Bosses refuse to pay employee living wage, secretly write off multi-million dollar mansion as an office: 'They are going to pay the person after me over 15k LESS than I'm making'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jun 20, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Hypocrisy is never a good look. Most of us are hypocrites in some way or another, though. Maybe you say you really care about preserving the environment but you love an hour-long steaming shower. Maybe you tell someone you're breaking up with that you "don't want anything serious" and then dive headfirst into a long-term relationship with the next soul you meet. Maybe you say that you hate mainstream music but you secretly listen to "Espresso" every time you're in your car. We all do this kind of stuff. It's part of being human. We're full of contradictions and enigmas. We can't help it.

We can help, though, when our hypocrisies end up hurting other people. We can try our best to keep our word and treat others how we'd like to be treated. Especially if we're their boss and they're struggling. We should try everything we can to put our money where our mouths are. 

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  • 01

    My Bosses Claim They're Broke, But Have Enough Money For A Second Mansion

    I made a post last week about quitting my job with insane bosses, fortunately they actually took it okay.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10519019008
    via Quan Nguyen

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

  • But that's not what these small business owners did to their struggling employees. Instead of seeing that their loyal employee needed some help, they continued to hide their wealth and funnel it into their own channels. And when their employee found out, things got weird. Read on for the story.

  • 03
    I'm finishing out my last week and they have posted the listing for my position online. Out of curiosity I decided to look at the listing, they are going to pay the person after me over 15k LESS than I'm making. This is after they have watched me be unable to afford basic things like medical care and car repairs.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 04
    Obviously this is already awful of them, but now I'm also finding out more about how they live their lives that makes me hate them even more.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 05
    For months they've talked about this second "office" they have in a different state, which was confusing considering this company is so small they don't even use the full main office. Then one of them printed off an invoice for a pool cleaning company for the second "office". This
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 06
    prompted me to look up the address and find that it's not an office, it's a waterfront mansion with a large pool, several acres of land, two ponds, and its own pier. They've been calling it. an "office" so they can write it off as a business expense.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 07
    These are the same people who consistently try to underpay their employees, and become outraged when someone notices they aren't getting paid enough. They try to play the "small business owner barely scraping by" role to get out of properly compensating people, meanwhile they have two mansions, nice cars, and a couple million dollars in the bank.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 08
    I just had to vent about this, I'm just absolutely sickened by their actions and felt like this was a space where people would understand where I'm coming from.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 09
    Cheezburger Image 10519019264
    via Christian Erfurt

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

  • 10

    Other workers were there to echo their complaints and offer ideas for recourse.

    bn40667. 1h ago If you actually have proof they're using a home as a business expense, forward it to the IRS. They just LOVE tax evaders. At the very least they'll have to spend thousands of legal fees to prove it's a legitimate "business expense".
    via u/bn40667
  • 11
    violet-pixel OP. 1h ago My only problem is I don't have any concrete proof, I'm not really sure how much evidence the IRS needs for a complaint.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 12
    series-hybrid • 1h ago So...the system is working just as they designed it to...right?
    via u/series-hybrid
  • 13
    FaithandHope_86 • 1h ago I was on a call with my boss, they were talking about how much money they were losing and this contract could bankrupt them. They had to take a personal call on their cell phone and didn't mute our teams call. They were brokering a deal in the states for a second yacht Imao
    via u/FaithandHope_86
  • 14
    violet-pixel OP • 1h ago It's hilarious how they're always "struggling", meanwhile live in more luxury than most people will ever know.
    via u/violet-pixel
  • 15
    MyHGC 39m ago . "The company is broke... because I took all the money out for my second mansion..."
    via u/MyHGC
  • 16
    housesettlingcreaks 42m ago . I always thought it would be funny to organize food drives to help the business owner because they can't afford to pay living wages. Like you want to pretend to be poor, lol you should own it fully then.
    via u/housesettlingcreaks
  • 17
    ihatejasonbrigham • 1h ago . I think that it's less likely being referred to as an office space on tax/legal documents and more likely that it's technically owned by the same LLC that your company operates under. It's very common for second/winter homes in Florida to be owned by LLCs.
    via u/ihatejasonbrigham
  • 18
    But still scummy of them to deny you a raise to meet a basic standard of living.
    via u/ihatejasonbrigham
  • 19
    . Transmutagen • 49m ago I worked for someone like that. It's really hard to take someone seriously that's trying to explain why your direct deposit didn't go through when their Aston Martin is parked right outside the window.
    via u/Transmutagen
  • 20
    AlliB513 35m ago • That's probably why they're broke. Mortgaged up to their eyeballs. They sound like sh*tty humans.
    via u/AlliB513
  • 21
    jodrellbank_pants 17m ago . Its the Goto statement, yet mine just threw a 10k system in the bin because its USA power not UK. Brand new still in box and wrapper sat in a skip, cant send it back because its been opened.
    via u/jodrellbank_pants
  • 22
    Ill be asking for compensation in my review in September, wont get it gonna be the same answer We have No MONEY for that
    via u/jodrellbank_pants
  • 23
    PapaMoBucks 11m ago • Oh, something tells me the FTC would love to hear about this second "office"
    via u/PapaMoBucks
  • 24
    tired_dad_since2018 · 56m ago • Those nice cars you see are also probably leased (and written off) by the company.
    via u/tired_dad_since2018
  • 25
    Redtoolbox1 • 47m ago Just an excuse to minimize employee pay
    via u/Redtoolbox1

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boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working reddit story toxic-boss workplace rich people reddit thread bad bosses Reddit money toxic-work-environment
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