Abusive supervisor & academic career

Since you have already completed most of your PhD, your best course of action is to finish your PhD as soon as possible. Then you will be free of CO's bad behavior. Negotiate a plan for completion of your degree with your supervisor. Request that this plan does not rely on CO since they are not dependable.

should I just accept the academic trail is dead for me and look for suitable industry jobs instead?

The information you have provided in the question tells us nothing about your ability to find an academic job. However, academic jobs are in general scarce and low paying.


The situation is resolved: I spoke to SV plainly and explained to her that I found her supervision last year unacceptable. I did so in a factual, polite manner, listed specific occasions where I felt left alone, and concluded, given the poor results, that it may be best for both of us if I continued to work with the other, younger professor.

It turned out she reacted well to clear words. While she is not happy that I leave, she supports my decision, reassured me she will still write a letter for me and sent favorable comments to the young professor. I suspect she is actually ashamed she didn't tackle CO and let me down; as Captain Emacs noted, it seems to be a character flaw, but not hurtful intention.

In any case, I thank you all for your comments (which encouraged me to do this).