Navigate Toxic Workplace Communication
Detect gaslighting from your boss, rewrite angry work emails, and handle passive aggressive colleagues—while protecting your career.
Try It FreeToxic Communication Patterns at Work
Workplace toxicity often hides behind professionalism. CPI is calibrated to detect these patterns in professional communication contexts.
Toxic Boss Communication
Public humiliation, moving goalposts, credit stealing, gaslighting about prior directives, retaliation for feedback
Passive Aggressive Emails
"Per my last email...", "As previously discussed...", "I'm confused why this wasn't done...", sarcastic compliance
Workplace Gaslighting
Denying instructions were given, rewriting meeting outcomes, questioning your competence, attributing your work to others
Professional Manipulation
Guilt-tripping about workload, weaponizing performance reviews, isolating team members, information hoarding
Career Sabotage
Undermining in front of leadership, excluding from key meetings, setting up for failure, competitive credit theft
Condescending Communication
Explaining things you clearly know, questioning your qualifications, dismissing expertise, "just trying to help" undermining
CPI Calibrated for Workplace Dynamics
Not all communication patterns mean the same thing at work. CPI understands power dynamics and adjusts detection accordingly.
Manager → Direct Report
Detects when management crosses from direct feedback into contempt, humiliation, or retaliation. Recognizes legitimate performance management vs. toxic behavior.
Direct Report → Manager
Detects when raising concerns crosses into insubordination. Recognizes legitimate whistleblowing vs. disrespectful communication. Helps craft professional pushback.
Colleague → Colleague
Detects credit stealing, professional undermining, exclusion, and competitive sabotage. Understands situational power dynamics even among peers.
Example: Responding to a Condescending Work Email
Their email
“I'm not sure if you understood the requirements, but this isn't what we discussed. I've attached the original brief again. Maybe review it more carefully this time?”
CPI detects: Contempt + Passive Aggression
Your first reaction
“I understood the requirements perfectly. Maybe if you communicated them clearly instead of changing your mind every five minutes, we wouldn't have this problem.”
CPI detects: Criticism + Defensiveness
reFrame™ version
“Thanks for flagging this. I want to make sure we're aligned. I based my work on [specific reference from brief]. Could we do a quick sync to clarify where the requirements may have shifted?”
Frequently Asked Questions
How to respond to a passive aggressive email at work?
Do not match the energy. Paste the email into reFrame™ — CPI will identify the passive-aggressive pattern and any other toxic tactics present. Then type your honest reaction and get a professional, direct reframe that addresses the underlying issue without escalating. The reframed version names the concern clearly while maintaining workplace professionalism.
Signs of gaslighting at work through email?
Workplace gaslighting includes: a manager denying they gave certain instructions, being told you misremember meetings, having your contributions minimized or attributed to others, being told your concerns are "overreacting," or receiving contradictory directives then being blamed for confusion. CPI detects gaslighting patterns in professional communication and provides validation.
How to make my work emails sound more professional?
reFrame™ goes beyond professional tone — it detects specific communication patterns that damage professional relationships (criticism, contempt, passive aggression) and rewrites them using the R³ Framework™. The result maintains your point and directness while removing patterns that could harm your reputation or relationships at work.
Tool to help rewrite angry work emails?
reFrame™ is an AI-powered communication tool that detects toxic patterns in your draft emails and provides reframed versions. Select "Manager," "Direct Report," "Colleague," or "Client/Provider" as the relationship type and CPI calibrates its detection for that specific workplace dynamic, including considerations for power dynamics, HR implications, and professional norms.
Protect Your Career and Your Wellbeing
Paste a work email for CPI analysis or reframe a message before sending. Free, no account required.
Try reFrame™ for WorkLast reviewed: February 2026