'Rep has horrible body odor': Employee has had it with coworker's B.O. problem, files a complaint to management

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Aug 24, 2023 2:00 PM EDT

What do you do when you have a coworker with a body odor issue? 

 

Picture this: you're at your desk at work and you're trying to focus on your daily tasks. Just as your brain locks into focus, you start to smell something funny. At first, you think it's coming from you. You smell your armpits to make sure you put on deodorant this morning. You quickly realize that it isn't you at all. In fact, it's the new coworker who's sitting right behind you. 

 

Your brain starts spiraling as you try to figure out what you can do about it. How do you subtly drop a hint? What if this person has a medical condition you don't know about? It would be insanely rude. You don't want to complain about it to another coworker because that would start drama. At this point, it's been several days and you realize it wasn't a one-time thing: this dude does not put on deodorant. 

 

That's exactly what happened to this Redditor, who shared their side of the story via this thread on Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit. After this employee had enough of their coworker's B.O. problem, they filed an anonymous customer service complaint to alert the attention of HR, since management had previously ignored multiple attempts to solve the issue discreetly.

 

Keep scrolling below to learn what happened next. For more stories like this, here's another one about an employee who was accused of being the "queen of tardiness."

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  • 01
    Hand - "Coworker with a B.O. problem gets dealt with." Acne Treatment CBD Cream 500mg LAVANDER SCENT
    via Nora Topicals
  • 02
    Font - Coworker with a B.O problem gets dealt with. I work for a telecom company that sends out customer satisfaction surveys to gauge how our interactions went with our customers. One of my peers was (at the time), severely lacking in the hygiene department, and having customers complain to me about it.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 03
    Font - Management was refusing to address it, and leaving us to smell their body odor on a daily basis. On this particular day I had had enough. I went into their customer history, grabbed the contact information, and proceeded to go to the (not defunct) survey website and input said customer phone number into it.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 04
    Font - I put a high enough score so management wouldn't have to reach out to the customer, but the verbatim said "rep has horrible body odor". A week went by, and I forgot about it until a group of my peers were laughing at a computer and told me that a survey came through. Mission accomplished. The district manager saw it, and was called along with HR to speak about their hygiene.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 05
    Font - On aehanken +3.5 days ago I had a coworker with bad BO. When she was a kid, she was teased a lot and went to a doctor about it and was diagnosed with some rare condition that basically makes her sweat 24/7. She took 3 showers a day, used body sprays, prescription deodorant, lotion, etc. She knew she didn't smell good, but she tried her best to cover it up. That's all you can ask for.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 06
    Font - I hope HR takes their meeting with them with respect. Some people truly don't know or are trying to make it better. Something needs to be said, but you don't want to make them feel bad, especially if it's out of their control.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 07
    Font - ctortan +2.5 days ago I had a classmate in high school who smelled like BO-and a teacher told me in confidence it was due to a medical issue. But the classmate was really sweet so I'd be nice and wouldn't say anything
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 08
    Font - In comparison to another classmate who smelled like BO because she bragged about showering only once a week. That girl was a bully so I had no qualms about emailing a teacher asking to contact the student's home, because to me, a kid with teeth literally rotting out of their mouth screams parental neglect. We can smell your kid from 10 feet away-there's no way that you, as a parent, don't notice their hygiene.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 09
    Font - sjb676 days ago I had a coworker that would never use deodorant. No idea why but man did he stink. Boss didn't care, he didn't have to work with him.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 10
    Font - ConceptApplied 6 days ago I feel bad for people with health issues that really can't do anything about it, but I don't feel bad for people with poor hygiene... that's just disrespectful
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 11
    Font - D Abalone_Admirable +1. 5 days ago edited 5 days ago The first time I ever had to fire someone, I was 19 or 20 and it was for poor hygiene and body odour. I was young, inexperienced and it was so goddamned awkward and embarrassing. Like, is bathing before work and slapping on some antiperspirant really so hard??
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 12
    Font - PNWlala1111 5 days ago I had a coworker like this. The customer service manager went next door to the grocery store and came back with a four pack of deodorant and gave it to him at the customer service counter in front of me and another coworker. Savage, but it worked.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 13
    Font - GoddessNefertiti 5 days ago My groomer roommate didn't give a flying anything about his hygiene. He never showered, never brushed his teeth, never did his laundry. He'd use deodorant and cologne, but you could still smell his stench. I was constantly trying to get him to clean himself up at least a little bit. It never worked... I can still smell the stench on a few of my personal items that he handled...
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 14
    Font - singerontheside +1. 5 days ago Some people have a reaction to scented deo - it can smell really bad and is not their fault. I remember after my first pregnancy and birth, I had, for the first time ever - BO ! Eish! Hormones, hormones, hormones! I now (menopausal) do not use any deodorant and smell absolutely fine.
    via u/Character_War5221
  • 15
    Font - One-Art-3292 - 2 days ago During 1, I did an experiment. I didn't use deodorant, 46 F. Man the stench after 4 days was indescribable. It was quite enlightening really, as deodorant suppresses the normal body process of eliminating toxins. Continued for 2 weeks, then the stink subsided. Back to using deodorant now because, well no one wants to smell brain drenching stench.
    via u/Character_War5221

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management terrible coworkers workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace work coworkers petty revenge toxic-boss human resources reddit thread Reddit toxic-work-environment
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