'Coworker "accidentally" deleted my entire project... right before the deadline': Marketing employee discovers weeks worth of work are "totally wiped" from their computer by coworker Jenna, company loses client

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 10, 2025 3:00 PM EDT

Depending on how your company operates, deleting weeks worth of work could cost you your job… or maybe nothing will happen at all. Such is the way of the corporate world. 

People love to make jokes about email jobs being kind of amorphous. Sometimes the boss will insist that something is on deadline, and it is completely critical that it gets done by the weekend. But if her favorite employee asks for an extension, she might just allow your team to push the deadline back by a month or so. It all depends on who's a personality hire or a nepo-hire!

Most of us know a nepotistic hire who doesn't do anything around the office. If they were to accidentally delete a ton of files, nothing would really happen. They might get a little slap on the wrist, but that's about it. This employee did something far worse, and she wasn't even a nepo-hire! She must be truly beloved around the workplace in order to get away with deleting weeks worth of work. 

As one person noted, too, this seems to be far from accidental. Instead, it seems likely that this woman completely sabotaged the project. This person should honestly find another job: they're clearly spending so much time seething over this whole incident when they could be spending their time working for a company who actually appreciates their talents. 

Next, read about these times that grandkids were irritated by their grandparents, like one person whose Grandma "posts random photos of me sleeping on her public Instagram." 

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  • 01
    3 office workers looking upset while looking at computer monitor, with an upset man holding his head in the foreground
    via OSPAN ALI on Unsplahs+

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

  • 02
    So I work in a small marketing team where we each manage our own client accounts. Last month I was wrapping up a big campaign for a client who, let's just say, is very particular and has made people cry over font choices. The campaign had taken weeks to pull together (videos, graphics, ad copy, analytics reports, etc.) I kept everything in a clearly labeled shared folder because we're supposed to have backups in case someone gets sick or
    via u/LittleeDahyor-30
  • 03
    quits mid project. Anyway, the morning of the final presentation, I log in and the folder is empty. Totally wiped. I panicked. I checked the version history, the recycle bin, everything. Nothing. Turns out, my coworker "Jenna" had gone into the drive late the night before and deleted the entire folder supposedly because she thought it was "old files taking up space."
    via u/LittleeDahyor-30
  • 04
    Mind you, the folder was named something like Client_X_Final CampaignAssets_ Month2025_DO_NOT_DELETE Our manager just kind of shrugged it off and said "these things happen" and "let's focus on moving forward." I had to scramble and recreate everything I could from email attachments and drafts. We lost the client.
    via u/LittleeDahyor-30
  • 05
    And guess what, Jenna applied for the same internal promotion I did. Jenna got the promotion. I'm still salty.
    via u/LittleeDahyor-30

    The most infuriating part is that Jenna was actually promoted after this mess! It just goes to show that it matters far less what you actually do, and it's far more about who you know. 

  • 06
    Bemteb Why don't you have backups of the shared drive? A single disgruntled employee could delete your whole company. A small virus or phishing link clicked and you are done for. This time it might have been a mistake, which is bad enough if it can't get reverted, next time it might be far worse.
    via u/Bemteb
  • 07
    I would take this incident to suggest proper backups to your management or IT. Most likely they will just shrug, as your manager did here, but then you know for sure and know that this isn't the best company. Plus, keep your own backups on your machine. Don't just store everything to the shared folder, store it there and locally.
    via u/Bemteb
  • 08
    mkuz753 Jenna didn't accidentally delete it. She sabotaged you on purpose. The reaction of management says a lot also. Jenna probably has a friend in management. You need to prepare to leave the job because Jenna and friends will keep you from advancing.
    via u/mkuz753
  • 09
    Three coworkers wearing earpeices looking upset at computer monitor
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+
  • 10
    SuperbPotential26... For major projects I always save everything in three different areas: the client folder on the shared drive, locally on my computer and in a "matryoshka" folder inside other folders that have nothing to do with it.
    via u/SuperbPotential2610
  • 11
    You never know who might stick their nose in and who - through incompetence - might delete your files. Besides, there is always the risk of server problems, so local saving is also useful for that kind of last-minute problem.
    via u/SuperbPotential2610
  • 12
    Returning to your question: how is it possible that the manager let the matter pass by like that! Was there any favouritism for the promotion?
    via u/SuperbPotential2610

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