Supervisors who mess up and try to blame you for it never expect you to have receipts.

So, what would you do if your boss ignored weeks of calls and emails, then tried to say you never followed through?

Would you let it slide and take the fall?

Or would you gather every bit of proof and take it up the chain?

In the following story, one special education teacher deals with this very scenario and opts for the latter.

Here’s how it all played out.

The time a supervisor tried to throw me under the bus, but I had receipts.

This happened in 2015, during my first year of teaching special education (USA).

I don’t know if anyone else here works in special education, but if you do, you’re probably familiar with the difficult process of obtaining a one-on-one para for a student.

So, I had this kiddo—we’ll call him J.J.

He had some unsafe behaviors as a kindergartener, such as eloping from the school and into the neighborhood.

It was terrifying, to say the least, and a big safety concern, so I spoke with my supervisor, showed him the data, and he agreed this student definitely needed one-on-one support.

My supervisor – Mr. C – worked with me for a couple of weeks on the safety net process (getting a 1-on-1).

Her supervisor didn’t respond until it was too late.

It was a lot of loops and jumps and saying the right thing in very specific ways, but I got it completed!

I sent it to Mr. C for the last final review…and was met with silence.

I emailed him after a day because we’re all busy in this field, no worries…but there was more silence.

I called his office and left a voicemail with his secretary, but there was still more silence.

I tried to get a hold of him for two weeks, with growing worry because the deadline was approaching…

But I never heard back from him.

After the due date passed, he finally messaged me and said since I didn’t reach out to him with the final copy, the 1 on 1 wasn’t approved.

Frustrated, she escalated the situation.

I was mad.

So, I gathered copies of all the emails, phone calls, and attempts I made to reach out to him and sent them to his boss, Mr. B (head of SPED services).

I also included Mr. C’s last email.

A couple of days later, Mr. C sent me a formal letter of apology through our district mailing system.

Mr. B granted me an extension and filed the paperwork himself, and also granted me an emergency 1-on-1 while the paperwork processed.

At the end of the year, Mr. C was fired from his position.

I doubt it was just me, but I’m sure my receipts had something to do with his removal as a SPED supervisor.

Yikes! Sounds like there’s a lot of bureaucracy in that industry.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit have to say about it.

Here’s someone who appreciates the tenacity.

It’s happened to most people.

This person always has receipts.

As this reader points out, you have to back yourself up.

The kid was lucky to have her.

Others might have just let it go and moved on with their lives.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.