Woman spies on ill coworker at home to verify he's unwell, mistakes him for his neighbor and tries to rat on him: 'He immediately calls HR and lets them know'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jul 6, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Spying is not usually a good idea. We all do it sometimes, admit it. We look at the Instagrams of people who used to be in our lives so we know what they're up to. Maybe we even type their names into Google to get more detailed information on their potential whereabouts. We've all craned our necks to see the text messages of a stranger on the subway. What? It's juicy, and we're only human. But we know that it's not a great habit. Spying invades peoples' privacy and we wouldn't want someone to do that to us. 

Some of us aren't great at controlling those impulses, though, and end up in sticky situations. We may think we're doing it in the name of justice but we're usually only doing it in the name of self-interest. We just hope we don't get caught when it comes down to it. 

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  • 01

    Husbands coworker spies on us to verify he's sick

    Hubby was very sick. Had to take him to the ER after he passed out from dehydration from an intestinal bug he'd been dealing with for a few days. On the way he calls his job to let them know.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 02
    Cheezburger Image 10522781440
    via Unsplash+ (Polina Kuzovkova)

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

  • That's what happened to the woman in this story who reached way beyond her job description. When she suspected a coworker was faking an illness to get out of work, she let her impulses get the better of her and went on a secret mission. But when she learned the truth, she was the one with egg on her face. 

  • 03
    We park in the ER garage and get a little ticket that the ER validates for you. He's brought back, immediately given fluids and meds, taken back for a CT scan, etc.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 04
    We find out later a coworker who was pissy she was going to be short handed took it upon herself to somehow find our address and later drive over to our apartment to check to see if Hubby is really sick. She sees our upstairs neighbor walking who vaguely resembles my hubby. Both 6'3 light brown hair similar builds, he's 15 yrs younger though and has his infant with him. Our kids are in their late 20's early 30's.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 05
    She goes back to work and tells boss that we lied about being sick as she saw him at 'insert time' walking around outside perfectly fine. The next morning the boss calls Hubby and lets him know he's going to be written up for calling out 'under false pretense' and causing staffing issues. After pressing him for info he tells us about what the coworker did.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 06
    Hubby tells boss that firstly, we have proof we were in the ER at the time coworker said she saw him and secondly that he's filing an HR complaint on both the coworker and the manager as there isnt any rule about why anyone can call out and why the hol is coworker at our house spying on us. In our state mgt isnt allowed to inquire about your health nor are they allowed to let you tell them about your health issues.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 07
    Mgr starts getting defensive and states if we can give him proof then he'll excuse it. Hubby says you'll get your proof and hangs up. He immediately calls HR and lets them know what happened and we provide them the time stamped parking ticket and part of the discharge paperwork from the ER showing what time we arrived and left.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 08
    The next week an email is sent out notifying all employees and mgt about the law concerning sick time. And also a separate notification that employees are not to be following, spying on or otherwise contacting other employees outside of the office regarding work, time off, etc.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 09
    Hubby was called into a meeting with the manager, the department head and the female employee. The manager and the employee were both absolutely roasted by the dept head. The only thing the employee had to say was that the person she saw looked like my hubby and she was just angry about the situation.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 10
    And the mgrs excuse was that the female employee had been there a long time so he trusted her when she told him. When asked how she got our address come to find out mgr lets her in his computer regularly and she has been privvy to other employees private info for some time.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 11
    Dept head said Hubby was free to go with his profound apologies. We found out later employee was fired and mgr was demoted and moved to a different dept.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 12
    Cheezburger Image 10522781696
    via MohammadO Shokoofe

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

  • 13

    Commenters enjoyed the retribution this over-the-line coworker received.

    pepperpat64 • 2d ago Did the coworker spy on your husband during the workday when she should have been, you know, working?
    via u/pepperpat64
  • 14
    Pookie1028 OP · 2d ago • She sure did. They work over nights 6-6, we got to the hospital just after 5pm. She came by just after 6pm. She should have already been at work.
    via u/Pookie1028
  • 15
    JustALizzyLife • 2d ago Holy crap, HR actually doing their job! Quick, buy a lottery ticket! Hope your husband is feeling better! Those sort of stomach bugs are no joke.
    via u/JustALizzyLife
  • 16
    FryOneFatManic • 2d ago I think the manager should have been fired too.
    via u/FryOneFatManic
  • 17
    Busy... 2d ago Edited 2d ago . Had something like this happen at my work. A coworker called out saying she was in a car accident. The next day when returns the manager sees the car she arrives in is in perfect shape and really gets angry and
    via u/Busy-Drawing-2576
  • 18
    shouts at her "I'm not seeing any damage to your car, liar," and writes her up not even realizing it's not the same car. Hers was in the shop and she was driving in a loaner. She contacted HR and that manager was fired.
    via u/Busy-Drawing-2576
  • 19
    Bu ied Teacher1 · 2d ago I had a similar experience. I was home sick and one of my coworkers showed up at my house, during school hours, to scream at me, accuse me of "faking it" and tried to get into my home to "give me a (physical) examination to prove I was faking it." Thankfully my security door was locked and she didn't get in, but she was screaming her head off.
    via u/Bu**iedTeacher1
  • 20
    When my husband appeared behind me she (sort of) calmed down but threatened to "drag me back by my ear" if I didn't show up to teach my classes the next day.
    via u/Bu**iedTeacher1
  • 21
    Needless to say, I did not go back for 2 days as I was running a fever. She did not show up to "drag me back" but did tell me that I had to "clear it with her first" if I got sick again. This was a fellow teacher, not Admin and she had no say in staff attendance. I sincerely wish I had filed charges against her.
    via u/Bu**iedTeacher1
  • 22
    penguinintoorbit • 2d ago I'd bet money manager and female employee were
    via u/penguinintoorbit
  • 23
    • Orga... 2d ago Edited 2d ago . It's nice that HR had your back! Usually it's the other way around. I ended up in the hospital and had emergency surgery. A coworker lied saying she saw me at a water park. She went around spreading the rumor that I was faking and that I was never in the hospital to
    via u/Organic_South8865
  • 24
    anyone that would listen. When I got back to the office 3 weeks later I showed the discharge papers to HR and my manager. (My boss had actually visited me in the hospital so he was already on my side)
    via u/Organic_South8865
  • 25
    My manager wanted her fired but HR did absolutely nothing saying "Oh it was just a mix up. She thought she saw you." The liar and the head of HR were really good friends. They bu ied a new hire until she quit just because she was good at her job and younger than them. It was obvious and
    via u/Organic_South8865
  • 26
    disgusting. This woman would constantly lie in our monthly meetings so I started calling. her out in front of everyone. I just didn't care anymore. One time she claimed my department had been messing up shipping orders that delayed a huge $400k
    via u/Organic_South8865
  • 27
    order and I had the whole chain of emails and shipping orders printed out. I even had the shipping guys date and initial the orders. I pulled out the folder and said "She's lying again. None of that happened. She just didn't do her job for 3 weeks and blamed it on everyone else." It was funny watching
    via u/Organic_South8865
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    everyone's shocked expressions in the meeting. I had people coming to my office saying stuff like "I can't believe someone finally called her out on her BS!" I had no filter at all. Whatever I felt I would just blurt it out without a second thought. It was so cathartic because I would usually let people like her walk all over me.
    via u/Organic_South8865
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    Eventually we had a "mediation" and I told them they could just fire me if they wanted to keep letting her get away with lying and making everyone's jobs more difficult. The company owner and my manager really liked. me so I wasn't fired. I was also really good at my job and
    via u/Organic_South8865
  • 30
    I made the company a lot of money. She ended up quitting after a few months and there was a rumor she tried to sue the company for a hostile work environment. Everything was so much better after she was gone. It was a very noticeable difference without her around.
    via u/Organic_South8865

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terrible coworkers boss antiwork workplace-stories toxic-workplace job bosses work coworkers working spy reddit story toxic-boss crazy coworker workplace reddit thread bad bosses Reddit spying toxic-work-environment
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