The president of the company is a role model, and he just showed the staff how to roll right over you. He also showed them that it is perfectly okay to do so. This is not presidential, acceptable, or okay.
You took the right road professionally and politically, since it makes little sense to get into a public exchange of barbs with the president. However, because you are still upset by this incident, you should mention your concern to him. One problem is that you are likely to sound overly temperamental if you set up a meeting based solely on this incident. As a result, you should bring it up the next time the two of you meet for any other reason. For example, as the meeting is about to end, you could say, "Oh, by the wayÖ." Then tell him how you feel and give him the facts.
If he gets the message, you should not be seeing this type of nonsense in the future. And if he doesn't get the message, then he is actually sending his own message back to you. It's worth hearing and heeding.
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