'I got fed up with her': Coworker keeps getting employee's name wrong on purpose, employee claps back

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jan 19, 2024 2:00 PM EST

Pronouncing someone's name incorrectly can be an honest mistake unless it's someone you have been working with closely five days a week for the past year. In the beginning, it's totally excusable, but after a while, it becomes clear that this is no accident. This is someone who is actively seeking to get your name wrong under the guise of having "difficulty" with it. Furthermore, Saoirse is not that uncommon. Has this coworker even heard of Saoirse Ronan? Not only does she come across as unkind, but she also comes across as supremely unintelligent. 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole subreddit and confirms that sometimes the only way to call out a salty coworker on their behavior is to give it right back to them. So instead of correcting the coworker (whose name was Kate) for the millionth time, OP decided to return the favor and call her anything but Kate. She would refer to her as Kathleen, Catelyn, etc. even in writing! In fact, that's how you know Kate was doing this on purpose because she was not just mispronouncing Saoirse's name but she was also misspelling it constantly. 

Keep scrolling below for the full play-by-play and to see how "Kathleen" reacted. For more, check out this story about a customer who exposed a company's bad behavior on LinkedIn. 

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  • 01
    "She said my name is too hard'
    via TheStandingDesk
  • 02
    AITA for "bing" a coworker who purposefully spells my name wrong? My (F28) legal name is Saoirse, which is pronounced as "Seer-sha". I get that it isn't the easiest name to spell, so I usually don't give people who do it wrong a hard time or go by my middle name that's way easier to spell. To make it worse, my middle name is Rifle.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 03
    Yes I'm not kidding. Basically my mum picked my first name and my dad did the middle name, unfortunately I have no ways of finding out what was the reason for that choice as they're no longer with us.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 04
    I have a coworker (F33) who's a baby about my name for some reason. Like I've been Sirsha, Siersha and Sasha ( woman) for some reason, and it was on paper so I had to contact the boss and have them redo the papers. And yes according to her Rifle isn't an actual name, won't be arguing here, but it's how it is on my ID and I can't do nothing about it. For reference her name is Kate, maybe she's jealous bc she has a boring name idk.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 05
    So I got fed up with her and started calling her Kathleen, Catelyn, Kylie, whatever just not Kate. Of course it made her like super upset and she started whining about how I'm being a I said it's her who's being a who constantly misspells my name. She said my name is too hard, I told her to use my middle name instead and she started b that it's "trashy" and "not an actual name". Like I said I didn't take no this time and told her that until she starts respecting my name I won't be respecting her
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 06
    I reckon that maybe my response wasn't the gentlest but tbh I felt like she should get a taste of her own medicine. Also I reported her to the hr and they didn't do nothing bc the company we work for is kinda crappy.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 07
    LenoreSkellington 23 hr. ago NTA. Aficionado [19] Your name may be difficult to spell but it's not hard to learn a new word. You may have been a little blunt-sure-but when someone tells you YOUR NAME is not a real name.. well, that situation calls for blunt. It's no different than saying someone with the name Kay doesn't have a real name because it's a letter. I hope this woman learns to respect you a little more. 2.1k Reply Share
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 08
    imamakebaddecisions. 21 hr. ago. edited 14 hr. ago I can't believe she's admitting to being too stupid to spell her name. That's the part I would have pressed her on just to embarrass her. ΝΤΑ 486 Reply Share
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 09
    Puzzleheaded-End-662. 23 hr. ago NTA I have an unusual name as well (though not as difficult to spell as yours) and it's important to me that people get it right. You're matching energy not bullying. Also you have a badass name Saoirse means freedom so your name is basically Freedom Rifle. Info: I'm guessing by your name and writing that you're Irish. Is this happening in Ireland or another country? Shame on her for belittling your name either way. 484 Reply Share ...
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 10
    storme_scourge. 23 hr. ago Why didn't you go to hr about her in the first place? 182 Reply Share
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 11
    assholethrow93758 OP. 23 hr. ago reported her to the HR and they said they'll look into it and basically did nothing. 223 Reply Share
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 12
    Be Katie Emm 23 hr. ago As a card carrying Member if the I'll never find my name on novelty items club. As my actual name is pretty common but spelt differently I'm gonna say NTA!! If you've given her options and showed her how it's spelt and she is still getting it wrong especially for important paper work this is bad. I had a huge fight with an insurance claim because my name was spelt the correct way but not my way so they refused the claim. It was a huge mess!! 130 Reply Share
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 13
    dishonestgandalf. 23 hr. ago NTA, no excuse to f up a name's spelling in the age of email and slack.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 14
    sjw_7 23 hr. ago ΝΤΑ Your name contains seven letters. She is doing it on purpose as she can easily remember how to spell a seven letter word. Report her for b☐ng because that is exactly what she is doing.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 15
    B Fooftato 23 hr. ago NTA she called you trash. I'd be taking that pretty seriously.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 16
    asianingermany. 23 hr. ago NTA. Unless her IQ is double digit, Saoirse isn't difficult to spell especially since the rise of Saoirse Ronan's fame.
    via u/a**holethrow93758
  • 17
    killerdramababy. 23 hr. ago NTA... i mean come on haha. although it is pretty childish, she needs to learn someway or another. She doesn't have an excuse, a name being "too difficult" doesn't explain how she came up with so many variations of your name... imo she sounds like she either does it spitefully, or she's just extremely lazy.
    via u/a**holethrow93758

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terrible coworkers aita workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace work coworkers names reddit thread Reddit coworker toxic-work-environment
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