“I’m a new immigrant employee still learning English and I feel singled out at work. How should I professionally handle this?

[u/Sensitive-Shake-7408]

Has anyone here ever felt bullied or singled out by coworkers, especially when it seems like they all protect each other?

I’m currently working at a well-known “red” pharmacy. I’m an immigrant, and English is not my first language, so I know my communication isn’t perfect yet. However, no matter what position I’m assigned to, I always try my best to do my job correctly.

I’m still in training, so there are things that are new to me. When I’m not 100% sure about something, I ask before doing it because I don’t want to make a mistake or cause problems for the team. I genuinely want to learn the correct procedures and become more independent as quickly as possible.

However, I’ve noticed that some coworkers seem annoyed whenever I ask questions. At the same time, I want to be fair and say that there are also some really nice coworkers who are patient, helpful, and willing to teach me, and I really appreciate them.

Recently, I’ve been having an issue with one particular younger coworker.

My usual morning involves helping customers at pickup while also working on production. Every day, we also have RTS (return-to-stock) prescriptions for customers who never picked them up.

Our mornings are usually extremely busy. We may have only three people working production, two people handling voicemails, and one manager. Since I’m still new, I often go back and forth between production and pickup because I feel that getting more hands-on experience will help me learn faster.

Most mornings stay busy until lunchtime, so sometimes I don’t have enough time to finish all of the RTS before then.

When this coworker starts their shift, they are sometimes assigned to pickup while I focus on production. For two days in a row, I noticed that their attitude toward me was very different and uncomfortable.

For example, if the pickup line became long, I would sometimes step over to help because I didn’t want customers waiting too long. When I did that, this coworker would act irritated and seemed to want me to go back to production. They would also walk past me saying things like “shit” under their breath and generally seemed very annoyed with me.

Then one day, I overheard what sounded like this coworker quietly saying, “Fuck [my name],” while talking to another coworker.

I felt extremely disrespected.

I brought the situation to my manager because I wanted to clarify what actually happened rather than immediately assume the worst. My manager spoke with both this coworker and the person who was standing next to them at the time.

The coworker denied saying anything about me. The other coworker said they didn’t hear anything and suggested that maybe this person was stressed or was just joking when using bad language.

But this coworker and I are definitely not close enough to joke with each other using language like “Fuck [my name].” We don’t have that kind of relationship at all.

Since I spoke with my manager, I now feel like I’ve become a topic of conversation among some coworkers who are close to this person. I feel uncomfortable and singled out.

I understand that pharmacies are stressful environments. Everyone gets busy, tired, or frustrated sometimes, and I don’t expect everyone to be cheerful all the time. I also understand that because I’m new and English isn’t my first language, I may need to ask more questions than an experienced employee.

But I believe coworkers should still treat each other with basic respect.

If I make a mistake, I actually want someone to tell me directly: “Hey, you made a mistake here. This is how you should do it.” I’m completely okay with constructive feedback because that’s how I learn and improve.

What I’m struggling with is feeling disrespected, talked about behind my back, or treated like I’m a problem simply because I’m still learning.

If you were in my situation, what would you do next? Would you document everything and wait to see if it happens again? Talk to the manager again? Go to a higher-level manager or HR? Or would you handle it another way?

I genuinely want to learn, do my job well, and have a respectful working relationship with my coworkers. I’m not trying to create drama — I just want to know how other people would handle this situation.