Coworker takes it upon herself to fire her colleague, claiming to their boss that they 'quit': 'A week later I found out they took me out of the schedule COMPLETELY'

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Jan 1, 2026 10:00 PM EST

What would you do if you were fired… by someone other than your boss?

Lots of things can go wrong in a work setting. You can be laid off, you can find out that the job isn't right for you, or you can make an enemy that turns out to hold a lot of power. Or you can be betrayed by someone you didn't expect to be betrayed by. That's what happened in this story. After years of dedicated service to a job, the last thing this worker expected was to be let go. So when they found out they had been completely taken off the schedule, they knew that something had to be going wrong. Then they started to poke around. 

Everyone, at some point in their life, has had a coworker with whom they just don't get along. No matter how hard they try, they just can't make it happen. It might be just from a disconnect in personality, a different working style, or anything under the sun. You do your best to smooth things over, but it just won't stick. They don't like you, and you don't like them, and that's that on that. The best you can do is avoid them and try to keep an even keel. For the sake of the workplace at large, you just let certain things go, and maybe look for other work in the meantime. But what if it all came to a head and they sabotaged your job? What would you do then?

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  • A young woman looks confused, working in a convenience store
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

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

  • That's what happened in this story, where a worker who had taken a planned day off found himself suddenly off the schedule. Despite having the day approved by his boss, he was in the dog house. Then he started to think about who could have caused that incident. He quickly realized that the woman who had it out for him the whole time might have been behind this secret firing. When he started asking questions, he couldn't believe the level of betrayal he had endured. Suddenly, without a job through no fault of his own, he reached out to the internet for more opinions. 

  • Coworker fired me...

    Ok so I've been working at this food place for a while and got transferred to a different franchise store. we have this higher up coworker, NO NOT A MANAGER, she's just been there longer, lets call her sarah but she's a horrid coworker to have and to be scheduled with, she would act like the boss and
    via u/CurrentWindow167
  • enslave me. she was just horrid in general, imagine someone at work just bullying you and everything you do the entire time and acts like your existence is a whole mistake. This woman even had the audacity to say I wasn't doing enough when I would work front and backend and multitask all by myself while all she does is prep the fucking tomatoes for three hours and
    via u/CurrentWindow167
  • harass about every bullshit. She would work opening shifts and wouldn't even open like my shift starts at midday and she makes me do all the opener's job. She was a bit closer with the owner than i was so i didnt rlly care as much.
    via u/CurrentWindow167
  • anyway I called out days ahead and told the owner prior that i wasnt gonna be there on a specific date, (like a bit off background i was one of the employees who would get shit done i mean as long as i was there shit was running, ive had experience working at kitchens and its muscle memory at this point).
    via u/CurrentWindow167
  • anyway the day came and sarah texts me asking where i was and i texted that i called out long before and she got mad because obviously she doesn't do shit at work and she has to do all of it bc i wasnt there to cover for her. i told her i called off a while back and that i was at an important event and then sarah texted me "hey hope all is well for u but don't report for work in the meantime" I thought they just changed the schedule up since sarah was closer with the owner
    via u/CurrentWindow167
  • but a week later i found out they took me out of the schedule COMPLETELY. another coworker texted me and told me that sarah told the owner i "quitted" like i just found out she talked so much shit about me to the owner and others. i was one of those employees who got things moving that's why some of my coworkers reached out to ask what happened and why i would "quit" out of
    via u/CurrentWindow167
  • nowhere and i told them like what the hell when did i want to quit and it was just a whole rabbit hole from there but she basically lied about me quitting or got me fired like WHAT. honestly i dont even care anymore about the job it was just insane and sort of funny. its not my main source of income so not much was lost. It's just like who does that and what the actual hell.
    via u/CurrentWindow167

  • Commenters wondered what exactly happened here.

    BluesGraveller So the owner just took Sarah's word that you quit and didn't call or text you to verify, or to confirm your mailing address for your final paycheck, or to ask that any company uniforms be returned? This doesn't make sense.
    via u/BluesGraveller
  • A man with tattoos plates food at a restaurant.
    via Sebastian Coman Photography

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

  • Known Ratio5478 Call up the actual manager/owner and set this straight. Their choice is that they get their act together with this megalomaniac or they pay your unemployment and have a DOL file for termination of an employee for taking a scheduled day off.
    via u/Known_Ratio5478
  • Calgary Calico I'd recommend you contact your manager and tell them Sara lied to them
    via u/Calgary_Calico
  • JennJayBee Honestly, food service jobs are a dime a dozen. Consider it a blessing and go somewhere else where you don't have to deal with that noise.
    via u/JennJayBee
  • Achlysia I would contact the owner and let them know you did not quit and see what their reaction is. If she told them that you quit behind your back, that's not the same thing as her having the authority to fire you. If she lied to have you taken off the schedule and fired, you might have a labor law violation case.
    via u/Achlysia
  • Aggressive-Union1... So the Boss took the word of a long time employee and not one that was transferred in from a different franchise for reasons unstated in your story. Not sure how you "transfer" from one company to another, being franchise doesn't your employment have to be terminated from the first and hired by the second.
    via u/Aggressive-Union1714
  • CaptBlackfoot FWIW, plenty of employees can hire and fire without being a manager, I was responsible for a 12-person staff when my title was Senior Designer. As a higher-up who's been there longer, she very well could have that type of decision making power. In the future don't assume that because someone isn't a manager that they can't fire you.
    via u/CaptBlackfoot
  • MossGobbo So call the owner up and tell him Sarah lied. Like you're really gonna roll over for this asshole?
    via u/MossGobbo
  • Perfect_Force2370 I hope you can now have some peace, being out from under that bullies thumb. I've worked with bullies that were eventually fired, so I understand.
    via u/Perfect_Force2370
  • V3CTORVII Just because someone doesn't have a title has no bearing on them being able to tell you what to do, sounds like sarah was a de facto boss, given her tenure with the company. This is adult life, the whole "your not my daddy" bullshit does not fly. Adult life is about
    via u/V3CTORVII
  • relationships. Obviously sarah has a better relationship with management than you do. Just because she lacks a title meant absolutely nothing for you. Learn the lesson, you need to have better self awareness in the future, if someone has been at a job longer than you, they have seniority and you do need to
    via u/V3CTORVII
  • listen to them, because they do have a say on your continued employment simply because they have been there longer than you.
    via u/V3CTORVII
  • Savage Jelly You "called out" 3 days before? That's now how taking time off has worked anywhere I've ever worked. Sounds like you no-called, no-showed and they now deem you unreliable.
    via u/SavageJelly
  • Key-Individual9148 I hope the owner sees how she really is very soon! And see how they waste their money on her. I hate those people that suck ass
    via u/Key-Individual9148
  • starsmatt let that be a lesson that you should have transferred out before she did so much destruction
    via u/starsmatt
  • Weird_Interview6311 They throw you under the bus, change the story, then they trash you. That's politics for you.
    via u/Weird_Interview6311
  • flynena-3 That is insane and ridiculous but it's clearly a blessing in disguise so take that gift that you were given and be happy about moving on and getting away from there.
    via u/flynena-3

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