Toddson, is there anyone else who you can discuss this with? Is there anyone above her? I'm not suggesting you go over her head without her knowing it; but maybe you could have a meeting with your supervisor AND the person above her to discuss your responsibilities and what you need in order to do your job well.

Right, but you need her to define and prioritize your duties. She also needs to make it clear to your coworkers and outside vendors that you have the authority to make decisions and give orders.

...sounds like they want to make you quit, Toddson. I'll bet you're expensive on the company health insurance. Make them get rid of you instead, so you at least get COBRA and unemployment.

But that's the snag - the office has turned into a personality-driven system, where if you're not one of the "in" crowd, you get driven out. There's one person over her (it's a very small office) who's been encouraging this. One person's been driven to quit, another - our CFO - is about to be, the one other person in the department is on the chopping block, and now it looks like I won't be able to get by long enough to find another job.And my boss keeps redefining what I'm supposed to do, expanding the range, the fact that I can't control what other people do is my fault, that I can't control the vendors is my fault, and I'm just at my wits' end.

Document everything. Get her to put as much in writing - even an email - as you can. When she tells you something verbally, send her a "confirmation email". (My boss is a lunatic. Documentation has saved my butt more than once, when she insists she told me to do something I never heard of before.)

Toddson, what a tough situation. In case you have not already started doing this - write down, with time and date, all of her instructions to you. Do this right as she is saying it. Read it back to her, by way of making sure you understand what she is saying.

If all else fails, and you get fired, this sort of documentation will back you up, if you have to appeal to Unemployment.

I'm sorry about the crap work situation, Toddson.

Thanks ... I went out and had some lunch, which helped.

Question - she wants to meet next week to discuss things. A friend has advised me to have someone else present, as a witness. The person who handles HR matters would be appropriate ... but she's in even deeper shit than I am. Our head person, my boss's supervisor, would be appropriate ... but I feel that she's encouraging this.

Would asking for a third party be seen as upping the antagonism? if it's the HR person, what she says would probably be dismissed because of the antagonism already there andif it's the head person, would she back me up?

Any way to have both HR and head person there? If you have to choose, in your shoes, I'd have the head person there, take detailed notes, read everything back to them, and have them both initial and date that they read your notes. I'd prepare for it by writing down all the duties/projects you have on your plate, rating them on priority as you understand it, jot down progress notes for each including estimate of time spent. That way during the course of the meeting, you can ask them for their priorities, and bring up issues such as needing authority on the newsletter.

I don't suppose you can take any perverse enjoyment out of irritating them by not folding and running away screaming?