Restaurant jobs can be tough, but compassion should never be optional.

When a pizza waiter twisted his knee mid-shift, his manager’s cold demand to “keep working or get fired” set off a chain of events that would cost the company thousands.

You’ll want to read on for this slice of malicious compliance!

Serve pizza while hopping on one leg? Got it!

Back in the early 2000s, I was a waiter at a famous red-roofed pizza shack, back before they went downhill and closed the dining rooms.

One night, the teenage dishwasher got caught selling drugs to other employees and was fired on the spot by the newly minted manager, who wasn’t much older.

This set in motion a dangerous scene in the kitchen.

No one was tasked with doing dishes after that, and the bus tubs of dishes were piling up — people started setting them on the floor.

So soon, the inevitable happened.

I went back to set some dishes on the pile, turned to go back to the dining room, and twisted my knee when my leg got lodged between two bus tubs on the floor. I heard a crunch and fell.

I sat on the floor in pain and then tried to get up and put weight on it with little success.

His manager couldn’t have cared less about his injury.

The young manager saw me and told me that I had to continue serving pizza because I was the only waiter — and that I would be fired if I didn’t.

So I hopped. From the kitchen window to the tables. Serving every pizza.

Customers were rightfully appalled.

Customers asked what happened, and I told them — and why I was still serving while hopping. They were angry, and one even confronted the manager.

Finally, I got sick of the hopping and called my girlfriend to come get me. On the way out the door, the manager said, “You better get a doctor’s note,” and I left.

But this employee continued to fight back and ended up winning big.

So I went to the ER — and I ended up having a torn meniscus and ACL damage.

I lawyered up since I knew it was a sure bet, and a year and a half later, I won a $10,000 settlement from the company.

And where did he choose to celebrate? The place it all began!

The first thing I did when I cashed that check was have a huge pizza party with all my friends in that same restaurant.

That manager was there, giving me stink eye the whole time.

What a full-circle moment.

What did Reddit have to say?

If anything, $10k sounds like too little.

This commenter would have taken things even further.

This user would have had their celebration elsewhere.

According to this commenter, workers comp isn’t what it used to be.

The manager may have saved a shift that night, but they ended up losing far more in the end.

Nothing says karma like a $10,000 check and a pizza party.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.