'Everything is inappropriate': Creepy boss gives employee flowers after his bullying forces her to quit

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jan 8, 2024 4:00 PM EST

Giving someone flowers can be a wonderful gesture. They're a great Mother's Day gift, a nice housewarming present, not to mention a sweet show of romantic intention. It's a beautiful little tradition we have as a culture-- to give someone an arrangement of beautiful but fleeting living things to show that we care. Whenever I'm given a flower, I feel like the specialest girl in the whole world. But if my boss gave me flowers… that would have a different feel altogether. Especially if this was a boss that I usually had an issue with. 

That's what happened in this horror story Reddit post, where a worker was bullied into resigning, and then sent a pretty creepy gesture. It's one of those threads that keeps getting worse as you read. Just be glad you don't work there. 

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  • 01
    r/antiwork u/DifferenceSuch7124 • 14h CEO sent me a bouquet of roses after I quit due to his relentless bullying.
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 02
    CEO gathered us all in the conference room for company quarterly report. Wasn't a particularly positive quater (haha!! Sucks to suck!) Once he was finished with the stats he started talking about how we all need to pull together as a family in order to meet next quarters profit margin.
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 03
    All I could think about was how every time he would walk past my desk, he made some nasty comment about how I'm dressed for the day. My manger tells me it's sarcasm but it always makes me want to cry. (I don't wear anything particularly strange, just office attire with a bit more frills and layers, because I like fashion)
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 04
    I've explained to them that I'm autistic and can't understand sarcasm, so it's just a random unwarranted insult to me. They laughed It off, pat me on the back and sent me on my way. He continued. So, when he made his 'motivational' speech about how we all need to be a family to take in as much profit as we can for him, I scrunched my face up and frowned. Pretty natural reaction I would say.
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 05
    Next day, I'm called into a meeting and given a strike on my probation. I was told 'a coworker' complained about my 'anti productive mindset toward company profits! Put my resignation in the next day. Of course followed by all the fuss and panic managers go though when their mistreated employees finally take a stand.
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 06
    Sat at my desk the next morning and found a bouquet of roses, from the CEO. Hilarious!!! Thanks for the flowers, and you!
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 07
    RahulRedditor • 13h complained about my 'anti productive mindset toward company profits! When I get profit sharing - that's when I'll give a flying about company profits.
    via u/RahulRedditor
  • 08
    Kamiken 12h ● Really the death of employees giving a damn about a company was when pensions stopped being a thing. Employees have almost 0 motivation to see a company do well with no pensions, no profit sharing, and no partial ownership of a company. 401k can be bounced to whatever job you want and you have to put your own money in there with most companies offering very little in matching. Additionally, companies keep removing benefits to pad profits instead of investing in their employees. Eve
    via u/Kamiken
  • 09
    AusXan 14h ● Put them immediately in the closest rubbish bin with the tag clearly visible.
    via u/AusXan
  • 10
    -EverSeer- . 13h No. Throw them away in HIS trash can.
    via u/-EverSeer-
  • 11
    skigginstv 14h ● all of that, everything is inappropriate .. flowers? wtf. just apologize like.. you know. like a normal person.
    via u/skigginstv
  • 12
    Difference Such7124 OP 12h ● Honestly. Would it have killed him to sit me down and say 'look, I'm sorry. It will not happen again'
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 13
    OpheliaRain Galaxy • 12h I've noticed "negging" has been making a comeback lately? I mean, he's clearly looking at your body/ clothing and commenting on that topic daily, in a negative way that's supposed to make you feel like about yourself. Pretty sure ya get flowers for ladies you'd like to have the with. So glad you're already on the way out the door, because otherwise I'd be screaming RUN!
    via u/OpheliaRainGalaxy
  • 14
    DifferenceSuch 7124 OP 12h Yeah.... On my first day I did an induction meeting with him and when he welcomed me into his office he put his hand on the small of my back. Sort of brushed it off at the time as just being friendly but now I'm looking back and thinking...
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 15
    thedeuceisloose • 3h I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that that man thought because you had a disability he could do some heinous things
    via u/thedeuceisloose
  • 16
    DifferenceSuch7124 OP 3h Yeah. I feel inclined to agree with you. The sad part is that I pretty much fell for it. He saw exactly what my weakness is (navigating social situations) and exploited that for a kick.
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 17
    Vegetable-Bobcat-992 14h I'm really glad to hear it when someone in this position has any way at all to resign. I still just cannot find a way. But this is all too familiar. With "leadership" like this seeming to pervade every industry out there, I have no idea how society hasn't collapsed from that alone.
    via u/Vegetable-Bobcat-992
  • 18
    DifferenceSuch7124 OP 12h I am very very blessed to have something to fall back on. If I didn't, I'd slowly decend into madness and end up on the evening news I rekon. I Hope your situation gets better ASAP
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 19
    Glittering-Fire_. 11h giving you roses is kinda creepy too ... Difference Such7124 OP 9h Reply 460 I feel like it would be less creepy (still creepy) if it was just normal flowers. But no, it's a big ole bouquet of deep red Valentine's Day roses...
    via u/Glittering-Fire_ & u/DifferenceSuch7124
  • 20
    EDIT: woah. I'm processing all of these comments. Thank you all for your concern and for gently explaining to me that the whole situation is a lot more serious than I thought. I will not be working the rest of my notice period. I've ordered a ring doorbell in case he comes by my house again. Thank you all so much for warning me, I would never have made this connection on my own. Also, I can sometimes understand sarcasm if I know the person very well, because I'm used to the way they speak and wh
    via u/DifferenceSuch7124

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Tags

boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace work coworkers reddit story toxic-boss workplace Horrible Bosses reddit thread Reddit toxic-work-environment
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