Even in professional environments, people don’t always think before they speak.

One woman’s return from maternity leave quickly turned sour after a colleague made an embarrassing comment in front of everyone.

But when she got HR involved, she quickly learned not everyone was willing to call out bad behavior.

Read on for the full story.

AITA for calling HR on a colleague?

So I just returned to work from maternity leave, and I am still carrying extra baby weight (baby is just over a year old).

But the welcoming party was a bit ruder than she anticipated.

When I worked with one of my older colleagues (let’s call her Kay), she saw me and said to me, in front of approximately 10 people, “Flutta! It’s so nice to have you back! Oh my gosh, you’re pregnant again!”

I replied, “No, Kay, I’m not pregnant—just carrying extra weight from baby. But thank you so much for pointing out my extra weight in front of so many people.”

I then left the area and went to my shared office.

Embarrassed, Kay began to las out.

Kay came storming in and told me I bullied her and that if I did that again, she would call HR.

So she decided to call Kay’s bluff.

I don’t recall exactly what I said, as I was a bit flustered, but it was something like, “Okay, let’s call them right now,” and I called HR with the phone on speaker. She stormed out.

When HR answered, I did have a chat with them and filled them in on what happened, but I stressed I didn’t want to make a formal complaint.

Turns out, not everyone supported this decision.

Some of the people in the shared office said I was the AH because I shouldn’t have called HR, as that’s just the way Kay is (she often threatens people with HR—I don’t know if she has ever followed through).

So, internet strangers, AITA?

Speaking up in the workplace takes courage, so it’s even more disheartening when it doesn’t go as planned.

What did Reddit think?

Kay needs to take a little refresher course on proper workplace etiquette.

Kay pretty much found herself in a mess of her own making.

Kay’s behavior actually does warrant a formal HR complaint.

Kay’s aggression only made things worse for her.

She didn’t intend to escalate things, but she wasn’t going to let herself be publicly humiliated.

Kay may be used to throwing around empty threats, but this time, someone finally called her bluff.

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