Unorganized boss tries to blame his own mistake on an employee in front of the company owner, employee claps back with receipts: ‘The owner… patted me on the shoulder’

Author image for Lana DeGaetano
Lana DeGaetano • "Show me to me please."
Oct 20, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

When an unorganized, Type-B boss tries to blame their oversight on their subordinate employee, it makes sense for that employee to prove their innocence with receipts. The workforce is a dog eat dog world, and when you're placed low on the corporate food chain, it's integral to your growth to protect your reputation. The unorganized boss in the story below tries to make their employee look bad in front of the company owner by pretending their employee never sent them an important email, but the employee informs him that they turned on email read receipts months ago. The owner, who witnesses the whole thing, seems pleasantly surprised by the employee's grit, and the boss is taken to a conference room where his behavior will surely be confronted. Scroll below to read the full story.

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  • The thing with bosses? They will always cover themselves before they cover their employees. Even if you think you have the chillest, most laid-back boss in existence, all it takes it one of their slip-ups to realize that they will always make it seem like their oversights are your fault. Don't believe me? This story is written proof.

    Upon their hiring, the employee noticed their boss's inability to keep things tidy. The office was was riddled with stacks of important papers mixed in with junkmail, no filing system in sight, and it worried the employee. How could they adopt an efficient system if their boss couldn't manage to do so? Even still, the employee put safeguards in place so, at the very least, they'll have receipts if something goes awry.

     

  • 01
    group of an employee, company owner, and boss, discussing ideas and business plans
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02

    "I made my boss look bad in front of the owner"

    This happened years ago. I worked for a small company (40 or so employees) as the accounts receivable and payable accountant.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 03
    My boss (Steve) wasn't exactly horrible - we got along, had great conversations about life and current events.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 04
    The problem was he was unorganized and that was an understatement. He was the controller of the company and it was surprising someone in his role could be that messy.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 05
    My first clue was when I walked in to his office for the interview. It looked like a bomb went off.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 06
    There were stacks of papers everywhere - on the floor, on his desk, on the table behind his desk.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 07
    He even had to move a stack of papers from the chair I sat in for the interview.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 08
    The second clue came during the interview. He actually told me to never give him an original of anything, always make a copy to give him and to keep the original for yourself.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 09
    The owner previously had several talks with him about his lack of organizational skills. It never seemed to help.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 10
    Part of the AP job is to run the weekly payable checks to be mailed out.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 11
    Very simple. After the checks run there is a nice report that prints out showing the beginning bank balance, a list of all the checks written including check number, payee and amount and then the ending bank balance.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 12
    That was too much detail for Steve. He wanted me to write on a post it the beginning balance, ending balance and the range of check numbers (like #1- 10).
    via piratequeen1105
  • 13
    Ok, whatever. I would give him the post it and he would stick the post it to random things and then forget where he put it.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 14
    It was frustrating. We finally decided that I would email him the information. He couldn't lose an email.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 15
    Or could he? That system worked good for the most part. But every once in a while he would come to me and ask where the email was.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 16
    I would print out the email I sent him that showed the date and time it was sent.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 17
    Most likely he deleted it, but he would claim he never got it. Again this was frustrating.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 18
    If I learned anything about being in the workforce, it's CYA. So, I turned on the "read receipt" in the email settings.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 19
    A couple months later I had run the checks, emailed him the information and went about my day.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 20
    That afternoon the owner who was also the CFO was at my desk going over something when Steve popped up and asked if I was planning on sending him the check run information.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 21
    I told him that I emailed him earlier after I had finished running the checks. Of course he came back with, "Well I never got the email." So I showed him my sent folder on the computer that had my email to him.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 22
    unread emails on mail app located on cellular device
    via Brett Jordan
  • 23
    Again, he said he never saw it. Then I showed him the read receipt I received that showed that not only did he get the email, but he opened the email - two minutes after I had sent it.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 24
    The owner who witnessed everything had his head down with a big smile on his face trying not to laugh.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 25
    The look on Steve's face was hilarious. He said he would go try to find the email and went into his office.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 26
    After Steve left, the owner who was still smiling, patted me on the shoulder and gave me a wink.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 27
    He then went into Steve's office for what I assumed was another conversation about his lack of organizational skills.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 28
    As for me, I had no issues throwing Steve under the bus or under all the stacks of papers.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 29
    SeanSweetMuzik The strange system he has that he thinks makes him seem organized is even worse. It would give me an aneurism trying to make sense of that.
    via SeanSweetMuzik
  • 30
    piratequeen1105 It gave me anxiety every time I walked in his office. There was no system.
    via piratequeen1105
  • 31
    IllustriousEnd2055 He asked you right in front of the owner so he gave you 2 options: - Make yourself look bad because you didn't send it (when you did). - Make him look bad because he couldn't find it (per usual). You even gave him an out by showing him on your screen that it was sent but he still persisted, forcing you to show the read receipt. Had he just dropped it and gone to find it the owner would've likely ignored it. TBH, he put himself in that position by trying to throw YOU under the
    via IllustriousEnd2055

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