When you own some businesses, it can be nice to hire family members to help them out when you are in need.

What would you do if your brother-in-law was working with you but performed terribly and even crashed a car he was driving for the company because he was drunk?

That is what happened to the guy in this story, so he fired him, but now the rest of his family is saying that it was mean and he should hire him back.

AITA for firing my brother-in-law?

I (M39) have been married to my wife (F36, let’s call her Pam) for 15 years.

Financial problems can make life hard.

We have a 14 year old son, and Pam has a younger brother (28, let’s call him Dwight).

Dwight, his pregnant wife Angela (24) have been facing financial difficulties.

Why would he quit before finding something new?

Around six months ago, Dwight reached out to me for help finding a new job. He said he quit the previous job I found for him, claiming an “abusive work environment,” and said he needed a new job urgently since his wife was about to give birth.

I own an auto repair shop among other businesses, so I offered him a job at the shop, because I believed Dwight was interested in cars.

That is a very generous offer.

Pam supported this idea, hoping it would provide him with a stable job.

However, over the subsequent months, it became evident that Dwight wasn’t committed to the job.

I bet that was very disappointing.

Instead of helping and learning, he spent his time watching anime on his phone. He frequently arrived late, left without notice, and was generally unproductive.

The cars we repair are usually expensive cars. So, some of our customers appreciate it when we pick up and deliver their cars.

Can’t he even pick up cars?

In an effort to give him responsibilities, I assigned Dwight to manage customer car deliveries (which happened just a few times per week), a task he continued to perform poorly.

The tipping point occurred when I gave Dwight a customer’s car to deliver, but he called and said his wife Angela needed to go to the hospital. It wasn’t anything serious but he couldn’t deliver the car.

I said I could handle it myself, but he said he could do it first thing in the morning.

This is well beyond just irresponsible.

The next morning at 4 am, my phone rang. It was Dwight. He said he crashed the car he was supposed to deliver. In short, he decided to drive the car to his hometown to “see his boys”, got drunk, and crashed 150 km away from home on his way back.

Miraculously, he wasn’t seriously injured. But he trashed the car so I had to replace it. He damaged a lot of roadside barriers as well. The whole thing cost me about $70,000.

How could he not fire him?

The next day I fired Dwight, despite my mother-in-law’s attempts to intervene. I felt Dwight was a risk to my businesses and couldn’t be tolerated.

(I also own nightclubs, hotels, etc. All businesses that people leave their cars. People know me here, they talk.)

If they think Dwight is a good guy, let them hire him.

This decision caused a rift in the family, with my wife’s parents and other relatives siding with Dwight, and pressuring me to reconsider.

As a result of her family’s influence, a week after the incident Pam changed her stance and started to want me to hire Dwight again.

It is hard to imagine why anyone would want to hire him.

This was an unexpected shift, as she fully supported my decision at first. I also engaged in a heated confrontation with my in-laws, but I stood my ground and refused to apologize for my decision.

I now find myself isolated from my family (my in-laws, my wife, and my son) who all believe I was harsh and unreasonable towards Dwight.

Unless there are details missing, this guy is 100% right.

I don’t think I was, so I can’t bring myself to apologize. Am I in the wrong here?

I don’t think I am, so I need other perspectives.

AITA?

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If he has given all the relevant details, then I don’t see how anyone in their right mind could say that he shouldn’t fire the guy.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who just let clients complain after her boss refused to approve overtime.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about the whole thing.

He can have a job when he repays the losses.

There is no way he can hire him back.

I 100% agree with this commenter.

Just because he is family doesn’t mean he is owed anything.

This person says he needs to protect his business.

He should absolutely never hire this guy again.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a mom who homeschooled during the day and worked at night, only to have her employer try to change her schedule.