Coworker throws employee ‘under the bus’ and blames her for a mistake on a project they had equal part in, employee refuses to assist her on her next individual project: ‘She panicked’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Mar 29, 2025 5:00 PM EDT

Group projects in the workplace are almost as bad as group projects back in the academic days. The difference between the two? You get paid to do one of them, and you pay someone else to let you do the other one. Also, getting one bad grade in science class isn't the same as messing up a project at the office.

If you play your cards completely wrong, you might be walking out the door at 5 PM, and your boss will tell you not to bother coming in the next day, or ever. If the project hiccup is not your fault, though, but your groupmate insists that it is to your boss, you've got to cover for yourself. Many coworkers will do whatever they can to get a leg up on you, and that includes throwing you under the bus for a mistake they made. Sounds insane, but it happens every day. Scroll to read what happens to an employee who gets blamed for a mistake they didn't make.

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  • This employee explains that her coworker was a great team player at first, but then she started taking credit for all of the good things they were doing as a team. When things went awry, the coworker refused to take any credit. I assume you're sensing a trend here. Well, it gets worse…

  • "Instead of owning up to it, she threw me under the bus.”
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • "AITAH for refusing to help my coworker after she threw me under the bus?"

    Alright, so I (32F) work in a corporate office and my job can be pretty demanding. Ive been at this company for six years and Im good at what I do. I dont mind helping out my coworkers, but recently, I drew a hard line...
    via LilLuxeDream
  • Enter Sarah (29F). She started about a year ago and at first, we got along fine. I even helped her out when she was struggling to learn some systems and
    via LilLuxeDream
  • workflows. But as time went on, I noticed something... odd. Whenever something went right, she took full credit. But if anything went wrong, suddenly, it was my fault.
    via LilLuxeDream
  • A few months ago our manager called us into a meeting about a project we worked on together. There had been a mistake...nothing catastrophic, but something that needed fixing.
    via LilLuxeDream
  • Before I could even open my mouth, Sarah immediately blamed me. She said, "Oh, I thought OP was handling that part. I didnt realize she missed it." EXCUSE ME??
    via LilLuxeDream
  • She knew we both had equal responsibility, but instead of owning up to it, she just threw me under the bus. I stayed professional in the meeting, but
    via LilLuxeDream
  • after, I confronted her like, "What was that?" She just shrugged and said, "Sorry I panicked!" Bla bla bla
    via LilLuxeDream
  • Cheezburger Image 10487353600
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • I told her that if she was going to pull that, she shouldnt expect me to cover for her anymore. She just laughed it off...
    via LilLuxeDream
  • Welp, fast forward to last week, and guess what? Sarah screwed up a report. A big one. It was something she was directly responsible for, and if it wasnt
    via LilLuxeDream
  • fixed ASAP, it would make her look really bad. She came to my desk, all sweet and friendly, and said, "Heyyy can you help me fix this? I know youre really good with data..."
    via LilLuxeDream
  • I looked her d d in the eye and said, "Oh, I thought you were handling that part." And then I went back to my work....
    via LilLuxeDream
  • She panicked. She ended up staying super late to fix it, but not before complaining to a few coworkers that I was being "petty" and "not a team player."
    via LilLuxeDream
  • Some people agree with me, but a couple of coworkers (who werent there when she threw me under the bus) said I shouldve helped because thats what good coworkers do.
    via LilLuxeDream
  • So AITAH for refusing to bail her out after what she did to me or should I have just let it go?
    via LilLuxeDream
  • Ashamed_Mode3... Nta report the incident. To hr she will try to sabotage. you in the future and now she is creating a hostile work environment because you refuse to do her work! The audacity of people I swear.
    via Ashamed_Mode3859
  • Heavy-Quail-7295 NTA. You don't bite the hand that feeds you. I'll help anyone who asks, because I enjoy it. The moment someone puts the bullseye on my back, that help is gone. It's not even being petty...l don't want my name tied to their substandard work if they won't take responsibility for their work.
    via Heavy-Quail-7295

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terrible coworkers aita workplace-stories entitlement AITAH Professional At Work work coworkers askreddit reddit story entitled people karma workplace entitled reddit thread Reddit entitled people
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