Shared workplaces relied on a fragile balance of tolerance and common sense.

So when one office worker insisted on microwaving tuna every morning and dismissed complaints with hostility, a fed-up coworker was left with few options but to report it to HR.

And the consequences were bigger than expected.

Keep reading for the full story.

AITA for going to HR?

I worked in a small office (one of several “units” in the building under one company). Each office unit had its own kitchenette to warm food and make drinks.

This benefit was quickly misused by one of his coworkers.

One day, a guy decided at 10 a.m. on Monday morning to heat up five tuna wraps and carry them to his desk to eat (his desk was at the opposite end of the office from the kitchenette). The office stunk of it.

I did my best to ignore the smell and got on with my day.

So when he did it again, this office worker finally spoke up.

The next day, he did the same thing, so I politely asked him not to, as it was stinking out the office and several people were complaining about the smell.

His response was about as fishy as the pungent aroma wafting through the air.

His response was, “I don’t give a **** what you think. I’m gonna eat what I want, how I want, when I want, and there is no rule stopping me, so **** off.”

I want to note there was nothing to say you can’t eat and work at any time of day, but there were rules on stealing food and on being considerate of others.

This went on the whole week, so by Friday all you smelt walking into the office was hot tuna. It even made our clothes smell.

So finally, enough was enough.

So I popped into the HR department (you pass it to get into the office) and asked for a complaint form.

The first thing they asked was what the smell was, and I said it was part of the complaint.

After doing the necessary paperwork, I went home.

The next Tuesday (as I was at an appointment on Monday), the guy once again heated up the tuna wraps.

This time, management took action.

This time, the manager walked in, took his wraps, put them in the bin, and handed him a seven-day notice for breaching rules on being considerate to others.

I later changed jobs, and I was reminded of this when the guy who kept heating up the wraps came into my new job (I work at the front of the building) looking for a job.

Turns out, things went downhill for this guy.

Then he saw me and told me I had messed up his life by causing him to lose his job (he lost his car, his flat, his girlfriend of three years, and had to move back in with his parents).

He left after flipping me off and without a job application.

Was I in the wrong for taking it to HR?

This guy had pleeeenty of warnings.

What did Reddit think?

No one wants to deal with a rank fish smell while they’re trying to work.

Funny how quickly this guy actually cared once there was consequences.

He should have cared about his coworker’s feelings before it was too late.

Actions have consequences — and this guy needs to face that.

This may have been the most expensive lesson of “read the room” ever!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.