Small Business Owner Wonders if They’re Wrong for Forcing Manager To Pick Between Demotion or Termination Following No-show

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Oct 21, 2022 12:00 PM EDT

This small business owner gave their newly-promoted manager a choice of a demotion or termination after the manager failed to report for a shift that they were supposed to be running. The manager's failure to notify of their absence and subsequent lack of communication meant that the business was not opened on time and remained closed until after the owner was notified three hours later.

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/AITA (Am I the A**hole) subreddit by Reddit user and business owner, u/Absolut_Failure. They posted their story to the popular subreddit in order to see whether or not they were in the wrong for setting this ultimatum for their newly-promoted manager after they failed to show up for a shift.

You gotta hand it to the employer here, there are quite a few green flags. They address the fact that they feel that they are the "AH" (a**hole) in this situation and make multiple comments that speak to the trust and goodwill they have for their employee.

I completely disagree that they are in the wrong here, the employee has made a massive mistake that has and should shake the trust of their employer. It seems that, based on the whole "spoon" thing (which is explained in the comments), there might be some kind of mental health issues at play here. Seeing as this is their first offense I think firing is a bit harsh, but absolutely the owner should feel like their trust has been shaken and there should be some penalties involved.

What's your call?

Keep reading to see the screenshots, for more workplace drama check out this lunch-stealing coworker who self-reported themselves to HR over some hot sauce deception.