The Philosophers' Cocoon

A safe and supportive forum for philosophers.

Owned & Moderated by Marcus Arvan (University of Tampa)

Contact: marvan@ut.edu

Blog mission & moderation policy

IMPORTANT NOTE on how to ensure anonymity in commenting
Job-Market Reporting Thread (2025-26)
Job-Market Discussion Thread (2025-26)

recent posts

about

Dealing with an abusive ex-supervisor?

In our most recent "how can we help you?" thread, a reader wrote:

So let’s say I just got done spending a few years … in a department with a history of corrupt faculty: think sexual harassment scandals, forced retirements, etc. Let’s also say I also suspect that my supervisor … of abuse. The supervisor oversaw a failed tenure case … drove another non-TT faculty member … out of the profession with bad treatment, has never graduated a PhD student, treated … [those] who tried to work with him in abusive ways, and … sabotaged a former … student … in an especially egregious way. The supervisor found ways to make my life utterly miserable …

What should I do? The department chair is sympathetic but not buying my account, as the supervisor is well-liked by people outside of our subfield. To be clear, this is a moral and not logistical question: I have a new job, am out of that place. But working with this person leaves me feeling violated, definitely struggling to be productive, and I’m not sure what the right thing to do is.

I'm so sorry that the OP and others involved have suffered through this. Do any readers have any helpful tips or experiences to share?

Posted in

6 responses to “Dealing with an abusive ex-supervisor?”

  1. some meagre help

    I feel your pain. I have worked with assholes, and they can make a workplace intolerable. One successful case (with a bit of irony) I know of went like this. A junior faculty member was bullied, and was denied tenure. She fought it, with the help of a senior colleague in another field. She got tenure (undeservedly, if based on performance); and the bullies were forced into early retirement. But then 6 years later she became an asshole (a really big one); she made life difficult for her younger colleagues. The key in these situations is to keep records, and talk to your union representatives. They can often give good advice.

    Reply
  2. EuroProf

    I’m not sure I understand OP’s situation: Are you still working with this person (in the final sentence, it sounds as if you are). If yes, then the advice is to find a new supervisor asap. Also, I’m not sure I understand what it is you want from the department chair – what should they do? Is this the deparment that you left/will soon be leaving? If yes, and if you have already moved on, why does it matter to you? Are you considering legal action?
    For what it’s worth, if I imagine your situation correctly, my piece of advice would be: if you have moved on and still find yourself unable to work productively because of your ex-supervisor, then you haven’t really moved on. You’re still allowing this person to have power over you. They say the best revenge is a life well lived, and this is something like this. Find a way to develop a ‘fuck ’em, don’t care’ attitude to this person, let the past be past and focus on a better present.

    Reply
  3. Robby

    The best I was given about my abusive ex-supervisor was: don’t burn the bridge. Walk away politely and respectfully and never look back. You want justice, but you’re not going to get it. The best you can do is to succeed on your own terms, far away from him.
    I sometimes have a troubled conscience about the students I know he is continuing to hurt. But what can I do now, prior to having any kind of institutional or community standing? If I tried to warn them myself, why would they believe me, some stranger, over the supervisor they think is so good to them (they won’t see the dark side until it’s too late)? Especially since my case was psychological abuse / career sabotage, not anything punishable by law. So mostly I try to hold my peace, although whenever a relation of trust begins to build, I try to warn students in his proximity to stay far away from this man’s control.
    However, in your case, if what is being done is something of a more serious nature, and against the law, like sexual harassment and abuse, I recognize that there is a much more serious weight on one’s conscience as to what might be done to stop the harm or warn potential victims – and there may also be measures at your old university to address this. But how can this be done? Who can you tell that will believe you? Perhaps it also depends on the kind of evidence or records that you have. This is a really hard case, and it probably will have repercussions on you and your career. However, at the end of the day, there are more important things than careers. So I don’t have an answer of what can or should be done. All I can say is you’re not the only one.

    Reply
  4. OP

    OP here. Thanks for the responses and advice. @Robby, yes, my case was purely psychological abuse and career sabotage, nothing overtly illegal (e.g., sexual, etc.) Even though there are around six of us (so far as I know) with similar stories about this person, no one in power seems to believe us. How troubling that academia and philosophy are filled with these kinds of people. But I really appreciate the solidarity, so thanks for that.

    Reply
  5. Sofia Berinstein

    This reminds me of situation my friend is in: she was physically abused by an ex. That ex has several other connections within our wide mutual friend group that were independent of that relationship. Now those of us close to her are trying to ensure that the friend group gradually ousts the abuser, so that she is able to feel safe within our social circles, knowing that her abuser will not turn up.
    The primary strategy we are employing (her and her close friends who understand the exact nature of the abuse that occurred) is strategically disclosing information to (less close) members of this social group, when it seems like they are likely to take actions that would strengthen his social bonds with other group members (like attending important events). We’re effectively asking them not to include him, as appropriate.
    I wonder if some version of this strategy could be available to you; making many small moves to influence his degree of inclusion in you subfield by reaching out to your colleagues (perhaps at the beginning only trusted colleagues) of yours who organize conferences, edited volumes, etc, which strengthen his connections in that field.

    Reply
  6. OP

    @Sofia Berinstein, thanks for sharing that and I’m so sorry about your friend. I think you’re quite right about the strategy for handling this (i.e., my) situation, too. Naively I thought there might be more formal and professional-level ways to deal with this (“Get me Daily Nous on the phone!”, LOL), but there unfortunately seems to be no better way to deal with the cruel and selfish in positions of power than communicating about problems informally to others in the subfield. This has been a hard lesson to learn, but I’m slowly learning it.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from The Philosophers' Cocoon

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading