If Your Coworker’s Doing These 5 Shady Things, They’re Definitely Trying To Get You Fired
Think your co-worker's just competitive? Think again.
Harps Joseph | Unsplash Navigating the politics of the workplace can be daunting. Connecting with colleagues you can trust in your work life is important to how you show up. There is nothing worse than ending up in an ongoing conflict with a coworker, especially if they would do anything to get you fired. This negativity can create a stressful environment where you can’t do your best work, which could hurt your career and your bottom line.
Throughout your career, you will work with some people seamlessly. There will also be moments where you and a particular coworker just don’t see eye-to-eye. But what do you do when the relationship has become toxic, and your coworker is out to get you? The first step is to recognize the signs. Before you can start to deal with a situation where a toxic coworker is trying to get you fired, you must first make sure they are, in fact, trying to oust you.
If your co-worker’s doing these 5 shady things, they’re definitely trying to get you fired:
1. They talk around you instead of to you
Collaborating at work requires the ability to work with people from different races, cultures, and backgrounds. You have to be able to communicate in order to do your best work. If you find that a colleague is telling everyone but you about their issue with you, they do not have your best interests at heart.
The stress of social exclusion can affect your concentration and motivation, leading to a legitimate decline in your work quality. This is often an intended outcome of ostracism, a 2023 study concluded.
2. They share your personal business with others
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One of the biggest life lessons you can learn is that, generally, coworkers are not your friends. Now, there are special situations where a real, authentic friendship can be built, but those are rare.
Everyone has personal challenges that can impact them at work from time to time. The workplace is not your sounding board for all of your personal business.
Your most intimate life details should be reserved for people you know and love with a history of loyalty and confidentiality. If your work “friend” has shared private information about you with the rest of the team, they are detrimental to your job.
3. They spend more time watching you than doing their own job
Who hasn’t had that coworker who spent most of their time at work firmly planted in everybody else’s business? If you haven’t, you might be the nosy coworker.
A telltale sign that someone is trying to get you terminated from your job is their constant scrutiny. Anyone more concerned with you than with doing their best work shouldn’t be trusted.
Research shows that being constantly watched increases stress, reduces job satisfaction, and makes employees more likely to feel tired and unhappy. This can create a self-fulfilling prophecy where the target's performance actually declines, providing false evidence of poor work.
4. They try to sabotage your work
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There are many ways to sabotage a coworker. Most people aren’t courageous enough to let others know they don’t want them to succeed.
Instead, they do passive-aggressive things like withhold pertinent information from you or give you the wrong information on purpose. If that is happening, it’s no accident.
5. They are willing to throw you under the bus
Ideally, team members and coworkers have each other’s backs and are supportive. Realistically, there are times when that is not what happens.
One instance is that a coworker will falsely blame you for their own errors or mistakes to management. A 2025 survey found that 61% of workers had been victims of being thrown under the bus, most often by peers.
If your coworker is always running to human resources instead of allowing you to address minor issues, they may be intent on getting you fired.
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and the author of seven books. She focuses on lifestyle and human interest stories that deliver informative and actionable guidance on interpersonal relationships, enlightenment, and self-discovery.
