Employee put on PIP after bad stakeholder review, so he brings 500 pages of receipts to HR proving the stakeholder was just jealous he was dating his ex-wife: 'The stakeholder admitted in the investigation to falsifying data'

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Isabella Penn
Nov 15, 2025 4:00 AM EST

Nothing is more terrifying in corporate life than being put on a PIP... except maybe finding out the PIP never should've existed in the first place.

That's exactly what this manager stumbled into after placing a long-tenured employee on a performance plan based on stakeholder feedback. Everything looked legit. Until it very much wasn't.

Within weeks, the employee marched straight into a corporate VP's office armed with five hundred pages of receipts that were timestamped, dated, and meticulously organized in order to disprove every single allegation on the PIP.

As it turns out, the stakeholder who submitted the negative feedback wasn't just mistaken… he was actively trying to get the guy fired because the IC was dating his ex-wife. HR investigated, confirmed the falsification, and the VP promptly fired the stakeholder on the spot. Then leadership threatened to revoke the manager's bonus unless she pulled the PIP immediately.

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  • Now the manager is left with an employee who has every reason to side-eye her forever. He’s still professional, still doing his job, but the passive hostility is undeniably understandable.

    The manager now wants the internet's take. After accidentally PIP-ing the wrong guy based on someone else’s lies, how do you rebuild trust? Or is this relationship doomed to stay awkward forever?

  • Cheezburger Image 10576284416
    via Vitaly Gariev For Unsplash+

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


     

  • "Employee put on PIP. Learned afterwards that provided negative feedback from stakeholder was falsified"

    deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - My company is a food company, we are the headquarters site where everyone from operators to corporate VP's are on site.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - I am a manager here. Anyways, I put a senior level IC employee on a PIP after receiving some negative feedback regarding technical mistakes the employee had made that was received from a stakeholder, some serious some not.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - The decision was made to move forward with PIP after reviewing the feedback with HR and my manager (the department director).
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - This IC has around 30 years of experience. The intent was improvement, not necessarily manage him out.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - Since putting him on the PIP, the employee has become disengaged and is not following the PIP, often ignoring requests related to the PIP.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - With the exception of this, he has always maintained perfect professionalism in terms of his behavior at the work place, and continues to do so, but I can tell has been hostile towards me in a non-confrontational manner (avoidant behavior, disgruntled looks when I come to his office, body language during 1on1s that show he does not want to be there).
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - About 2 weeks later, I was called into a corporate VP's office along with my boss, the highest level VP that comes to work on site.
    via deg5589
  • Cheezburger Image 10576284672
    via Vitaly Gariev For Unsplash+

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


     

  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - The VP of HR was in the room as well. The corporate VP informed us that my IC had gone to his office with, in his terms, "overwhelming evidence" rebutting every item my manager and I had listed on his PIP.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - This guy had over 500 pages of timestamped and dated documentation that he left at the VP's office disproving every point of the stakeholder's feedback that was incorporated in the PIP plan write up.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - And after my boss and I looked at it, it was rock solid even to us.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - VP of HR revealed that she had investigated the documented feedback from the stakeholder and the stakeholder admitted in the investigation to falsifying data to get my IC fired as he was angry that my IC apparently is dating his ex-wife.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - Stakeholder that provided false feedback was fired by the VPs. VP told my boss and I to revoke the PIP plan of my IC under threat of our annual bonuses being revoked.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - The IC has remained passively hostile towards me and my boss, however never stepping out of bounds of professionalism or doing anything prohibited in the company handbook.
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - What should I do with this employee?
    via deg5589
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - dodeca_negative Well, yeah. You put somebody on a PIP based on feedback from one person, didn't conduct an investigation and didn't independently verify the falsified evidence that was presented. You threw your employee under the bus. They're never going to trust you again, and they shouldn't. You fucked up, eat it, own it, apologize profusely, and try to be a better person and manager.
    via dodeca_negative
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - Disastrous_Draw6971 Apologize profusely. Why were the claims not investigated prior to him being placed on PIP?
    via Disastrous_Draw6971
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - DirtbagNaturalist I enjoy watching careless persecutory managers trip on their own "leadership". Have you apologized to this person and tried to resolve the matter like an accountable human? Or you rolling with the standard corporate brush off? People don't cease to be part of typical social conventions simply because you see them at your place of employment.
    via DirtbagNaturalist
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - Kephla I know this sounds harsh, but you deserve every bit of this.
    via Kephla
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - TulipFarmer27 Sounds like you need to be on PIP instead. Do your damn homework.
    via TulipFarmer27
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - JuliPat7119 Whoa. This person has 30 years experience and I assume had a clean record up until these falsified claims, all from one VP and you and HR started with a PIP? That is just awful. Was there never a conversation with him to ask about the claims? Or did you just assume they were valid and didn't give the employee an opportunity to explain? This is crazy. And you deserve to lose your
    via JuliPat7119
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - OkExtension9329 Honestly, this employee needs to be transferred to another direct supervisor if at all possible. You've wrecked your relationship with him and the fact that you're focusing on his (entirely reasonable, IMO) frustration with you and asking "What do I do with him?" and not "How do I fix my enormous fuck-up and rebuild trust with this 30 year employee" suggests that you will not
    via OkExtension9329
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - CollaWars How is he passively hostile but perfectly professional? Sounds like you just want him to like you again after trying to end his career. You don't need him to like you as a manager
    via CollaWars
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - Dinkum Gemsplitter As a manager I believe you should no longer be a manager. You are terrible. When you get a complaint about an employee, the first thing you do is give the employee a chance to explain their side. Then you investigate any complaints for factual confirmation. This is either rage bait fake, or you are incompetent.
    via DinkumGemsplitter
  • deg5589 https://www.reddit.com/r/managers/comments/1ovnsje/employee_put_on_pip_learned_afterwards_that/ - VeganForEthics This has to be rage bait. You cannot be this dense. Clarity, connection, and communication are integral to being a good leader. In this situation, you failed at all three. Spectacularly.
    via VeganForEthics

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employee drama manager job work coworkers jealousy entitled people karma human resources workplace Horrible Bosses pip stakeholder
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