Coping with a rude Associate
Just wanted to preface by saying the vast majority of the people in my group are great and I get along with them nicely. Unlike said person, they are reasonable, thoughtful people who are good at delegating responsibilities and supporting me as an analyst. Granted things aren't perfect and conflicts pop up here and there (albeit rarely), I have very little complaints overall.
However, one associate in my group seems to have developed an active dislike for me and is clearly playing favorites. It seems like no matter what I do is never enough. There is always a reason for them to send me passive aggressive messages or belittle me. It seems like every day they're finding a new way to lecture me on the things I'm doing wrong.
Even when it's something that they screwed up on (e.g. forgetting to send something out or forgetting about a routine process), blame is always pinned on me. Normally I just try to keep my head down and avoid conflict, but recently I've started to push back a bit because I refuse to be a doormat.
How should I deal with this situation? Assume that every analyst on this forum has dealt with at least one associate / VP / director they are not a fan of. I obviously don't want to cause trouble / further anger this person, but I can only take so much.
