Employee given the chance to decide whether or not their ex-boss and coworker will be hired, blocks their applications: 'My new boss basically just tossed both [their] resumes out the window'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Apr 15, 2024 10:00 AM EDT

There's this old adage that takes many shapes and forms but usually goes somewhere along the lines of this: You should always be kind, or at least decent, to the people you meet as you never know when even the smallest act may have far-reaching consequences. You've probably heard of or read one of these stories before, and it's one of the oldest tropes for teaching the morale of being kind to others. Where old stories involved a frail old woman or man asking for assistance from a character, only once the character offers or refuses their help does the stranger reveal themselves to be some form of many kinds of all-powerful beings. 

Nowadays, when you hear the story, it's usually in the vein of "My friend was rushing to his job interview and didn't hold the door open for the plainly dressed man entering the threshold behind him… It turned out the man was the founder of the company he was interviewing for, so he didn't get the job. Yeah, it's easy to draw the line here that all-powerful beings these days are simply someone with an ungodly amount of money or the person sitting on the other side of the table deciding whether or not you have a job… So we might have lowered the bar here somewhere, but let's not read too much into that.

Anyways, the point here is that it pays to be kind, and—well, you should just be kind whether it pays to be or not. In this instance, this ex-coworker and boss learned that it definitely would have paid for them to be kinder to their old team member, the original poster of this story, who found themselves in the position of being the deciding factor in whether or not their ex-coworker and boss were going to have a position at their new employer. 

Who wouldn't kill to be placed in this situation? It might be a little petty. But it's not really all that petty if you're certain that these individuals wouldn't be a good fit for your new team based on prior experience. 

See the original poster's account of events below, along with user's responses from the original online community where they shared their story.

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  • 01
    "Former coworker and manager made my life miserable... I made sure they had no opportunity at my new company."
    via Van Tay Media
  • 02
    Several years ago I was working at this company that already had pretty bad work life balance. We had a coworker that was going on maternal leave, so my manager had me and this guy to taker over the work. After my coworker left for maternal leave, I went to this guy and was trying to figure out how to divide the workload between us,
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 03
    and only to find out that he went to our manager behind my back and argued that he had more important stuff to do so and I should take on all the workload myself. My manager of course agreed because he hated that the big boss trusts me more than him (but I was there much longer than he did). I later found that the "more important stuff" my manager had him work on, was actually just interviewing and I was more qualified given my experience. Instead, I ended up doing double amount of busy work and
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 04
    I then found a new and better job several months later, and was promoted within a year at the new job. One day, my boss at the new job ask me, hey have you worked with these people at your previous job? It turned out my manager and coworker from my previous job applied to the same opening position at my new job! I of course made sure to tell my new boss how they are
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 05
    not qualified and are not great team players, basically all the negative things without sounded like subjective. Then my new boss basically just tossed both resumes out of the window and didn't even give them an initial interview, which they would have gotten because of their experience. Lesson here: treat your colleagues nicely and with respect. You never know who you will run into in the future!
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 06
    Top-Put2038 Shot themselves in the foot and don't even know it. All the sweeter. 392 Reply Share Western-Image7125 I wish they knew it though, now they never learnt anything 25 25 Reply Share
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 07
    MwminNC4 Would have been sweeter if you could've done the initial interviews 354 Reply Share • • • AcrobaticSource3 Or new boss schedules the interviews, had old boss and old coworker come to the office (maybe even at the same time by "accident" so they meet in the lobby), have OP come down and reveal themself as the interviewer, take one look and say "Nope" so as not to waste time 222 Reply Share
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 08
    abelenkpe This reminds e of a professor I had in college my last semester. I had already been accepted to grad school and was taking my last sculpture class. I would present my work during critique and all the other students and teaching assistant would comment on how much they liked my work or craftsmanship.
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 09
    All positive reviews. But the professor would rip my work apart. The entire class would go silent. It was so uncomfortable.after class other students would say they were sorry he was so cruel. Felt like it was personal honestly but I kept going, got a B and graduated top of my class and moved on. Years later I'm working in LA and have experience on few big shows. I was asked to be part of a guest
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 10
    panel reviewing artist entries for a local gallery. Lo and behold one of the entries was my former professor. And yes, he was rejected. So OP you're right. Be nice. You never know when your bad behavior will come back to haunt you. 43 Reply Share
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 11
    Fury161Houston It is amazing even in a very large city who you might run into again. 124 Reply Share . . . [deleted] ⚫ I say this every time I come across a story like this, but the world is a way smaller place than we think of it as. This is especially true in career fields. How you treat people you think you'll never see again can have a remarkable impact.
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 12
    dearmax The only shame is they will probably never know that it was you who tanked them. Nonetheless, excellent job. 27 Reply Share
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 13
    daveshops I love the urban legend about. this guy who flipped off some dude in traffic on his way to a job interview. Then he found himself sitting in front of the same guy he had flipped off 15 minutes earlier 26 Reply Share
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 14
    teashirtsau This sort of happened to a friend of mine. He went to a contract role and on the way from the station a woman tripped, spilled coffee all over him and then went off at him for being clumsy. He managed to clean himself up, went to the client's office and found himself in front of that same woman, her fate now in his hands. 23 Reply Share . . .
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 15
    johnnys_sack It's amazing how small of a world it can be. I work in an FDA- regulated field and there are many companies in my area. Yet, somehow, you tend to run into a lot of the same people over and over again. At my last company, there was a guy on my team who was pure toxicity. He ruined team meetings, complained and griped about everything. Did half-assed
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815
  • 16
    work. I ended up firing him. A year later, I was established at another company. That guy's resume came through for an opening on another team. Much like OP, they reached out because I had worked at the same company as him previously. I was neutral but advised against proceeding with him as a candidate. Don't be a at work. You never know who you'll run into in the future. People remember good and bad employees. 27 Reply Share • • •
    via u/ButterscotchThis9815

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workplace discussion employment issues antiwork workplace-stories jobs employment-discussion job revenge work workplace Horrible Bosses employment in the workplace
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