Office holiday traditions were supposed to spread cheer, not expose power imbalances.

So when a Secret Santa paired an employee with her boss, a thoughtful handmade gift was met with a public joke and no present in return.

Both the holiday spirit — and her employment there — didn’t survive the exchange.

Keep reading for the full story!

Another Worst Secret Santa story

The year was 2007.

It just so happened that I drew my boss, and my boss drew me.

This employee put a good amount of effort into her gift for her boss.

There was a $20 limit, so I decided to get her favorite brand and scent of fragrance oil she used in her office diffuser.

The oil cost $15, so I put it in a cute box full of tiny origami stars I’d made and strung into a garland for the back of her monitor. She loved decorating her office.

Her boss, on the other hand…

I received a card, and inside was a note that said, “It’s been a pleasure working with you this year, now go clean out the storeroom.”

I smiled and pretended there was a big joke inside, but my boss — laughing and smiling — took my card and read it aloud to everyone.

A few people laughed. Then the HR lady, her best friend, asked if there was a gift.

My boss said she’d “take care of me” later.

But this turned out to be a disappointment too.

The “taking care of me” was letting her drive me through the Starbucks drive-thru and having a coffee on her company credit card, while she spent the 10-minute drive not apologizing and raving about her very funny joke.

I smiled and chuckled and sipped my Pike Place and held back tears.

To her, this was the final straw.

$15 isn’t much, but every dollar counts, and I had decided to short my own mother a stocking stuffer because of the Secret Santa.

I found a new job a few months later and spent the last few months there avoiding my boss.

When HR followed up later, she didn’t spare the details.

The kicker: HR asked if I received a present from my boss. I told the truth and said she bought me a coffee on the company card.

She said she was sorry and would look into it.

Crickets.

She only hoped her boss got her karma a different way.

Meanwhile, my boss’s monitor looked adorable, her office smelled fragrant, and I hope she told her story of how she ****** me over the holidays and got at least a small side-eye.

Driving through Starbucks is not a gift, lady!

What did Reddit think?

It’s very possible this boss did end up being punished, at least in some small way.

Just because someone is in a highly paid profession does not mean they give good gifts.

Lopsided gift giving often creates hurt feelings.

Is Secret Santa even appropriate for a workplace?

If anything, this gift exchanged revealed the red flag this employee needed to get the heck out of there.

Power trips don’t make great presents.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.