Employee calls out coworker for taking credit for her work in front of an important client: 'If I hadn’t spoken up, it would’ve just been accepted that he did everything'

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  • A group of young businesspeople in an office listens to a presentation. One female employee looks upset.
  • [Am I wrong] for publicly correcting my coworker during a client presentation after he took credit for my idea?

    I work in a mid sized marketing agency and last week we had a pretty high stakes pitch with a client we've been trying to land for months.
  • I built the entire strategy deck basically from scratch. The tagline concept, audience breakdown, rollout calendar, projected KPIs, all of it.
  • I was up late for weeks polishing slides and double checking numbers. My coworker was assigned as the main presenter because he's more "client facing" and comfortable speaking.
  • Fine. I shared every draft in our shared drive, tagged him in comments, sent summary emails at like 1:12am so nothing would get missed.
  • There was zero confusion about who did what. Presentation day comes and he starts off strong.
  • A group of young businesspeople in an office listens to a presentation while one coworker presents.
  • Then he says "When I developed this angle.." and clicks to my slide. I froze. I honestly thought I misheard him.
  • But then he does it again on the next section. "I decided to position the brand this way..." except that positioning statement is word for word from my original outline doc.
  • I could feel my ears burning and my hands were shaking under the table. The client looked impressed, asking him deeper questions. about the data and projections.
  • He kept answering in vague terms, kind of dancing around specifics. I sat there thinking am I overreacting?
  • The male presenter in an office meeting looks taken aback.
  • maybe it sounds worse in my head? When he paused for questions I stepped in and said, probably a little too quick, "Just to clarify, I built the initial strategy draft and data model we're reviewing today, so I'm happy to expand on the metrics if needed." The room went quiet for a second.
  • He gave me this tight smile and said "Yeah, of course, we collaborated," which wasn't really true.
  • After the meeting he told me I made us look uncoordinated and that I should of trusted him.
  • A couple coworkers said I could have handled it "internally" instead of infront of the client.
  • The male coworker stands with his arms folded while his team stands behind him, looking exasperated.
  • But if I hadn't spoken up, it would've just been accepted that he did everything. Now things are tense in the office and I'm replaying it in my head.
  • I didnt yell, I didnt accuse him directly, I just stated a fact. But maybe timing matters more than being right?
  • AITAH for not waiting untill after the meeting?
  • fknpickausername Depends if you get the contract or not. I'd say it was unprofessional to do it in front of the client. The real question is whether you sunk the project.
  • MzSea NTA. He is for stealing your work.

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