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Calling in sick is not just for when you are ill, but also for mental health or other reasons.

What would you do if you had a coworker who kept reporting you for things you didn’t do, so you demanded a meeting with HR? But the meeting wasn’t going to happen for a few days, so the next day you called in sick because you were scheduled to work with the coworker?

That is what happened to the guy in this story, and now his other coworkers are mad at him for leaving them short staffed.

Personally, I don’t think he did anything wrong, and he was really just protecting himself. Read on to get all the details and see if you agree.

AITA for leaving work short staffed after someone tried to get me fired?

I work in a nursing home, and am basically the guy that makes sure everyone gets a meal that they are able to eat safely.

They don’t want the workers getting distracted, I’m sure.

Its not a hard job but there are some restrictions. Basically we can’t have any electronics on us (save for a smart watch) unless we’re on break; and even then we can’t have them out in any area’s that have patients.

Last bit of background info is that right now, non-medical staff doesn’t have a break room.

He must be really good at his job.

So, for people in my position, we’ll check our phones in the “pantry” which our manager has okay’d until the break room gets dealt with.

I’m a new hire but quickly became indispensable. I’m supposed to work 30 hours bi-weekly, but since we’ve had people quit, and a bunch of people who just don’t show up, I usually work 30-40 hours a week to cover for them.

I’m also a full-time uni student.

Why do some workers think they need to go against the others?

The last few weeks I’ve been working with one lady (she’s a coworker), who I honestly think has it out for me.

She has called and reported everything I’ve done to my manager. Everything. Things that aren’t against the rules but might be a bit questionable — reported.

The manager should really do more than this.

Heck, she reported me for taking my medication on the clock.

All of these basically amounted to my manager saying like “Well, you do your job but like I don’t know, try to limit how much you do that annoys her?”

Is he allowed to have this iPad?

Which, okay fine, whatever. But then we get to the part that really grinds my gears.

I have an iPad with a keyboard case; this is where I keep all my textbooks for school, and where I take my handwritten notes, which I later convert to text to ease my studying.

Ok, so he was allowed to use the computer. But, of course, the coworker reported him anyway.

So, on my lunch Tuesday, I went outside where we are 100% allowed to use technology and take our breaks, set up my iPad, and pounded out an assignment in my 20-minute lunch break.

Well, the report my manager got, says that I sat at a patient table in the dining room, pulled out a computer, and worked on personal projects for over 1.5 hours.

He is smart to protect himself.

This is false, and I refused to sign anything until HR gets involved and a review of the security footage is done.

This is taken very seriously, as this is considered a breach of my contract; I can 100% get fired for this, despite never having done it.

Staffing issues are not his problem.

I know the report was from the lady that’s reported everything. I wasn’t told this, but it isn’t hard to figure out.

I was scheduled to work with her again tomorrow, but seeing as how things have been going, I called in. Nobody can fill the shift (seeing as I’m usually the one who fills in), and so work is short staffed.

Calling in sick is never a bad thing in these situations.

A few of my friends have called me a petty jerk for leaving them short tomorrow, and one of my coworkers is mad at me.

I work with the lady this a lot in the future, and I feel like I’m justified to take a day off and calm down before going back.

AITA?

If calling in sick causes that much of a problem, the company has a problem. He did nothing wrong here, and his boss needs to hire more people and fire that lady.

Check out what the people in the comments have to say about it.

The company deserves what they are getting.

The colleagues are mad at the wrong people.

I don’t think this is a bad idea, really.

Here is someone who is mad on his behalf.

This commenter says he has every right to do this.

He is just protecting himself since the company won’t do it for him. I wouldn’t blame him for avoiding working with her until after the meeting with HR.

It is important to remember that managers are often lazy, and you have to force them to do the right thing.