Imagine overhearing a supervisor saying mean things about one of your friends at work. Would you confront the supervisor, tell the friend what the supervisor said, or mind your own business?

In this story, one retail worker finds herself in this situation, and she’s not sure if she made the right decision. So far she hasn’t told the coworker what the supervisor said, but she thinks that might not be fair to the coworker.

It would be tough to be in this situation, and I’m honestly not sure exactly how I would handle it. It would partly depend on what exactly the supervisor said, and how it would impact the coworker if she knew or didn’t know what the supervisor said. You don’t want the consequences for the employee to be bad. It’s the supervisor who deserves to be reprimanded.

Let’s read all about it to see if this coworker deserves to know what the supervisor said…or not.

AITA for not telling my coworker the supervisor is talking bad about her

I met my coworker obviously at work and she’s been really nice to me since we met. We usually have the same shifts so we spend a lot of time together

We aren’t friends outside of work tho so it’s like a work friendship.

She overheard her supervisor talking about her coworker.

A few days ago the supervisor of the store we work in came to do her normal check up. My coworker was in her position doing her stuff and I went to the back to print out some prices.

The supervisor came in and started talking to the manager about my coworker and said she had a B face, she looked like she was tired of living, that the manager should change her position, etc. (really mean things)

Mind you, where we get the prices is kinda hidden so she didn’t see me.

After she left I came out and saw her smiling at my coworker

She didn’t tell her coworker.

I debated if I should tell her but she’s very short tempered and I she would lash out on the supervisor.

I don’t want her to lose her job but apparently it’s not the first time the supervisor talks & about her. (I feel bad for her)

I haven’t told her anything and she thinks she’s good with the supervisor

AITA?

Should she tell the coworker what the supervisor said?

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who refused to keep giving his coworker rides to work because he left a mess in his car.

Let’s see what Reddit thinks.

Here’s a vote for not saying anything.

Another person suggests finding a different job.

This person often finds themselves in a similar situation.

Here’s another suggestion.

I agree that saying something to her friend probably wouldn’t actually be helpful. The only thing that might be helpful would be to escalate the situation to someone higher up than the supervisor and manager, possibly anonymously, but this probably wouldn’t actually even matter without proof. If she had recorded her supervisor’s words, that might make a difference.

The last comment basically suggests being vague by telling her coworker something but not giving her details. It might be best for both of them to look for work somewhere else where management doesn’t bad mouth their employees for fun.

It can be hard to feel caught in the middle and to know something you weren’t actually meant to know. Doing the right thing and doing what’s best for everyone isn’t always the same thing. It’s too bad the supervisor’s behavior will probably continue until someone higher up calls her out on it.