'I did what I was instructed to do': Boss shuts down employee who was trying to explain a discrepancy in reporting, employee maliciously complies to prove his point

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Jul 2, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Most employees don't bring up problems just for fun. They typically foresee a conundrum and hope to start finding solutions before it's too late. Unfortunately, far too many bosses out there feel threatened when the people underneath them within the company hierarchy discover flaws before they do. Their wounded ego then makes it nearly impossible for employees to raise valid concerns and to try to avoid impending disaster. It's a classic case of an insecure manager whose own incompetence and attitude become the primary reasons for colossal company errors.

In this instance, we have an employee who tried to explain a delay in weekly reporting that meant accurate data for a given week would not be able to be calculated and properly distributed until the following Monday. Of course, the author's boss was unable to hear the criticism and instead implied that the employee was too lazy to get the reporting done by end of day each Friday. Well, it turns out that the only way the author was able to fully communicate the reporting issue was by doing exactly as their boss instructed.

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    Cheezburger Image 10524078848
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • Based on the final comments from the author at the end of their story, it seems like their boss finally figured out why their employee insisted on Mondays in the first place. It wasn't due to their own arbitrary schedule; it was due to inaccurate reporting. Once again, showing rather than telling was what did the trick in the end.

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    I send two reports to our biggest client every week. One I send Tuesday and again on Friday. This is the open order report- every order we are currently fulfilling.
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    The second I send on Monday. It's the report for what orders we have shipped the previous week. This gives the customer a full image of open and closed orders.
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    Mind you, I specifically requested that the tool to generate the second report be created. Sending the report AND the creation of the tool used to send it were both my idea.
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    In my 1:1 on the 18th I explained to my manager that I need to send the second report on Monday because the information is not updated in our software in
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    a timely manner on Friday, so sending it on the Monday of the following week ensures everything is current. The tool has an option to select which dates are reflected in the report.
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    So today, Monday 6/30, I would select the dates for last week (6/23-6/27). My manager misunderstood and thought that if I send the report on Monday, it would include that Monday and four days of the previous week, Tuesday-Friday.
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    He sent me an email on the 26th saying he did not like this solution and found it confusing. He said, effective immediately, we would need to adjust my hours to extend to when billing is complete, which is around 4:30pm (I work til 4).
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    I absolutely don't mind staying to do the job I'm paid for, but I knew that due to the delay in updating, the shipping report would not be current. I also knew it would
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    reflect five days of the same week and not one day of the current week and four days of the previous week.
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    I went to his office to clear this up, and I said two words before he interrupted me in a raised voice. "I don't care! I want the report sent on Friday!" I immediately said "okay,
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    (Manager)" and went to leave but he continued going off. I said something else and he shut me down again. "You need to send the report on Friday! End of discussion!" "Okay, (Manager)."
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    Cheezburger Image 10524079360
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

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    Cue malicious compliance. The next day, I stay later, refreshing the report that I know is not going to update. I generate it and see that Friday's shipments are missing. I send it as instructed and leave.
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    Shortly after, he emails saying the report is not complete and I need to send one Monday morning. I don't work on the weekend so I just saw it this morning.
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    I tell him that I have one tool to get this done and there is a delay in the system and tell him this is why I suggested sending on Mondays. I ask him if there is another tool or method I am unaware of. I tell him the invoicing report and the shipping report don't match.
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    He says, "that's the problem. You sent the report without looking at it." I let him know I DID look at it; but I did what I was instructed to do.
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    Now we look (even more) unorganized and inconsistent to our biggest customer. He says the information should be available on Fridays and he asked
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    a higher up for details on when the report updates. That higher up said that the report DOESN'T UPDATE UNTIL 4:30pm-5:15pm. WHEN EVERYONE IS GONE.
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    Most recent correspondence: "FYI. We can talk about when we want to send the report." Oh.
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workplace-stories employee work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance work overworked-employees Horrible Bosses bad bosses company workplace malicious compliance toxic-work-environment
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