Imagine working a retail job where you have a locker you can use to store your personal belongings. What would you do if you came back from your lunch break and saw that someone had cut the lock on your locker, taking some of the things you had inside?

In this story, one woman was in this situation, so she immediately talked to her supervisor. The crazy part is that her supervisor is the one who opened her locker!

She ended up getting her things back, but she’s really upset about why he opened her locker and thinks he should’ve handled the situation differently.

While she does not agree that what he did was okay, she’s also not sure if reporting him to HR is the right thing to do.

Keep reading for all the details about why her supervisor broke into her locker and why she’s so hesitant to report him to HR.

WIATAH for report my supervisor to HR for breaking into my locker?

I (33F) work as a personal shopper for a big box store.

We use handheld scanners and printers for orders, and because handhelds often go missing, there’s a 9-month-old policy requiring us to sign them in and out each shift.

Today, I signed out my handheld, grabbed a printer, put both in my locker, and went on my hour lunch break.

When I returned, my lock had been cut off with bolt cutters, and my handheld and printer were gone. Thankfully my purse wasn’t in there, because the locker was left wide open.

It sounds like the supervisor did it!

I asked my supervisor why my locker was broken into.

He said he was “tired of people hoarding handhelds” and that they need to be accessible when someone is on lunch or clocked out.

I explained that if I let someone use my signed-out handheld, I might not have equipment when I return—and if they lost it, I’d be held responsible.

He had no real answer, just repeated his “accessible to everyone” point.

At least she got her stuff back.

Later, he gave me my handheld and printer back, saying he’d get me a new lock.

I told him I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my purse there anymore and would keep it in my car.

I spoke with my direct manager and another supervisor; they sympathized and agreed it’s contradictory to make us responsible for signed-out equipment while also treating it like community property. They said there’d be a meeting about it.

She doesn’t really want to report him.

Friends and family think my supervisor violated my personal space and that I should report it to HR.

I’m hesitant—it wouldn’t be anonymous since my locker was the only one broken into, and I’m worried it could make things worse.

What frustrates me most is that if he’d taken a moment to see whose locker it was, we could’ve talked about it. I’ve stored my equipment in my locker during lunch for over a year without issue.

Instead, I feel singled out, embarrassed, and like he overstepped his authority—especially since he didn’t even give the equipment to someone in need, just kept it until I asked about the break-in.

Yikes! I think she should report her supervisor. Breaking into her locker was not okay.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this post about a man who wants to report a coworker to HR over unprofessional behavior following a missed promotion.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person has a theory.

Another person is on her side.

What’s the policy?

Another person points out the bigger problem.

It is possible that the supervisor thought she had something else in her locker and took the scanner just to justify opening the locker. Maybe there’s something he wasn’t telling her.

I’d be upset if this happened to me. I think she should go to HR.

If the policy is to turn in the handheld when you’re on your lunch break, then the supervisor was right. He still should’ve talked to her about it though instead of cutting the lock on her locker.

If the policy doesn’t say that you have to turn in the handheld, then she did nothing wrong. In fact, I think it was a really responsible decision to lock it in her locker so it would be safe. Would they rather have her take it with her on her lunch break where it would be easier to get lost or stolen?