Working for a living is hard enough without your boss having a personal vendetta against you.

So when one employee’s micromanaging supervisor constantly tried to dress code him for his perfectly acceptable attire, he knew something was up.

But when he went to clear his name to HR, his report ended up getting his boss demoted!

Read on for this satisfying story of malicious compliance.

I wore a suit to work and got my supervisor soft demoted

Ever since I started at my job a few months ago, my supervisor—we’ll call him Josh—has been micromanaging me.

When I’m the subject of criticism (which is often), I try to give him the benefit of the doubt and ask him to clarify.

What are your expectations? What specifically should I have done differently?

Josh always refused to give meaningful feedback.

Josh’s responses are always vague, often something to the effect of “Just do better.”

I even had a meeting with Josh and HR to address this, but to no avail.

Yesterday, Josh came to my desk to tell me I need to dress better.

This employee can’t figure out what was so offensive about his attire.

Now, I work at a small company, and the vibe is unusually casual. A not-insignificant number of people come to work wearing jeans, hoodies, t-shirts, and/or baseball caps. I have never worn a hat to work, and I make a point of wearing a button-up shirt with a collar every day.

This particular day I was wearing a long-sleeve button-up flannel, chino pants, and Adidas Gazelles. Other days I wear loafers and dress shirts that are tucked in.

Once again, he tried to get an answer out of Josh.

So, I asked Josh to clarify.

Should I be wearing dress shoes? Dress shirt? Tucked in? What specifically do you want me to change?

Josh told me I just need to dress better and that I should talk to HR for clarification.

So to HR this employee went.

So I went in to HR and asked, what is the dress code? I got a standard answer: pants, closed-toed shoes, no sleeveless shirts, etc.

I asked, have I ever worn anything to work that poses a problem?

HR said no, you’re fine.

That’s when this employee decided to go lethal.

Because I was mad, and because my repeated efforts to resolve this kind of problem had gone unheeded, I decided to be petty.

The next day (today), I showed up to work in a full suit.

It’s one I keep for events like weddings, so it’s fitted and I look really sharp in it. It’s also wildly and conspicuously overdressed for the office I work in.

This gimmick certainly got many people’s attention.

I had several interactions with people coming to my desk to comment on my outfit and ask what the occasion was.

When anyone asked (only if they asked), I told them I had been told to “dress better.”

This was always met with disbelief and incredulity. Two people even said they like the way I dress normally.

When anyone asked me who the order came from—again, only if they asked—I told them it came from Josh.

I was expecting to pull my little stunt for a week just to prove a point, and then go back to wearing what I had been wearing before.

But the universe had much bigger plans.

Word got around the office fast, apparently, because the CEO (Josh’s direct boss) came to my desk later in the day to tell me I would be reporting to him now.

He said he’d be having a talk with Josh about this and other issues.

It’s important to note that I was Josh’s only underling, so he effectively went from being a supervisor to just a regular employee.

I’m on a bit of a high now.

I think I’m going to come in to work tomorrow wearing a different one of my flannels!

It’s astonishing this plan actually worked!

Redditors are sure to have a few thoughts.

Josh apparently needed all of his employees to don black tie attire.

Clearly Josh had to harbor some other kind of problem with this employee.

Maybe next time Josh will think twice before overstepping this badly.

Josh’s demotion is actually a huge deal.

His plan was just to make a point, but the universe clearly decided to go bigger.

This boss should try on some humility for size!

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