'Headsets are not allowed': Employee reprimanded for wearing headphones in the office, maliciously complies with new policy by playing audio on full volume

Imagine getting shamed at work for literally doing your job. Let's be real: it's probably not that difficult to imagine because it's happened to most of us. So many managers assume their employees are being actively counterproductive when, in fact, they are just doing what they need to do to get their work done and get it done well.

Sometimes, for employees to focus, they need to detach themselves from their surroundings, especially if it's individual work. If that means wearing headphones or moving to a more quiet location or office, managers should be understanding. After all, don't they want the task to be completed on time?

Keep scrolling below for this story about an employee who maliciously complied with her boss's new mandate about headphone use in the office!

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  • 01
    B
    via Austin Distel

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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  • This assistant was tasked with writing up minutes for day-long audit meetings and was in the midst of zeroing in on the audio recording from that meeting in order to properly capture the debate and talking points in the meeting. However, when her manager tried to get her attention, she had to call the assistant's name five times due to the fact that she was wearing headphones. That's when the boss decided to reprimand her publicly by immediately announcing a new “no headphones” policy, since she was assuming that her assistant was only listening to music. 

    Take a look at what the assistant did next. It's not like her boss could get that upset, since she was really just complying with the new so-called policy.

  • 02
    This happened in 2015, so a long time ago. Aside from my actual job, I was assigned as the document custodian and the secretariat for our office's ISO certification. My boss was the office's Quality Manager-so she leads the internal audits.
    via [deleted]
  • 03
    Whenever we have an audit, we usually take an entire day of meeting to discuss the results the next day. My boss has assigned me the drafting of the minutes to this whole day discussion. And mind you, she wants detailed minutes.
    via [deleted]
  • 04
    We dont just write what was agreed upon, she wanted me to capture the debate and rejected suggestions before that. Suffice to I need to listen to a recording say, to draft the 10-15 paged long document.
    via [deleted]
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  • 05
    One day, while I was drafting this minutes, I did not realize that she was calling me. I was so engrossed in the headset and was intently listening to the recording that I did not hear her until she has risen up and walked to my desk.
    via [deleted]
  • 06
    This annoyed her. She did not realize I was listening to the recording. She thought I was merely listening to music. She nagged at me in front of the whole office for needing to be called 5 times and being so unresponsive.
    via [deleted]
  • 07
    Then, right there and then she angrily announced to everyone that nobody is allowed to use their headset anymore. She even strutted to the IT room to tell the IT guys to quit using their headsets as well.
    via [deleted]
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  • 08
    Cheezburger Image 10476945664
    via Tomasz Gawłowski
  • 09
    Being the obedient assistant that I am, I took off my headset then connected my computer to the speaker. Then listened to recording at full volume of voices of everyone in the office debating and talking about the audit. The worse, I was not just listening to the conversations in the meeting,
    via [deleted]
  • 10
    sometimes I would stop then replay certain parts of the recording at least five times to capture what was being said.
    via [deleted]
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  • 11
    Everyone in my immediate vicinity just could not stop snickering. Some of the teams across the office who had no idea what happened asked what was going on annoyed that they cant focus at work. Some people are cringed
    via [deleted]
  • 12
    bybtheir voices. I just told them it is a new policy and they just have to live with it. My boss on the other hand pretended she wasnt hearing anything.
    via [deleted]
  • 13
    I did this for a few days, until it got old and I finally returned to using my headset.
    via [deleted]
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  • 14
    theflamingheads +1 · 12 hr. ago Walking over to your desk for a conversation instead of shouting across the office must have been rough on her. Your poor boss.
    via [deleted]
  • 15
    Enough-Feed-3153 OP . 12 hr. ago Dragging those heels across 3 meters of space must have drained her of her earthly life forces
    via [deleted]
  • 16
    Fosco_Toadfoot 12 hr. ago ? Yelling at IT? That's an interesting move.
    via [deleted]
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  • 17
    SuperSassyPantz +2. 10 hr. ago had a guy named clyde in IT, who pretty much ran the show. one afternoon the entire system went down for hours. i later asked him about it, and he said he was bored and wanted the afternoon off to "fix" it.
    via [deleted]
  • 18
    MadManMorbo 6 hr. ago IT's response 'Did you put in a ticket for that?' Seriously though. She has no power over what IT does or doesn't do.
    via [deleted]
  • 19
    Enough-Feed-3153 OP 5 hr. ago the IT team is actually close to her. even sending her jewleries as gift duting Christmas
    via [deleted]
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  • 20
    iamarddtusr 4 hr. ago I would not have stopped doing it until people started quitting and pointing it out as a reason.
    via [deleted]
  • 21
    SilentMaster 12 min. ago That's funny. I work in IT and I have been providing my company with headphones for a decade. If some rando manager came and told me this I would say, "Ok,
    via [deleted]
  • 22
    sure, YOUR DEPARTMENT doesn't get to have headphones, no problem. You're not in charge of any other department, including IT, so you can right off with the rest of this request."
    via [deleted]
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workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work coworkers toxic-boss Horrible Bosses bad bosses company workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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