Howdy! I'm a female licensed civil engineer working for the government and recently applied for and secured a higher paying job with my same employer. Apparently, a younger, less experienced male coworker submitted an open records request to see if he could prove that I was given the job due to "favoritism" and/or "sexism".

I'm a single mom who doesn't receive child support so my employer allows me to work abnormal hours. This is because I can't afford extra childcare... Not even close. Yes, I get special treatment for this reason and I can see how this can appear that I'm not working as hard, but that's simply not the case. This coworker is outspoken to our peers about this and how he thinks it's "insane" that I make more money than him, although, he's never said anything about that or my work performance to me.

Nine months after this promotion, he's still talking me down to co-workers there has been a rumor that I'm sleeping with said boss (who's older/married/with kids). I can't prove or be 100% sure he said those exact words at work, or else I'd fuck his shit up. Also, I don't want to ruin a 20-somethings career because he hasn't grown up yet. Yet, I'm pissed.

Please delete this post if it's not appropriate. Thanks.