'You want a phone call EVERY time? Will do!': Employee puts in tons of overtime to maliciously comply with micromanager's demands, gets him fired

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Sep 9, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

Getting caught in between the demands of different authority figures within the same company is not always easy to navigate. Not only are you catering to the needs and requests of your direct supervisor, but now you have found yourself having to cater to the whims of the person who signs your paycheck and your micromanager's paycheck.

That is the conundrum that this Redditor found himself in and it triggered a lot of insecurity from his direct manager, who insisted on getting an extensive update every time the Original Poster (OP) spoke with the head boss in charge. Now, OP was not going to endure this without a little reward. He took his sweet time updating his manager and ended up putting in tons of overtime in order to fulfill his micromanager's needs. Eventually, this caught the attention of the head boss, who already had enough of the micromanager. This ended up being the last straw for him. 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from folks in the comments section. For more, check out this post about ridiculous outbursts from entitled Karens and Kevins.

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    Cheezburger Image 10399953152
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    You want a phone call EVERY time? Will do! M OC I worked for a petty, fragile man years ago. He loved to micromanage, and was always wanted to know if I talked to anyone higher in management than he was. This by itself wasn't a problem, as I understand chains of command and follow
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    them. The crux of the issue was he had to know every detail of every conversation, and he wanted to dictate what they were told when they reached out to us.
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    I was in a unique situation, because I have specialized education, which was very useful to top management. Because of this, they called me directly, frequently, every day of the week and at all hours. The "Babyboss"
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    had a huge problem with this because he wanted to control the technical information that I provided the "Bigboss" when he called with questions. I tried my
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    best to loop Babyboss in when these calls occurred, but Bigboss wanted me to speak freely, and didn't want to wait for someone else to get on the call. Often,
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    Babyboss would call Bigboss after we spoke to try and take credit for what I told them, even though it was well known that he didn't have the same education/understanding that I did.
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  • 08
    Babyboss then demanded I call him EVERY time Bigboss called me, and wanted a FULL recounting of our conversations. Cue malicious compliance:
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    I followed his direction to the T. If Bigboss called me at 2 a.m. with a question, Babyboss got a call at 2:15, but with a rambling retelling of our conversation, which often exceeded the length of the first call. After a few weeks,
    via pathofuncertainty
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    Babyboss got tired (literally) of being woken up at all hours. He then demanded that I send him an email after every call with every detail. So I did that. I created these emails that would
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    rival a high schooler who had an assignment with a minimum word count. I'd sprinkle the important information in between long, flowing sentences so he was forced to read the whole thing if he wanted to know what I really spoke about.
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    This ultimately resulted in Babyboss relenting, and just asking for a brief recap in person during the next business day.
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    Soon after, the budget people were very concerned about why I had huge amounts of overtime at odd hours, and I explained the direction I was given. Babyboss was eventually disciplined and was forced out, due in large part because of everything that happened with me.
    via pathofuncertainty
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    binneapolitan 1 day ago The fact that there were actual consequences for a y boss like this is oh so satisfying. Usually these petty tyrants just keep plodding along making their minions (no doubt that's how they see the people that report to them) miserable. Thanks for a tale of justice!
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  • 15
    Celestial_Scythe - 1 day ago Good on you for billing those hours! Too many people would just call and count that as petty revenge.
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    pathofuncertainty OP 1 day ago If it ended at the original phone call I probably would've just let it go, but once he demanded to know everything, I wasn't about to do hours of work for free.
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    CreepyOldGuy63 1 day ago Insecure people lose their jobs. Smart people train then trust the people they supervise. Alway train your replacement. If you can't be replaced you can't be promoted.
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    Arrasor 1 day ago If you can't be replaced you don't need to be promoted. You can be where you are demanding more pay without being bothered with more responsibility/work.
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    Forsaken-Yak-7581 1 day ago Why are you taking calls at 2am in the morning. If my boss called me at 2am, the office better be on fire or she is phoning to let me know that the zombie apocalypse has started and I can have the day off!
    via pathofuncertainty
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    pathofuncertainty OP. 1 day ago I worked in a time sensitive, 24/7 field unfortunately. That sort of stuff is common.
    via pathofuncertainty

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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work malicious-compliance-reddit reddit thread Reddit company workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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