'Her story was the stuff of legends': Absentee employee requests job reference from former boss

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 15, 2024 3:00 PM EST

This worker just couldn't stop fabricating tales.

Of all the places to start lying, the workplace is one of the most risky. If you choose to spill a few little white lies to your coworkers, you probably won't get caught. Lying to your boss is a whole different game, though. Maybe your friends invite you to the beach on a gorgeous summer day, so you tell your boss that your grandma has passed on. Is it bad form? Yes. But you get to have a fun day in the sun, and your boss is none the wiser. The only flaw in that plan is that people post photos of all their activities all the time! That then implicates your friends in the lie, knowing that if they share the wrong selfie, you could get caught. 

U/SumoNinja17 had an eyebrow-raising tale to share with the r/maliciouscompliance crowd. They hired a new person to their company because they already knew her. Too bad they didn't realize that this woman had a habit of pulling no-call-no-shows. It's surprising she wasn't fired right off the bat! I don't know of any workplace where not calling out nor showing up to your shift is okay. That usually results in an immediate firing. Check out the entire story below! 

Next up, this brand new manager at a fast-food restaurant did so poorly during her first night shift that the entire staff quit. 

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  • 01
    New hire misses MOST of the first three weeks of work, then uses me as a reference TL:DR neighbor/Karen takes advantage of our company with outrageous claims, then uses us as a reference. We get our point across with creative wording. Karen continues to use us a reference and was clueless we protected fellow business owners
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 02
    Let's call her Karen, just because it fits. She came in and applied for a job and when I looked at her resume and application, I realized she knew some of my old neighborhood friends and schoolmates. She interviewed well, so I gave her a job. Told her to be in Monday at 9:00 a.m.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 03
    Monday morning, she is not in, she no calls, no shows. Tuesday, no call no show, I had now written her off. Wednesday, she shows up about noon. Claims she was in her basement Sunday night and her brother was working out and he accidentally knocked her out during his intense workout. She claimed her doctor told her she had a concussion and she should stay home for a couple days. She had no doctor's note, no marks on her head, but thinking her story was so off the wall it could almost
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 04
    be true, I let her come to work the next day. She worked Thursday and Friday. We paid at the end of every week and I gave her a check Friday, I also did NOT deduct the days she missed. She came to me and asked about the full paycheck. I told her we were a family business and realized people had lives outside work. He tried to make sure people knew they were appreciated and tried to take care of our people. She teared up and thanked me and said we could count on her.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 05
    She worked the full next week, did OK. She seemed to fit in. Seemed. The third week, she showed up Monday, but Tuesday was another no show no call. We did not hear from her for over TWO WEEKS! When she finally showed up, her story was the stuff of legends. She claimed her husband had forged divorce papers a couple years previous. Thinking she was divorced, she moved back into her parent's house. She claimed her "ex-
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 06
    husband" was at her parents' house when she got home the last night she worked. He told her he made up the divorce and the paperwork was phony so they were still married and he wanted to get back together. She claims she refused and he kidnapped her. She said it took her until a couple days ago to get away from him. She wanted to come into work the next day.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 07
    She did not call the police and he wasn't arrested. There was nothing in the papers or on the news about any of this. She was not hurt (thank God!) She asked if I believed her. I did not, but told her that I really needed someone I could count on coming in reliably everyday. I gave her a paycheck for one week (she had worked 1 day) and told her I wished her good luck. I had already replaced her, and her replacement was one of the best employees we ever had.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 08
    Here's the malicious compliance. The next month, I come in to a phone message that someone from Company called for a reference for Karen. As my secretary is handing me the message, she's laughing at the look on my face. I asked if she was kidding, she said she was not. She said she got a call from a man saying he was the owner of a company in the area and he asked about Karen. Then my secretary asked if she could listen in on the call. (she was a pistol)
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 09
    She then goes and gets my partner and tells him I am going to call and give Karen a reference. Now he is in my office laughing too! I call the guy and we make some small talk. I tell him what we do and he tells me what he wants Karen to do for him. I tactfully avoided answering any of his questions about Karen directly. I think he was beginning to suspect something.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 10
    Remember folks, employers can get in a ton of trouble for bad references. He finally asked my opinion of Karen, and what I said was, "IF you can get Karen to work for you, you will be VERY lucky". He heard what I said and how I said it. He repeated that back to me exactly as I said it. All my words were the right ones, it was my tone and intonation that got my point across. He thanked me and hung up.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 11
    Karen comes into the office a couple days later, she looks mad but is trying to be pleasant. She told me she is having trouble finding a job and mentioned she has used me as a reference. She wanted to know if anyone from Company has called me (she knew they did). She told me she really want the job at Company. I told her I had been called and that I told the guy he'd lucky to get her to work for him.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 12
    My secretary confirmed that's what I told him, she told him she was right next during the whole conversation. Karen smiled and thanked me and headed to the door, She said she wondered why she was having so much trouble getting a job. She asked if she could continue to use me for a reference and I told her absolutely! I also told her I'd tell everyone the same thing, that "any employer would be lucky if they can get you to work for them."
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 13
    She walked away smiling, happy and clueless.
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 14
    minektur I once had a boss field a call about an ex- coworker of mine - his side of the conversation sounded like this:
    via u/minektur
  • 15
    "Yes - Yes he worked here.... Now before you start asking questions, I want to tell you that we have a policy about not saying anything negative about previous employees. That's all I have to say about <so-and-so>."
    via u/minektur
  • 16
    HarlequinnAsh Once fired a girl for stealing $1000 out of the register and only returning $300. She then tried to claim unemployment from us and my boss had a great laugh at that.
    via u/HarlequinnAsh
  • 17
    SumoNinja17 OP. YES! I have also been told we cannot tell another employer that they stole unless we actually filed criminal charges. Lawyers !
    via u/SumoNinja17
  • 18
    konatada How cheeky and yet... Effective. I've had a similar situation where old crappy co-workers have asked to use me as a reference and luckily for them, I haven't been called. Not sure I'd have the patience to not leave a scathing review, so good on you!
    via u/konatada
  • 19
    On QEbitchboss My fave was someone who wrote "not in this lifetime or any other" under the rehire question. Did not hire, kept that reference for posterity.
    via u/QEbitchboss
  • 20
    24Cones Rule number one of references- ask someone to use them as a reference, and if they say yes ask if they are able to say good things about you.
    via u/24Cones
  • 21
    nogami I just can't say enough good things about potential employee XXXXX. 25 Reply Share SumoNinja17 OP. I like this, can I use it?
    via u/nogami
  • 22
    really4got Once called on an aplicants previous employment...we can only confirm dates they worked and ask if they are eligible for rehire. Some companies won't even confirm that...the manager i spoke to told me ...ask if shes eligible for rehire? Ok then is she? NO...was the reply and that application got filed under do not hire
    via u/really4got

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karens neighbors employee malicious compliance work malicious-compliance-reddit no call no show employees references reference business malicious compliance reddit karen
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