Coworker tried to prank employee with fake write-up and accidentally got themselves written up instead: 'Our manager didn't find it funny'

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Isabella Penn
Aug 14, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

There's nothing more terrifying at work than getting negative feedback from your manager. You're just trying to keep your head down, do your job, and not get fired in this economy. Or maybe you're on the opposite end; you're trying to climb the corporate ladder, prove yourself, and get that promotion. Either way, there's never a good time to get written up.

Unless, of course, you're actively trying to get fired in hopes of a severance package instead of quitting on the spot, in which case, congratulations, you're playing corporate chess while the rest of us are playing Minesweeper.

But what if that dreaded write-up wasn't real? What if it was all just… a prank?

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  • Workplace pranks can go either way. They can be the fun little morale boost that makes office life slightly less soul-crushing. Or they can be a complete nightmare, fueling the kind of anxiety that makes you glance over your shoulder every time you hear a stapler click. Either way, if you're boss isn’t on board, things go sideways pretty fast.

    Like this time, when a coworker’s prank backfired spectacularly, and instead of getting a laugh… they got themselves written up.

  • Cheezburger Image 10540829952
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  • "Coworker tried to prank me with fake write-up… and accidentally got themselves written up instead"

    I work at a mid-sized retail chain. Our store has this inside joke culture, and while some of it is fun, it gets exhausting when it crosses lines. One of my coworkers, Ryan
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  • (early 20s, self-proclaimed "office prankster"), thought it'd be hilarious to fake a "final warning" write-up for me and leave it on my locker. The "write-up" said I'd been reported for "hostile
    via Direct_Share6777
  • body language" and "making the copier feel unsafe." It was clearly a joke but it had our real manager's signature, forged almost perfectly. Well, our manager didn't find it funny. At all.
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  • I guess Ryan had taken an old form from the back room and tried to copy the signature from a document left on the desk. He got called into the office, and I kid you not,
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  • got written up for real for document tampering. Apparently, forging any signature, joke or not, is considered grounds for HR involvement. He tried to defend himself with "It was just a joke!"
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  • Cheezburger Image 10540830208
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • but our manager said, "Do you know how serious this could've been if you pranked the wrong person?" Ryan's been sulking ever since and hasn't tried another "joke" since.
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  • DeathGP Playing with fire with fake documents and fake signatures. All he had to do was have the note look extremely fake, I
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  • mean he also could not do it as well but those types don't usually go that route
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  • Cerulean_Shadows I'm glad it worked out, but that just sounds entirely too exhausting. It must be awful having to constantly look over your shoulder for the next prank
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  • tortoiseshellgreen Ryan started the fire
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  • harrellj Pranks are only funny if both the pranker and the prankee are laughing. Otherwise, they're ride.
    via harrellj
  • Agreeable-Book-7018 My coworker and I did this once. She was a team leader and had the power to write ppl up. She gave me a fake write-up as a joke with really
    via Agreeable-Book-7018
  • funny stuff written on it.. and my response in the comment section was "life's a bh." Well, we both forgot about it for a while, and about a week later, we mentioned we hadn't seen it. Our Mgr
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  • said she had seen it and thought it was funny, so she took it with her to a meeting and gave it to the owner..i was seriously thinking we was about to get fired. Later that day,
    via Agreeable-Book-7018
  • the owner walks in and looks at me. She puts her arm around me and says, "So I hear life's a bh." I'm standing there not able to speak and she goes. "Yeah I agree with that sometimes. " and walked off. I seriously was like sweating bullets. when she came in.
    via Agreeable-Book-7018
  • upfromashes I had been working on getting some final requirements sorted to wrap up grad school. I
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  • was working a job as an office runner at the time, and was gathering some final documents I needed. I went to the bathroom and left my paperwork on my desk. When I came
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  • back there was a big, fat coffee circle on the top page where someone had put down a sloppy coffee cup. It didn't affect the paperwork, it was all still legible, but I was livid. The
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  • disrespect. Just as I was starting to register what the f I was even looking at, my co-worker held up the actual paperwork, dry and clean. I was looking at a photocopy they made
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  • specifically to prank. I wasn't left stewing for more than thirty seconds, and as soon as the gag was revealed everything was reset to how it had been. No harm, no foul. Decent prank.
    via upfromashes

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job work coworkers practical jokes entitled people karma write up prank Horrible Bosses funny
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