Employee suspects coworker blocked them on corporate chat software because they were promoted to a better role: ‘[We] have never really gotten along’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
May 2, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Most employees in the workforce hope they don't get stuck in the same position with the same pay for the rest of their lives. Promotions are few and far between, at least in this job market, so it's important to take any step-up you can get—you never know when the next opportunity to rise above will be handed to you.

Now, not to fear monger, but it's kind of true. That's why there's so much dissonance between coworkers in certain fields… All of you are gunning for the same 5% pay bump and mid-level title to flaunt on LinkedIn. Don't worry, this is a safe space. What you don't expect, though, is for your scorned coworkers to block you on G Chat or Microsoft Teams when you get the promotion they wanted. We're all adults here, aren't we? Save your tears for your private Instagram or something. 

This next story paints a picture of how petty some coworkers can be… if the poster's coworker actually blocked them. The employee who posted the story explains that their messages aren't going through to one of their team members, and they have a history of hostility… This can't be a coincidence, can it? Scroll below to read the entire story.

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  • It might be a bit unethical of the employee to assume someone is jealous of them, and so much so that a colleague decided to block them and risk getting in trouble with their boss, but it's not completely ridiculous to think about. I mean, if someone wanted a promotion I got and I suddenly started to receive error messages when I try to chat with them, I'd probably assume the same thing…

  • Cheezburger Image 10500630016
    via LinkedIn Sales Solutions for Unsplash

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

  • "Coworker blocked me on corporate chat…we both still work there. What do I do?"

    Basically title. I've been at a large multi-national company for a few years. We're all remote employees.
    via NoDinosHere
  • I was recently promoted and moved to a new team as part of that promotion. After I moved, I got a client email that needed to be routed to my old team. I went
    via NoDinosHere
  • to message one of the Client Leads on my old team and the message failed. After some digging and asking a friend for help testing the error message, it's pretty clear the Client Lead has blocked me on corporate chat.
    via NoDinosHere
  • I messaged another old teammate to get help for the client, but I'm at an absolute loss of what to do. This coworker and I have never really gotten along
    via NoDinosHere
  • but we've always been courteous - I chalked it up to clashing personalities but we've been on projects together in the past and thought we had a respectful
    via NoDinosHere
  • relationship, and I had looked up to her and asked her for advice on multiple occasions. I did not see a random corporate chat & email block coming.
    via NoDinosHere
  • Cheezburger Image 10500630528
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • Im not sure if I should escalate being blocked. On one hand, after my promotion I don't work with her often, so it doesn't
    via NoDinosHere
  • impact my day to day work. But on the other hand it could be weird if I need to message her in the future and can't. Do I bring this up to my boss? Her boss? Or just say nothing and hope it never becomes an issue?
    via NoDinosHere
  • Warbyothermeanz I didn't even know corporates enabled a block feature for others in the organization lol
    via Warbyothermeanz
  • AdPrize3997 Reach out to IT first. Let IT confirm that you have been blocked (could be technical glitch too) and then escalate that the behaviour is not professional
    via AdPrize3997
  • tbarg91 I would send an message to his boss, just saying hey I can't reach {coworker name here }, can I call you?
    via tbarg91
  • And then over s phone call explain thst you have x request and can't reach his coworker and thst you don't know if he is still working there or if it's s glitch.
    via tbarg91
  • Your ex coworker is most likely jeleous of your promotion or it's a technical glitch. Btw i have seen blocks working in big corporations...
    via tbarg91
  • _cob_ Email and CC their supervisor. Done deal.
    via _cob_
  • Fine-Bumblebee-9427 Send an email to coworker and coworker's boss. "Hey, my message bounced back on Slack. Might be a tech issue? Here's what I sent." Let the manager handle it.
    via Fine-Bumblebee-9427
  • theoldman-1313 This could be something that was done some time ago before your promotion and simply forgotten. It could even be a system problem, although I think that is very unlikely.
    via theoldman-1313
  • Create a ticket with IT about your chat not going through. They will confirm of it is a block and document it. If it happens again put in another ticket. In the meantime route any requests for assistance through the coworker's supervisor. Act like this is a glitch and not a hostile act.
    via theoldman-1313
  • Salt_Initiative1551 Go to IT and pretend you think it's a glitch. Once you have definitively found out if they're blocking you or not, then escalate. That is so unbelievably unprofessional that they would block a coworker lol.
    via Salt_Initiative1551

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promotion antiwork workplace-stories jobs work stories toxic-workplace job work coworkers reddit story workplace entitled reddit thread Reddit entitled people
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