Coworker reports crying baby to HR, then is concerned that she 'ratted out' a vulnerable mother without permission to have her baby at work: 'I work with a lot of touchy personalities and egos, I was not confident to simply ask her to close her door'

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Emma Saven
Jun 18, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

What's the more uncomfortable emotion, being riddled with guilt or simmering with frustration?

On one hand, we're impulsive creatures. When our patience wears thin, especially in a high-stress workplace, it's easy to act in the heat of the moment. There will always be clashing dynamics: the office rival, the office bestie, even that overly friendly coworker from the 12th floor who insists on waving every morning in the lobby. However, that doesn't always mean that we should let our irritation with a coworker evolve into an unbreakable office feud. 

We've dealt with the continuous pen-clickers, the painfully obvious lunch-stealers and the passive-aggressive sticky notes writers, but when do we let the slackuationship escalate? When is the frustration big enough to require a manager, HR or even the CEO and at what point has our tolerance been so thoroughly stomped on that we revert to the adult version of the fourth-grade game of "telling on"?

As coworkers, we need to ask ourselves: Which battles are worth fighting alone, and when is it time to bring in the bigger players?

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  • This situation poses a major moral dilemma of guilt vs frustration. This coworker can no longer take the sound of her coworker's crying baby who has been brought into the office. It is distracting and poses a threat to producing her best, most effective work. However, after anonymously reporting the mother to HR, she is flooded with waves of guilt and inner questions about her impulsive actions. 

  • 01
    N 3333 44 "It is incredibly difficult to focus on anything at all with a crying baby in your ear"
    via Vitaly Gariev

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

  • 02

    AITA for reporting a crying baby to HR?

    I am second guessing my decision to report to HR. There is a person in my building who brings their infant to work with her, and it cries and screams and
    via No-Ad6500
  • 03
    fusses, as babies do. She does not close her office door but leaves it open like an echo chamber resounding through the halls. It is
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    incredibly difficult to focus on anything at all with a crying baby in your ear. Closing my door helps a bit, but we have a culture
    via No-Ad6500
  • 05
    of leaving doors open to signal that you're available for an impromptu meeting. I leave mine open about half of the time. I decided today that something's
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  • 06
    gotta give. I do not know her and we do not work for the same department. I work in an office with a lot of touchy personalities
    via No-Ad6500
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    and egos, and I was not confident that I could simply ask her to close her door, without setting off W III, either with her
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    individually, or between our co- located departments. Instead I sent a very nicely worded email to HR asking if someone can send
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  • 09
    her an anonymous request to please kindly keep her door closed while she has her baby with her. I assumed the woman
    via No-Ad6500
  • 10
    has some kind of "Reasonable Accommodation" for having the baby at work, but now I'm second guessing myself. What if she
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  • 11
    doesn't, and isn't supposed to have the baby with her? Did I just "tell" on her? I am feeling quite sheepish about it at the moment.
    via No-Ad6500
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    Cheezburger Image 10518176256
    via gettysignature

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

  • 13
    Should I have tried to resolve this myself? HR has already responded with an emphatic "good job in bringing this to HR,
    via No-Ad6500
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    as this is an HR issue, and not something to handle yourself," but I still feel like maybe I'm the AH here.
    via No-Ad6500
  • 15
    sl33pl3ssn3ss I assured you parents aren't able to tuned out baby cry, unless the very terrible kind. That being said, people are not subjected to that kind of torture, especially at work. Some of us go to work to be away from our whiny kids lol
    via sl33pl3ssn3ss
  • 16
    Complete Tell6795 I'm surprised that no one else has complained about the baby being there & crying. Everyone else is just fine with it ???
    via CompleteTell6795
  • 17
    No-Ad6500 HR is in an entire other building. There's no way they'd know unless someone told them.
    via No-Ad6500
  • 18
    joninjones12121 what's the update?
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    No-Ad6500 No update yet. HR simply said it was right to bring it to them and they will do their best to alleviate the issue and keep me posted on the resolution.
    via No-Ad6500
  • 20
    Starfoxy If she was bringing the baby to work on the down low, you'd think she'd be a bit more proactive about making sure it wasn't drawing attention (ie shutting her office door).
    via Starfoxy
  • 21
    calacmack The noise interferes with your ability to perform your job duties; I imagine others feel the same. HR confirmed that your report was an appropriate manner in which to manage the situation. NTA.
    via calacmack
  • 22
    Krystal Vox You handled it professionally. HR confirmed it's their domain, and a constant crying baby impacts everyone's work. You prioritized productivity and sought a discreet solution
    via KrystalVox
  • 23
    RaspberryTechnical90 NTA. I'm not even sure how this could be considered a "reasonable accommodation". Even my friends that work from home still arrange daycare.
    via RaspberryTechnical90

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terrible coworkers disrupt crying baby boss antiwork workplace-stories baby employee drama Professional At Work work coworkers reddit story workplace
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