Tech team lead Monica spends months blaming new hire for her every mistake, until he finally collects proof and reports her to HR: ‘Now Monica’s being “investigated” and I’ve become office enemy #1’

Office politics is a game nobody wants to play, but somehow everyone gets drafted. In this tech team, the team lead has made an art form out of blame deflection, using the new guy as her personal landing pad every time a project wobbles like he's resume said he love being volunteered as the office scapegoat. 

It's like this team lead has turned blame-shifting into her personal brand, pinning every missed deadline and half-baked report on the newest team member. Each time something went wrong, the story was the same: the rookie misunderstood the timeline, the rookie forgot to double-check, the rookie dropped the ball. Never mind the digital trail of emails and Slack messages that told a different story. When the team lead bungled a client handoff and made it public in a messy email chain, she once again pointed the finger at her supposed underling for failing to prepare documentation.

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Author image for Etai Eshet Etai Eshet
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  • AITA for reporting my team lead after she kept using me as a scapegoat and now everyone thinks I’m a snitch?

    "She'd miss deadlines, give wrong instructions, and somehow it always circled back to me"
    via Aflo Images

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

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  • This time, the scapegoat had receipts. Armed with a meticulous collection of proof, he sent everything to HR, tired of being the silent casualty in someone else’s game of career dodgeball. No sugarcoating, no polite mediation, just a clear record of the pattern. HR took notice and launched an investigation into the team lead’s behavior.

  • I work in a tech company where our team lead, has this habit of pushing blame on others when goes sideways. At first, it was stuff
    via sweethannydew
  • mary e
    via jinda-noipho

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

  • minor stuff, like her saying I forgot to follow up with a client when she literally told me not to because she'd "handle it herself."
    via sweethannydew
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  • But then it started getting serious. She'd miss deadlines, give wrong instructions, or submit half-baked reports, and somehow it always
    via sweethannydew
  • circled back to me when our boss started asking questions. She'd say things like "Oh, I think [my name] misunderstood the
    via sweethannydew
  • Cheezburger Image 10523754752
    via Thirdman

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

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  • timeline" or "He probably forgot to double-check it." And since I'm newer, people kinda believed her. I tried talking to her privately, just
    via sweethannydew
  • like, "Hey, please don't throw me under the bus." She smiled and said I was being sensitive. Cool. Gaslight me harder, I guess.
    via sweethannydew
  • It all blew up last week when she completely botched a client handoff and cc'd me in a messy email chain where she basically implied it was my fault for "not preparing the documentation."
    via sweethannydew
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  • Now, the office has gone cold. Colleagues avoid eye contact, whispers fill the break room, and the word snitch hangs in the air

  • Except I had receipts, timestamps, emails, Slack messages, everything. So I took it all and sent it to HR. Didn't even sugarcoat it. Just laid it all out because I was DONE. Now
    via sweethannydew
  • Monica's being "investigated" and I've become office enemy #1. People are whispering, avoiding
    via sweethannydew
  • me, saying I "should've just handled it internally" and not "ruin someone's career." Like???
    via sweethannydew
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  • She was actively ruining mine. My anxiety was off the charts for months because of her lies. So
    via sweethannydew
  • yeah, maybe I blew it all up, but at least I'm not letting her keep walking over people. AITA for going straight to HR and not keeping my mouth shut?
    via sweethannydew
  • Tbluberry86 Screw them. Just keep your head down and do your work. She FAFO and you had the receipts. She would have let you drowned so she can look good. Ignore the circus monkeys. NTA
    via Tbluberry86
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  • Kebar8 Just ride out the wave, either the place is so toxic you'll need to move within the next 6 months because all those other people just put up with Monica's behaviour and think you should have too. Or it will get better. I'm sorry this has happened
    via Kebar8
  • Ok Stable7501 Remind them Monica could be after them next. NTA
    via OkStable7501

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