhood taunt. Unfortunately, it isn’t an adequate response when dealing with a liar at work. (It sure would be fun to shout it at someone, though, wouldn’t it?)
I worked at a performing arts center and the day after a big event with lots of stars on hand, my boss called me in to her office and said that one of the VP’s told her that I had stood with the press photographers in the main entrance to take personal pictures of all the stars coming in. It was a silly lie, because not only did I do no such thing but it was ridiculously easy to disprove.
I told my boss where I had been standing (outside, behind the ropes, with some other VP’s and senior management). And when I got my pictures developed I took them in and showed them to her. Most of the photos showed the back of lots of heads and barely-recognizable celebrities. She had to agree that either I wasn’t where this VP said I was, or I was the worst picture-taker on the planet.
So, why did this woman lie about me? I have no idea, except that we had clashed over event issues several times. Maybe she thought this would be a good time to get me in trouble.
Regardless, though, I was very disappointed in my boss for even half-believing that I would do such an unprofessional thing. We had an excellent working relationship, but after that I was always conscious of a barrier between us.
Dealing With the Lie
So, how should you respond when someone tells a lie about you at work?
- Ask them why. If it’s a rare occurrence, take the person aside and say, “Gee, Bob, I can’t believe you told the boss I didn’t get the project figures to you on time. You and I both know you had them on your desk two days before they were due. Why in the world would you say something like that?” Be polite and civil, and give the person the benefit of the doubt, and a face-saving way to get out of it.
- Ask them why again. If it happens again, confront the person publicly. Let’s say that good old Bob has shafted you again in a meeting. Raise your eyebrows and calmly say, “Wow, Bob, where did that come from? I put those figures on your desk two days ago. Why in the world would you say that I didn’t?” Then sit there and wait for the explanation.
- Correct the lie. Make sure that your boss (and anyone else who might have a vested interest in the information) knows that you didn’t do what the liar said you did. Don’t just let it, um, “lie” there. You don’t have to be mean or vindictive, but you do need to make sure the truth is out there.
Frank Roche on KnowHR Blog inspired this post, so check it out for more “liar” tactics.
Have you ever had to deal with a liar, either at work at home? Drop me a note and let me know how you handled it and what the outcome was.
My Facebook
April 7th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
I do the payroll for my company and I had to change the status of one employee from independent contractor to a part time employee where he gets paid from the company payroll instead of an accounts payable check. This change was at the request of my previous boss (he was the controller). He thought the change is more tax feasable and is better for the comapny, he quit due to improper IT activities that are interfering with accounting compliance. When my new Boss came along I reminded him of the change and he said ‘great decision its better for our tax purposes’ two months went by and he went to the president of the company and complained to him that I have this person on the payroll without his knowlege and made a big big deal about it ‘(I have all documents supporting my story)(for the record he did this because he was mad at the previous Controller and was trashing all kinds of decisions the previous controller made, He just can’t fill his shoes and he has a major complex) and he denied totally that he knew about it. I confronted him and he still denied it. So I told him ‘since he has selective memory, my only communication with him will be through email.’
In the end he looked like a total jerk infront of the President but I am scared that he might scheme something else because he really dislikes me now and he has no morals whatsoever..its really difficult to do your job under those circumstances when some asshole can come along and wrongly accuse you and takes advantage of his rank and position to hurt people.
April 7th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Wow, Sally, what a mess. You’re right that you probably need to be careful around him now, because he did end up looking like an idiot and he sounds like the kind of guy who would blame you for it.
You didn’t ask my advice, but here it is anyway. Cover your butt on everything with this guy. Keep notes; keep copies of correspondence; if he gives you a verbal direction, follow it up immediately with an email to him re-stating what you understood his direction to be. Don’t give him any opportunity to get you into a he said/she said situation.
And—polish up your resume and have it ready. You never know.
Thanks for your note, and good luck.
Joan
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:35 pm
Hi Joan,
I came across this older post on workplace liars because I am searching for a way to deal with an employee who habitually lies and a management team who refuses to deal with it. The employee in question is the only employee of a charitable organization. I am a volunteer board member. There have been a number of incidents since I agreed to serve that have caused me to question why this employee is still with us. She has ‘fired’ volunteers without authorization and insisted that they quit of their own volition – essentially saying they have lied. We routinely get complaints that she does not respond to email and phone calls. She is so inept at financial matters that we had to shift them to another casual contract person and take them out of her job description. She is good at event organization and schmoozing and she has a passionate defender on the board who insists that we should stand behind this employee and dismiss all complaints against her. She has cast me as the villain determined to get rid of the employee because I have suggested we should at least look at other options (e.g. posting a blind job ad on workopolis as some of my colleagues are convinced we can’t find anyone else to do the job). Most recently the employee was asked to pick up the organization’s records in storage from other members. We received complaints from those members that she dumped most of the materials she was supposed to pick up in a private dumpster – the owners called them and said they would be charged for illegal dumping. The employee’s story is that the materials were stored in damp conditions and were so mouldy they were a health hazard. The other members claim they rescued the materials and inspected the storage facility and there is no evidence that they were damaged at all. This is turning into a real hair-ball with people’s personal credibility at stake. Any suggestions?
July 2nd, 2009 at 11:50 am
Zoie—
I apologize for taking so long to respond—I’ve been away on vacation without internet access for 10 days.
Your situation sounds like a real mess. I see a couple of problems—first, you’re part of a volunteer board, which limits your effectiveness. Second, and most important, this employee has the total support of one of the board members.
My recommendation is for the rest of the board to thoroughly document the problems this employee has caused, and the lies she has told, and present a comprehensive written report to the management team, asking that she be disciplined and that her continued employment be subject to her work improvement.
You need to be prepared, though, for nothing to happen. At that point, you need to ask yourself if you want to continue to be a part of an organization that tolerates such behavior from an employee.
Best of luck, and please feel free to send me an email if you want to discuss it further. And I’d love to hear the final outcome.
July 9th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
What do you do if the liar is your boss?
July 14th, 2010 at 2:43 pm
Lynn—Unfortunately, if your boss is a liar, you can’t trust him. So, to cover yourself, get everything in writing. Obviously you can’t tell him that you want it in writing because he’s a liar, but you can say that you want to be clear on the requirements of your assignment. If your boss refuses, then follow up your conversations with a quick e-mail re-capping the important points. He probably won’t like this, but at least you’ll have a paper trail in case you run into problems in the future.
If the lying is really getting bad, or your boss is trying to cover up something he’s doing that’s illegal, then you’ll need to bring it to the attention of your HR or EEO dept. Just be sure to keep track of what’s been happening—dates, times, exactly what the boss said, witnesses to what was said, etc. You’ll need it to make your case.
Good luck.