Woman refuses to surrender her managerial role due to conflict of interest because her pregnant sister/coworker is quitting at the end of the month anyway: ‘She's insisting I demote myself’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Mar 13, 2025 11:00 PM EDT

When you mix work and family, you're bound to see either facet of your life unravel before you. Working with a beloved family member—a sister, perhaps—is all fun and games until you realize folks will always look out for themselves, no matter how close you are with them and if you landed them the job in the first place. The workplace makes us all a bit audacious, but that's only because we are primed to develop a thick skin kin to a watermelon. We're able to make it through one week of being an employee in the workforce for this reason specifically, but once you involve a family member in this stress, all heck breaks loose.

In this next story, a woman refuses to demote herself from her managerial position after new management tells her to either fire her pregnant sister, who works under her, or move to a different store and take the demotion. The kicker? Her sister plans on putting in her two weeks at the end of the month. Despite this, her sister expects her to take the demotion. Scroll to read.

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  • Sister feuds are inevitable. Sometimes, it's almost like sisters are made to argue with one another because it helps us practice our debating skills. There's 15 years between my sister and I, yet every time we see each other, we disagree on at least two talking points and need to cool off before circling back with one another. In those scenarios, there‘s never a clear “right” and “wrong”. In this story’s case, though, the woman is absolutely right to want her sister to take the loss since she'll be leaving soon anyway.

  • "I don't feel it's right that I have to give up what I've worked so hard for just for her to only stick around at this job for another month."
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • "AITA for refusing to voluntarily demote myself to save my pregnant sister's job?"

    Sorry if this is long. For context I started working at my current job over a year ago as a stocker. Over the course of a year I worked my way up in the
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  • company and became an assistant manager. About 3 months before I got my promotion I got my pregnant sister a job at this same company. The
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  • store manager at the time who hired us both ended up quitting about a week into my promotion. The district manager who had final say over me getting
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  • promoted knew about mine and my sister's familial relationship but still allowed me to get promoted. But now that there's a new store
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  • manager here who does everything by the books they are trying to force me to either voluntarily demote myself, or either my sister or I transfer to a
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  • different store or quit due to it "being policy" that there can't be a manager over a family member. Now this is where I might be the A**hole. Under
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  • normal circumstances | would have quit or demoted myself off of principles. But my sister is currently 7 1/2 months pregnant and had already
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  • planned on putting her two weeks notice in at the end of this month but now they won't allow us to stay in these positions until then so she's insisting I
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  • demote myself just so that she can stay on for these extra few weeks. And I don't feel it's right that I
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  • have to give up what I've worked so hard for just for her to only stick around at this job for another month. So AITA?
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  • RESIGNATION
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • Hotcrossbuns72 NTA. If she's already putting in her notice, then she can do that and work with the store mgr on the last day.
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  • tarnishau14 NTA. Sister can transfer for her last few weeks.
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  • Bonnm42 NTA your Sister and manager are being ridiculous. Don't demote yourself and throw away all your hard work.
    via Bonnm42
  • CatMom8787 You were there first. You earned the promotion. She (possibly) chose to get pregnant. She already planned on giving her notice. Let HER leave early or transfer. It's the right and only thing to do.
    via CatMom8787
  • lilianic NTA if she wasn't planning to leave, that would be one thing, but why should you take a demotion for someone who's already planning their exit? That doesn't make sense. She should take one for the team and just leave a bit earlier than she'd already planned.
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  • SportySue60 NTA - never make yourself smaller for someone else. They will never appreciate your sacrifice! Also, whose to say that you would ever get that promotion back?
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  • Primary_Bass_9178 Really, you should not have been involved in this decision. They should have decided and simply told you the decision. Basically they are getting you to do you firing. Let them fire your sister so she get unemployment. It will work better in the long run. Never volunteer to be demoted, that is wrong on so many levels
    via Primary_Bass_9178
  • Taakahamsta NTA. She's already quitting. She should be thankful you got her the job in the first place! Jeez. I know it's tough, but that's selfish of her to ask.
    via Taakahamsta

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family drama aita workplace-stories work stories AITAH Professional At Work work coworkers reddit story family feud entitled people karma workplace family sister reddit thread Reddit entitled people
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