Power-tripping Karen thinks she's the boss, employee gets back at her and takes over: 'I'll get you fired and get your position'

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
May 16, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

It doesn't matter if you work in a high-powered corporate environment or a three-person company; there will always be that coworker who thinks they're in charge of you. Perhaps they were just hired before your time. Perhaps they're older. Perhaps they ate slightly senior within the company hierarchy. Still, if they're not your manager, they have absolutely no business ordering you around.

We are going to call this personality Perpetua after Bridget Jones's coworker who is very much guilty of this habit. Perpetua is formally defined as that power-tripping Karen in your average toxic work environment. Here, the Perpetua in question was lurking down the aisles of a grocery store, bossing folks around who she had no business bossing around. After a while, her antics caught up with her and she was caught berating an employee unfairly on camera by senior management. Good luck explaining that one, Perpetua!

Keep scrolling below for the full epic saga and to find out what happened when the power-tripper learned that the person who got her fired ended up taking over her job. Every so often, there is justice. For more stories about over-the-top personalities, check out this one about an entitled Bride who was kicked out of her own wedding.

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  • 01
    Oral Ovesqu Tea Breakfast Skin & Sun Care "Fire all my favorite colleagues? I'll get YOU fired and get your position" Cereal Breakfast PRICES DROPP
    via Franki Chamaki
  • 02
    Fire all my favorite colleagues? I'll get YOU fired and get your position. This is an old story some of my friends told me (29F) I should share here.. so here I am. Sorry for the long text, but there's a lot to unfold.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 03
    This started a few years ago, after I got ghosted by my ex, I decided to switch careers and took the proposal of my brother to work for one of his friend in an organic grocery store in my area. I was 22ish at the time, maybe 21 turning 22, but anyways.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 04
    I started working in the fruits and vegetables aisle. Despite having a crazy director, I liked my job and my department manager. After a few months, I got the title of "third key" which is basically I'm the assistant manager when the assistant is gone.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 05
    Then, they decided to hire a new customer service manager that I will call Linda. That woman was CRAZY. While I was 23 at the time, she was only 20 acting like she owned the world.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 06
    To give you an idea, in the span of 8 months being here, she got 11 employees fired for stupid reasons and since our director at the time was just as crazy... it was easier for her to get her way. Also, when I say stupid reasons, I'll give you a few examples: Benji got fired because he was "talking too loud" in the break room and it was disturbing her peace
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 07
    and supposedly making her harder to rest to come back fully ready to finish her shift. Marie got fired because she HAD to take off work to go to a relative's funeral and couldn't give her 2 weeks notice. Rose got fired because she was getting "too old to do her job properly and it was ruining the pace of the team's work"
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 08
    (which is | I've never seen someone cut veggies and fruits as fast as her). And I could go on. Yes, some of them could've been able to be protested against and even file a complaint against her. Mind you, outside of Rose, everybody was too young to just wanting to fight for a grocery store job. Even Rose just decided to take her retirement earlier and off the work world lol.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 09
    Anyways, she took it too far when she tried to mess with me. To give you the context, we had a huge special on lemons and sometimes, those fruits can get rotten and you don't notice it because there's no smell. The only way you'd know is by going through the several small boxes of like 10ish lemons and look at them all one by one. Which I did regularly, but hey, I'm not a robot,
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 10
    sometimes some of them slipped out of my eyes. I was leaving the backstore with more boxes when I saw Linda with a customer that seemed more than So I go see both of them because mind you..
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 11
    she has a LEMON box and I work in the fruits department. So it's kind of my job to help IF I CAN. That's when I asked her "Hey Linda, do you need help with the lemons?" And right away she told me "F☐ off, I don't need your help, I already spoke to your manager. Go do your job for once." My face was literally like this O as I went to my department. Even customer did a bombastic the side eyes.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 12
    A few minutes later, I go back to the backstore to fulfill the missing products and my manager pulls me aside. "Hey OP, stay out of Linda's business. I can't protect you all the time for talking back." I stopped him right away asking what does he means cause as soon as she told me to f☐ off, I did f☐ off. He looked at me surprised and said he'd come back to me with it, but only tomorrow because he's finishing his shift and for some personal reason,
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 13
    he can't stay longer to solve the issue. Since Linda was the manager on guard that night, he told me to stay in the back as much as possible to stay in her good graces. That's what I did.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 14
    One hour after my manager left, I heard my name being called in the front office (shared by the customer service manager and director). Big I go in the front and all of my colleagues are looking at me like I'm a prisoner going to their d[ sentence. Mind you, I know my laws and my rights. I might be young, but as soon as I got called, I started reciting in my head the main laws
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 15
    and rights she has to respect. I open the door's office and Linda is FUMING. And she is alone. She asks me to close the door and I tell her "No, it is my right to have someone in the room with us for this talk. I am not comfortable being alone with you." She starts freaking out and starts to speak louder, on the verge of screaming. "Linda. This room is recorded 24/7 and the customers can hear you talking to me like that.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 16
    Lower your tone and find a witness to be in the room or I'll go back to work." She stands up to look outside the office and sees that indeed, there's a line in front of the cash looking to the office's direction. She takes a few deep breaths and calls Gabrielle who takes care of the finances of the store so she can be a witness. From the moment Gab got into the room, she seemed like she wanted to get away, so do I.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 17
    Gab took a seat in the back and Linda starts her whole speech. I'll be paraphrasing cause the meeting took almost an hour.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 18
    L: You know why I brought you here, right? OP: Not really, I've been in the backstore minding my business. Why? L: Well you disrespected my authority in front of a customer and that's a big no no for the company. OP: For the company or for you? L: OP, this is not the topic. You shouldn't be disrespecting authority in front of customers. It makes the managers look bad. OP: I was honestly just trying to help because you had a box of products from my department. I just wanted to help because the cu
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 19
    L: My fragile mood?! Are you serious?! OP: Linda, we are being recorded and we have a witness. I'm asking you to stay polite and not scream or I will file a complaint against you. L: Are threatening me??? OP: No, I am stating my rights and making you aware of where your attitude will lead you. I won't accept being talked like that by someone that ain't even my manager. L: Okay OP, let me remind you where your position stands in this business.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 20
    That started to draw a triangle, put her name at the tippidy top and mine at the bottom. I didn't even let her finish what she had to say, I stormed off the office, went into the employees lockers, took my stuff and headed out. Linda ran after me, yelling like a psycho "YOU CAN'T LEAVE LIKE THAT! YOU'RE STILL SCHEDULED FOR THE CLOSE!" I stopped on my steps, making Linda almost run into me and said with the most blank expression I could have "Linda, you crossed a line and since you're so good at
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 21
    Next morning, I came to work as usual and had to see my manager and the director. I explained them the whole situation and showed the papers I was about to send to file a complaint against Linda. Also, this didn't even throw her dumb pyramid in the trash. It was still on display when the director came in to work and asked me what it was. I asked her to look at the cameras, put the sound on and listen to the whole meeting. We watched it to my director's horror and who came in to work in the middl
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 22
    The director asked Linda to sit down and we watched again the video. Mind you, it took us one full hour to watch because she was in a never ending power trip. She used to be smart when she was bullying and making stories about past employees, doing it far from the cameras and usually using the other office that doesn't have cameras or a microphone, but she wasn't with me. I guess she got comfortable or whatever, but check mate on her
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 23
    My director said I could go back to work with my manager, that she would take care of the rest. Two weeks later, Linda still had her job, but our director resigned from her job right away. Which was h[ weird, but whatever. We got a new director, she was a total sweet heart and she noticed Linda's crazy power trips right away. She decided to launch an intern investigation, but sadly, all the employees Linda bullied were fired. There was only me and my little complaint waiting to be served. When N
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 24
    Flash forward 2 weeks later, Linda left work earlier, balling her eyes out yelling how Nancy was a band didn't deserve her job. How she always came in earlier, put in the work and yadi yada. Nancy waited a few more days before asking me to come into the office and again, I'll be paraphrasing because a lot have been said.
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 25
    N: HI OP, don't worry, you're not in any trouble. I just saw your CV and noticed you've had a lot of experience in customer service. OP: Yes, I used to be a cashier for almost 5 years, it was my first job. Why? N: I've seen your file, your CV and how you managed the conversation with Linda. We are actually looking for a new customer service manager since Linda have been let go. OP: What about my actual position? N: It's easier to find a fruits and vegetables commis than it is to find a competent
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 26
    I ended up accepting the position and all my co-workers cheered for my raise. I don't want to brag, but I've always been the one to defend everybody in the place, making sure I'll keep my job in the process and following the laws and rights. A few months later, Linda came back to the store as a customer and the look she had on her face when she saw me at the cash with the manager uniform was priceless. It was even more priceless when she asked me when I got the promotion and I told her the exact
    via u/Hellopainful420
  • 27
    To this day, it's still one of my favorite moments to have been through. I'm not a petty person, but if I can ruin you in the process of me trying to defend my people, I'll be more than happy to do so. Last I've heard of Linda, she was working for the competitor, but never had any promotions.
    via u/Hellopainful420

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terrible coworkers workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work petty revenge reddit thread Reddit company toxic-work-environment grocery store
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