A staffing shortage that nearly closes an entire clinic is the kind of problem that demands immediate action — not office politics.

When a healthcare manager asked HR to clarify the recruiting process after her clinic nearly had to shut its doors over a staffing gap, HR responded by copying the CEO on a pointed email accusing her of jumping the chain of command.

Suddenly, egos came before the patients.

Keep reading for the full story.

Asked HR a question and got scolded

I’m in a manager role at a healthcare practice.

Recruitment process is a nightmare, and the concerns I’ve voiced since starting almost came to fruition over the weekend — staff called out and we would potentially need to shut down the clinic if not resolved.

It soon became clear HR wasn’t on the same page at all.

On Monday, after HR posted a job without me first reviewing it, I asked HR if we could clearly define who is responsible for each step in the recruiting cycle.

This morning I got a nasty response accusing me of jumping the chain of command, with the CEO copied in on the response.

She doesn’t understand how this could be possible.

To make it clear, I report to a director, who reports to the CEO.

So how did I overstep when I asked HR about recruiting? Who else was I supposed to ask?

I feel that looping in the CEO is actually jumping the chain.

In her eyes, HR is pretty incompetent.

Our HR is a total mess, and the leadership is protecting their feelings instead of focusing on company functionality and performance.

I like the job, the physicians, and the staff — but HR is making it impossible to be successful.

She’s starting to question how far she’s willing to go for this job.

Luckily, I’m financially secure and have other streams of income, so if I get fired I’m fine.

But I don’t want to stress over asking a legitimate question.

What a nightmare.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Some HR personnel tend to put their egos before their duties.

Sometimes you just have to smother your enemies with corporate kindness.

This user makes their distaste for HR very clear.

This user shares what they would do in this situation.

Clarifying a process that nearly shut down an entire clinic is not a chain of command violation — it’s literally just the right thing to do.

Clearly not everyone is cut out to work in HR.

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.