'Whole spreadsheets, proposals, pitch decks, gone': Toxic boss continually deletes employees' work to 'test' their 'adaptability' under pressure

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Jul 9, 2025 6:00 PM EDT

Workplace "hazing" is simply harassment with a bow on it—maybe it doesn't even have a bow—people just use another word for harassment so they don't have to own up to the malicious things they do. By "people," I mean toxic bosses who think that just because they have a managerial title in their LinkedIn headline, they get to treat their subordinates like dirt on the bottom of their shoes.

You're likely privy to this kind of treatment, or have been at some point in time; you want to curl up in your shared cubicle and curse your younger self for choosing a career in finance of all fields…

The landscape is ruthless. You have Patrick Bateman copycats running around with COO titles, and you have no strength left in you to combat the maltreatment of you. The employees in this next story are struggling to keep their heads above water as their boss continually deletes their work under the guise of "testing [their] adaptability". Is that even legal? Probably not.

What would you do in this situation? Scroll below to read the full story, including advice from commenters who can't believe higher-ups like this can get away with such awful behavior.

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  • "We're just tired, traumatized, and 3 seconds away from trauma dumping in the exit interview."
    via Vitaly Gariev for Unsplash

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

  • "My boss keeps DELETING our work to “‘test our adaptability’"

    So my boss who fully believes he's some misunderstood genius trapped in the corporate world has recently started this thing
    via Alec-Inch63
  • where he intentionally deletes our work just to see how we "adapt under pressure." I wish I was exaggerating. It started when a
    via Alec-Inch63
  • teammate's entire project folder went missing off the shared drive and he casually said, "If your vision can't survive disruption, it
    via Alec-Inch63
  • wasn't strong enough to begin with." Bro thinks he's Plato with a MacBook. Now he does it on PURPOSE. Whole spreadsheets,
    via Alec-Inch63
  • proposals, pitch decks gone. He calls it "creative demolition" and says it teaches us how to be agile thinkers. LIKE SIR. We're not in a
    via Alec-Inch63
  • simulation, we're on salary. I worked 3 nights straight prepping a financial deck for a big client meeting, and this man deleted
    via Alec-Inch63
  • the final file 2 hours before the call, looked me de d in the eyes, and said, "Now you get to build something fresher." FRESHER??
    via Alec-Inch63
  • elete Delete Delete Delete Delete De Delete Delete te Delete De Delete Delete Delete te Delete Delete Dele
    via Valeria Nikitina For Unsplash+
  • My soul is expired. I had charts. I had conditional formatting. I had inner peace. Now everyone in the team is living in fear, saving
    via Alec-Inch63
  • everything on 4 USBs and a Google Drive folder named "Please God No." We're literally whispering warnings in Slack like
    via Alec-Inch63
  • it's a hostage situation. He also refuses to give feedback on anything that's too "safe" but then deletes stuff that's "too
    via Alec-Inch63
  • bold" and says, "Try again but more evolved." WHAT DOES THAT MEAN. He walks around the office with noise-canceling
    via Alec-Inch63
  • headphones on, sipping herbal tea, quoting authors I swear he Googled 5 minutes before meetings. He once said,
    via Alec-Inch63
  • "Deadlines are imaginary, but growth is eternal" after blowing off a client deliverable. At this point, none of us are growing.
    via Alec-Inch63
  • We're just tired, traumatized, and 3 seconds away from trauma dumping in the exit interview. I'm seriously considering deleting his desk just to see how adaptable he really is:))) HAHAHAHAHHA
    via Alec-Inch63
  • pandamandaring You need to find a new job.
    via pandamandaring
  • Knitchick82 What. And I mean this in the most sincere way possible- The F So your boss is blowing off client deadlines, sabotaging the company and wasting time and money? Sounds to me like a promotion will be available in your department soon.
    via Knitchick82
  • You should also know that shared drives (such as Teams) often have the capability to recover deleted files, but you're smart to keep everything on USB for now.
    via Knitchick82
  • Your boss sounds exhausting. I wonder if he's truly a creative writer who never took off and is stuck in the corporate world taking out his creativity - I mean TYRANNY on those unfortunate enough to be in his direct line of sight.
    via Knitchick82
  • Alec-Inch63 For everyone asking how he even manages to delete stuff we use a shared cloud drive for most of our projects, and unfortunately he has full admin access. Like, he can literally go in, rename folders, delete files, or even restore old versions over our current ones "just to see what we do with it." He
    via Alec-Inch63
  • once replaced a polished presentation with a draft from WEEK ONE and said, “Let's see how you elevate from the basics." Bro, what is this? Project Runway? I swear he treats our shared drive like it's a sandbox game and we're just NPCs in his little self-made leadership simulation. We've started backing things up in secret folders and even emailing files to ourselves but honestly, nothing feels safe anymore
    via Alec-Inch63
  • Upset_Ad147 Every time he deletes something from the shared drive put in a data recovery request to IT. Those drives are backed up, usually. If the IT manager starts to see multiple requests from the same department then they will probably start asking management questions.
    via Upset_Ad147
  • RacheltheTarotCat The very minute I find out my boss deleted my work intentionally is the minute I quit. I'd rather starve.
    via RacheltheTarotCat
  • NellyOklahoma Are you sure its herbal tea hes sipping on though...?! Because it sounds like your boss may be sipping on something stronger...or hes just a complete idiot. Report him ASAP. While youre at it, purchase more external hard drives through the company. Upon approval, tell them the reason for the purchase is avoid losing your work due to "bosses name" intentionally deleting everyones work to see how well we adapt. This will reach HR REAL fast.
    via NellyOklahoma

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