At my work there is an older woman who is not my boss, but still holds some power over me in that she has to QC and sign off my work. She does not like me because I am smarter than her, and have been telling her that her way of calculating refunds to clients is wrong. I have tried to explain why her way is wrong, but she does not listen.

Since her method is wrong and does not make sense to me, often I make mistakes in applying it. Then she will turn the QC process into a power-trip. In our very first confrontation, she refused to explain what I should be doing and told me to figure out myself. I confronted her about it, telling her to stop wasting time, and she said that is the only way I will learn. That was the first moment I blew over my top and clearly she was enjoying it. Since then, she has been playing games to show who is the boss. Most of those games are too petty, and I let them go.

Last week I had to blow up again. Another calculation problem came up. She wrote me a note for an explanation, and so I wrote back with my explanation. The following day, she gave me my work folder and left. She did not sign off anything but did not explain what was wrong. So I had to walk back to her and ask what happened. Then only at that point she told me how it should be done and said in a arrogant tone, "This IS ALWAYS how we do it."

She had to be the most disrespectful and unprofessional person I ever work with. Instead of telling me directly how something should be done, she had to waste my time by either sending me on a goose-chase or having me walk up to her "pedestal". My immediate supervisor told me to just let her have it, and I accept the reality of office politics, but a part of me tells me that being an older female is not an excuse for bitchy behavior.

I am talking with higher management to change the calculation methods to the one I am advocating. However, until change is implemented, I have to fight back on my own, to beat her and embarrass her while she is on the pedestal.