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Working with different personalities is part of almost every job. But when one coworker repeatedly creates conflict—and management refuses to intervene—it can leave employees feeling trapped.
One worker says they’re almost always assigned to two-person projects with the same colleague because everyone else on the team has already lost their patience. According to OP, the coworker has Asperger’s syndrome, frequently comes to work smelling of alcohol, constantly criticizes how tasks are completed, and repeatedly takes credit for other people’s work.
Despite asking their supervisor for a break or the chance to work independently, OP says nothing has changed. After months of feeling micromanaged, blamed for mistakes, and even secretly photographed over minor errors, they’re beginning to wonder if finding a new job is the only option left.
My coworker that I am nearly exclusively assigned two man projects with has Asbergers and is very difficult to work with.
Hey yall, so the guy who I am made to work with has asberger syndrome as well as a drinking problem.
It causes him to miss a lot of social cues, and be oblivious to the fact that some of his habits can quickly wear on people’s nerves.
He is high functioning, and very intelligent, but can also be manipulative. He frequently shows up to work smelling like alcohol. The company I work for looks the other way.
That doesn’t seem right.
I tend to be paired with him frequently because every one else in my department has flipped out on him multiple times, and I am very accommodating of his behaviors.
But my patience is running very thin at this point. Asked my supervisor multiple times to give me a break from him and either pair me with someone else or put me on solo projects once in a while, but every day is the same.
So this guy will constantly try to tell you that your doing a task the wrong way, even though there are multiple ways to go about it and achieve the desired results. Im just doing what works best for me.
Just leave me be, bro.
Also, he will go behind me and try to redo something I just did, example: I place a pallet of goods in a designated staging area and move on to the next task, he immediately swoops in and moves the pallet three inches to the left, even though the forklift operator was allready lining up to grab the pallet and load it on the truck.
He does this with everything thing I do, im surprised he doesn’t follow me in the bathroom and tell me I’m not pooping the right way.
He will also try and blame me for things he has messed up, standing right in front of me, like I wasn’t there when you messed it up.
That’s so unfair.
He takes credit for my standout ideas and accomplishments, once again right in front of me.
I’ve also caught him taking video or photos of me correcting a simple, no big deal kind of mistake I made. Then he will go around showing people the video/photo. He’s done that several times.
I’m at the end of my rope here, my supervisor won’t do anything about it, and im gonna flip out any day now. I guess I’ll have to start looking for another job.
Reddit largely sympathized with OP, but many commenters urged them to separate the coworker’s autism from the behaviors causing the conflict. Readers pointed out that being controlling, taking credit for someone else’s work, blaming coworkers for mistakes, or allegedly coming to work under the influence are workplace issues regardless of any diagnosis.
Many felt the bigger problem was management’s response. Commenters criticized the supervisor for repeatedly assigning OP to a partnership that clearly wasn’t working simply because they had been the most patient employee. Several noted that accommodating a coworker shouldn’t mean forcing one employee to shoulder an unhealthy working relationship indefinitely.
Others encouraged OP to begin documenting specific incidents—including dates, witnesses, and examples of inappropriate behavior—and to escalate concerns to HR if available. If the company continued ignoring reports of alleged intoxication, retaliation, or inappropriate conduct, many agreed it would be reasonable to start looking for another job rather than waiting for the situation to deteriorate further.
The overall consensus was that OP wasn’t frustrated because their coworker is autistic—they were frustrated because they felt unsupported by management. Reddit agreed that supervisors have a responsibility to address disruptive workplace behavior, regardless of who is exhibiting it.
This person has some…advice. 
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a hotel guest that made a scene in the middle of the night, then immediately wished they hadn’t.
This person relates.
I mean…
Being the most patient person in the room shouldn’t make you the permanent solution to everyone else’s problem.