An open letter to anyone who has ever demeaned a colleague to conceal his / her / their own shortcomings

Dear (insert name here),

You may have succeeded in turning a number of our colleagues against me.

You may have persuaded our boss(es) to believe I was the aggressor and you were the innocent victim.

However.

I have never put my own perceived needs above the safety of my children, as you so clearly did to yours with devastating results.

I have never had to lie about my background in order to make myself appear competent, as you have repeatedly done. The truth has always done that for me.

I have never had to manipulate people to get them to like me, to cover up for me, or to do my job for me. I am more than capable of succeeding on my own merit.

Your lies about me have not made you any smarter, more capable, more competent, more talented or more attractive. You’re still who you’ve always been, and I am still who I’ve always been. All you have succeeded in doing is perpetuating a cycle you will have to keep repeating until the day you die.

I will walk away from your smear campaign with everything intact that is worth holding onto and makes me who I am: my integrity, my talent, my accomplishments. And you will always have to keep playing your vicious games in order to keep from being found out as the empty shell of a person you truly are.

So you may think you’ve won. And in a very small way, you probably have. But you’re going to have to keep fighting this same war with yourself over and over again, unless you can find within yourself the integrity to own up to who you truly are.

As for me, once I walk away from the evil you’ve sown, I will be finished with it, and you, and every person who was stupid, lazy or gullible enough to go along with your deceit.