HR calls out employee of 15 years in attempt to steal his pension, employee's best friend saves his job: '[He] asked HR to prove it'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 26, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Everyone needs a best friend at work. Some call it their work husband or work wife, though that feels outdated these days. Instead, it's great to just have at least one, if not more, fellow employees who you know with 100% certainty have your back. 

That's just not possible at every workplace, because there are certainly a lot of career-ladder-climbers who will throw other employees under the bus to further their own paths to success. They'll act nice to your face, but when they're alone with the boss, they'll only hype up their own successes. If you can build a true friendship with a fellow employee over the course of your employment somewhere, you're a lucky person for sure. 

Of course, it's easier to make lifelong work alliances if you work somewhere for a very long time, which is just not a thing anymore. But in the olden days, employees used to get a job somewhere at a young age and stay until they were old, gaining years of valuable insight and expertise. But as you may know, many companies have super stingy managers who will do things like, oh, I don't know, fire an employee right before they're old enough to collect a pension, leaving them without their expected income! It's a terrible thing to do to an employee who's only done right by you for decades. At least this guy had a friend who came to his defense, as you can read all about in the story below. 

Next, read about these people who misread social cues and acted so super awkward: 'Bumped into an older gentleman by mistake... I just shouted, "Are you sorry?!"'

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  • 01
    My Father worked for a Forbes 500 company since the 70s. Moved up the ranks as a software engineer and management, has patents for the company that saved it millions of dollars. He's almost to pension age and suddenly HR starts making his life miserable. He noticed this trend was happening to some of his coworkers when they were getting close to age 60 as well.
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 02
    HR Lady calls him into the office and says that he was not punching in and out at the correct time. My Father, an engineer, is very very detail oriented. He knew that these were false accusations and asked HR to prove it. They came back a week later and couldn't prove it. And he said, "Of course you can't. I have been driving the corporate carpool bus from [A major city 40 miles away from the company] for the last 15 years. I
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 03
    always have 16 witnesses on my clock in time and I haven't been late in 15 years." HR Lady came back a week later and they said that they were going to fire him for letting people into the building without badging. He asked to see when and where he was letting someone into the building without badging. They showed that he held the door for his best friend who had also been working
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 04
    there since the 70s who had his foot cut off after having type 2 diabetes. He was in a wheelchair. Prior to this my dad took the chief of security out for lunch and told him about how this company wanted him to leave before he got his pension so he got some footage of his own. My dad said, "That is very interesting. You are going to fire me for holding the door for my best friend of 35 years after his foot was amputated and he was in a
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 05
    wheelchair? Fine then I hope you fire the CEO and yourself as well!!!" He then proceeded to show footage of the HR lady holding the door for his friend and the CEO holding the door for his friend. My Father ended up staying there until he got his pension.
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 06
    Edit: I don't know his finances and he probably wouldn't have lost the whole pension but there was a definite financial difference from being fired prior to reaching age 60 and making it to age 60.
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 07
    Edit 2: So this blew up so much that my brother who didn't know I was on Reddit texted me and said "You are reddit famous. That's a story about Dad! I knew this was you." Also some of you are wondering why a Software Engineer would have to clock in and out, well he didn't. I meant to use the word badge in and out of the building, they went that far to talk with security to see his badge timestamps. There are more things that led to this
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 08
    getting bad and I didn't want to write pages and pages but it definitely escalated to this point. Lastly for those of you that have been saying that my dad must have worked there as a child, this whole thing happened roughly 9 years ago. My father is 68 right now. If you want to know what company it was: this sentence is the most general hint I can give you but it may drive people from that company to be mad at me.
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 09
    Final Update: Dad quit that job a while ago and made his own company in his retirement. He has used his own money to patent a new invention that desalinates seawater and provides clean solar energy. He has patents for this in America, India, and China and is looking for some capital to provide clean water and power to 3rd world countries. If interested in helping him build his first power plant please send me a message.
    via u/Sorkoth1
  • 10
    latents I hope hordes of future employees learned of this, made sure their contracts had incredible immediate returns and then abandoned the company and explained exactly why. Those who reward loyalty with treachery deserve what they get in return.
    via u/latents
  • 11
    Older man with white hair and beard, dark sunglasses, and gray suit holds cell phone and smiles with brick wall in background
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 12
    KTB1962 Not a surprise. My company had done similar things for years. They finally got caught and someone ended up suing for ageism. My company ended up settling, but part of the settlement was the entirety of the upper management of HR all had to be fired because they were the one who instituted that "policy". 6 people let
    via u/KTB1962
  • 13
    go, 1 of which was less than a year from their retirement and full benefits... The past 15+ years have been a bit better.
    via u/KTB1962
  • 14
    FrenchiestFry234 It's starting to be a common tactic. I had an opportunity to work for a fortune 500 company. They offered lower pay but they claimed you could get a pension, except they have a reputation for letting people go before they are fully vested. Noped right out of that offer.
    via u/FrenchiestFry234
  • 15
    Current-Ticket4214 This is why I'll never turn down more money from another company based on loyalty to my current. You are your own pension. Save your money on your own. LL F these corporations.
    via u/Current-Ticket4214
  • 16
    AceBlazewing What senseless corruption. Just how greedy was this company if HR was bu ying and falsely accusing employees approaching eligibility for pension? I applaud your father for not letting them get to him and even calling their bluff.
    via u/AceBlazewing

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