Update: 'Let's escalate directly to the head of HR': Boss defends tech worker from absurd policy violation

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 30, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

When this employee was wrongly accused, his boss defended him – and uncovered some face-palm-inducing incompetence at their company. 

As the OOP of this post knows all too well, it requires a certain set of skills to excel at people management. But as they wrote in a post to r/talesfromtechsupport, they were not only having an issue with the tech they managed, but with the HR department. HR levied a serious accusation against the tech. They wrote that the dude "massively violated the IT data policy," and without even talking to that employee, HR began to plan  to fire them!

The OOP did not approve of that plan. But they're the kind of person who gets everything in writing and records calls and meetings. So they checked the call logs and got to work defending the tech from the pretty silly accusations.

Up next, this mom wanted to throw her kid a pizza party, but the pizza place had some strange alternative plans for her. 

Advertisement
  • 01
    Computer - 10000 Monte d DANCING
    via Austin Distel
  • 02
    Font - OOP gets a situation escalated straight to the head of HR without asking CONCLUDED **I am NOT OP. Original post by u/TheLightning Count1 in r/talesfromtechsupport
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 03
    Font - Lets escalate directly to the head of HR. Or how I stopped being apathetic and actually. gave a cp about my job. (For once.) Part 1 Actors in this play are as follows. This happened yesterday by the way. Today's events will be posted tomorrow. $HHR=Head of HR $Me = ME $HIT = Head of IT $T = Tech $U = User
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 04
    Font - I got an email this morning with a scathing report about one of my techs. $HHR - I need to inform you of a situaiton I have been made aware of. It seems one of your techs massively violated the IT data policy and security policy last night. I have gone ahead and submitted the termination paperwork to your boss $HIT. Please be aware that this kind of behavior will never be tolerated. I hope that I never have to remind you of this again.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 05
    Font - Around this time one of the accounts team comes over and asks about this. I told them that it was not approved by me and to keep it quiet while I discuss it with $hit.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 06
    Font - The discussion did not take long as the event in question was already flagged for defense. IE I personally flagged it because the tech told me it may come back to bit him in the a
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 07
    Font - I re-review the call logs and oh boy is it dumb. I will just skip to the part in question. $U - Yes I need that mapped to the B drive (branch drive). $T - I can do that for you, however you should know that this location is already mapped to the S drive for scanning. $U - ...OK? I am not understanding what you mean. $T- The drive you are requesting access to is already mapped to a different drive letter. $U - No I need access to the B drive not the S drive. Talking to coworkers thinking s
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 08
    Font - Had to clean up the audio in free audio tool everyone uses first but I was able to get it by compressing it twice. $T - OK I will just map the drive for you. $U - You do know you are speaking to a member of management right? $T - Mutes mic noise Lady I don't care. You are not my manager and are not involved in my management chain. Unmutes mic noise Yes mam I do understand that. I apologize if I have come across as terse. I have mapped the drive here. $U - Wait...this is the same as the S
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 09
    Font - $U - YOU CANT HAVE! ... You cant have 2 access points to the same data. This is a HUGE violation. $T - Umm no it is not. Everyone who is on citrix has an "access point" to the same data. $U - No they do not. No one has access to MY computer. $T - Well mam we actually do cause citrix does not run on your computer. It runs off of a server here in our city. See watch this.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 10
    Font - He placed a text file on her desktop named "test." $U - YOU JUST ACCESSED MY SYSTEM!!! I did NOT authorize that. What is the name of your manager. $T - I just sent you an email with the contact information for $Me and $HIT $U - I am sorry but I have no choice now. I have to report this massive violation to your managers. hangs up
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 11
    Font - I emailed $HHR back with this lovely gem. $ME - After reviewing the event in question, it has been determined that the fault lie 100 percent with the user here. Her clear lack of knowledge in regards to basic server technology led to her thinking she had her machine breached. I have canceled the termination order on my end as well as the emergency maintenance ticket she put in to the orders team.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 12
    Font - In the future all concerns about my team are to come through me. We have a process for terminating an employee, which you set up, that you violated. The employee in question did nothing wrong and was unjustly judged by people who have no understanding of basic computer technology. Please do not violate the policy you set in place for terminating an employee in the future...I hope that I never have to remind you of this again.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 13
    Font - I sent a copy of that to $hit the CIO and the EVPIT. (Or the executive vice president of IT and Technology) About 2 hours later I get an email back from the EVPIT. He apologized for the way that the head of HR acted and promised me that the tech in question will not receive any punishment as he listened to the call himself. Two hours later I am being told that my anual employee review is being pushed up to tomorrow by the head of HR. Editor note: In the comments OOP adds some context that
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 14
    Font - Lets escalate directly to the head of HR. Or how I stopped being apathetic and actually gave a co about my job. (For once.) Finale $ME = ME $hit Head of IT. $HHR = Head of HR $EVPIT = Executive Vice President of IT and Technology. (Yes... I know) = So yesterday was strange, to say the least. The meeting was scheduled for noon so the beginning of my day was pretty mundane. Handled a few issues with users who had purchased their own machines because "ours were not fast enough," even though
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 15
    Font - At noon I walked into the conference room for the video review. $HIT was in there as well as the executive vice president of IT and technology. (yes I know) The conference started hilariously as the head of HR, or $HHR, could not get her video working.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 16
    Font - I walked her through how to fix that as it was a simple error. $ME - Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in? $HHR - Oh duh. Should have known it was something stupid like that.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 17
    Font - We started the conference and HOOO BOOOY. She was gunning for me hard. $HHR - So I have in front of me 19 complaints against you this year. Can you explain these? $ME - That's it? $HHR - Clearly not expecting that. Uhh yes. How do you explain it? $ME - Well as you well know, each complaint is different and most do not have merit. $HHR - So you are saying these complaints were made...incorrectly? $ME - Yes that is exactly what I am saying.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 18
    Font - I pulled out the same folder she probably had. $Me - On Feb 12th User complained that I refused his request. $HHR - Good one to start with? Explain it. $ME - user wanted me to put a folder on his desktop that would allow him to transfer items between his local desktop and citrix. This is not possible unless he works on the domain...which he does not. I offered him several alternative options but he refused each one. He only wanted the original option of a folder on his desktop. $HHR - So
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 19
    Font - The call log is me being professional while she politely berates me on the phone...until she cusses me out. I terminate the call and send it to HR. $Me - That call is the reason why SHE is fired. Your predecessor said I handled it well. $HHR - Ok lets move on to the lady who had to wait 4 extra days to get her laptop back from you. $ME - Name? $HHR - lady who yelled in my face said you helped her 3 days in a row and finally took an extra 4 days to get her laptop back to her. $ME - You mea
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 20
    Font - $ME - Thanks for repeating it here... Yes. Anyways the point is her laptop was finished within 2 hours of me returning to work. The 4 days she is talking about is because we had a 3 day weekend. The meeting went on like this for well over 30 minutes as we ran through each complaint with only 1 that was legitimate. I misread a technical error and had to fix it 30 minutes later. Oh well. Then came the real kicker.
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 21
    Font - $HHR - Lets talk about the fire you started. $ME - I STARTED!? $HIT - HE STARTED!? (same time.) $EVPIT - Wait what? $HHR - Per your report. The fuse box was overloaded when the third rack of servers plugged in and started a fire inside the wall that ended up burning out most of the building. $ME - Yes that does sound correct. What your report failed to mention on the report, which I have in front of me because I KING sent it. (Yes I did say that.) The circuit breaker was not an actual cir
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 22
    Font - $HHR - How was this missed. $ME - I don't know. I am not an electrician, I am not a state building inspector, I am not omniscient, and I am certainly not omnipotent. I went in to set up an office. $HHR - You appear to have an excuse for everything. $ME - Yes its called CYA. You literally have that on a poster in your office. $HHR - Now lets talk about your language to me yesterday. $ME - How about lets talk about your blatant disregard for the termination procedures you set in place. You
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 23
    Font - $HHR - I Do not appreciate your attitude. $ME - And I do not appreciate you taking actions on your own. You may be HR but even you are not allowed to terminate employees without $EVPIT - OK That is far enough you have made your point $me. Remember that $HHR holds your job in her hand. $hit Like a small bird. $EVPIT - Thank you $hit. So you do need to show her some respect...that being said. $HHR? He is right. You violated company policy, you tried to terminate an employee when it was not
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 24
    Font - $HHR - Yes? $EVPIT - You will apologize to both him and the employee you tried to terminate by the end of the day yourself. While he was disrespectful, cussed, and generally made an a of himself, he is not wrong. You did overreact and wrongfully terminate a good worker forcing $ME here into overdrive trying to stop it in its tracks. You could have solved this by going to $ME when you first heard about it. I heard the call log and read everything about this incident. Simply put the end use
    via u/TheLightningCount1
  • 25
    Font - EVPIT stood up and gathered his things. $EVPIT - Hopefully this is the last I hear of any animosity towards upper management, or animosity coming from upper management. Good day people. EVPIT left and I went back to my desk apologizing for the attitude I took with the head of HR. At 4:55 PM the email came in from the head of HR apologizing for her role. I then had 5 minutes to explain to the tech what happened. He decided he owed me a lunch. miss the Wahoo Lady.
    via u/TheLightningCount1

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

work stories work technology human resources workplace team update
Scroll Down For The Next Article