Workplace conflicts often start over surprisingly small things, until suddenly they turn into arguments about responsibility, accountability, and who should be cleaning up after whom.

This disagreement started between two sports teachers who share access to multiple equipment storage spaces. According to OP, the system is pretty straightforward: each teacher puts away the equipment they personally use, and the last person leaving checks that everything is locked up properly. Most of the time, that arrangement works without issue.

On the day in question, OP was using badminton equipment stored in a separate room, while her coworker was using equipment from Garage 1. After finishing her lesson, OP says she cleaned up everything she used and put it back in the correct storage area before heading to the dressing room. Her coworker finished first and left without locking Garage 1.

The next day, however, instead of owning the mistake, the coworker confronted OP and accused her of not cleaning up properly and failing to lock up—despite the fact that she hadn’t used anything in that garage at all.

Aitah for not checking if my coworker cleaned up properly?

So, we have a ruffle. We’re both sports teachers. Usually one finishes up before the other and everybody puts away what he/she used. The last one also checks and closes down the garage.

Coworker (38m) was using garage 1 and I (43f) was using the badminton equipment which we keep in another room.

So after we both finished our lessons I put away everything I had been using in the storage room and went to the dress room.

All seems copasetic…

While he finished before me and left garage 1 unlocked.

It is unclear if this was by mistake or he thought I might still go in there because ???

He knew that I wasn’t using any of the stuff from that garage and I didn’t have any reason to go there.

Hmmm…

Today he called me out and said that I always forget to clean up after myself and do not lock things up. I replied that when I do not use a garage I also do not go in there to check or look around.

It would have been his job as he is was the one using it. Occasionally I check, but it is not my responsibility.

He thinks I am ta because we should check before leaving. I think everybody should be putting away what he or she had been using and I am not responsible for him.

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Reddit seemed split between NTA and ESH. Many commenters agreed that OP shouldn’t be solely responsible for checking a garage she didn’t use. In their view, the coworker used Garage 1, left it unlocked, and should have taken responsibility instead of immediately blaming someone else. That’s why a lot of readers felt OP had a valid point.

At the same time, some commenters felt both sides contributed to the conflict because the system around closing up doesn’t sound especially clear. If there’s an expectation that the last person leaving does a final walkthrough of all spaces, then OP may have had some shared responsibility—even if she wasn’t the one using that equipment. Others felt the bigger issue was less about the unlocked garage and more about how quickly the conversation turned accusatory on both sides.

The general takeaway was that the coworker likely bears most of the blame, but this situation also exposed a need for clearer expectations so these kinds of disputes don’t keep happening.

This person says ESH.

This person says NTA.

And this person says YTA.

Your coworker shouldn’t dump his mistake on you, but a clearer system might save both of you a lot of pointless drama.

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