If possible, include a brief high level description of the situation and how it was resolved.
The rest of the team hated him, management thought he was toxic and tried to avoid him at all costs. But they never fired him. I have no idea why.
I tried to work with him, I really tried. I kept interactions positive, I asked him to review my code before it was merged. I asked for his opinion on matters. He was a remote worker and was always "too busy to chat"
In hindsight, when I interviewed, he was the only team member I didn't talk to, and who wasn't great - I should have seen that as a warning, my fault.
I generally get along with people, and before that I had never worked with anyone I disliked - as a result, I couldn't see how anybody could be truly "toxic" -- I wasn't sure toxic people even existed.
In the end, I had to leave, because every day was a hugely negative experience.
Sometimes you just have to move on. Every day I learn :)
I can't say there is a lesson in there except, don't let yourself get to the point where you are unable to maintain your professionalism.
(Combined with, "And BTW, try not to drink too much.")
Yeah sure, there's also "talk to management about it" (which is in fact the first line of defense). And often enough, it actually does work.
The thing is, often enough the issue isn't the co-worker per se, but denial, myopia and/or a sense of paralysis in the management layers who you'd think would be both (1) able to recognize the problem and (2) eager to help out. So sadly, in not infrequently happens that neither (1) or (2) is in the cards. Typically because they think said employee is a rockstar/10xer, always at his desk, always seems to able to answer loudly and confidently about any subject whether he actually knows what he's talking about or not. You know, valued, irreplaceable character traits like that that many organizations cherish and reward with handsome bonuses and promotions.
And so it goes, on and on and on in this work culture of ours.
If they continue to be hard to work with, escalate to management and outline your concerns.
What you really want to say to management is that your ability to perform at 100% is affected by this coworker / arrangement / situation, and you are being obstructed from providing the most value you otherwise could to the company.
Any sensible manager would immediately address the issue, as he/she will recognize that your output is affected and the company is getting less value from you due to this arrangement.
Even so, the long-term prospect of not being able to turn my back on my coworkers was not one I welcomed, so I got into independent consulting. Could probably make more working for the man, but I think the freedom of it is priceless.