Coworker refuses to mute her microphone on video calls when her baby has crying tantrums, employee calls out her unprofessionalism: ‘It makes it almost impossible to focus on the meeting content’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jun 5, 2025 2:00 AM EDT

New motherhood is something to get used to—we know this to be true. Working remotely helps new mothers be more readily available for their kids, which is great! However, your coworkers don't want to hear the fallout of baby Nolan disliking the taste of his formula. How would they know this is going on? Well, if you don't mute your microphone during work meetings, then your peers, all the way through to your CEO, will be aware of everything your baby dislikes. If your kid is having a hard day, please mute your microphone. Nobody else will be able to focus if a baby is crying on the other end!

The employee in this next story decides to speak up and ask his coworker, who is on maternity leave but "listening in" on meetings, to mute her microphone after her baby repeatedly has a crying tantrum over a video call. Nobody else mentioned anything, so the employee ultimately did what had to be done. The new mom/coworker, however, did not take this lightly, and some coworkers are calling this employee insensitive. What do you think? Scroll below to read the entire story.

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

  • "AIO for being annoyed my co-worker brings her crying baby to every virtual meeting?"

    I (31F) work remotely, and so does my coworker, Sarah (33F). We're on a team that has several virtual meetings a day. Sarah has
    via Total-Lavishness6736
  • a newborn (about 3 months old). She's on maternity leave, but she frequently "pops into" meetings, sometimes just to "listen in" or for "quick updates."
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  • The issue is, she always has her baby with her, and the baby is almost always crying or fussing loudly in the background. It's not
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  • just a little coo; it's often full- blown wailing or persistent loud babbling right into her microphone. She rarely mutes herself, even when the baby is really loud.
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  • It's incredibly distracting. I understand she's a new mom, and it's tough, but it makes it almost impossible to focus on the meeting content or hear what others are saying. It also feels unprofessional.
    via Total-Lavishness6736
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    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Today, during a crucial client meeting, the baby started screaming during a colleague's presentation. Sarah just kept shushing it loudly into her mic.
    via Total-Lavishness6736
  • After the meeting, I privately messaged her, "Hey, I totally get it's tough with a newborn, but maybe for client meetings, you could mute yourself or step away if the baby is really crying? It's hard to hear."
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  • She responded, "Wow. Are you seriously complaining about a baby? I'm a working mom, I'm doing my best. You clearly don't
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  • understand." She's now telling other colleagues I'm "insensitive" and "don't support working mothers."
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  • Am I overreacting for asking her to manage the audio disruption during professional meetings?
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  • Recycled123youth Actually in a lot of virtual meetings there's usually someone in charge of things like this and she's lucky she didn't get called out for not muting her mic. During the pan mic there's was a woman in my class who would do this and my professor would mute her but she kept unmuting herself Even when she wasn't talking. It
    via Recycled123youth
  • ended with my professor keeping her in a virtual lobby until our final presentations were done. Some remote worked have seemed to lost the sense that relate work is still work and requires work etiquette. Your coworker is very entitled. So because she had a baby no one is entitled to a quiet presentation? That's crazy. If she's on maternity leave and keeps "popping" in she could actually get into trouble because she has no business being in there in the first place.
    via Recycled123youth
  • lovinglifeatmyage This is up to her manager to sort out. I'm really surprised it's not been addressed already, it's totally unprofessional. If she's on Matty leave then there's no reason why she's not on mute is there? As others have said, the mute button is there for a reason NOR
    via lovinglifeatmyage
  • likedyoumore If she's on maternity leave, i feel like she should be fully away from work and not "popping in" with her screaming baby. NOR edit: could the moderator of the meeting not manually mute her from their side? i know it's an option on zoom
    via likedyoumore
  • AfterManufacturer150 No. I'm surprised the boss/manager hasn't said anything. It's extremely distracting and unprofessional. She's being insensitive. It's one thing is the baby isn't wailing. Why she thinks that's acceptable is crazy. That's why the mute button exists.
    via AfterManufacturer150
  • jadanas FFS who doesn't mute themselves if they are just listening in?? That is basic etiquette, but ESPECIALLY if there is noise in the background. NOR.
    via jadanas
  • Watching Telly Now If you're using Teams, you can mute her. I don't think it even shows who mutes them. And her manager should be dealing. with this, not you - it's very unprofessional to have a baby screaming in a client meeting so she's damaging the reputation of the company.
    via WatchingTellyNow

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terrible coworkers workplace-stories zoom video call work coworkers reddit story entitled people karma workplace new mom reddit thread Reddit entitled people
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