How to deal with a difficult boss who biased my annual performance review?

Ideally a review should never include anything that should be a surprise to the employee. It is very poor management of employees if the only time they know you are displeased with their performance is at the time of a review. Open and honest communication with your employees is very important. However, there is little you, as the employee, can do about a poor manager.

Knowing that your company has produced and filed inaccurate tax returns is a major concern and puts you in a very bad position. Personally, I would have quit at the time the decision was made by management to commit fraud. If there is truly fraud in your company I would strongly recommend you leave the company; otherwise, you might find yourself involved in criminal investigations.

All of this said, I would caution you that you come across as having a chip on your shoulder. As is frequently discussed on this website certifications and degrees don't make someone good at something; rather, experience and the ability to draw on one's education is what makes someone good. Your post seems to imply that because you have more degrees your boss is not as good as you are and the fact that you're in a protected class should provide you more favorable treatment (rather than guaranteeing equal treatment as the protection is intended).

If you have ever been in this same position before, with you feeling your boss does not like you because you are better educated and treats you unfairly because of the education and/or your status in a protected class, than I would suggest there is more issues with you and your attitude than with your boss. However, if this is a first for you than likely it is an issue with your boss.

At any rate, I would leave the company if there is fraud.

I have been in your exact same position. I looked for another job and found a better one and didn't look back. Now I meet with each member of my team monthly to discuss how they are doing. This helps me remember for their annual evaluations and I promise them no surprises.

I was once in a similar situation. I asked to discuss the review with my boss and his boss. The first part of the meeting was spent confirming everyone's agreement on facts and the timing of events, and letting my boss thoroughly rant about how bad my performance was, not just honest differences of opinion, not just a mistake or two, not just below average, but awful! After about 30 minutes of listening smiling and nodding, I dropped the bomb. If my work was so awful, then why did my boss give me so much responsibility even after knowing my work was so bad??? There was a long speechless pause. Or has he been lying about my performance for the last half hour??? Then I shut up. He had no good response, then dug himself a bit deeper, and within two months he was gone.

You may want to get permission to record the meeting. You may want a good employee side employment law firm on retainer if there are big issues at stake or if you are in a protected class and there is a pattern of illegal discrimination.

You may also want to watch a movie called "A Few Good Men", and closely watch Tom Cruise's cross examination of Jack Nicholson which both suggested this approach to me and was extremely helpful in preparing for the meeting.

Alternatively consider ignoring the bad review. Annual reviews don't mean too much in the big picture of things, they are not public record, no one likes writing them, they are often skipped, and they are rarely if ever re-read. Moreover tax is full of grey areas, differences of opinion and mistakes. Money magazine once did a study where 50 tax preparers got 50 different answers.

PS: I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice, just my two cents on what I might do in your shoes. Please do not take action without specific advice from a good lawyer who understands your situation in detail.

It can be difficult to relate to our managers at times, but I have found that the easiest way to close the gap from my end is to ask myself, "Why am I here? What was I hired to do?"

Personality matters aside, wherever there is a gap in this understanding is generally where disagreements on performance are more likely than not to arise.

I recall one particular instance in my career when I first went from auditing/consultative work to operational finance/accounting. I worked extremely hard and gave it my all, but to simplify I was hired to make my boss's life easier which was not happening while I was climbing my learning curve. Who should I fault for that?

I could have critiqued his management/teaching style but it was far more productive for me to dedicate myself to being better. Fortunately, things worked out and I can say I benefited greatly from the experience.

I would document my concerns and make sure that Human Resources has a copy. But ultimately, you need to decide if it is time to move on. This is not a unique situation and really is part of business just like in life.

Be honest with your boss. Get HR involved without making it seem like you are attacking your boss but are dedicated to improvement. Be humble. Even if your boss is wrong, keeping an even mind about it will be much better for you in the long run and help to maintain your professionalism.

Explain that you were surprised by this review and you would like to understand how you can improve. Ask for a specific, documented plan to guide you along with face-to-face interim reviews to discuss how you are performing, each submitted to HR. If your performance was bad enough, this plan should have been provided to you anyhow, so I am surprised it wasn't.

This documentation will be so valuable to you. It could prove that your boss is a poor manager or it could enlighten you to things that perhaps do need improvement. At the very least you will have documentation of your work ethic to carry with you if you leave the company and your boss will be forced to back up his/her claims about your performance.

And never, ever, bring up your education compared to your boss' - it is completely irrelevant. If it were relevant, you'd be his/her boss. My boss doesn't have a Bachelor's and I have a Master's. Doesn't matter one bit. She is my superior at this company.

I am not sure what the protected class of workers comment has to do with anything. Every employee has the potential to be in a protected class and should not impact how they perform or how they are evaluated.

Please contact your HR Department as soon as possible. Since you state that you expressed concerns to your manager that you believe illegal or unethical activities may have occurred, and you received negative treatment, and since you can make a causal connection between the two, you have a prima facie case of retaliation. The EEOC considers this to be a very serious violation of the law and your rights as an employee. The Department of Labor does not want employees to be fearful of losing their jobs or of any other sort of retaliation in exchange for good faith reporting of unethical or illegal activities. They want employees to feel completely comfortable to report this type of activity to their employers without retribution. If what you state is true, you are absolutely protected.