33-year-old coworker uses fake project as an excuse to get out of work, scheme lasts for months: 'Tom had made the whole thing up to justify missing deadlines'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Nov 4, 2025 8:00 AM EST

It's amazing what having confidence and using empty workplace jargon can do.

This 33-year-old somehow had the chutzpah to pretend that he was involved with a top secret work project from a different department in order to get out of work. What's more impressive is that he managed to get away with this nonsense for multiple months before being found out.

This, of course, says a lot about the organizational structure of this company. If no manager or coworker was able to decipher that there was zero merit to the employee's statements, then that's on them. Yes, this company was wasting a ton of money paying someone who was doing zero work for them, but shouldn't they have a better process for managing everyone's progress? 

Most folks who know what it is to work in a fragmented corporate environment have probably considered faking being busy in order to get out of extra responsibility. The average people pleaser would stop themselves before daring to follow through with this, but bold individuals like this guy just did what we all wished we could pull off. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from several members of this online community!

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  • 01
    Three employees sit around a table comparing notes on a laptop.
    via Vitaly Gariev

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

  • Let's take a moment to express our gratitude to this absolute legend for allowing us the privilege of living vicariously through his accomplishments. The funniest thing is that his secret weapon was something we all possess: workplace jargon. You know, the kind of language that sounds impressive but is ultimately meaningless? Who knew that employees could use that language in their favor?

  • 02

    "Coworker faked a 'secret project' to avoid doing actual work"

    We had this guy, Tom (33M), who suddenly became "too busy" to help with day-to-day tasks.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 03
    He'd say, "I'm on something confidential with upper management." This went on for months. Nobody questioned it because he said the words "cross-departmental" and "strategic initiative," which usually makes people shut up.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 04
    Then one day, our director asked why Tom hadn't updated a shared tracker in ages. Tom said, "Oh, that's because I'm leading the new data integration pilot." Director just blinked and said, "What pilot?" Turns out there was no project.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 05
    Tom had made the whole thing up to justify missing deadlines. HR found out and now he's been moved to a "performance improvement plan." He told people he's being "strategically reassigned." Sure, dude.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 06
    Two male coworkers sitting at a table working on a laptop.
    via Vitaly Gariev

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

  • 07
    Hampshire-UK What a legend
    via No-Brain4932
  • 08
    Cauliflower Time4993 The only thing confidential was his productivity.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 09
    xanduis "Strategically reassigned" to unemployment and a new job.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 10
    wynchwood thanks for the idea
    via No-Brain4932
  • 11
    HeyMySock Ah the Jabberwocky Project! Just like in Better Off Ted! It actually worked?!
    via No-Brain4932
  • 12
    hooligan_bulldog_18 Tam Is my new hero "strategically resigned"
    via No-Brain4932
  • 13
    solidx45 Even if this is a it sounds very similar to John Beale. A guy who claimed he was doing top secret assignments for the CIA so he would be excused from work. He did this for about a decade and got over 1 million through his deception.
    via No-Brain4932
  • 14
    Two male coworkers sit in a conference room in front of a laptop and cups of coffee.
    via Vitaly Gariev

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

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terrible coworkers workplace-stories work stories toxic-workplace job work coworkers company toxic-work-environment
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