'Maybe you could explain these invoices': Employee gets called to HR for unapproved purchase requests, tries to throw new hire under the bus

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Sep 28, 2024 8:00 AM EDT

Rules in the workplace can be hard to follow, but in some instances, it's best to resist the temptation to question protocol. Sure, in theory, we all want to have the autonomy to follow our own rules, but when it comes to making unauthorized purchases in large quantities on the company's dime, perhaps think twice and get your supervisor's approval before doing so.

Here, we have an employee who tried to make it seem like the new hire was at fault for questioning these purchase requests in the first place. The new hire was tasked with reporting the requests to his manager, and so a human resources crisis was born. The employee refused to be interrogated by a new coworker, but once his own supervisor got involved, it became quite clear that these purchases were, in fact, for personal use. 

Keep scrolling below for the fallout of this tale of workplace revenge. For more content like this, check out this story about retail managers who banded together against an irrational customer.

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  • 01
    INVOICE TAX
    via Unsplash+ (Behnam Norouzi)

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Speakerphone Chat Reading another redditor's speakerphone revenge story on r/pettyrevenge, I remembered this one of mine from over 25 years ago.
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  • 03
    tl;dr: Someone made up his own rules, threatened and cursed me when I reminded everybody of the official rules, faced a 5th Amendment crisis, and finally took the easy way out.
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  • 04
    I had just started my new job, and took on the collateral duty of supply clerk for my department. Setting up the new spreadsheets was the easy part. Digging through the past invoices was the hard part, but I eventually got everything entered (only a couple of years' worth).
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  • 05
    I noticed that a lot of expensive purchases were being made through my department by someone from another department, whose name was the only signature on the invoices. (I'll call him "Bob", which not his real name)
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  • 06
    I broadcast an "All Hands" email reminding everyone that purchases over a certain amount required a supervisor's signature approval, and that no more purchases would be made through my department without that approval. (Cue the Trigger.)
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  • 07
    Everything was fine until I got a phone call from "Bob". He demanded to know why I refused his purchase requests. I reminded him of the email I had sent around. He told me that I didn't make the rules. I told him he was right, but that I do have to follow them and so does he.
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  • 08
    He threatened to get me fired for insubordination, cursed me out, hung up, and called back on his supervisor's speakerphone and demanded again to know why I refused his purchase requests.
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  • 09
    I told him to wait a moment while I got MY manager on MY speakerphone. He told me I didn't need my manager there,
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  • 10
    and that I should just do as he says. By that time, my manager was able to lean close to the phone and remind "Bob" just who I worked for and whose orders I should follow.
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  • 11
    A p contest ensued, with my manager and I standing our ground, and Bob doing all the talking at his end.
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  • 12
    Finally, both managers agreed to meet with Bob and I, and present our respective cases to HR.
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  • 13
    Day of the meeting, we were all gathered together. Bob started out claiming that he had always done it this way, and that he was not about to do any different just because some a☐ from off the street told him he couldn't.
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  • 14
    I asked an HR person to read from manual X, page Y, and paragraph Z. She read almost word-for-word what I had already told Bob and everyone else in the email. He still refused to comply, and also refused to explain why. (Cue the Revenge.)
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  • 15
    "Well then," I said. "Maybe you could explain these invoices instead."
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  • 16
    The invoices itemized the purchases he had made without his supervisor's authorization. None of the equipment showed up on any corporate inventory listing, either.
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  • 17
    "Please tell us where all this stuff is." He just stared at me, his face turning red. "You f[ fg a Je! I don't have to tell you a G thing!" In
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  • 18
    The man from Legal spoke up, and pointed out that his department was also interested in where the expensive equipment might be.
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  • 19
    That's when Bob's face turned pale, and he refused to say anything more. (Cue the Fallout.)
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  • 20
    I did not see or hear from Bob after that meeting, but I did hear that he was given the choice of resigning immediately or face a police investigation. My
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  • 21
    supervisor later told me that as expensive as the missing equipment was, the legal costs would be much, much more than the equipment's total value. I retired from that job about 25 years later.
    via Illuminatus-Prime

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