Woman is honest with her boss, 'my coworker was FURIOUS.' AITA? 'The damage was done.'
"AITA for being honest with my boss, even if it hurt my coworker’s situation?"
I (26F) work at a pharmaceutical company. My coworker (29F) has bad knees, and the pain affects her most days. Because of this, I’ve taken on most of the physical aspects of our job while she handles the reports. I’ve even covered her workload so she could take days off, and on other days, I do all the physical tasks so she can sit.
Recently, I found out I’m leaving my job in a month. A new person (26M) joined our team, and he has a shy demeanor. Our boss asked me about his skills, wondering if he could handle the work required. I told them he has great computer skills and is efficient at reading references and typing—all true, based on an assignment we worked on together.
After this, my female coworker was furious. She said that by highlighting his report and paperwork skills, I’d set things up so she’d have to do all the physical labor after I left. I told her I didn’t mean it that way—I just wanted the bosses to see his potential.
She snapped back that even if I didn’t do it on purpose, the damage was done. I was hurt and sat at my desk while she went to cry in the bathroom. Our boss saw the tension and asked me what had happened. I kept saying, "I don’t know," but she pressed me until I broke down and explained everything.
Later, my coworker messaged me, calling me a horrible person and a bad friend. She said she’d overheard my conversation with the boss and accused me of lying and snitching to make myself look good and her look bad. I told her this could actually help her go back to doing reports, but she said she’d rather suffer from knee pain than accept "pity."
I sincerely apologized and asked to work things out, but she ignored me. She’s known for being kind-hearted, so I don’t understand why she’s handling it this way. Also how am I going to go to work after the weekend?!!!
Here's what people had to say about this one:
Mountain_Cat_cold said:
NTA. It sounds like you replied honestly and professionally about your new coworker, and you did not put the old one on display to begin with. Honestly your old colleague sounds exhausting and dramatic. She is lucky you have been helping her out so much, that is beyond what you can expect.
NinjaHidingintheOpen said:
NTA. Your coworker knows that she's not capable of doing the full job and you leaving is going to reveal that. She's taking out her fear on the one person who helped her because you're leaving so you're safe to be angry at. This is a not your circus not your monkeys situation for you.
No_Glove_1575 said:
NTA. This is the problem with covering for peoples shortcomings at work. It only helps them in the short term - eventually they will be found out and it will be worse. There are laws around workplace accommodations - and if they can’t find a “reasonable” set that works for both her and the employer, she needs a different job.
Outrageous-Ad-9635 said:
NTA. You were honest about what you observed about the new hire’s skills. You’ve helped your coworker out a lot because you were in the position to and you didn’t mind. That was generous of you.
But now you’re leaving and it’s not up to you to manipulate your boss on her behalf, or do anything else, to ensure she continues to be accommodated. If she wants accommodations for her physical limitations then she needs to ask for them herself.
And if she hadn’t made such a fuss, your boss wouldn’t have pressured you to spill the whole story. You’ve done nothing wrong. You’ve done your best by her, it’s up to her to deal with her own situation now.
Individual_Ad_9213 said:
NTA. You were being honest with your boss. It's not your responsibility to lie so that someone who is unable to fulfill their job responsibilities can hide.
H0bbituary said:
NTA, but learn from this and don't cover for people who can't hold their own. You will eventually find yourself in a spot where you're excessively burdened with tasks. Your favors became her expectations.