If someone’s going to accuse you of something you didn’t do, you might as well make it worth their while.

What would you do if a former boss randomly called you up to accuse you of reporting him for illegal software use, even though you hadn’t?

Would you try to defend yourself?

Or would you give him the outcome he already seemed so sure of?

In the following story, one man finds himself in this exact position and chooses the latter.

Here’s how it all went down.

Ex boss accused me of reporting him so I did

I worked for a small company for 6 weeks at the end of 2020 (it was landscape architecture).

The owner sacked me with no real explanation when I was off sick with COVID-19.

I have undiagnosed (highly suspected) ADHD, so I wasn’t massively surprised (it affects my performance).

But I was surprised by the timing and the fact that it was via email.

I asked for more clarity.

I was never rude to him.

I just told him I wish he’d called me so I could get some feedback.

He got really mad and proceeded to write a long list of my (exaggerated and some false) shortcomings, e.g., being too slow and distracted (stuff he never mentioned at the time).

He then said, “If you want to take legal action against me, let me know.”

Frustrated, he had no idea what the guy was talking about.

I didn’t.

I left it and moved on.

Fast forward to today.

He just called my mobile from a private number asking how I was.

I was taken aback as we have had no communication since.

He said, “Someone has put in a report that I’m using unlicensed software. Was it you? Because I know we left on bad terms.”

I said, “I’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”

He made it seem I was devastated that he sacked me (lol) and would have good reason to report him.

No matter what I said, he was convinced it was me.

He even accused my dad, who works in IT.

I didn’t even know he was using unlicensed software.

I said, “I feel like you’re unfairly accusing me here.”

The boss’s defensiveness got him thinking.

He raised his voice and shouted, “WHY DO YOU ALWAYS PLAY THE VICTIM? STOP PLAYING THE VICTIM! ” (probably in reference to the fact that I questioned the way he sacked me).

It sounded so rehearsed that I honestly had to hold back laughter.

Then he said, “I’m not accusing you, but did you do it?”

Looking back, I believe it was unlicensed.

We only ever used the student version of Autodesk (which is illegal when you’re running a business).

This, combined with his accusation, tells me he is in fact breaking the law..

I was so upset by his accusation that I reported him to both Autodesk and the BSA.

He’ll have to run an audit and likely face a huge fine.

He thinks I did it either way, so what harm can one more report do? 😉

Yikes! That guy sounds pretty intense.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit have to say about him.

When accused, this person commits the crime.

This person explains the audits.

Here’s a good point.

This would be funny.

He did the right thing!

After the way that guy spoke to him, it’s no wonder he turned him in.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.