Not everyone climbs the career ladder on merit alone. Sometimes, the person standing between you and a promotion decides the fastest route to the top runs straight through your reputation. Three readers shared their stories of colleagues who chose underhanded tactics over honest ambition — and the lasting damage it left behind.
"She started spreading rumors that I was having an affair with the janitor"
Julia, 36, was working at a large company when a team leader position opened up. She wasn't the only candidate, but she felt confident her track record gave her a real shot at the role.
"There was a colleague who was going for the same position. We weren't close, but we'd never had any open conflict either. Then, after the interviews, I noticed people started acting strangely around me. One coworker pulled me aside and asked if everything was okay at home — she'd 'heard something.'"
"I had no idea what she meant. Then another colleague took me aside and told me that a rumor was circulating around the office — that I was having an affair with the janitor."
"The thing is, I did know him. We happened to be in the kitchen at the same time every morning and would chat for a few minutes. That was it. But my colleague had been retelling the story as if we were secretly meeting after hours."
"When it came out that she'd started the rumor, I didn't even want the position anymore. Not because she scared me off — but because I realized that if she was willing to do this for a job title, there was no telling how far she'd go next."
"He deliberately made it look like I wasn't doing my job"
Peter, 42, was in the running for a project manager role and felt good about his chances. A colleague who wanted the same position had other ideas.
"It wasn't just that we were both going for it. In the final months, he started behaving like it was his job to monitor me. If I'd finished something, he'd go to our manager and ask whether it was really done. If I turned anything in later than originally planned, he'd flag it immediately."
"Then came a bigger project we were handling together. I completed my part. But he told our manager that he'd essentially saved the project — because I had fallen behind."
"It wasn't true. But by the time the full picture emerged, the damage was already done. I'd been quietly labeled as unreliable."
"He got the promotion. A few months later, I resigned — and he inherited the entire workload that the two of us had been splitting. That's when it became obvious my job hadn't been quite as easy as he'd made it sound."
Workplace sabotage often goes undetected precisely because it's subtle. If you've ever wondered what's actually off-limits during a job interview or performance review, the line between fair competition and foul play is thinner than most people think.
"She took my most private secrets straight to our boss"
Dora, 31, says her story hurts most because for a long time, she genuinely believed she'd found a real friend at work.
"We grew very close — lunches together, evenings out, real conversations. I told her things I'd never share with a regular coworker. Personal things. Things I trusted her with."
"When a senior position opened up, we both put ourselves forward. A few weeks later, my manager called me in for a meeting and started asking questions that had nothing to do with my work performance. That's when I understood: my colleague had shared everything I'd told her in confidence."
"She hadn't technically lied. She'd just framed every personal story to make me look as unstable as possible — suggesting I was scattered because of problems at home, and therefore unsuitable for more responsibility."
"She got the job. About a year later, a company restructure put her on my team — and I had to train her. It was one of the most uncomfortable stretches of my career. Since then, I think very carefully about what I share with anyone at work."
Dora's experience is a sharp reminder that trust, once broken by someone close to you, leaves a mark that lasts far beyond the original betrayal. The professional wound heals; the personal one takes much longer.
What these stories have in common
In each case, the person who played dirty didn't necessarily win in the long run. Julia walked away with her integrity intact. Peter's departure exposed how much of the work had actually been his. Dora ended up in a position of authority over the very person who had undermined her.
But that doesn't make what happened to them any less real — or any less damaging in the moment. Reputations, once questioned, take time to rebuild. And the sense of safety you feel at work, once lost, is hard to recover.
The most common thread? All three had trusted their environment more than it deserved. Not naively — just humanly.
How can you protect yourself from a backstabbing colleague?
You don't need to become paranoid to protect yourself. A few simple habits go a long way:
- Keep personal disclosures minimal — especially during competitive periods like promotions or restructures.
- Document your contributions — emails, project notes, and check-ins create a paper trail that speaks for itself.
- Stay visible with leadership — don't let someone else define your work for you; make sure your manager sees it firsthand.
- Trust your gut — if a colleague's behavior shifts noticeably when a promotion is on the table, pay attention to that change.
Does ambition have to be cruel?
Not at all. Most people who get ahead do so by being genuinely good at their jobs — and by making the people around them better, not smaller. The tactics in these stories aren't signs of ambition. They're signs of insecurity dressed up as strategy.
And as all three of these stories show, they rarely work out as cleanly as the person doing them hoped.
Can spreading rumors at work actually cost someone their job?
It can. Deliberately spreading false information about a colleague — especially to damage their professional reputation — can be grounds for disciplinary action or dismissal, depending on how severe the impact is and how the company handles internal conduct.
What should you do if a colleague is undermining you to your manager?
The most effective response is to make your own work visible and well-documented. Address any false impressions directly with your manager when the moment is right, and rely on facts rather than accusations. Reacting emotionally or retaliating rarely helps.
Is it worth staying at a company after something like this happens?
That depends on whether leadership handles it fairly and whether the culture allows it to recur. As Peter's story shows, sometimes leaving is what ultimately reveals the truth — and opens the door to something better.
How do you know if a work friendship is genuine or opportunistic?
It's not always easy to tell in the moment. One signal worth watching: does the closeness increase noticeably when something competitive is at stake? Genuine friendships tend to be consistent regardless of what's happening on the career front.
