'You gave him too much overtime... you're fired’: Micromanager gets fired after forcing worker to work huge amounts of overtime at odd hours, that resulted in big bills for the company

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Sep 11, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

Some bosses have such low self esteem that they need to push their workers to see their 'worth', and you know what happens when people try too hard… they get the opposite results they would expect. That is exactly the case for this young micromanager who OP literally called 'Babyboss' in their post. The OP was very valued by their company because they had specialized education, and a deep understanding of a certain subject that was not disclosed in the post. I assume the subject of the work was a delicate matter, as OP basically worked 24/7… certain things were very time sensitive.

OP was happy to oblige when their boss began demanding that they be filled in on any and everything… down to the very last detail. While other people might have gotten angry, OP saw it as an opportunity, and boy did they take the opportunity… to find out exactly what this malicious compliance entailed, scroll down a bit for the full story.

Then, after you are done reading this, you can check out this employee who also maliciously complied with a manager at the car dealership they worked at, resulting in a lot of headache. After all, isn't justice just such a fun read? Rarely do you come across justice so sweet.

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    Font - Posted by u/pathofuncertainty 1 day ago You want a phone call EVERY time? Will do! M OC I worked for a petty, fragile man years ago. He loved to micromanage, and was always wanted to know if I talked to anyone higher in management than he was. This by itself wasn't a problem, as I understand chains of command and follow 2
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    Font - them. The crux of the issue was he had to know every detail of every conversation, and he wanted to dictate what they were told when they reached out to us. I was in a unique situation, because I have specialized education, which was very useful to top management. Because of this, they called me directly, frequently, every day of the week and at all hours. The "Babyboss"
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    Font - had a huge problem with this because he wanted to control the technical information that I provided the "Bigboss" when he called with questions. I tried my best to loop Babyboss in when these calls occurred, but Bigboss wanted me to speak freely, and didn't want to wait for someone else to get on the call. Often,
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    Font - Babyboss would call Bigboss after we spoke to try and take credit for what I told them, even though it was well known that he didn't have the same education/understanding that I did. Babyboss then demanded I call him EVERY time Bigboss called me, and wanted a FULL recounting of our conversations. Cue malicious compliance:
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    Font - I followed his direction to the T. If Bigboss called me at 2 a.m. with a question, Babyboss got a call at 2:15, but with a rambling retelling of our conversation, which often exceeded the length of the first call. After a few weeks, Babyboss got tired (literally) of being woken up at all hours. He then demanded that I send him an email after every call with every detail. So I did that. I created these emails that would
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    Font - rival a high schooler who had an assignment with a minimum word count. I'd sprinkle the important information in between long, flowing sentences so he was forced to read the whole thing if he wanted to know what I really spoke about. This ultimately resulted in Babyboss relenting, and just asking for a brief recap in person during the next business day.
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    Font - Soon after, the budget people were very concerned about why I had huge amounts of overtime at odd hours, and I explained the direction I was given. Babyboss was eventually disciplined and was forced out, due in large part because of everything that happened with me.
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    Font - binneapolitan. 1 day ago The fact that there were actual y boss consequences for a like this is oh so satisfying. Usually these petty tyrants just keep plodding along making their minions (no doubt that's how they see the people that report to them) miserable. Thanks for a tale of justice! Reply Share Vote
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    Font - Celestial Scythe. 1 day ago Good on you for billing those hours! Too many people would just call and count that as petty revenge. 208 Reply Share
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    Font - pathofuncertainty OP. 1 day ago If it ended at the original phone call I probably would've just let it go, but once he demanded to know everything, I wasn't about to do hours of work for free. 151 Reply Share
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    Font - CreepyOldGuy63 - 1 day ago Insecure people lose their jobs. Smart people train then trust the people they supervise. Alway train your replacement. If you can't be replaced you can't be promoted. 494 Reply Share
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    Font - Arrasor 1 day ago If you can't be replaced you don't need to be promoted. You can be where you are demanding more pay without being bothered with more responsibility/work. 140 Reply Share
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    Font - Forsaken-Yak-7581 1 day ago Why are you taking calls at 2am in the morning. If my boss called me at 2am, the office better be on fire or she is phoning to let me know that the zombie apocalypse has started and I can have the day off! 66 Reply Share
    via u/Forsaken=Yak-7581
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    Font - pathofuncertainty OP. 1 day ago I worked in a time sensitive, 24/7 field unfortunately. That sort of stuff is common. 93 Reply Share
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    Font - random321abc - 23 hr. ago I have to say I love your little names of babyboss and Big Boss! Vote Reply Share
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    Font - pathofuncertainty OP. 12 hr. ago He was big around the waistline, but when it came to his integrity, personality, and behavior, he was small. I thought it fit :) Vote Reply Share
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    Font - S2Charlie 1 day ago I rolled my eyes when I read about the emails, until you mentioned that you were on the clock when writing them (₂₂) 42 Reply Share
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    Font - paralyse78 15 hr. ago Sounds more like Babyboss just wanted you to do all of the work so that they could take all of the credit. That's why they wanted to be "in the loop" - so they could avoid doing any actual work, but if asked questions by senior management or Bigboss, they could make it sound like they know what's going on.
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    Font - We have a slightly more flat structure here - myself and 3 other managers run our department (but we have different sections of the department that we run); we report to a director; and the director reports to the store general manager, who in turn reports to the CEO. That being said, our CEO, GM, and director all have 100% open door policies, and the CEO and
    via u/paralyse78
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    Font - GM both take it very personally if any other manager attempts to prevent someone from talking to them directly by playing the "Chain of Command" card. If you, as a manager, try to make one of your employees go through you first before letting them talk to one of the Big Bosses, it's likely to get you chewed out by said Big Boss (at a minimum!) Vote Reply Share
    via u/paralyse78

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details getting fired boss micromanager fired redundant malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit upper management emails conversations higher-ups overtime
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