Category: malicious compliance

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A Woman Wrote a Few Lines of Code to Convince Her Boss She Could Be Trusted to Work From Home

All the things that happened in 2020 has changed a lot of people’s perspectives on work. We were given options that we were previously informed didn’t exist – namely the ability to work exclusively from home – and more than a few of us would like to know why those options are going to extend past the end of the pandemic.

If, you know. It ever ends.

This woman’s employer did some restructuring when it was time to call people back to work, deciding whether people would need to be in person, hybrid, or full tie work from home employees on a permanent basis.

She was really hoping, for an array of reasons, to be listed among the last group.

As part of the plan to return to office post covid, my company has done a lot of re-designating of who can permanently work from home, who can hybrid, etc. I really wanted to work from home full time. I hate the office with a burning passion – it’s distracting, it’s a long commute, there’s no benefit to being there, so on and so forth. I’d just rather be at home.

When the lists came out, though, she was put with the group who needed to come back into the office full time.

Since she didn’t think this made much sense given her history with the company, she spoke with her manager and learned it was all because she went “idle” too often in their group chat.

Well when we thought May was going to be go back to office time they started giving out the new designations. I got designated as in office full time. It made no sense to me. I work on a team of 8 people and each of us is in a different office somewhere in the country. I’ve literally never been to an in person meeting or needed to do in person work in 3 years at this company. Every single other person on my team got designated to work from home.

So I brought it up with my boss and asked to work from home. When I started at this company and lived elsewhere I got to work from home for 4 months before I moved and the past 14 months during covid have been at home, so 18/36 months at the company have been WFH. What I was told is that I go idle too often in chat to trust to work from home.

This happens when you don’t touch your keyboard for 5 minutes straight, but as she points out – like we all didn’t know this already – there’s typically not 8 hours worth of work to do in an 8-hour workday.

Basically we have a company wide IM system that shows you as available, idle, or in a meeting. If you don’t touch your keyboard for 5 minutes you show as idle. So they’ve decided to use this as a measure for who is working and who isn’t. The thing is, like many people in many types of jobs, I don’t have shit to do for a full 8 hours every single day. The amount of work I have to do on a typical day takes 3-5 hours of actual attention. There simply isn’t something to do ALL the time.

Her performance evaluations and honestly, her use of time, have both improved while she’s worked from home, but that didn’t matter.

Just the chat.

My performance numbers actually went up working from home, by all objective KPI numbers I’m a better worker at home. In fact, in the KPIs that I don’t flat out lead the team in, I come in second. There isn’t work to do that I’m neglecting or procrastinating, when something comes up I simply do it until it’s done or until I can’t do anymore due to waiting on someone else then stop. And I’ve done that method long enough that my work queue stays empty because I worked to get my queue down to the point where when something comes up I can immediately address it and be done with it.

But because I have other ways to spend my time in down time instead of messing around online at my cube pretending to be working meaning I show idle more often, I’m a worse worker apparently. I was told if it weren’t for that they would let me work at home.

And so she fixed it quite simply.

So I wrote a 6 line powershell script that virtually inputs the period key every 4 minutes that starts running every day at 8am and stops at 5pm. So now I literally never go idle. I do the same amount of work and still read books, watch tv, and play video games on the side. But I have a shiny green check next to my name all day.

The next time the company looked at having employees come back into the office, they decided she could stay at home.

Because she was obviously working now.

Because of covid complications they eventually said no going back until after labor day. I just had a meeting with my boss and he said over this time they’ve noticed I go idle a lot less than I used to so they’re changing my designation to work from home, all because of a little icon in some software.

This concludes my TED talk on why low to middle level managers are the dumbest, most useless do-nothing positions in all of corporate America.

If you’re curious, here’s the code.

A lot of people are understandably asking for the script:

$dummyshell = New-Object -com "Wscript.shell"
$dummyshell.sendkeys(".")

That’s the backbone of the whole thing. There’s different ways to implement it with for loops or scheduled tasks or whatever, that parts up to you, but that’s all the powershell needs at it’s core to accomplish this. A lot of people have pointed out that sending Insert or F13 instead of period would be better so change that up if you want.

You’re welcome.

Y’all, I hope you’re not working harder than you need to be for a company that would replace you in a hot minute if something were to happen.

Do your job, sure, but also realize your worth – both are important if you want to get the most out of life.

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Here’s Some More Proof That Revenge Is a Dish Best Served Cold (Hearted)

There’s been more than one study that proves many, if not the majority, of people find jobs because of who they know and not what – not necessarily big, important jobs, either, but managers just seem to trust their employees recommendations over hiring a stranger.

This guy was happy with his job, despite the pay not being the best, because other benefits made it worthwhile.

This happened a couple of years ago. I was working on a part time basis in a small firm owned by friends.

Pay was not very good, but the atmosphere was and I was allowed to set my own timings. So life was good overall.

So worthwhile, in fact, that when his friend’s company first approached him with an offer that included more money, he turned it down.

Then a friend whom I knew only through social media approached me for a job in her company.

Even though they were offering good money I turned down the offer as I knew I could not get the benefits I was getting in my current job.

Plus the commute to the new office was very long. I would have to travel 2 hrs one way and change 3 trains just to reach office.

When the HR department for the same firm came to him a bit later with an offer he couldn’t refuse, though, he…didn’t refuse.

A month later the HR of the new firm approached me again. They offered me almost four times the money I was making and I could set my own work hours.

There was also extra pay for working overtime and on weekends. This was important.

I joined the new company.

The friend liked to gloat that she had gotten them the job, and eventually OP couldn’t help but correct her. They had negotiated their own, much more favorable terms, on their own.

Now, I’m not sure how smart or necessary that correction was, given that the friend was their boss, but there you go.

My friend did not know the terms of the new agreement I had with HR. She used to act like I owed her big time for the opportunity I got. So one day I corrected her. I told her that I had turned down the offer she had been part of and one month later I had had my own negotiations and I got much more favorable terms. So I was here because her company really needed me and not because of her.

Once the friend realized this meant OP was making more than her, she wanted them gone.

I didn’t share the details of my agreement with her, but we both realized that she was making significantly lesser than me. This totally changed her attitude towards me.

Now she wanted me out and I was determined to stick through for at least a year. So she decided that she would make it very difficult for me to work so that I quit on my own.

There are a lot of stories I have about how she tried every trick in the book to make me quit. I’m sharing some of them here.

She was my manager and was in charge of allocating work.

First, she tried assigning them more work, or asking them to come in on the weekends, not realizing that OP was getting paid more for overtime and weekend work.

Ka-CHING.

Malicious Compliance – 1

She started piling on more work on me than any other member of the team. I was happy to comply – she did not know that as part of my contract I would be paid 1.5 times the hourly rate for every hour I worked OT and 2 times the hourly rate if any work was allocated to me over weekends or holidays.

Every time she tried to ruin my weekend by calling me to office unnecessarily, I happily complied. This continued till the time I left the organization and told her how much extra money she had helped me make.

Then, she made a ridiculous rule about not having beverages in the office (what even), but too late realized that meant she would have to go out for her coffee.

Since OP set their own hours, they could enjoy their fruit juice and just start their day a bit later.

Malicious Compliance – 2

After the long commute to work, I used to be hungry so I developed the habit of stopping at the food court to pick up a glass of fresh fruit juice and carry it with me to work.

My manager thought that this way she could harass me without actually seeming to do so. So she sent a notice that bringing liquids to office was a hazard.

Ironically she used to have coffee delivered to get desk 3 times a day. Well, I pointed out that the rule applied to her as well and if I couldn’t have my juice, she couldn’t have her coffee. She had to literally spend an extra unpaid hour at work every time she wanted her special coffee.

Meanwhile I was happy to leisurely sit in the food court – have my glass of fresh fruit juice with some snacks and then begin my work day half hour later than usual.

I’m not sure what OP really got out of this except their own satisfaction, but honestly, sometimes that’s really enough.

Would you have called your friend out or just kept your head down and your working environment sound? Tell us how you would have handled this in the comments!

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Managers, You Should Be Careful Before You Send An Employee Home For a “Proper” Shave

A lot of companies that have public-facing or sanitary components also have rules and expectations regarding personal grooming habits. When you sign up to work there, you sign up for pressing your clothes or keeping your hair a certain length et al.

McDonald’s, apparently, likes you to have a neat face.

This kid showed up to work in the kitchen with just a bit of a five o’clock shadow. He was twenty and doesn’t believe it could have been offensive, but anyway his manager asked him to clock out and go home for a “proper” shave.

Another story from years ago at McDonald’s.

I turn up to my shift and am told a few minutes after clocking in that I don’t look presentable.

I worked kitchen and I was about 20 at the time, so after a couple of days of not shaving it could have been a “5pm stub” at most.

I’m told to go home and shave properly for my shift.

He took the manager’s words to heart, staying home long enough for a shower and a shave with the works – his face was perfectly hair-free when he returned (an hour later).

I go. I lived 5 minutes away.

I get in the shower, get a hot towel, shave carefully, I dry it off, put the hot towel on, apply the whole treatment – aftershave, lotion, etc make sure it’s perfect.

I turn up to work about an hour later.

His manager really didn’t have much to say, since having an argument about what was meant by a “proper” shave really wouldn’t have benefitted anyone (and presumably there were Big Macs to be made).

“Where have you been? What took you so long?”

“You told me to go back home and get a proper shave. I hope that’s better. ”

O_O

If you’re curious, no. McDonald’s doesn’t have an official dress code policy.

Dress Code – There was no policy in place that required a clean shave.

It would have meant discriminating against the Muslim employees who for religious reasons often grow long beards, or they would have to treat other employees to a different standard.

The policy was that if your facial hair is long enough you may have to wear hairnets which a lot of the other guys wore at work, but I wasn’t offered that solution, because screw me in particular.

It also helps that this kid was only 20 and didn’t really need the cash for the hour’s pay, and a bonus eff you that the manager had to man his station while he was gone.

Was I still on the clock? – No. I was told to clock out, go home and shave, so I did. The way I see it is I lost an hour at minimum wage, which amounted to about £3.33 after tax since I was under 21, so I lost about a beer’s worth of wages.

It being McDonalds they never schedule more than enough people, more likely just short of enough, so at his own wish my manager had to prep and cover my station for the hour while I was having the shower and shave I probably had to skip in the morning to get to work on time – again at his own wish. As you can imagine, the satisfaction was well worth the “tree fiddy”.

I did not protest, I did not plead for him to give me a hairnet.

I probably didn’t want to go to work to begin with, just had to, because bills.

I probably wished I could just call in sick, so when the manager authorised me to f**k off home for a bit more the guy was doing me a favor.

Ah, to be young and carefree again, right?

I miss being 20. Those were the days.

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When You Treat Your Employees Badly, They Repay It In Kind

If we lived in a perfect world, employers would treat their employees like human beings whose live and health outside of the workplace matter as much as what goes on in the office. In that world, employees would work hard for you because they feel respected and valued, so everyone wins.

In reality, too many employers treat their people like cattle and not humans, and in turn, their employees cut corners and stay home whenever they can.

This scenario illustrates that point, because when this person wanted to take a few of their vacation days that were about to expire, only 1 – in the middle of the week – was approved.

My vacation leave credits expire next month, so I requested 5 days off hoping to go home to my family and get some rest. Only 1 them got approved, and it’s in the middle of the week. Reasoning being that we’re short-staffed, as usual.

It just so happened that same week they had an arthritis flare-up, but when they called in to let them know they were sick, their employer therefore canceled their one day of vacation.

I suddenly had a very bad flare up of arthritis in the beginning of last week. I could barely sit up, and walking up the stairs to get to my workstation (I work at home) is out of the question. So I took a day off, and my boss said okay, that’s fine, but we’re going to have to cancel your vacation leave, since you’re going to rest anyway.

When OP ended up in the hospital with their intense pain and received a note to stay home for 5 days to recover, they took every last one of them, even when they felt much better before then.

It’s not like I had any rest when I was writhing on my bed in pain. Spite empowered me and I managed to get to a hospital with the last of my strength (and my boyfriend’s help) to get my fluids drained. I felt a lot better, but I was in so much pain in the beginning that my doctor seemed to take pity on me and gave me 5 days rest, and he told me to just contact him if I need more.

I was only planning to rest it out for a day or two more, but I ended up having a whole week (or more if I feel like it) to myself feeling much better. I was even able to go home. The best thing is that it’s all paid since I also have plenty of sick leave credits left and there’s nothing they can do about that.

This is what you get when you treat people like crap, employers – pay attention!

Would you have done the same thing? Or would you have sucked it up and gone back to work the minute you were feeling well?

Tell us which and why in the comments!

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If You Cheat on Your Spouse, You Will Suffer the Consequences

Cheating is dirty business. There are plenty of reasons people become unhappy in committed relationships and sure, folks make mistakes, but ongoing affairs have always just smacked of arrogance or cowardice to me. Or both.

This man – a pastor who always answered his phone – was not cheating on his wife when he received a phone call from a woman he didn’t know one night.

In a previous life—before my world came apart about five months ago—I was the solo pastor of a medium-sized church in a large(ish) Southern city. One unhappy side effect of being a solo pastor is that when your phone rings, you answer it even if you don’t recognize the number since you have no idea how important the call may be.

It could be a church member’s grandkid (whom you’ve never met) calling to tell you Miss Bessie has been diagnosed with some horrible disease. Or it could be a church member who just wants to talk your ear off for two hours.

So earlier this evening my phone rings. And since old habits die hard, I answered it.

He was polite but detached at first, figuring that the call had something to do with work.

Me: “Hello?”

Her: “Heeeeeey, what are you up to?”

I want to be clear before I proceed that I don’t recognize this lady’s voice but I just assumed that she was a former church member, member’s kid or grandkid…something. So I was cordial.

Me: “Not much, honestly. I actually just walked through the door with some food. How about you?”

Her: “I’m hanging out with {girl whose name I don’t know}.”

Me: “Great. I’m sorry to have to ask this, but with whom am I speaking? I don’t recognize your voice and I have no idea who {other girl} is.”

It didn’t, and hoo boy, he had stumbled into a circus full of someone else’s rabid monkeys.

Ladies and gentlemen, apparently that was the wrong thing to say.

Her: “Darren, you know who this is! This is Jessie!”

Me: “Well, Miss Jessie, I hate to break this to you but my name isn’t Darren and I don’t know any women named Jessie. I believe you’ve called the wrong number.”

Her: “No I didn’t! This isn’t funny Darren. What happened? Did you leave your ringer on again and you’re worried your wife is going hear us talking?”

Me: “Ma’am, I’m very sorry but now I know you’ve got the wrong number.”

Her: “I want to come over there and tell her all about us and how you’ve been screwing me behind her back for two years. I’m sick of this s*%t.”

Instead of trying to backpedal or to convince the woman that perhaps confronting a sleeping, clueless woman and her crappy husband in the middle of the night, she just sleep one it herself and re-evaluate in the morning.

Cue malicious compliance.

Me: “…you know what, that would be great. By all means, come to my house and wake my wife up and tell her all about our torrid sexual affair.”

Her: “I’m leaving now.” engine cranks in background.

Me: “Okay. See you soon!”

His decision was likely influenced by the fact that he had recently found out that his own wife had been cheating on him for the duration of their marriage, like some kind of sociopath.

He has no regrets, at least not about the phone call.

Five months ago I discovered that my wife of ten years started cheating on me eighteen months into our marriage. She racked up a grand total of 16 affairs in a decade.

Somewhere in my immediate area a man’s wife was just awakened by her husband’s sidepiece banging on the front door. She deserves to know what kind of man she married.

I’m just sorry I can’t be a fly on the wall for the very special episode of the Jerry Springer Show that just started in her driveway.

I have a hard time feeling sorry for this Darren person, though maybe that’s wrong.

Do you think he should have stayed out of business that wasn’t his? Tell us why or why not in the comments!

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A Cop Learned the Hard Way That Sometimes Asking for Proof Backfires

I don’t know anything about the world of over-the-road trucking, but apparently there are pretty strict rules for how to log your time, when and how often you have to stop, and the like. This guy doesn’t like having to pull off the highway every time he has to use the restroom, so he’s devised a different sort of ritual that works.

A little bit of background for anyone, like me, who needs it.

This malicious compliance has brought to you by my trip from Chicago, IL to Los Angeles, CA.

Background: I’m an over the road truck driver and most of the time, it’s more convenient for me to do my “business” on the highway shoulder. I don’t have to drive around & around just to park to use the restroom. Just a quick 30 second emergency stop, do my business (either on the side of the road or empty bottles that I’m saving up [gotta do what you gotta do when you’re on the road]), then off driving again. I’m sure I’m not the only over the road truck driver who have done these, it’s very common.

Side note: According to FMCSA, by law, we have to carry log books to calculate our driving & on duty time. This is relevant to the story.

He either pees on the side of the road (if no one is about) or pees in an empty bottle and stores it to throw away later. Every time he stops he logs his time off the road, as required, but the quick stops don’t add up to as much down time, allowing him to travel further without a break.

On to the story:

This happened just a few hours ago somewhere in I-40 WB in New Mexico. I was suddenly in need to relieve myself badly, so as usual, I pulled over to a clean, wide highway shoulder, then I put my log book to “Off Duty”.

Note: this isn’t my first time today doing my business.

I have a habit of being very meticulous with my driving time. Which means, when I’m not doing anything, even for 30 seconds, I put my time in off duty. I tried to save as much driving time as possible, those multiple 30 seconds can add up to a lot to avoid doing 34 hours reset too soon.

I looked at the passenger side window & sees multiple cars passing by. Turns out, there’s a road where cars drive by on the side of the highway. Doing my business on the highway shoulder, nope! Instead, I did the alternate route, do it in a bottle, seal it, and stow it for trash later.

On one of these stops, an officer pulled him over and asked to see his log book, so the trucker, of course, complied.

Just as I finish doing my business, I heard a knock on my passenger door. Very weird, because this is at the highway shoulder, where no one should randomly be walking around. I stow away the bottle and go look who it is and it’s a cop. I was thinking, crap, this isn’t happening.

I switched my log book to “On Duty – Inspection” and go answer the cop. Before I could say anything, the cop asked me to see my log book (it’s part of their job to check whether we comply to the rules or not) so I show it to him. The graph looks like a heart monitor, as I was relieving myself probably 4 or 5 times per day (tiny bladder problem).

The officer had some questions, namely that the trucker was stopping for 30 seconds to a minute every hour. He was suspicious that he was falsifying his records.

The trucker explained that he had a small bladder that required more pit stops, but the officer wasn’t buying it, and asked for proof if the trucker wanted to avoid a ticket.

The cop questioned why I was off duty for 30 seconds to 1 minute every 2-3 hours almost everyday (electronic log book can be backtracked up to 14 days). I explained to him that I have to relieve myself every 2-3 hours, give or take. The cop didn’t believe me and assume that my truck had a problem, that’s why I have to stop every 2-3 hours. I repeated myself about my bladder issue but the cop still didn’t believe me. Instead, he said:

-Cop: Unless you have proof that you’re actually relieving yourself, I’m afraid I have to give you a ticket for false usage of log book.

Cue malicious compliance.

Proof, the trucker had, though the cop wasn’t expecting the exact form it would take.

I told the cop to wait a moment and went back inside my cabin. I grabbed every single bottle of urine that I’ve been collecting today and the previous day (I haven’t had the chance to throw it away), put it in a plastic bag, and for extra measure, grabbed the newest one out of the plastic bag (it was still warm). I showed the whole bag to the cop, plus the warm bottle, told him it’s the newest one I just did a few seconds ago, and asked if he would like to hold it for further inspection.

The cop had the mixed look of disgust & horror. He was literally gagging, so I put back the evidence back inside my truck so he can recover.

The rest of the conversation went about as well as expected, since the guy didn’t end up getting a ticket (and he got a laugh, instead).

Then the cop says:

“I was expecting doctor’s note or something like that. What you showed me was disgusting!”

-Me: But you asked for proof that I was, in fact, relieving myself.

I was holding back my laughter so hard that my cheeks started to hurt. Then he gave me back my log book and told me to have a good day, then drives off. Have a good day, indeed!

I took an extra 1 minute on the shoulder to laugh until I’m satisfied, then I’m off to drive again.

File this one under: be careful what you ask for.

Or maybe: always remember to think ahead and keep a little proof on hand, just in case.

Either way, thanks for the giggles, good sir! Safe driving!

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This is Why You Should Never Complain When You Accidentally Get More Than You Bargained For

Servers are able to keep their cool most of the time.

Working with the public, serving food and drinks, it can always get a little hairy, and on the worst of days, people get under your skin – you learn to get used to it, both for the sake of our jobs and our sanity (plus the tips).

That said, there are also times when you have to stand up for yourself and your dignity, and if you work for an employer who appreciates those who work for them, they’ll understand and look the other way when you do.

This tale of malicious compliance comes from an enamored co-worker, who tends bar with the fabulous person who knows exactly what and how much they’re willing to take.

It begins with a busy night and a customer who’s determined to ruin everyone else’s night (as jerks are wont to do).

I’ve worked in bars for years and this has to be one of the best “f*** yeah!” moments of my time.

I worked with this guy who was always on it. Super smart, never lost for words, very funny and genuinely one of the most professional bartenders I’ve worked with. This was an exceptional night. We worked 2 to a station on really busy nights (like 3/4 deep kinda night) so I had a front row seat to this gem:

Greasy douchebag is waiting in front of our station with his elbow on the bar not facing us. Getting a little annoyed that he is blocking people getting served, Sam taps him on the arm, “Hey, man! You want anything?”

“In a sec, mate.” as he shoos him off and continues greasing on this drunk girl.

The second bartender has no time for it, asking the guy to order or get out of the way of all of the people who do want to order.

He orders a Coke, and the bartender replies with style.

Starting to change his attitude, Sam quips back “You are blocking people from the bar, man. Shit or get off the pot!” (oooo… I start to slow down. Where’s this going??)

Greasy douche face screws up and looks Sam up and down.
“Gimme a Coke” he barks with no manners.

Sam whips a glass behind his back and catches it in his left hand, ice in the glass, glass on the bar and throws a straw in the air as he pours Coke from the soda gun.

“$2.50 thanks” as Sam spins around an enters it into the till.

The guy, however, is not done being a douche.

He complains about the ice in his drink, which he “didn’t order.”

Douche is staring at the drink….. “What is this?”

“A Coke… as you asked.” Sam said with impatience and vex.

“That is not what I asked for…” he responded. “… If I wanted ice, I would have asked for ice!” pushing the glass back at Sam.

Sam picks up the glass with both hands and did something that I was not expecting. He apologised!

The other bartender apologized…but of course that isn’t the end of the story.

“You are so right! I am so sorry! How stupid of me! Let me fix that for you.”

Sam grabs the soda gun, pours Coke all over the bar counter. The douche jerks his arm away, not because he notices it, but because his shirt getting wet. His anger, palpable.

“If you wanted a fucking glass, you would have asked for one!” Sam spouts as he throws a straw in the puddle, turns his back, walks off and flips the bird.

This is amazing, and I don’t know a server in the world who isn’t grinning and wishing they’d had the opportunity to pull something like this in their day.

Be careful what you ask for, my friends. You never know when your server is at the end of their patience and will give you exactly what you asked for – and nothing more!

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Here’s More Proof That Micromanaging Bosses Never Come Out Ahead

If you’re a manager, you already know there are all manner of employees out there. Especially when you’re managing in food service or a minimum-wage industry, your people run the gamut from teens who are learning a first job to people who are willing to do just the bare minimum in order to get that paycheck.

So, when you nab a teenager who is company-minded and willing to stay for the long haul, most managers know to treat that person like the star employee they are.

That’s not what happened in this story, though, which stars a kid who had been working at a pizza place for 5 years, 4 of them in management, and continues on the same way even as he tackles a full University schedule.

Image Credit: Cheezburger

Then one night, he overheard the general manager telling a manager-in-training they could leave early, even though s/he was supposed to close so that OP could leave by midnight and make it to an early class.

Image Credit: Cheezburger

The GM said no problem, the manager-in-training could leave and OP could just leave at the regular time and he would finish up the next day.

Image Credit: Cheezburger

OP did exactly as he was told, but there was quite the mess left for the next day – something the GM was apparently not expecting (probably because he never did any of the work).

Image Credit: Cheezburger

The GM reprimanded OP, even though he’d only done as he’d been told, and suspended him for two weeks.

Image Credit: Cheezburger

Realizing what he had done, he called him on a Friday night and demanded that he come in to work because there was no on else to cover the shift.

Then he turned in his notice and was never scheduled again – though he did learn that the GM himself had to cover 18-20 hour shifts in his absence.

Image Credit: Cheezburger

Sometimes you have to know when to walk away from a job that just doesn’t appreciate you.

And if you’re a manager like this guy, you spend a lot of time regretting the ones that get away.

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Learn About How One Person’s Greedy Nature Cost Them Over $1.5M

For some folks out there, the world and morality are black and white. Things are wrong or not, moral or not, and there’s no wiggle room or space to negotiate in the middle. For other people, the world is more gray, and whether or not something is wrong can depend on who you’re dealing with, and maybe whether or not their actions mean they “deserve” what’s coming to them.

For this man, who worked at a very successful tech company back during the boom, his bosses attitude and ineptitude seemed like reason enough to rip him off for more than $1M.

He started with the company right out of college and worked his way up to have some face time with the owners, but was always careful to stay in his own lane – which had nothing to do with buying or selling stocks.

BACKGROUND:

A year out of school in the early-1990’s, I procured a job as a business analyst for a large, family-owned tech company. This business was located in the booming heart of technology at the time and was very profitable. As tech took off over the next decade, the company thrived and remained family-owned. What was a rich family and company became exceedingly wealthy with a valuation/net worth in the high 9/low 10-figures.

The family that owned it was quite neurotic, very moody and had a reputation as very ruthless (greedy) when it came to financing, deal-making, employees, etc. I truly believe this is what held them back from ultimately becoming a household name as a company.

As I progressed in the company, I gained more and more face time with the owners. I worked on some projects directly with ownership that really paid off and gained me even greater access to their inner circle. Now, like a lot of people at the time and particularly those who worked in tech, I was heavily invested in tech stocks. I discussed some of my investments and gains with ownership as casual conversation, though investing had nothing to do with my role in the company.

But when one of the owners asked him if he would invest some of his (and the company’s) money for him, the guy jumped at the chance to pad his resume.

He was smart enough to ask for the details of the arrangement in writing, and carried on.

That is until one day in late-1999 when the owner came to me and asked me if I would invest some of his personal money. He wanted me to take big risks to see if they would pay off using 1 million dollars of his personal money. I was a bit hesitant, but still being in my late-20’s and wanting to prove myself, I said I would.

I asked for a written agreement where they acknowledged this wasn’t my role in the company, was a personal matter between the owner and me, and to document my compensation for this side arrangement (20% of all profits).

He went to work, dealing mostly in short sales, where he was comfortable at the time, and after a short while, was showing profits in both his and his boss’s accounts.

Around this same time and by working in the industry I started to notice the weakness associated with a lot of tech companies. They just weren’t living up to their hype and stock price and some seemed like they were starting to run out of money. I had no inside information, just a strong sense of which companies were struggling based on my work in the business.

Based on this sense I started using both my money and the owners money to short tech companies just after the New Year in 2000. For anyone unfamiliar with shorting, it means if the value of a stock decreases, the value of the investment increases. I had a few long positions, but my overall position was very short.

Since the owner wanted big risk and big reward, I used his money and obtained leverage or margin from the financial institution where I maintained both his and my trading accounts. The accounts were separate, but both under my name (again, I documented this and gained consent).

Well, both my account and his suffered some moderate losses in the first two months of 2000 before the bubble began to burst and both accounts, but his in particular, began to skyrocket.

When the company started to struggle financially, the boss who had invested came to OP to ask him how the accounts were doing. He told him they had netted around $1.35M so far but that there were also some open accounts that were worth around $1M.

OWNERSHIP’S PETTINESS

In June, the company began to suffer a downturn. We were still profitable, but since we provided tech services and products we were not immune to weakness in the broader market.

I had not informed the owner of my short strategy. He came to me one day and asked how his money was doing, saying he suspected it was way down like the general market. To his surprise, I informed him that while we still had some money tied up in options (puts) and shorts, but based on the positions I had closed, there was $1.35 million in cash sitting in the account that belonged to him.

Again, I still had a bunch of open positions which, if memory serves, were worth about a million on that date, but the positions I had closed had yielded $1.35 million in cash just sitting in his account (which was in my name).

The owner asked for the $1.35M out, and got angry at OP for asking for the 20% they’d agreed on – around $70K.

The owner, either through ignorance or lack of attention, said “Great, $1.35 million. Fantastic work in this down market. Will you please wire it to me?” I responded that I would, but would be taking my 20% of the $350,000 profit, or $70,000, before wiring him the $280,000. I also reminded him I still had open positions that had yet to pay off or close, but I didn’t state the amount. He, once again, appeared not to understand or comprehend the open positions statement, but instead totally focused on and became incensed about my rightful claim for $70,000. He went on and on about how times were tough, I should be grateful for a job, particularly at my young age, and the entire $350,000 was necessary for him and the company. I knew this wasn’t true based on my position within the company. Worse, this was my first time personally experiencing the greedy and corrupt nature that served as the basis for ownership’s reputation.

Which is when OP decided to go ahead and take his revenge for those wrongs.

Revenge that netted him around $1.8M.

THE REVENGE

Now comes the revenge. Since, after two separate conversations, the owner didn’t seem to grasp that the open positions would yield at least some income, and thus additional profit, I decided not to mention it again. I sent him back the entire $1.35 million and continued to manage the open positions to the best of my ability. And here’s the kicker, the owner never brought it up again. He seemed to think the $1.35 million payment was the entire value of the account and never understood or remembered that open positions still existed. He never asked for records, tax documents or any time of audit or financials. Given the fact that he was dishonest with me, I didn’t feel the need to disabuse him of that notion.

Ultimately, after a bit more net gain, I covered all of the shorts and exercised all of the options (puts in this case) for an additional $1.8 million. I worked for the company for 3 more years and owner never asked about it during my tenure, after I gave notice, or since. I know it’s a bit crass and even shady af, but given his dishonesty with me over the $70,000, I felt justified in keeping the additional $1.8 million. I paid taxes on the gain (long term cap gain), and went on my way with a fantastic nest egg. Nobody has asked about it since and I have only told the story to a few people (and even then only after the statute of limitations passed).

He waited and saved the money during the rest of his time with the company, and then for a few years after he left, but no one ever asked for it.

The owners are all deceased now and he feels pretty smug at having swindled some arrogant and clueless people out of a whollllle lot of money.

The final ironic cherry on top of this sundae is that during my remaining 3 years I gained greater influence with ownership in position within the company because they considered me loyal for giving the $1.35 million back and not making too much of a stink about the $70,000 profit.

Little did they know I got the better of them. The company eventually folded due to family disputes, but my understanding is that ownership walked away in very good financial position.

They likely could have been a much better and greater company had they not practiced the same dishonesty that they showed me with their vendors, clients and employees.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed.

I don’t know how I feel about this, y’all. I’m not stodgy or anything but this feels a loooootttt like stealing.

Drop your opinions in the comments!

The post Learn About How One Person’s Greedy Nature Cost Them Over $1.5M appeared first on UberFacts.

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Here’s Proof That Someone’s Last Day on the Job Is Not the Day to Test Them

Depending on the circumstances, a person’s last day at a job can either be a time of uncertainty, or even anger, or it can be a cause to celebrate moving on to something better (even if you’re a bit sad about leaving behind the people you know).

Either way, a person who is performing their final hours of duty doesn’t have a lot of f**ks to give, y’all. There can be no consequences (of the garden variety) and so their patience for bulls*%t is probably pretty low.

This girl was on her last day as a hostess at a restaurant where people are required to wear masks as part of a corporate policy.

So it’s my last day at my most recent restaurant job. Now the restaurant I work in requires all customers wear masks when they’re not at the table. I try to explain that it comes from a corporate level and I have no say in the matter, but I end up dealing with a lot of angry people.

A large group comes in without masks. She informs them they have to wear them whenever they are not seated at their table, and a pregnant woman objects, saying she has a medical exemption.

The restaurant doesn’t recognize those, and it’s just to the table, OP explains.

I’m a host and a large party comes in. I tell the party that everyone needs to wear masks until they get to the table. A younger pregnant lady tells me she is not required because she’s pregnant and has a medical exemption. I explain that our restaurant does not recognize medical exemptions and she will be required to wear one just until she gets to the table.

The party argues and blusters, but everyone puts on their masks and heads to their meal.

On the way out, the pregnant lady asks for OPs name in a sugary, not-sweet voice.

The whole group gives me the usual snark, legal arguments, conspiracy theories etc. but eventually they all put on their masks and are seated. Well about an hour later the party is leaving. The pregnant woman comes back to the host stand. She thanks us for excellent service and asks me (in a tone that was polite but laced with contempt) what my name is.

OP happily provided her name, since she wouldn’t be working there anymore when the woman called to complain – but also, she didn’t do anything wrong.

She even spelled it out, which I have to imagine was done with relish.

Now it’s my last day at this restaurant. The next day I will be in my pajamas, sipping coffee, and working from home without a care in the world. With my mask hiding my grin, I tell her my name proudly. My IRL name is unique and very easy to misspell so I spell it out for her letter by letter and makes sure she knows it right. I’m the only one with my name in the whole restaurant. In a tone that says “I’m gonna get you in so much trouble” she says “thaaank yooou” and leaves.

Everyone laughed about the lady who didn’t want to follow the rules, and honestly, it sounds like OP is hoping to hear some followup, and it’s hard to blame her.

All my coworkers joke about it being my last day and how much trouble I’m NOT going to be in as soon as she calls and finds out I no longer work there. I’m keeping up with Yelp and google reviews to see if my name pops up but nothing yet.

People started sharing their opinions.

Image Credit: Reddit

And they shared some interesting stories.

Image Credit: Reddit

Even if they had a bit of an opposite situation happen to them…

Image Credit: Reddit

I’m living a little bit vicariously because I always wished I would have an opportunity like this on a last day! Argh!

Has anything like this ever happened to you? Did you get the payoff you wanted?

The post Here’s Proof That Someone’s Last Day on the Job Is Not the Day to Test Them appeared first on UberFacts.