'CEBro went nuclear': Employee takes DNA test, turns out their CEO is their half-brother, CEO tries to get them fired

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Mar 6, 2023 8:00 AM EST

This employee literally just wanted to find out if their grandmother was from Ireland...turns out their CEO is their half-brother instead. Talk about taking a DNA test and finding out you are 100% not that b****. This thread was originally posted [Ask a Manager] and was subsequently reposted to Reddit's r/BestofRedditorUpdates by u/supertoasty, and wow, there are more twists and turns in this one than anything streaming on Netflix right now.

 

Not only was this an upsetting turn of events for the original poster's family, but also this Redditor had absolutely no idea their CEO would find out and would subsequently initiate such a shady, over-the-top project to get them fired. The hero of this story, as several folks in the comments section pointed out, would be Katie, the original poster's direct manager who anticipated all this shadiness and made sure that the Redditor was protected. Keep scrolling below to see how the CEO's actions were found out. For more, here's a story about a rejected job applicant being unfairly asked to help for free.

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  • 01
    Purple
    via Louis Reed
  • 02
    Font - [AskAManager] a DNA test revealed the CEO is my half brother ... and he's freaking out EXTERNAL I am not the OP. The original was a question sent to Alison from askamanager; as per her request, her advice has been omitted, and only the letter and update will be posted here. Mood spoiler: Somewhat infuriating because of HR, but ultimately hopeful for OOP
    via u/supertoasty
  • 03
    Font - My dad gave the whole family DNA ancestry kits for the holidays, and it turns out the CEO of the company I work for is my half-brother. Dad's not the kind of guy to gift everyone DNA kits as a way of telling us he had a secret love child, so I don't think he knew he had another kid. We're all grown-ups and know where babies come from and that hings aren't always what we expect, so I have a feeling this is a shock to everyone. The CEO's company bio says he's a "proud Texan, born and raised
    via u/supertoasty
  • 04
    Font - I've met the CEO a few times but he works out of the corporate headquarters across the country from the smaller division where I work. About a week after I got my results, an email went out from the head of HR stating that all staff had to take a refresher training on nepotism. The training also included a new clause that said something like "staff are not entitled to privileges personal or professional if familial relation by genes or marriage to executive or management staff is known or
    via u/supertoasty
  • 05
    Font - My manager later pulled me in personally to ask if I had any questions about the policy. She was vague and uncomfortable, and I said I wanted to know why nobody else was brought in 1:1 to talk about the policy and why no other branch had to do the training. She just kind of ignored the question and said she was just following instructions, so now I think this was aimed at me.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 06
    Font - I'm happy to drop the whole thing. I'm sure he feels as uncomfortable as I do about this, but to weaponize HR and make my coworkers waste a whole day on mandatory training just to put up a boundary seems messed up. A simple personal email of "Hey, I saw this. I don't know what to make of it. Please give me space and don't bring it to work" would have sufficed. Even ignoring it would have been fine by me too since I wasn't sure I wanted to be the one to initiate a conversation about this w
    via u/supertoasty
  • 07
    Font - What bothers me the most is that weaponizing HR with the intent to make sure I know not to ask for perks feels messed up. I've been with the company for five years and have a great reputation. At least I did. What do I do?
    via u/supertoasty
  • 08
    Font - Alison asked if the CEO would have gotten a notification: Yeah, the company is about 200 full- time employees mostly in our two states. He follows a lot of employees on LinkedIn and I'm in a marketing role so my team is in touch with corporate a lot. I've only met him in person a few times, but some projects bring me in close proximity to him and his direct staff. The DNA test has an app, and you get notifications regularly via email and I think push notifications on your phone if you opt
    via u/supertoasty
  • 09
    Font - He has now blocked me on LinkedIn and all social media, and has blocked all my siblings and my parents. I think the jig is up. How do I make sure my job is secure? The gist of the advice is to maybe leave a note acknowledging the DNA test, maybe ignore it, maybe go to HR and invoke the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, but definitely look for a new job.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 10
    Font - UPDATE - 01/03/2023 My short update is that he 100% tried to fire me. The long update is complicated but this month has been unbelievable. Just after my question was posted, my boss "Katie" met with me and told me she was aware of the situation and didn't agree with how the CEO and HR had been handling it in regard to the nepotism training. I told her my only plan was to forget about it for the time being and she supported that. She told me to come to her if anything changed.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 11
    Font - Things were quiet for a week until a major project I was working on was deleted from the company drive. It was a coincidence that I had backed it up on a USB. Katie was suspicious about my project getting deleted and told me to save everything to an external drive and my hardware, and sure enough, the project got deleted again. After that, anything I put on our work servers was getting deleted within hours, as well as any correspondence with clients or my team members. I started sending a
    via u/supertoasty
  • 12
    Font - After a mid-month project meeting where I showed up with all my work on a USB drive HR pulled me in because "an anonymous concern" was raised about me "hiding" my work from my colleagues and tried to write me up. Katie must have known something like this was coming because she handled it and BCCd me on all her correspondence with HR and the executive team outlining her concerns about the CEO's and HR's behavior regarding the DNA results and that she believed someone was remotely accessing
    via u/supertoasty
  • 13
    Font - Katie and I had a call with the VP that day, who assured me that the owners were being made aware of the situation and that my job was not in jeopardy. The VP also apologized for the write-up attempt and the fact someone was obviously remotely accessing my work hardware. That was on a Friday, and my attempted firing was the following Monday.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 14
    Font - CEBro's mom contacted Dad on the homefront as all this was happening at work. I won't get into what was said but the gist is Dad was set up as an unwitting donor for a childless couple. As a family we decided to support Dad and just drop it because we didn't ask for the complete Jerry Springer package, we just wanted to know what part of Ireland Grandma was from.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 15
    Font - The Monday after Dad spoke to CEBro's mother, I was walking through the lobby when HR literally ambushed me and loudly fired me in front of a client and like twenty of my colleagues. Security escorted me out in front of my friends and colleagues who had no idea what was happening so that was pretty dark and humiliating. Katie stopped me on the way to my car and brought me back in for a video call with her, the VP, and the owners of the company. I explained what had happened since I got my
    via u/supertoasty
  • 16
    Font - CEBro did not return after the suspension. I was offered my job back with an apology but I opted not to go back either and have been freelancing and taking some downtime because the last month has sucked. I did accept a generous severance package, so at least they tried to do the right thing.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 17
    Font - While some of this sounds flippant, there have been a lot of tears and stress and freaking out because this was a LOT. I don't like being under a microscope at work or feeling like I'm "in trouble" so it was really increasing a lot of anxiety. I was also hurt because I loved that job and my team and being marched out by security felt awful. Dad feels guilty this turned into me almost losing my job, but none of this is his fault at all. In all of this, I have to say the people I resent the
    via u/supertoasty
  • 18
    Font - Flaired as EXTERNAL because it's from askamanager; otherwise I would probably label this as concluded, as I don't foresee any more updates. Reminder: I'm not OP.
    via u/supertoasty
  • 19
    Font - Candid-Ear-4840 15 hr. ago Katie is an awesome manager. Wow. 5.1k ♡ Reply Share
    via u/supertoasty
  • 20
    Font - anon_user9 14 hr. ago Yeah OOP had a lot of chance to have a manager who gave a and was okay to stand up for her. I wonder if something like that had happened before, HR and management trying to fire someone by bullying them. I don't think I would have think the suppression was malicious from the get to go. 1.4k Reply Share
    via u/supertoasty
  • 21
    Font - doortothe 15 hr. ago I'd have asked for the HR goblins to be sacked because they're clearly malicious. Regardless if i rejoined or not. Reply Share 8.1k
    via u/supertoasty
  • 22
    Font - Orcus424 14 hr. ago The HR people should have been sacked regardless of OOP coming back. Them being manipulated into firing someone then doing it publicly is incredibly unprofessional. Two of the purposes of HR is so the company doesn't get sued and doesn't look bad. They failed on both of those fronts. Sue for wrongful termination would have been a cake walk. 44.1k 4.1k Reply Share
    via u/supertoasty
  • 23
    Font - kapunzel 14 hr. ago We didn't ask for the Jerry Springer package, we just wanted to know what part of Ireland Grandma was from This part broke my heart. OOP's father wanted to do a nice and fun thing and CEBro went nuclear. 2.6k Reply Share
    via u/supertoasty
  • 24
    Font - myxanders 15 hr. ago Katie is an MVP here. 1.2k Reply Share Candid-Ear-4840 14 hr. ago 334 . Y'know, the CEO position is now open... Reply Share
    via u/supertoasty
  • 25
    Font - AiryContrary 15 hr. ago I wonder how CEBro has rewritten this in his head. "I knew that evil grasping b half-sibling would try to get something from me so I had to defend myself but I didn't realise they were so vengeful they would get me FIRED for doing NOTHING WRONG!!!" I hope he steps in warm dog piss wearing socks. (It feels worse than bare feet somehow.) Reply Share 2.1k
    via u/supertoasty
  • 26
    Rectangle - bobobokeh 15 hr. ago Wow, CEBro and HR really tried to set up the company to get sued. OOP's boss is an awesome lady though! 138 Reply Share
    via u/supertoasty
  • 27
    Product - LongLostStorybook - 15 hr. ago That was evil. And I would sue. And I'm not sue happy. Reply Share 1.9k
    via u/supertoasty

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