Workplace complaints have a funny way of turning small annoyances into full-blown power struggles.

So when one EMT’s boss started issuing unofficial parking orders because neighbors didn’t like the rumble of his diesel truck, it made the employee’s job 10x harder.

And instead of quietly accepting his boss’ misguidance, he decided to escalate the issue to someone higher up.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA If I Went Above My Boss To His Boss…

I started working EMS again at one of my local hospitals as an EMT. It’s a great job, decent pay as an EMT, and great partners.

As a daily vehicle, I drive a 2008 Cummins that was modified before I bought it with a straight pipe exhaust with no mufflers or resonators.

Needless to say, this car has seen its better days.

It’s a “Salt Belt” truck, so there’s rust, especially on the exhaust pipe. It rusted most of the hangers and it vibrates when it’s cold.

Cool.

My last rotation on Night Shift was two weeks ago. It had been super cold and both of my maintenance batteries froze and went bad.

So desperate times called for desperate measures, but the boss wasn’t pleased.

I had to leave my truck running all night so I could get home and replace them.

My supervisor (who is rarely ever actually in the EMS office) informed me there had been complaints from hospital neighbors that my truck was left on.

I informed him that the issue was taken care of, and that there would be no reason to leave it on all night again.

He was cool with it!

But that wasn’t the end of it.

Fast forward a week to yesterday.

At the start of the shift, he informed me that he had received another complaint because I started my truck 10 minutes before the end of my shift (6PM-6AM).

I told him that I hadn’t left it on all night, that I was following the rule he had already set.

So the boss suggested an alternative.

He requested I park on the back side of the hospital, below the hill, and see if the “complaints” stop.

I told him I would consider that AFTER I just begin starting my truck up immediately at 6AM and drive off immediately, to see if that would prevent anything.

He replied, “I just don’t want anymore phone calls,” no “Let’s try this first.”

Tonight, he saw I parked where I thought would be better.

But the boss continued to make his life difficult.

I parked in the employee’s parking, back of my truck pointing down the hill, under the water tower.

He, instead of calling me directly, made my partner the middle man and told me to move my truck or call him if I had a problem with it.

So eventually the driver started looking into the rules himself.

I had been reading through the city’s ordinance for exhaust systems and found nothing besides a rule stating “no noise can be made above 64db 25 feet from the source or same distance from the property line of the complaining party.”

I informed him of this via text and he called me.

The boss wasn’t keen on being corrected.

Very angry, stated “I am your boss; therefore you will go with the options I gave you. We don’t follow city ordinance. Is that understood?”

I said “Yup, sure” and hung up.

So he decided to just go above his boss’ head altogether.

Being the petty person I am, I contacted his boss via email and gave her the run down of the situation, the steps we’ve taken, and the conversation we just had.

I informed her that the location he wants me to park in causes more echo off the hospital to more homes than it does where I park, anyway.

There are no rules in the employee handbook regarding noise, only where employees are allowed to park.

AITA since I went above his head and won’t follow a rule that doesn’t exist because it would cause more problems?

This was a bold move, but maybe a necessary one.

What did Reddit think?

It’s possible this boss will make his life even more of a nightmare now.

This commenter doens’t mess around about unneeded vehicle noise.

It’s always good to leave a paper trail.

This user can’t help but wonder what happened next.

When you make up rules, you shouldn’t be surprised when someone refuses to follow them.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.