Newly-promoted office worker treats new hire like her employee, new hire fills her voicemail with dozens of messages: 'She wanted me to do something that wasn’t my job'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 30, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

This worker got a little taste of power and went completely overboard. 

While some workplaces have clearly defined roles for every employee, a lot of places ask employees to wear many different hats. So, much like u/Jenny8765309, there's no way to politely say, "That's not my job," when someone asks you to do something that's most definitely not your responsibility. It's even harder when the person who's constantly asking for favors is in a position of power over you. 

This worker shared the story of what happened when they worked with an office Karen. From the beginning, although this person was taking Karen's job as she moved up the ranks, she appeared bored by this job transition. Then, she started acting like she was the boss, and basically making this employee be her own personal secretary. Anything she didn't want to do became a job for the employee. Well, that can only last so long, as the employee warned: "Be careful what you ask for." 

Check out the full story of workplace malicious compliance down below. Then, check out these people who have the absolute worst neighbors, like one person who fumed, "Entitled neighbor wasn't happy with my parking job, so they blocked me in." 

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  • 01
    041 5 DEF ABC 801 948-1181 732 WXY
    via Mike Meyers on Unsplash
  • 02
    Okay, Karen.... be careful what you ask for. It's funny how a song can trigger a memory.
    via u/
  • 03
    This morning, when I drove my kids to school, the song "This Old Heart of Mine." By Rod Stewart and Ronald Isley started playing. - Remember this for later. Also – remember this was the late 1990s/early 2000s, so although cell phones were popular, it was a far cry from what we have today. If someone was needed, we had to call their pager and wait for a call back.
    via u/
  • 04
    About 20 years ago, after my husband and moved to a different state from where we were both born and raised. The move was for his job, so rather than pursue a job in my regular field, I found a temp-to-hire job in a regular office. When I went for the interview, it turned out that my soon-to-be boss grew up one town over from me, so rather than a usual half hour interview, it turned into over an hour of chatting about our
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  • 05
    sports team back "home," the differences between the states, etc.. "Karen," the second-in- command, sat through the interview and looked bored. She loudly yawned and stretched her arms, despite the face that Boss and I didn't realize how bothered she was. She had a Karen haircut before it was popular.
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  • 06
    By the time I got back to our apartment, just minutes away, the temp agency called and said that the company wanted me, and was willing to but the rest of the contract I had with the temp place in order to make sure I worked with them. As it turned out, I was taking Karen's old job. She got a promotion, so you would think that everything would be cool.
    via u/
  • 07
    I was wrong. While Karen wasn't my boss in any way, shape or form, and had no supervisory power over me, she let it be known that I was the newbie in the office. She was hired only 6 months earlier, so she was a newbie herself. Karen was known to be a pest in the office. Nothing major, but she would do petty things that would bother people. She would make microwave popcorn and leave the
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    bag in for 5 minutes, making the entire floor smell horrible. She would listen to her voicemails on speaker, even when she was sitting with her hands idle. During that time, I thought I was pregnant, and had to schedule a doctor's appointment. Although it would have been a welcome surprise, hubby and I were married for just a few months. It turned out the stress of moving and being a newlywed got to me, and my schedule was off. I wasn't
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    pregnant during that time, just stressed. Karen overheard my conversation with setting up the appointment, and reminded me that while I was at work, I was on company time and wasn't allowed to make personal calls. Fans of "The Office" will understand this - the floor plan was just like Dunder-Mifflin. Very open, and you could hear everyone's conversation during
    via u/
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    the day. It became a usual din of white noise, with everyone talking quietly basic common sense. - Boss was fantastic. He had a great sense of humor and was super friendly. I remember one day, I walked back to my cube from the fax machine, he cranked up the small radio he had in his corner cube. "This Old Heart of Mine." Rang throughout the office, and as he turned around, he saw me, then took me in his arms and we danced. He twirled
    via u/
  • 11
    me around, I laughed, and a few others in the office, tapped their foot or did a little dance in their chair. I can't tell you how excellent the people in the office were. Except Karen. After the dance with my boss, she walked up to me while I was at the coffee maker. She went on to tell me that what Boss did was completely inappropriate, and I
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    could sue for s harassment. I rolled my eyes and told her to lighten up. Boss was in his late 60s and would always talk about his grandchild. He was the kind of boss that everyone would WANT to have. Karen would often go to meetings in another part of the floor. Since she was somewhat close to my cube, every second she was away was heaven. In the meetings she would leave her pager on her desk, as any
    via u/Jenny8765309
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    matters could have been handled right then and there. Fast forward a few months, and both she and I were settled in our new jobs. Soon she became distracted because she and her husband were set to buy their first home. During this time, it was a "seller's market," meaning that properties were scarce and anything that came on the market sold at or way above the asking price. My husband worked with someone who paid 50K - yes, 50
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    thousand - ABOVE the asking price. The dream home that Karen and her husband wanted was a four- bedroom, 3 bath house on 1 acre of land, just on the outskirts of town. Karen made good money, as did her hubby, so the sale would be based on both incomes. Soon, Karen thought that my role in the office was her private secretary. I wasn't, but what was once in a while "can you do me a
    via u/
  • 15
    huge favor and fax this?" turned into a demand of "do this now." After the first few times of nicely asking me to fax something, she would ask me for the conformation report. Although I was clearly busy with my heaps of paperwork, I'd look through the pile of piles and find what she needed. Soon, even when she could see I was busy and we had an office secretary whose job it was to fax
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    for others, etc... Karen demanded that I do it. She was tired about not getting an immediate response to when the fax went through. She insisted that I not only do the clerk work that wasn't part of my job, but I let her know what I do, every step of the way. Every step of the way. Okie-Dokie. Soon, we had the infamous day of Karen being in an hours long
    via u/
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    meeting, her pager on her desk. Her hubby was at their apartment, playing phone tag with the realtor, waiting for a response to their offer on their dream house. The closed conference door meant "do not disturb." Basically, unless your hair was on fire or the woman next to you was in labor, do not disturb. The DND rule was set by Karen, as she didn't like interruptions for what she called petty reasons - such as someone
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    landing a big account, etc... Karen gave me two different papers to fax. Every step of the way...remember? So.... "Hey, Karen, it's OP. Just want you to know I noticed your request and I'll go to the fax machine now."
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    "Hey, Keren, it's OP. Just want to let you know I've stood up and I'm heading to the fax machine right now." "Hey, Karen, it's OP. Just want to let you know that I faxed the paper to the first company. I'm back at my desk now, and after a sip of coffee I'll go back to the fax machine and do the second one." "Hey, Karen, it's OP. Just to let you know, (someone else) was
    via u/
  • 20
    using the fax machine, so I had to wait." "Hey, Karen, it's OP. Just to let you know that while waiting for the fax machine to be free I walked down the hall to use the bathroom." "Hey, Karen, it's OP. Just to let you know, I'm back at my desk, and I'm getting ready to stand up again and go to the fax machine."
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  • 21
    I called her when I stood up, walked to the fax machine, used the ladies' room, took a sip of coffee, sat back down, went back to get the conformation reports, etc... I also marked each voicemail as "urgent." Her voicemail box was soon full, and there was no way of her hubby to get through to her for her to okay the final offer to the house, which was higher than the
    via u/
  • 22
    asking price. She didn't have a cell phone, and this was way before texting, and she left her pager on her desk. The door was shut, so nobody could disturb, for any reason. Her own rule. Nobody could get a message to Karen, so she wasn't able to get back to her hubby.
    via u/
  • 23
    Someone else bought the house, and although I wish I could say it was my hubby and me, Karen and her hubby were devastated. She asked me why I didn't get her when he tried to call, and I reminded her that we couldn't have personal calls during work hours. A few months later my hubby got a job transfer and we moved again, this time to a different state. About 10 years ago I joined
    via u/
  • 24
    Facebook and soon friended my old Boss and a few former co- workers. I found out that after I left, Karen lost her punching bag and, combined with the stress of losing the house of her dreams, she and her hubby soon separated. She left the company, and nobody knows what happened to her or her marriage. I've searched for people by her name in the state where we worked together, and then did a general search for her name.
    via u/
  • 25
    Unfortunately, she has a very common name, so it's hard to narrow it down. She wanted me to do something that wasn't my job and wanted to know what I did every step of the way. So, I did.
    via u/

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