Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
“My Brilliant Boss Is Ruining His Career Over A 3-year Affair With An Employee”
Interview With Expert
Infidelity automatically ruins the foundation of any relationship. In some cases, the partner cheated on isn’t the only one affected. Sometimes, even the people around the person who committed the infidelity may also feel hurt.
Take this story you’re about to read, where an employee could not stand their boss’s affair with a younger subordinate. Having lost respect and being fed up with the coworker’s sense of entitlement as the mistress, the person decided to quit after months of keeping silent.
You will find the story as you scroll through, along with some reader comments.
RELATED:
Cheating automatically ruins all relationships
Image credits: LightFieldStudios (Not the actual photo)
An employee was forced to quit their job after losing respect for their boss, who openly had an affair at work
Image credits: DC Studio (Not the actual photo)
Having grown tired of keeping silent for months, the employee quit their job
Image credits: Prize-Relative-6688
A person’s reputation may take a hit for a long time after committing infidelity involving a coworker
You all likely remember the Coldplay scandal that remained in the headlines for weeks in mid-2025. It involved high-ranking employees of the tech company Astronomer, who became the talk of the world for months.
Infidelity will ruin a person’s reputation long after it first shatters, according to Gizem Sultan Kartalcik, HR specialist at Eskritor.
“A leader may find that senior stakeholders quietly doubt their judgment. The employee’s performance is viewed through the prism of the relationship,” she told Bored Panda.
Kartalcik adds that a relationship between the boss and employee immediately skews the power dynamic, where the tilt shows up in different ways. She notes that not only is there softened feedback, but the employee in a relationship with the boss may gain an upper hand through greater flexibility.
It will only be a matter of time before the rest of the team notices the imbalance. And once that happens, the dynamic goes into shambles, which may affect overall performance and productivity.
So, what can employees do in such a situation? Kartalcik advises reporting such incidents to HR immediately, but do so in a way that steps out of the direct line of supervision to avoid others from second-guessing these decisions.
Of course, companies must exercise command responsibly. From the company’s end, Kartalcik says the priority must be to intervene quickly to defuse resentment and be open to adjusting structures before the problems become entrenched.
“Fairness is the emotional backbone of a team. Once people feel that it has been violated, it has to be earned back,” she said.
In the story’s case, the boss does not seem to care about his reputation or whether he is causing disorder within his team. The employee leaving because they lost respect for their leader was beyond justifiable.
Image credits: LightFieldStudios (Not the actual photo)
Some people in the comments had their questions, as others offered their advice
Poll Question
Total votes ·
Thanks! Check out the results:
Total votes ·
Newsletter
Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls
By entering your email and clicking Subscribe, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! You've successfully subscribed to newsletters!
What do you think ?
Saint_Zipcodus (oh / no) 10 hours ago
I experienced something comparable at my old job. A younger woman being unjustifiably special-treated by the boss, clearly visible for everyone to see (both in deicated relationships, him even married). People complained to the CEO, CEO doubled down because "something like this does not happen at our company". It was the unfairness that got people really railed up. But in the end, there's nothing you can (or imo should) do. People will keep on peopling and that's that, unfortunately.
Vinnie 3 hours ago (edited)
At one company, an affair did lead to a small promotion for the underling, who was actually good at her job. The problem was when the same boss refused a promotion to a deserving employee because she wouldn't sleep with him. The kicker? Her fiance (male) was hired for the position she wanted - and she helped train him! Both left the company soon after. She got a well-deserved promotion elsewhere.
Load More Replies...
Cee Cee 11 hours ago
OP says nothing about their colleagues and how they feel. My instinctive response was that OP is jealous. If that is because of the undeserved bonuses or that they want to be with the boss I don't know. OP seems to be living too much in their head.
Mark Stewart 10 hours ago
They do seem weirdly invested in this, I could understand being concerned for a friend potentially ruining their life but it doesn't sound like OP sees the boss outside of work. Personally I would look for a new job pronto and then drop a company wide truth b**b on the way out.
Load More Replies... FreeTheUnicorn 5 hours ago
I don't understand why this is t*****e for OP. Why is keeping this secret a burden on you? If people are being treated unfairly call it out, but I just don't understand the emotional investment in two marriages that aren't yours.
Saint_Zipcodus (oh / no) 10 hours ago
I experienced something comparable at my old job. A younger woman being unjustifiably special-treated by the boss, clearly visible for everyone to see (both in deicated relationships, him even married). People complained to the CEO, CEO doubled down because "something like this does not happen at our company". It was the unfairness that got people really railed up. But in the end, there's nothing you can (or imo should) do. People will keep on peopling and that's that, unfortunately.
Vinnie 3 hours ago (edited)
At one company, an affair did lead to a small promotion for the underling, who was actually good at her job. The problem was when the same boss refused a promotion to a deserving employee because she wouldn't sleep with him. The kicker? Her fiance (male) was hired for the position she wanted - and she helped train him! Both left the company soon after. She got a well-deserved promotion elsewhere.
Load More Replies... Cee Cee 11 hours ago
OP says nothing about their colleagues and how they feel. My instinctive response was that OP is jealous. If that is because of the undeserved bonuses or that they want to be with the boss I don't know. OP seems to be living too much in their head.
Mark Stewart 10 hours ago
They do seem weirdly invested in this, I could understand being concerned for a friend potentially ruining their life but it doesn't sound like OP sees the boss outside of work. Personally I would look for a new job pronto and then drop a company wide truth b**b on the way out.
Load More Replies... FreeTheUnicorn 5 hours ago
I don't understand why this is t*****e for OP. Why is keeping this secret a burden on you? If people are being treated unfairly call it out, but I just don't understand the emotional investment in two marriages that aren't yours.
Related on Bored Panda
26
17