People joke that there is always that one dude who’s the oddball in any given group.
Same can apply to workplaces, except it’s usually the grump, and not the oddball. Though it can be both.
But this time around, it’s the grump that’s causing a ruckus, as told in the tale of malicious compliance by this one Redditor who shared how he got his “company grump” of a coworker fired because he simply did what he was told to.
And that’s the most dangerous kind of to do, to be fair.
More Info: Reddit
That Grumpy Guy is nearly inevitable in many companies and employee groups, so you gotta make the best of it
Image credits: Massachusetts National Guard (not the actual photo)
OP is a small business owner that maintains properties for seniors. It’s a seasonal job of sorts, which means that his entire summer staff is laid off for the winter, but he himself continues doing related property maintenance jobs as a contractor.
Mind you, he has the equipment, the certification, the qualifications, what have you, so many companies actually make use of his solo services quite often. And, so, he got called in by the biggest company in town to help haul some snow to the city dump. A lucrative proposal.
But if making the best of it fails, then why not do some malicious compliance to get his butt fired because of his attitude?
Image credits: CanadianCosmicEntity
This meant he had to coordinate and work closely with folks from the company. And that inevitably entailed working with what OP called the company grump. If you’re not aware, it’s simply the person who is a full-time grump who likes to complain a lot or throws fits or is just difficult to work with. Or anything in between that definition.
So, that’s the context. As for the incident, OP was asked by said grump to fetch him some coffee as they were working the weekend together. Gave him cash, all that jazz.
In the next location that they met, OP handed him the coffee and immediately saw that something was wrong after the first sip, after which the grump proceeded to choose violence. He stepped out of his bobcat (a piece of machinery, not an actual animal), catapulted his extra large container with caffeinated hot juice into the distance, which was then picked up by a gusty atmospheric anomaly, making sure all of the said liquids were evenly distributed all over OP’s corporal being, all the while spouting verbal obscenities at OP for his poor choice of hot stimulating beverages.
Apparently, this whole issue arose because of "the wrong coffee", which turned into projectile coffee and then coffee on employee
Image credits: CanadianCosmicEntity
It’s a good thing OP seemingly had patience and decided to let it go, but the grump just couldn’t let it go. He approached OP just to complain about the coffee at his truck, despite being offered a replacement, and then after it all, OP remembered he needed to give back the change and thought it would be good to set some boundaries.
Well, Mr. Grump wasn’t having any of it, and effectively told OP to keep quiet (but in much more vulgar terms that my mom told me not to say), telling him off by telling him to do as he was told. So he proceeded to do that.
Little did Dr. Operator Grump know, #1, he was already on thin ice as it was, and #2, boss-man had told OP to let him know if he had any trouble with the uncooperative coworker. And that’s what he did.
After a fit (or several), the grumpy employee told the contractor to "do as he's told to" and that's what he did—he called the boss
Image credits: CanadianCosmicEntity
Image credits: Ian Sane (not the actual photo)
“I went back to my truck and did as I was told. […]. Furious, I jumped in my truck, called his boss, and went home.” Not even 20 minutes later, OP received a call from the boss, who let him know that Grumpy McGrumperson had been canned and OP was asked to come back. Justice was served that day.
“Moral of the story is: treat each other with respect, especially in the workplace,” concluded OP. Surely, a satisfying story with a satisfying end, and all OP had to do was do as he was told.
Long story short, the Mr. Grumpalopogus was fired and folks online couldn't have been more satisfied with this maliciously compliant justice
And folks online felt the same way. Some pointed out that this was a great lesson in respect—one that he probably was surprised about. If anything, he deserved it. Others pointed out the slightly surreal reality that OP might still run into Grumps if he’s applying to OP’s company. He promised to keep us posted. Others also pointed out that this could easily fit into r/PettyRevenge.
Many praised OP for keeping his cool—this sort of situation could have easily ended in a series of dentists’ appointments. But people were very clearly pointing out that Grumps was not only toxic, but had to go.
The post ended up gaining a beautiful 11.1K upvotes with a handful of Reddit awards. It also got some modest attention from online news outlets as well. You can check out the post and upvote it here.
But leaving this article here and now would be a huge shame because sharing your thoughts and stories in comment form below is what would make your visit complete, so be sure to do that, and smack the heck out of that upvote button because it's a form of art online. Probably. Don’t quote me on it.