Greedy coworker's "side hustle" results in company-wide consequences: 'He's the guy who brags about gaming the system'

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Jan 6, 2026 3:00 PM EST

Instead of just submitting proper documentation, this worker ruined a good thing for every other worker by doubling his reported mileage driven. 

Unless you're really careful, you won't get away with your attempts to pull the wool over your boss's eyes. So many workers think they can… but then, much like this fella here, they get too greedy and ruin it for everybody. 

It seems like these workers actually had a good system in place, and there might even be a way to salvage it. They have to drive between place to place for their work, and they document the mileage and tolls in order to get reimbursed. They might drive to the office, then to one client's place of business, take a toll bridge to drive to another client's office, then head back to the office for the day. All of that could be easily accounted for… but that also seems like such a hassle to get reimbursed. Why aren't these workers given a company credit card of some kind to utilize instead? Wouldn't that be far easier to track, anyway? 

For whatever reason, that's just how things are done at this office. Well, until recently, that is. Now that this dude tried to game the system, everyone's getting audited, and they're not pleased! Imagine if your boss suddenly demanded to know where you drove last November 13th, even after you'd already submitted your gas mileage for the day. How could you possibly know that? And that's exactly where all these workers are now stuck — digging through their inboxes and calendars trying to piece together documentation that they're not over-reimbursing themselves. 

It's interesting that the coworker wasn't punished more severely, too. If you can't trust your workers, why are you even paying them? This is the kind of action that requires a PIP, a boss breathing down his neck from now on, or even a swift firing. You can keep reading down below to check out the full story, as well as comments from people who gave their sympathies to all the other workers at the mercy of this dude's unwise choices. 

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  • 01

    'Coworker’s “mileage” scam got our whole team audited and I’m still p*ssed'

    Man in gray suit and jeans smiles while putting one hand on car steering wheel, next to him a woman rides in the passenger seat
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 02
    We get reimbursed for mileage when we drive to client sites. Pretty standard, submit it in Concur, pick the addresses, done. This one coworker figured out he could turn it into his little side hustle. Every single trip he'd "accidentally" pick an address a few towns over, or he'd claim he drove from home even when he was already in the office, or he'd add "parking and tolls" with blurry screenshots that looked like they were taken in a moving car. It was always just under the threshold where nob
    via u/[deleted]
  • 03
    Then he got greedy, because of course he did. Starts doing it every day. Same client, same route, somehow his miles are double everyone else's. He's also the guy who brags about "gaming the system" like it makes him clever instead of a cheap little parasite. Anyway, finance finally notices and instead of just nuking him, they decide the whole team must be doing it too. Now we all have to provide logs,
    via u/[deleted]
  • 04
    screenshots, explanations for months back. People are digging through calendars and Google Maps like it's a tax audit. Meanwhile he's acting offended, like "wow, guess trust is dead here." Yeah. Because you killed it, you absolute clown. Has anyone else had one asshole coworker trigger company-wide punishment like this?
    via u/[deleted]
  • 05
    6 workers, 3 men and 3 women, sit around wooden conference table with laptops and papers on it
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

  • 06
    Borgqueen- Yes. Former coworker spilled coffee all around the coffeemaker and didnt clean it. It was a huge mess. He asked me to clean it and I told him I am NOT the office maid and left it there. When the owner's BIL bi hed about the mess, I told him X made the mess, left it and went home.
    via u/Borgqueen-
  • 07
    Owner BIL removed the coffee machine the next day. X bitched about the removal of the coffee machine. I told him that it was his fault for not cleaning up the mess and his boss (the owner's BIL) removed the machine.
    via u/Borgqueen-
  • 08
    ACM915 Honestly, if you know your coworkers doing it instead of putting your job at risk, you need to throw him under the bus which will probably get me alot down votes, but it's better than losing your job due to his lying.
    via u/ACM915
  • 09
    rocky-j-moose-22 It's probably the managers job to approve expenses and look for stuff like this. Once the manager is shown to be unreliable all of his other approvals may be under scrutiny.
    via u/rocky-j-moose-22
  • 10
    seasteed I was made a travel arranger for someone who was doing something similar. They didn't like the per diem rate for the town they were going to, so they would use a different town to get better rates. I already had to approve the arrangements,
    via u/seasteed
  • 11
    so I'm not sure why they thought they wouldn't get caught. They have been let go for reoccurring issues like this.
    via u/seasteed
  • 12
    Man in gray suit types on laptop next to woman on her phone in business dress while in back seat of car
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

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