Some managers and bosses like to play hardball with employees…and it can be quite hilarious when those tactics backfire and they get put in their place.

A worker talked about what a former fellow employee did when his old boss kept giving him the cold shoulder.

Read on and find out what happened.

Hey! Nice running into you! Small world, right? Say, would you mind signing this receipt?

“Years ago I got an odd weekend call from a former coworker, Keith.

His parents were elderly and needed help, so he’d resigned to move home and help care for them.

After some niceties about how the move went and how the kids were doing in Nowhere, Ohio, I finally got him to spit out why he’d called.

Keith: See, Anne (his former boss) has gone scorched earth. She took my resignation personally and now she’s making it impossible to return all the company equipment I have.

What was going on here?

Me: Whad’ya mean, impossible?

Keith: Well, before the move I tried to set up a time to drop it at the office. Anne, through her secretary, told me that if I set foot on the property she’d have me trespassed.

Me: Ouch.

Keith: So I FedEx’d it. Three boxes, cost me almost $300 with insurance. She refused delivery and they arrived back on my porch this morning.

Me: Christ. The company normally pays for shipping for stuff like that, so I can set up a pickup if you like.

Keith: She’ll just refuse it again. What would be helpful is a copy of the employee manual. I have one, but it’s in a box in the garage, and…

I email over a copy and Keith asks me an odd question; Will any of our workers will be attending next week’s convention in Cleveland?

Well, yes!

Me: Well. If the calendar is right the VP of Sales, ‘Irish’ Terry from Marketing, and Anne are all going. Why? You trying to avoid them?

Keith: Oh, no.. Just wanted a heads up, that’s all.

Enter Malicious Compliance.

See, the employee manual said Keith had to return his equipment to his boss. It did not specify where, when, or how.

Here you go!

Anne was furious when, on the first day of the convention, Keith strolled over to their booth with a hand truck and, after some chit-chat with the VP, asked her to sign a receipt for the two laptops, monitor, and fax machine.

According to ‘Irish’ Terry, the VP’s presence was the only reason Anne’s ensuing screaming fit didn’t devolve into chaos.

Chaos or no, her screaming on the convention floor was embarrassing enough to the VP that he sent Anne home early, with the three big boxes of Keith’s returned stuff in tow.”

And this is how people reacted on Reddit.

This person chimed in.

Another individual shared their thoughts.

This Reddit user was shocked.

Another reader had a lot to say.

And this person spoke up.

This malicious compliance was oh-so satisfying!

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