I work on a four member team. Previously, ”Beth” and I were equals working under our boss, but on different projects. Beth and I have almost exactly the same level of experience both within our industry and the company. The fourth team member is a male with less experience, and he is viewed as junior to us.

Last month, during normal promotion season, Beth was promoted to Vice President. Although we had distinct responsibilities and each worked independently for our boss, it soon became obvious that Beth viewed herself as my new ”intermediate” boss, even though nothing was mentioned upon her promotion. Neither of our responsibilities to our boss changed. First, she told me and ”Dave” (the junior) that we needed to put her name second (right under the boss’s) on all of our reports, even those which she had nothing to do with. This is not common practice. She then started asking us to e-mail her news releases, stock quotes, etc. when she was out of the office. Her phone line was added to my line and Dave’s line, and she sometimes asks me or Dave to grab it if she is busy (our admin. assistant is required answer’s the boss’s calls, but not ours). It got worse. She said she wanted us to e-mail things to her that we normally sent to the boss for approval. She started using the phrases ”I need you to...” and ”I want this done” on a regular basis, which she had never done. The worst part is when she is talking on the phone and says ”you can talk to one of my associates.” As far as I know, we do not work for her, but everything she says and does makes it seem like we do.

Now mind you, our boss was not promoted to a higher level, so it wasn’t like she was taking over for him. She started making it a point to always be the first one of us three to leave the office in the evenings, and rumor has it she is pushing hard to get the lone vacant office on the floor, presumably so that she can close the door and have longer conversations with her boyfriend.

I want to talk to the boss about this, but he is very inaccessible because he works in a different location. Beth, Dave, and I usually only talk to him a few times a week via telephone and once or twice a day via e-mail. I don’t know if he has any idea that this is going on. Any thoughts or advice? Why is Beth acting as if we are her subordinates?