They never learn, do they?
No, not this time. And no, not what you’re thinking. As you might have guessed, we have had a few stories about new bosses coming into power and doing their thing—the thing that’s contrary to other things—only to get fired one way or another.
This time around it’s not even a boss. Nor did they come into power, but they thought they had some power. Or at the very least an attitude and position that entitled them to power.
But they never flippin’ learn not to mess with employees!
[sigh]
A Redditor recently exemplified how 50 years of working in a company does not magically give you power over anything if you haven’t been assigned a job or responsibility that would entitle you to that power. And all it took was some malicious compliance to slap them in the face with a reality check.
More Info: Reddit
They never learn, do they? No, not the managers this time, but employees. The message stays the same, though—don't mess with people at work...
Image credits: Jeff Keyzer (not the actual photo)
Reddit user u/ProjectGnova recently took to r/MaliciousCompliance to tell a tale of how they dealt with a long-time employee by simply following his one, very simple order that was, in hindsight, probably just his anger talking.
...or they'll get maliciously complied with, leading to a premature departure from the company, just 7 months away from retirement
Image credits: u/ProjectGnova
You see, OP works at an electronics warehouse, which for the most part is quite uneventful. But, sometimes, the company grump, i.e. an “unsavory Engineer”, decides to go on a corporate crusade. Said grump is known to be belligerent and nearly impossible to work with. The upside is that he only has 7 months left till retirement, so folks put up with his very angry nonsense, or they keep out of his way.
That’s what OP’s plan was. Well, at least until they decided to do some inventory work in the warehouse, and the wild coworker appeared “huffing and puffing.” Out of the blue, he started screaming at OP, claiming they had messed up a pallet he was working on. While OP did try to defuse the situation, it didn’t go well as the Engineer only got more red in the face, ready to explode like an uncut tomato in a microwave.
The company grump liked to pick verbal fights—doesn't really matter if it's baseless, someone touched his pallets and he wanted justice
Image credits: u/ProjectGnova
The back and forth between the two seemed to go on for a while, with the grump claiming his, while OP insisted on checking the cameras (which the Engineer installed himself) for proof. It all culminated with the grump’s snotty remark about how he’s been there 50 years and nobody tells him what to do (sprinkled with lovely F-langauge). This is where malicious compliance happens.
“If you have a f**king problem with how I act, bring it up to HR or the boss,” said the Engineer and stormed out. And OP knew exactly what to do with this power now bestowed upon them. They did just that.
However, he picked on the wrong person, who was calm and collected throughout the back-and-forth, and who actually did what he asked, i.e. go to HR
Image credits: u/ProjectGnova
One HR visit later, the Engineer was told to go home… and not even twenty minutes later, he’d been made “permanently working from home…” and not even twenty minutes after that, the engineer’s credentials were revoked, his remote access to the company network was deactivated, and his duties divided up amongst the remaining employees. He now has to compile a manual of whats and hows of his tasks to pass on to others.
I guess he won’t have to worry about lasting another 7 months until retirement? Actually, nobody has to worry about him at this point. Bon voyage!
One short HR talk later, the company grump flew head first out the door faster than you could say antidisestablishmentarianism, and folks applauded
Image credits: Nenad Stojkovic (not the actual photo)
Well, folks online approved. They praised OP for being calm and collected in the face of… well, rage. OP speculated in a response to a comment that the Engineer’s very inappropriate behavior might have been caused by alcohol as they think they might’ve smelled it on several occasions.
Others were surprised this even happened, debating the issue from multiple angles. All in all, ignoring that the Engineer installed cameras and can technically still have access to them, most folks were happy to see HR make the right decision—they were probably sick of the Engineer's antics themselves.
Yet others shared similar stories, which, sadly, confirms that this happens more often than one might hope. Whatever the case, though, over 8,000 upvotes (98% positive) and a handful of Reddit awards later, the post went viral. Incidentally, you can check out the post in context here.
Image credits: Yuya Tamai (not the actual photo)
But before you do that, feel free to comment your thoughts or stories of malicious compliance… or just compliance… or just straight up take-no-BS stories in the comment section below!