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The Internet Applauds This Woman For Exposing Entitled Colleague Who’d Been Faking A “Sprained Ankle” For 2½ Weeks
Recently, a woman on the Petty Revenge community shared a story about her coworker “who always attempted to get out of doing just about every single task at our store.” The author wrote that this colleague had been there for about fifteen years, “so the managers just coddled her along.”
As you can imagine, this greatly irritated other employees who just couldn’t wrap their heads around the things this lady would get away with.
One day, when she came to work, she announced to everyone that she had a sprained ankle and that she required a chair now. This meant she would not be able to do half of the job, if any of it.
After seeing her treated like a full-on queen with her “throne” to sit on, the author had had enough and given the opportunity, debunked her lies in front of the boss.
RELATED:
A woman shared how her coworker faked a sprained ankle so that she could get away with not doing her job at work until she was served petty revenge
Image credits: Kindel Media (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Kevin Lehtla (not the actual photo)
Bored Panda reached out to the person who shared a story about their colleague who faked her injury to find out more about what happened. The author who wanted to remain anonymous said that their colleague got away with it because “she was ‘the Queen’ and it was extremely difficult to correct her because she would publicly throw a huge temper tantrum.”
The person believes that the managers were afraid she’d sue the company if they fired her. “She had been there so long, it was easier to just give in to her outrageous antics than to correct her. She mistakenly played this stunt way past its expiration date!”
After the injury stunt happened, the person said that the entire staff mocked her behind her back, “hence the nickname of the Queen and dubbing her chair as ‘the throne.’”
Later, the author shared some more details about the whole story
Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Haley Lawrence (not the actual photo)
Image credits: anon
Moreover, the lady created more work for everyone, “so of course, the coworkers were livid.” The author who shared this story on Reddit continued: “She would page us to the front store to get her drinks, food, magazines, etc. because she was thirsty, hungry, or bored. She wouldn’t even perform small job tasks from her throne! It wasn’t our place/position to confront her on her faux injury so we tried to ignore her as much as possible.”
Moreover, “the manager was in contact with HR at the corporate level, who advised him to just ‘ride it out’ because she’d eventually expose herself & they would then be in a better position to initiate corrective measures.”
The author also added that many commenters appeared upset about cashiers not being allowed to sit on chairs, but according to them, that wasn’t the real problem here. “Her deception and horrible work ethics were the problem! She deliberately and selfishly made our workload heavier and much more difficult to complete.”
Faking an injury at work “demonstrates lying, taking advantage of your employer and colleagues, and a complete disrespect of their time and their kindness,” a career coach says
We also spoke with Christine Mitterbauer, a licensed and ICF-approved career coach based in the UK, about whether faking an injury at work is a crossed line. Mitterbauer confirmed that it absolutely is as such behavior “demonstrates lying, taking advantage of your employer and colleagues, and a complete disrespect of their time and their kindness.”
“It’s sad that the employer has to worry about a potential lawsuit, but that’s why it’s important to set clear rules and boundaries for all employees, even if they show ‘hissy fits’ or act out in front of customers,” the career coach told Bored Panda.
According to Mitterbauer, a good boss needs to be able to handle situations like that and enforce consequences to the employee in question, immediately. “Don’t let the problem drag out, like a spoilt child, the employee is likely to push the boundaries as far as he or she can get away with, and as a result, everyone in the company is suffering and staff morale decreases.”
Mitterbauer explained that there could be various reasons an employee is taking advantage of their employer. “Maybe it’s in their personality to be manipulative, or maybe they don’t feel in control at home, so they’re taking advantage of people at work instead.”
“Whatever the reason,” the career coach continued, “taking advantage to the extent that it harms other people around you is never okay, and it’s the responsibility of an employer to end this kind of behavior before it spirals out of control.”
“As soon as the employer recognizes small signs that the employee is taking advantage, they have to set and enforce clear boundaries immediately,” Mitterbauer concluded.
Many people found it quite weird that the employees aren’t allowed to sit at work but the author explained it in the comments
More people’s reactions and stories followed
What do you think ?
Carol Emory 3 years ago (edited)
As a person that DID sprain her ankle and still managed to hobble to all of her classes at college because cars could only take you to the parking lots, it tweaks me that this woman fakes an injury to get out of work. Not to mention I had to tote a huge heavy backpack around...she was even offered the opportunity to stock from a seated position. That manager was patient...I would have fired her.
Vesna 3 years ago
Sadly it's not that easy to fire someone for medical condition. What they should have done is to ask for doctors note
Load More Replies...
JuniorCJ82 3 years ago
Why was she allowed to work there for FIFTEEN YEARS while repeatedly pulling stunts like this?
Stylishsidewaysbird 3 years ago
Yeah she shouldn’t have done that. However, the real issue is that cashiers aren’t allowed to sit will checking people out. OP did an interesting tap dance around this fact in their responses. I’ve done retail work while in college and sometimes you would be standing at one register for several hours and can’t sit down. That’s not right. There is no reason why people can’t sit while working as a cashier. They need to do tasks between customers? Fine. But they should still get to sit at the register
Jus 3 years ago
Lazy idiot is one thing, but standing at the cash register is simply unacceptable. Especially when you're only scanning the products, not getting them from the shelves. People have to do what they are paid for, but also they shouldn't be pushed to their limits. If they are THAT exhausted after running around all their shift, hire more people.
Deborah B 3 years ago
Okay, aside from this lazy AH, the "no chairs for cashiers" thing is stupid. Give all the supermarket cashiers chairs or stools high enough to sit while they scan groceries. In the UK, the cashiers sit or stand as they choose. There's no valid reason why a supermarket cashier needs to be standing, it's just the stupid American entitlement attitude that a comfortably seated service worker isn't being 'respectful' enough.
lauralett50 3 years ago
That the management allowed her shenanigans to go for so long is surprising to me. I'm glad she got caught faking. She got what she deserves. J
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
Ah yes. I am reminded of my 2 1/2 years working retail at a grocery store. We had many "pet" employees who got away with things that none of the rest of us could. It made the hell of working retail during the pandemic that much worse :(
Tams21 3 years ago
I don't know what the law is on probation in the US but if it had allowed me and I was her manager, I'd have fired her on the spot. There are certain things where a slap on the wrist or a good talking to gets employees on the right track but someone with that kind of dishonesty and utter laziness (in her probation!) is only ever likely to get worse.
TheElderNom 3 years ago
When I broke my ankle and thought it was sprained I whined less than this. When I got to know it was broken and was put on a week of not being allowed to put any weight on it I still did more things for myself than this. The secret was big pockets and fetching water in a bottle. Food was harder so there were a bit of snacking going on.
Carol Emory 3 years ago (edited)
As a person that DID sprain her ankle and still managed to hobble to all of her classes at college because cars could only take you to the parking lots, it tweaks me that this woman fakes an injury to get out of work. Not to mention I had to tote a huge heavy backpack around...she was even offered the opportunity to stock from a seated position. That manager was patient...I would have fired her.
Vesna 3 years ago
Sadly it's not that easy to fire someone for medical condition. What they should have done is to ask for doctors note
Load More Replies... JuniorCJ82 3 years ago
Why was she allowed to work there for FIFTEEN YEARS while repeatedly pulling stunts like this?
Stylishsidewaysbird 3 years ago
Yeah she shouldn’t have done that. However, the real issue is that cashiers aren’t allowed to sit will checking people out. OP did an interesting tap dance around this fact in their responses. I’ve done retail work while in college and sometimes you would be standing at one register for several hours and can’t sit down. That’s not right. There is no reason why people can’t sit while working as a cashier. They need to do tasks between customers? Fine. But they should still get to sit at the register
Jus 3 years ago
Lazy idiot is one thing, but standing at the cash register is simply unacceptable. Especially when you're only scanning the products, not getting them from the shelves. People have to do what they are paid for, but also they shouldn't be pushed to their limits. If they are THAT exhausted after running around all their shift, hire more people.
Deborah B 3 years ago
Okay, aside from this lazy AH, the "no chairs for cashiers" thing is stupid. Give all the supermarket cashiers chairs or stools high enough to sit while they scan groceries. In the UK, the cashiers sit or stand as they choose. There's no valid reason why a supermarket cashier needs to be standing, it's just the stupid American entitlement attitude that a comfortably seated service worker isn't being 'respectful' enough.
lauralett50 3 years ago
That the management allowed her shenanigans to go for so long is surprising to me. I'm glad she got caught faking. She got what she deserves. J
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
Ah yes. I am reminded of my 2 1/2 years working retail at a grocery store. We had many "pet" employees who got away with things that none of the rest of us could. It made the hell of working retail during the pandemic that much worse :(
Tams21 3 years ago
I don't know what the law is on probation in the US but if it had allowed me and I was her manager, I'd have fired her on the spot. There are certain things where a slap on the wrist or a good talking to gets employees on the right track but someone with that kind of dishonesty and utter laziness (in her probation!) is only ever likely to get worse.
TheElderNom 3 years ago
When I broke my ankle and thought it was sprained I whined less than this. When I got to know it was broken and was put on a week of not being allowed to put any weight on it I still did more things for myself than this. The secret was big pockets and fetching water in a bottle. Food was harder so there were a bit of snacking going on.
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