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Before George W. Bush and his staff hung the drapes in the White House, outgoing Clinton minions removed the Ws from every keyboard in the building. What better way to keep their replacements from referring to the new president by his famous one-letter nickname? The incoming administration had effectively put the Clinton staff out of work, and they tried to settle the score.

While chuckle-worthy, the prank was their way of carrying out revenge, an act happening every day in work-

places around the world, say Tom Tripp and Robert Bies, authors of Getting Even: The Truth About Workplace Revenge - and How to Stop It, which hit stores last month. The authors tell us how this brand of getting even ranges from stonewalling a colleague you're miffed at to conspiring to get that person fired - and how it can all blow up in your face.

We always hear about

disgruntled employees going

on bullet-spraying revenge sprees, but you say smaller

instances of revenge happen

far more frequently.

Tom Tripp The examples of shooting people are very vivid, they are front-page news and they are horrific. But there are the everyday acts of revenge with people trying to get even. [People] feel slighted, they feel harmed, they feel ignored and they feel, "I've got to get even, here. This isn't right." When we began this, we would ask people, "Do you engage in revenge?" And they'd say, "Oh no, we never do that." Then we'd reframe it and ask them if they ever get even at work. "Oh yeah, all the time," they say. "Let me tell you a couple of stories."

Your book is packed with

examples of everyday revenge. Care to throw me some?

T.T. One thing that comes up frequently is how people quit their jobs. [They do it] to make their employer or former boss feel how tough it's going to be to do without them.

Robert Bies The silent treatment is a common one we found. Then there's bad-mouthing other people. Another one is a more passive-aggressive way: People usually go above and beyond because they care, but if they feel like they're not getting proper respect, have been treated wrongly or [have been] publicly berated, they'll just do their job according to the letter of their job.

How does a desire for fairness and equality in the workplace factor into all of this?

T.T. It's central. What we find is that when people feel offended in the workplace, they think, "Should I get even or not?" Not always, but most of the time, they feel they've been unfairly treated. It's often that somebody else wasn't following the rules. Sometimes they're just disrespected. People talk about that as an act of unfairness.

R.B. [Injustice is] really a powerful experience. This is one of the most interesting paradoxes of human beings: They want to be treated equally but uniquely. Therein lies the tension.

If there's ever a time for

tension, it's now, with the

economic crisis spurring mass layoffs. Is this paranoia fuelling workplace revenge?

R.B. Yes, it's fuelling it because at the core of the uncertainty is, "Will I have a job?" Your sense about who you are, the status of your future, this is what all these layoffs and all the economic insecurity is creating: a fertile ground for the possibility of people trying to get even. And not in the violent sense, although there are horrific examples, but it's this everyday stuff, what people will do to try to make sure they get protected.

You talk about how easy it is for revenge and revenge fantasies to backfire - just look at 9 to 5, that 1980s flick starring Lily

Tomlin and Dolly Parton.

T.T. We love that movie! Revenge can backfire in all kinds of ways. One of the things that's very important to avengers: They're always trying to teach someone a lesson. It's also a bit about deterrence. One way that may backfire is when you don't see it the same way. I think you started this conflict, but you think I started it. ... What started as a simple disagreement may escalate into a full-blown feud and I didn't anticipate that consequence.

Can venting be enough to stop you from carrying out your own form of vigilante justice?

T.T. Sometimes it is enough, but there's still a risk. One story in our book is about a secretary complaining in a bar to other co-workers about

this person she was working with. It got back to him and made him even madder. It was the final push to get her fired.

So, choose confidants wisely.

R.B. and T.T. Yes.

And how, then, do you detox your workplace or halt would-be avengers in their tracks?

R.B. Listening, sharing and overcommunicating. That's the foundation of treating people fairly. You have to create that culture where it's open.