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Restaurants often give special treatment to important guests, or guests who happen to be friends with the owners.

What would you do if the owner of the restaurant where you worked always gave extra special treatment to one customer, but then you overheard that customer talking very badly about the owner?

That is the situation that the waitress in this story is in, and now she isn’t sure whether she should report it to the owner or just keep quiet and mind her own business.

Personally, I think she should very tactfully tell the owner, but then respect whatever decision they make when it comes to how to handle it. Read through the full story below and see if you agree.

WIBTA if I told my boss that a woman she absolutely adores is making fun of her behind her back?

My boss is the owner of the restaurant where I work.

There will always be VIPs who get treated specially.

There’s a woman who comes in fairly regularly who my boss absolutely fawns over. She’s also a fairly prominent person in our city’s dining scene, so my boss seems particularly eager to impress her.

She and her friends get treated very well when they come in, including having tables blocked off around them because she insists on not sitting next to anyone.

Gossip can be so hurtful.

The problem is that I’ve overheard this woman making fun of my boss behind her back, and it has happened more than once.

The first time, I was standing near the wine station and overheard her telling a friend that it was “pathetic” that my boss only got the restaurant in her divorce.

She also made a comment about her ex’s new wife being much better looking.

This woman sounds awful.

Another time, I watched my boss have a long conversation with her. As soon as my boss walked away, this woman and her friend burst out laughing.

She said something along the lines of “I told you,” and her friend agreed that my boss was embarrassing/ desperate. I don’t remember the exact wording of that conversation, but I remember the general gist very clearly.

She is really taking advantage of the owner.

There’s also a financial side to this. A server once told me that this woman brought a friend who was hesitant to order an expensive bottle of wine. The woman apparently told her, “Just order it, [the owner] will comp it,” and then the two of them laughed about it.

I obviously didn’t personally witness that one, so I don’t know exactly what happened. My boss also seems to give them preferential treatment in ways that potentially cost the restaurant money.

This waitress feels obliged to help protect her boss.

This woman insists on sitting with no one next to her, so we’ll sometimes block off the tables immediately beside her. That means we’re often turning away paying guests and losing revenue just to accommodate her.

My boss recently went through a divorce, and I actually had a somewhat personal conversation with her about it last year. We were both drinking quite a bit, and she opened up to me about some things. I felt like we had a connection that was somewhat beyond a strictly professional boss/employee relationship.

She is in a difficult position.

That’s part of why I’m struggling with whether to say anything. I genuinely don’t want to see my boss being used or humiliated by someone she seems to really like.

At the same time, I’m her employee, not her friend, and I’m worried that telling her could come across as inappropriate, jealous, or like I’m trying to interfere in her personal relationships.

If she does this, it needs to be done carefully.

I also don’t want to tell her based on gossip. I personally witnessed the first two incidents, but the wine story came from another server.

So, would I be out of line if I pulled my boss aside and told her what I personally overheard? Or is this one of those situations where I should stay completely out of it because she’s an adult and it’s her relationship to manage?

WIBTA?

This is certainly a difficult situation. I do think that she should talk to her boss, but do it in a very professional and compassionate way. Privately, tell her what was overheard, and then explain that it is none of her business, but she thought she should know. Then it is left in the owner’s hands.

Let’s see if the people in the comments have any suggestions.

Not everyone reacts to bad news well.

The guest is certainly hurting business.

This commenter thinks she needs to be careful with phrasing.

Give her the information and let her do what she wants with it.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a tech support worker who told a manager a computer needed replaced, only to be told no thanks.

Only telling her boss about what she heard personally is good advice.

She is in a difficult position, but telling her boss is the right thing to do. It will almost certainly be an uncomfortable conversation, but that is part of being an adult.

Hopefully, her boss will handle the difficult news well.