The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round...

I'm caught in a vicious circle at work..

I've been informed by The Powers That Be that I need to define and reinforce the strict guidelines set down by corporate for it's computer and internet users.

So, these last two weeks I've been cracking down. Uninstalling browsers that aren't company approved, removing such items as Mozilla Firefox, and other download utilities, since no downloading of ANY sort has been approved, etc.

Enter in Manager Bitch from Hell.

She's now gone and faced off with me. Last week, we had a "discussion" where she informed me that since I'm still considered an associate, and she's management, I'm required to follow her directions, and do as I'm told. I pointed out the email from corporate, and informed her that I was following my directions, but that didn't faze this woman.

She proceeded to take her argument to our HR (human resources) manager. The HR manager called me into her office, and kindly informed me that she was going to overlook this problem, but that the manager in question is correct, and my refusal to comply with her wishes bordered on insubordination, which is a terminable offense.

She then offered me this "compromise":

I do what I'm told to, and she'll ignore the insubordination, and we can all get back to our jobs!

Sounds great, right?

Yeah. Right up until my corporate lead inspected some accounts, and found that there were still violations of our company policy regarding computer use.

He then proceeded to write me a nice, NASTY email, and copied my HR director in the missive.

It basically explained that I needed to enforce company policy, and failure to do so would be met with SEVERE consequences.

After our "discussion", I was sure that my HR manager would explain things to my corporate lead, but that's where I was completely and totally WRONG.

I got tossed under the proverbial moving bus, y'all.

Her response was as follows:

"Jormengrund has been given ample opportunity to take care of and resolve any internet and computer usage problems. Given the fact that many still exist proves to me to be a blatant disregard for his position and job duties. I suggest that immediate disciplinary action be taken in order to bring this problem to a close."

Yeah. After her pretty speech about doing what I'm told, I get the un-greased SHAFT from yet someone else I'd considered dense, but at least honest.

So I proceeded to document and present all emails and correspondence that I'd had from both of the argumentative parties regarding this dilemma. My corporate lead was surprised to find that I'd been told to go against the grain regarding their directions, but wasn't surprised at all about the shady dealings from my HR manager.

I assured my lead that I was willing to enforce the rules, but it might cost me my job. He told me to wait a while, and he was going to see about "levelling the playing field" some.

I'm wondering what kind of hornet's nest I'm stepping into now, but to be honest, I really LOVE my job, and don't want to lose it despite the morons that I get to deal with on a daily basis.