Calling someone out usually only works if you have hard evidence and someone to back you up.

So, what would you do if a toxic coworker made passive-aggressive comments and tried to stir up drama whenever possible? Would you just ignore the behavior because you’re at work? Or would you speak up, even if it made you look like the problem?

In the following story, one woman finds herself in this scenario at work and chooses the latter. Here’s what happened.

AITA for calling out my coworker’s actions?

I have a coworker who is generally passive-aggressive towards socially awkward people.

She’s done quite a few rude things, such as trash-talking coworkers who are simply a few feet away, making up drama between people, and making sly comments about how anyone who appears socioeconomically below her is “disgusting.”

I called her out in front of two supervisors (as I genuinely do not feel comfortable being remotely near her without a third person nearby).

She thought she had more time, but apparently not.

The coworker denied all accusations of harassing or disturbing the general flow of work. The supervisors sided with her, stating I had limited evidence to back up my claims, which was true, as I only brought up the issue that early because things were escalating.

I was expecting a few more months before the coworker’s actions began interfering with the progress of the job.

I also thought I had time to gather witnesses (as many times she would say hurtful words around or in front of the assumed target, not to mention she denied saying rude things about someone she went out of her way to pic on and complain about, in front of me) or hard evidence, but I digress.

Now, she’s unsure what to think about the whole thing.

She has yet to do anything outright cruel enough to warrant a warning or put her on management’s radar. She does her job well, but it’s very obvious to me that she’s masking her actual emotions, albeit she’s a good actor.

Yet, she has alarmingly aggressive micro-reactions, a rigid stance, and often raises her chin or glares at people she doesn’t like.

Anywho, during the conversation where I called her out, she claimed to know nothing and was offended that I didn’t pull her aside and talk to her directly. Before I could state my reasoning, I was cut off, and the situation was dismissed.

AITA?

Wow! This coworker sounds like a nightmare to deal with.

Let’s see what the people over at Reddit would do in this situation.

This person tells her what she did wrong.

For this reader, that behavior is draining.

Here’s someone who thinks everyone is wrong.

Yet another reader who thinks she should’ve handled it differently.

This is such an unfair situation.

Next time, she needs to be patient and collect evidence first.

If you thought that was an interesting story, check out what happened when a family gave their in-laws a free place to stay in exchange for babysitting, but things changed when they don’t hold up their end of the bargain.