Pregnant Worker’s Lunch Keeps Getting Stolen, Manager Ends Up Hospitalized In Revenge

Office employees would know the infuriating feeling of seeing their lunch stolen from the fridge. It can be more frustrating if it’s a repeat offense where you don’t know who the perpetrator is. 

Because HR complaints won’t always suffice, some people take matters into their own hands. Sometimes, it may work in their favor, but for this pregnant employee, it backfired. 

She received a warning from her bosses after her lunch “decoy” sent someone to the hospital, all while her food theft problem remained unaddressed. Read the entire story below. 

Having lunch stolen from the office fridge can be utterly frustrating for an employee

Woman placing lunch in the office fridge as a decoy to prevent food theft.

Image credits: Kevin Malik/Pexels (not the actual photo)

It was a worse experience for this pregnant woman, who dealt with a repeat offender

Text about a woman setting a "decoy" lunch trap for a food thief at work, resulting in the manager going to the hospital.

Text from a story about a woman using a "decoy" lunch to deter a food thief at work.

Text from woman about pregnancy hunger and tight budget issues.

Text excerpt discussing emotional response to a workplace food thief issue.

Woman eating salad with a puzzled expression, related to a decoy lunch scenario.

Image credits: Drazen Zigic/Freepik (not the actual photo)

She took matters into her own hands, only for her actions to backfire big time

Text about a woman creating a decoy lunch with cayenne pepper for a food thief.

Text description about a decoy lunch planted to deter a food thief at work.

Text describing a manager's allergic reaction and being hospitalized after eating a decoy lunch.

Text about a woman blaming someone for eating food that belonged to someone else.

Text describing a woman's side of the story about a decoy lunch and a manager's reaction.

Image credits: Ok_Breadfruit_4935

“Everyone has a rule they feel they can violate”

Image credits: KamranAydinov/Freepik (not the actual photo)

We’ve all violated a rule in some way, whether by running a red light or pocketing a piece of candy from the store. It’s just that some people believe they can get away with such behavior without facing consequences. 

“Everybody’s got something they do that they can justify and feel is okay,” University of Texas at Austin psychology professor Dr. Art Markman told The Cut. “There’s always some rule that you personally feel you can violate.”

As Dr. Markman explains, it all comes down to a fundamental attribution error. This cognitive bias leads people to make overblown judgments about other people’s actions while underplaying their own errors. 

“Most people want to generally go around seeing themselves as being honest, good folks,” he states, adding that when it comes to office lunches, most people resort to whatever is convenient. In the author’s case, her food may have been the most appealing to steal. 

However, this doesn’t change the fact that it is thievery, which is never ethical. In such cases, the onus is on human resources to enforce rules and educate employees about possible sanctions. 

“Make it clear that any theft is a violation of your company’s policy and that disciplinary action will be taken when employees are caught,” HR Knowledge Advisor Victoria Neal wrote in an article for SHRM. 

Neal emphasizes that these disciplinary actions also apply to “would-be vigilantes” who engage in food pranks as the author did. Instead, she encourages reporting these incidents to a supervisor or through an anonymous channel. 

Based on her account, the author didn’t seem like she tried to go through the proper steps by escalating the matter to the people in authority first, perhaps out of sheer frustration. However, her actions would easily have had fatal consequences. 

If reporting to HR wasn’t an option for her, hiding her food would have been a better, more harmless way to prevent theft. 

Many commenters didn’t see anything wrong with her actions

Reddit comment discussing actions for dealing with a food thief at work, advising contacting HR.

Comment discussing food thief and workplace discipline, questioning inaction against stealing.

Comment discussing the use of a decoy lunch to prevent theft.

Reddit comment advising action against a food thief manager related to a decoy lunch incident.

Comment about stealing a pregnant woman's lunch, discussing bullying.

Comment discussing strategies to prevent a lunch thief at work by using a lockable lunch bag.

Comment discussing legal risks of planting decoy lunch for food thief.

Comment discussing a manager's erratic behavior and health issues related to a workplace incident.

Comment supporting a woman who planted a "decoy" lunch to catch food thief manager.

Text comment about food theft targeting a pregnant woman.

Comment suggesting sneaky tactics to prevent food thief, saying "This is wrong, very very wrong... be sneakier and smarter.

Comments discussing a woman's strategy to stop a lunch thief, mentioning justifying actions to management.

But there were a few who saw the gravity of the consequences

Text comment discussing meal theft situation and how to handle a food thief at work.

Comment on Reddit expressing shock over a woman's decoy lunch tactic, censored word included.

Reddit comment discussing a food theft incident and suggesting a lockable lunchbox to avoid legal issues.

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