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Trust is supposed to be the bare minimum between a boss and her team, not something that gets tested every time someone takes a sick day.

An employee dealing with a rough morning of congestion and fatigue called out sick, only to have her manager, who’d never once called her in seven months, suddenly need to hear her voice before the day ended.

She picked up anyway, coughing exactly as much as she actually felt like coughing, refusing to perform sickness for someone clearly fishing for a reason to doubt her.

You’ll want to keep reading to find out what Reddit thought of this one.

Boss is very suspicious all the time.

My boss keeps assuming the wrong things, “outing” us in the team chat and then not apologizing or admitting she’s wrong whenever we explain ourselves and it turns out she wasted everyone’s time with unnecessary negativity.

At this point she called our work “below standard” about 5 times since I’ve been there and she never took it back even after we’d proven her wrong. She just never learns.

So when one employee made the mistake of trying to take sick time, it didn’t go over well at all.

Today I took sick leave because I was congested and coughed a lot in the morning and I felt weak. I signed in and out a few times cause we’re really busy and I wanted to complete some tasks regardless.

At one point I asked her a question and she took long to reply, which is unlike her.

Right as she finished work, she asked if she could call me to reply instead because she’d already packed and was walking to her car.

But the employee’s boss was up to no good once again.

I knew what she was doing. She was trying to hear if I’m really congested. Been working there 7 months and she never called me once until today.

Still, I cleared my throat and picked up. I don’t want to play her game and try to sound as congested and sick as I can. I have nothing to hide.

I wasn’t as congested as I was this morning due to getting rid of a lot of bile, doing nasal rinse, and taking medication, but I was congested. Still, she will probably gossip about me at the office behind my back.

Then there was the matter of the gossiping.

She tried gossiping about my teammates a few times with me. She apparently “knew” that my teammate took advantage and wasted a lot of time talking on his phone in the bathroom one morning when my manager was off last week because my manager’s friend (another manager) told her.

I was there and my teammate didn’t waste time. He was in the bathroom and got a call from the hospital that lasted 5 minutes. I wanted to use the bathroom and waited in the kitchen close by for him to come out. I even heard the last bit of conversation he had with the hospital because he was still talking as he was leaving the bathroom.

Basically, he just had a 5-minute call with the hospital one morning. He doesn’t take cigarette or coffee breaks.

Needless to say, all of this has created quite the toxic work environment.

My manager calls herself the hawk. What an idiot. We’re all unhappy and would leave in an instant if the job market wasn’t so terrible.

The salary is low and we’re not allowed to work from home. First opportunity that comes along, we’re out. All of us. Literally no redeeming qualities in this job and she does this.

This boss has some major trust issues.

What did Reddit have to say?

Normal bosses don’t behave this way.

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You shouldn’t be making such wild assumptions about people, especially when you’re the boss.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a widow who returned to a store to thank employees for their kindness to her late husband.

Good bosses actually have some humility.

This manager clearly runs her team on suspicion first and facts a distant second.

Suddenly needing a phone call on someone’s one sick day, after seven months of radio silence was the clear sign that this boss has some issues with trust.

Passing along unverified gossip about a coworker’s bathroom break without bothering to check what actually happened says everything about her priorities.

Real leaders don’t behave this way.

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.