Few things feel better than getting back at someone who wronged you in the past.

So, what would you do if you stumbled across your former employer drilling into a protected heritage building and covering a historic mural with an advertisement? Would you shrug it off since it’s not your business? Or would you quietly document it and report it to the proper authorities?

In the following story, a former sign shop employee finds himself facing this decision and decides to do what’s right. Here’s what he did.

Got my old Boss in trouble and fined.

Years ago, I used to work at an old sign shop. A few days ago, I happened to be in a part of my city that is a part of a “heritage zone,” which is a few blocks of buildings and a main street that is very old (over 250 years).

Any work in that area (to the buildings or other “heritage structures”) needs to be approved by the heritage committee. It’s honestly an easy process that I have worked with when you want to put up new signage in any of those areas.

They have rules and regulations you need to follow, and yes, while it may take longer and involve more paperwork, it does keep that whole area looking sharp and keep that “old timer” feel.

They were breaking two rules.

While I was shopping (in the area), I happened to see my old company work van on site nearby, and it was installing a flat sign on the side of a building, as in, physically drilling into the side of the building.

This is a huge no-no.

What was worse, the sign covered a commemorative, hand-painted mural depicting the place’s history and why that building in particular was special. All to advertise the local “old time candy shoppe” summer sale.

He walked up and questioned the employee.

I walked over to ask the employee (they would have no idea who I was) if they were allowed to do that.

They told me, “Of course, it’s their [the business owner’s] building, they can do what they want.”

So I took a few photos, made sure to include the shop’s van with the shop’s name on it, and the building it was being installed on (I made sure not to include the employee’s face), and emailed it to the Heritage Society, seeing if they approved this (knowing they didn’t).

His boss told him the good news.

On Friday (yesterday), my Boss (I work at a new sign shop now) came back from lunch and was like, “Did you hear about ‘old sign shop’? Apparently, they damaged a heritage building in the ‘old part of town’ and are now being fined for it. They are in so much trouble.”

I just smiled and pulled out my phone to show him the photos and the email I sent.

It was a good Friday.

Yikes! You’d think they would’ve known better.

Let’s check out what the people over at Reddit think about what happened here.

They really don’t.

Here’s a good point.

Ooh, this is a good thought.

This woman dealt with a bad boss.

Thank goodness for him, because he did everyone a favor.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.