During my forementioned war of wills (with the guy who was screaming and cussing at me, trying to provoke a fight), one of my first attempts at a solution was to go to HR. PLEADED with her not to discuss our conversation with the manager, and making it clear that I feared retribution.

She went straight to the manager in question, and then met with me again to tell me that obviously, the manager and I had different "management preferences", and I should probably look for another job, as our "management preferences" were not compatible. I guess screaming and doing everything short of physically striking me is considered a matter of "management preferences". That's when I went to UPPER upper management and got something done. Fortunately, the company's culture was not so forgiving when it came to employee abuse, and the situation was resolved post-haste (it *was* Apple Computer, after all LOL).