Imagine the situation - you are holding the first meeting with the members of your new team, where you became a manager, and suddenly among your new subordinates you see the face of a person with whom you have a long-standing feud. A feud which started not by your own fault. What do you do?
Well, if you expected yet another petty revenge story, then you're definitely mistaken - the author of today's tale, having found herself in a similar situation, tried to avoid an obvious conflict and almost fell victim to a whole web of intrigues. However, here everything ended well. How, exactly? Let's read on.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post recently got promoted to manage a whole team with a 'life-changing' salary raise
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
However, at the very first meeting with the new team, the newly minted manager unexpectedly saw her former foe's face
Image credits: anon
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
It was the mom of 'Timmy,' who had long been bullying the author's kid at school, leading them to serious mental issues
Image credits: anon
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
That woman was hired by the author's predecessor, and our heroine tried to avoid any communication with her
Image credits: anon
Image credits: pch.vector / Freepik (not the actual photo)
But it turned out soon after that Timmy's mom had started badmouthing her at work literally from the first day
Image credits: anon
But it also turned out that the woman hadn't undergone mandatory fingerprint background check, so she quit soon after
It all started with the Original Poster (OP) receiving a promotion at work, one of those cases when, as they say, you can't refuse such an offer. A new managerial position, life-changing money, a new office much closer to home... Needless to say, our heroine accepted this offer.
And so, on her very first day in her new position, getting to know her new subordinates, the author saw a face that she never expected to see there. It was the mother of 'Timmy', a pupil who was formerly a harsh bully of the OP's kid at school. So harsh, in fact, that it ended with a restraining order against Timmy, and the author's whole family moving to another area.
Our heroine clearly felt out of place while communicating with the new team, but she pulled herself together. As it turned out later, this woman, 'Jane', had been hired by the author's predecessor: a person who didn't perform their duties in the best possible way, and who, for this very reason, the board decided to replace. And the hiring of this lady was actually one of their last managerial decisions.
Well, the original poster decided to minimize contact with Jane as much as possible, and for some time she did so. Until, finally, 'Sam,' her junior team lead, directly asked what had happened between them. And it turned out that literally from day one, Timmy's mom had begun to weave intrigues in the workplace, telling everyone how toxic the author was!
Jane even claimed that the OP had nearly destroyed her family by sleeping with her husband (which, as you perhaps understand, wasn't true). However, our heroine's professional reputation after many years of working in the company was so strong that no gossip could actually destroy it. In turn, the author told Sam about the true background of the conflict, which certainly shocked the team lead.
And yet, retribution for Jane came - and very soon. A specificity of the company where the OP works is that all new employees are required to use a fingerprinting service at the sheriff's office for a full background check before starting work. But Timmy's mom never went through this procedure - largely due to the former manager's blatant negligence.
Sam, having clarified everything with the management, still insisted that Jane go through this procedure. She 'willingly' agreed - but this was the last time she was ever seen in the office. No one knows the real reason for this behavior. Jane may have had her own reasons to be afraid of the background check - but we'll never know for sure. The main thing, however, is that justice prevailed.
Image credits: Vlada Karpovich / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Apparently, Jane really did have a reason to be afraid of the fingerprinting background check - and perhaps not only because of her fears of revealing her son's problems with the law. "A fingerprint background check reveals previous criminal arrests, charges, and details relating to previous cases," says the official website of ScoutLogic, one of the providers of such services.
"[Background checks] can be a deal breaker for what you are trying to pursue, such as an employment offer, immigration application, license, etc. The outcomes of a background check may have a lot at stake for its applicant," says the dedicated post on Bayometric's corporate blog. Thus, the author actually did her company another favor by getting rid of a problematic employee.
People in the comments were mostly happy for the successful outcome of this story. "A good thing that the workplace requires a background check which caused Jane to cut and run before she could poison the well completely," one of the responders wrote. “Wonder what that background check would've turned up,” another person pondered.
Besides, now the commenters seem to understand better why Timmy actually became a school bully. "Now we know why the kid was a bully. Like mother like son," someone reasonably noted. “It sounds as if Jane's child learns their behaviour at home,” another commenter claimed. Somehow, it seems that all these people are not far from the truth...
Now we would also like to know your own opinion on this story, so please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below the post. And if you also had to face or witness something similar - maybe your own story will also be useful and instructive for other people.
People in the comments expressed much support towards the author, saying that it was probably Timmy's mom who led Timmy to be this aggressive at school
