Most workplaces require a certain amount of give-and-take. People adapt to each other’s quirks, communication styles, and limitations because that’s part of working as a team. But what happens when one person’s limitation starts affecting everyone else—and they don’t seem interested in addressing it?

This office worker says one of his coworkers has significant hearing loss in one ear, which creates daily communication challenges. Conversations routinely involve repeating the same answer multiple times, waiting for the coworker to walk closer, or eventually shouting just to be understood. According to OP, this isn’t an occasional inconvenience—it’s a constant part of the workday that affects the entire office.

The frustration isn’t necessarily the hearing impairment itself. It’s the feeling that the coworker acts as though no accommodation is needed, despite regularly struggling to hear conversations and startling when people approach his desk. After years of adjusting his own behavior, OP has reached the point where he’s considering simply speaking normally and leaving the coworker to deal with the consequences.

AITA for treating my disabled coworker like any other coworker?

So, here’s the situation: I work in the office of a company in the construction filed. There are a handful of us men in the room, and one of them is (partially) deaf in one ear.

That is no problem for me and i would look to accomplish his condition.

Here are some scenes from our every day.

Oh boy…

– He’s sitting eight meters away and asks me a question. I answer. He doesn’t understand me. He gets up. I answer again. He doesn’t understand me.

He comes four meters closer. I answer again. He doesn’t understand me. He comes another four meters closer.

Now he’s standing at my desk. I answer again. He doesn’t understand me. I shout at him (the answer). Now he understands me.

Yikes.

– He asks me something while standing next to me.

He turns around and walks away before I can answer. I answer when he’s already a few meters away. He didn’t understand me. He stops, turns around. Doesn’t come any closer. I answer again.

He doesn’t understand me. I have to shout.

So much shouting.

It doesn’t help that his good ear is facing the wall at his workstation.

As a result, it regularly happens that when you come to him, he only notices you when you’re standing right next to him. Then he jumps because you startle him.

This all happens several times a day with all my colleagues.

Woof.

I’ve noticed that some of our colleagues no longer speak to him privately because it’s so exhausting to talk to him (myself included).

I’ve also had the pleasure of training him on some of our programs. Imagine having to shout at someone for half a day…

The problem is that he acts as if he doesn’t have a hearing impairment. My supervisor, who knows him from a previous job, has asked him several times if he wouldn’t like a hearing aid. Whenever the topic comes up, he changes the subject.

Wow.

I hope it’s not something to do with his ego. He’s in his early to mid-50s. Another colleague of mine is also in his early to mid-50s, hears well to me, and proudly showed off his new hearing aid. So hopefully he saw that it’s okay to wear one.

We live in Europe, in a country with national health insurance. A hearing aid is affordable!

Now I’m at my wit’s end because this constant shouting is incredibly exhausting. That’s why I’ve decided to only speak to him at a normal volume. When he didn’t think, that he has bad hearing, why should i act like it? AITA?

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Reddit leaned more toward NTA, with many commenters saying OP’s frustration isn’t really about the hearing loss—it’s about a coworker who appears unwilling to acknowledge or manage a problem that affects everyone around him. Several pointed out that accommodating a disability is one thing; being expected to endlessly repeat yourself, shout across the office, or chase someone down before they walk away is another.

A lot of commenters felt the coworker bears some responsibility here. If he knows he struggles to hear people, there should be some effort on his part to make communication easier, whether that’s positioning himself differently, asking people to face him when speaking, or exploring hearing aids if appropriate. Many noted that the current setup seems to place the entire burden on everyone else in the office.

That said, most people didn’t think OP should intentionally ignore the hearing issue or try to “teach him a lesson.” The consensus was that OP isn’t wrong for being exhausted by the situation—but the real solution is a workplace conversation, not a communication standoff.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who rejects a low contract offer and leaves the company instead.

This person says he needs to learn how to manage it in the workforce.

This person has a suggestion.

And this person is also deaf in one ear and isn’t like this, sooo… 

There’s a difference between accommodating a disability and carrying the entire conversation on your back.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee whose dietary restrictions caused the whole office to turn against her.