32-year-old continually calls 28-year-old coworker lazy despite her taking half her workload, gets offended when called out in a meeting: 'Some of these comments were in front of our boss'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Aug 15, 2025 9:00 AM EDT

One way in which all those annoying managers are actually right when they say their team is "like a family" is that unless you are the hiring manager, you don't choose your coworkers. The unfortunate difference is that if you don't like this "family," or they try to provoke you, you risk putting your job on the line by speaking up in many workplaces.

In an ideal working environment, colleagues would make your job easier to do, and not the other way around. Sadly, this isn't always the case. The worst combination of this comes in the form of coworkers who increase your workload and put you down while doing it. It is both unfair and bad for morale, and what's even worse is that these kinds of people don't listen when you ask them politely to change their ways. This situation can call for desperate measures that can put you on shaky ground with management.

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  • 01
    two women talking in a modern office
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • One woman had reached the end of her patience when she took on a significant portion of her colleague's workload and was thanked with relentless teasing that she was lazy. While this coworker did less and less, she increased her public comments that she had too much time on her hands.

    Things escalated when the colleague made a remark like this in a meeting, and she promptly got called out for her behavior. She wasn't happy, and another coworker informed the woman that what she had done was inappropriate. She wanted to know if this was true.

  • 02

    Am I wrong for telling off my coworker in front of everyone after she kept calling me lazy, even though I’ve been doing half her work?

    I finally snapped today, and honestly, I'm still shaking from it. I'm 28F, been working at this small office for three years. It's not a huge team about ten of us total. for the past year, I've been paired on most projects with my coworker (32F). at first, she was fine to work with, but over the last several months, she's been slipping... a lot. she misses deadlines, forgets to complete parts of her tasks, and somehow those things always land on my desk. I didn't mind picking up some of her slac
    via Loud-Fox-9127
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    What really got under my skin was the way she started talking about me. out of nowhere, she began making these jokes in front of people about how I barely work or how I always have time to help because I'm never busy. I'd laugh it off awkwardly at first, thinking she'd get bored of it, but nope she doubled down. some of these comments were in front of our boss. others were in casual office chatter. and the worst part? I could tell some coworkers were starting to believe it.
    via Loud-Fox-9217
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    a woman and a man holding a laptop talking in a modern office
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

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

  • 05
    I didn't say anything earlier because I hate office drama, and I figured confronting her would just make things tense. but the more I keep quiet, the more she keep pushing it. Today, during our morning meeting, she was assigned a task. she immediately turned to me, smirked, and said, maybe you can handle this one, you're not too busy something in me just broke. I said, loud enough for the whole room, I've been doing half your work for months while you sit on Facebook, so don't you dare call me l
    via Loud-Fox-9127
  • 06
    Silence. every single person stopped moving. her face went bright red, and she muttered something about me being dramatic before avoiding eye contact for the rest of the meeting. our boss didn't say a word. later, one coworker pulled me aside and said I shouldn't have embarrassed her like that, that it wasn't professional and I should've handled it privately.
    via Loud-Fox-9127
  • 07
    I know calling her out publicly was harsh, but I also feel like if I'd pulled her aside again, nothing would have changed. she was making me look bad in front of everyone shouldn't I be allowed to defend myself the same way? AITA for telling her off in front of the whole office after she wouldn't stop calling me lazy, even though I've been doing half her work?
    via Loud-Fox-9127
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    an empty meeting room with large windows
    via Nastuh Abootalebi
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    Commenters understood her frustrations.

    tricklerjr I don't blame you at all. If she kept calling you lazy in front of everyone, it's fair you defended yourself in the same space. private talks only work if the other person's actually willing to stop, and she clearly wasn't.
    via tricklerjr
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    Loud-Fox-9127 OP I tried talking to her before, but she just wouldn't stop.
    via Loud-Fox-9217
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    BestConfidence 1560 This. Your coworker is wrong. This woman was undermining your reputation in front of the entire office consistently. You spoke to her about it she wouldn't stop. From now on everything that she doesn't do you document. Every deadline, she misses everything she does have as your document. And don't take any more cr p from her
    via BestConfidence1560
  • 12
    Cheska1234 She called you out publicly. You responded in kind. You did the right thing.
    via Cheska1234
  • 13
    Hungry-Animal-8936 NTA wow where was that same coworker defending you are the other was talking down about you. You had every right to defend yourself and demand she pull her weight so you are not doing her work.
    via Hungry-Animal-8936
  • 14
    Obse55ive NTA. Stop doing her work. Let her know you're too lazy and can't help her.
    via Obse55ive
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    nursepenguin36 NTA. If I was the boss and I assigned someone a task and they immediately tried to delegate it to a coworker while smirking we'd be having a serious conversation. The fact that she was bold enough to pull this cr p in front of the boss says a lot.
    via nursepenguin36
  • 16
    Next-Drummer-9280 Tell that coworker this: "Why is it ok for her to constantly talk sh about me but when I do it once, I'm automatically wrong? Just think about the message you're sending here." NTA
    via Next-Drummer-9280
  • 17
    Anxious-Routine-5526 If she's been unprofessional enough to bad mouth you around the office, you had every right to call her out on her BS just as publicly. NTA.
    via Anxious-Routine-5526
  • 18
    MerelyWhelmed 1 NTA. You were pushed too far. Been there.
    via MerelyWhelmed1
  • 19
    BoogieKnights9 Happened to me. I started making project plans listing tasks, who was responsible, and task due date. It was presented like a moving graph that showed how close each task to due date & used it to report weekly status. If a task was missed, would add note stating that part not complete, and how we would address (often that I have assumed the task but will need to extend project completion time.) I also attached meeting notes with agreed upon requests/requirements, then sent updates
    via BoogieKnights9
  • 20
    & their director. Overnight both of our teams stopped questioning my abilities. Actually my published project plans allowed me to stay on track, even without my co-worker's contributions. For some reason, he blamed me when he was laid off.
    via BoogieKnights9

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terrible coworkers aita employee meeting lazy work Office workplace reddit thread Reddit coworker
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