Woman sets up email trap that tricks entitled coworker into hitting 'reply all' on an unprofessional message to her, office shuns him: ‘3-minutes later, I see a failed attempt at "Message Recall" and my enjoyment knows no bounds.’

When it comes to responding to work emails, there are two must-follow rules: Always check the reply settings and never sound unprofessional. You don't want to accidentally reply-all to something that does not need to be seen by the entire office. And you don't want to have any sort of receipts to unprofessional behavior. Too bad this entitled employee didn't follow either of those rules! 

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  • Woman typing on her computer, professional
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
    Woman typing on her computer, professional

  • "Always pay attention to your email headers"

    Years ago, I dealt with a colleague who always liked to be in everyone's business. And he liked to reply inappropriately to messages in terms of giving unwarranted feedback, etc.
    via BrainWaveCC
  • One day, I sent out a message to key people in the org about the status of a project, and I needed to CC: him in there as well. Of course, he decided to weigh in unnecessarily -- to all -- and I replied to him that if he wanted to discuss it
    via BrainWaveCC

  • What do you do when an entitled coworker is being extra annoying in every single email you send to the company? Like, when you are just sending updates and nothing that should facilitate questions, and yet this annoying coworker always has to say something so the entire company can see. That is extra annoying. 

    This woman decided to dupe the guy into making a mistake that would cost him his respect. An easy rage bait and trap move! He was an older coworker too, so he wasn't the most tech-savvy person there. Perhaps he just wasn't even taught to make sure you're not hitting reply all. However, when she told him to please refrain from hitting reply all when he has a question directed specifically to her, he flipped a lid. He throw a real Karen-level tantrum! So he needed to be taken down a peg. 

  • further for some reason, that we should take it off line. He still replied to all at that point, but I replied only to him. I took other names out of the distribution, and I added " -- PRIVATE" to
    via BrainWaveCC
  • the subject line. I politely and professionally told him that I didn't appreciate the way he had interjected into something he didn't truly understand, and that in the future, he should just reply to me offline if he had similar comments to
    via BrainWaveCC
  • make. He didn't really take kindly to that, and told me that he was free to reply how he wanted and as broadly as was necessary. I replied to him the following:
    via BrainWaveCC
  • • I had said what I intended to say, and was not arguing with him • I pointed out that he was inconsistent with him communication and didn't like broadcasting his failings, as with a certain project that had failed under his watch
    via BrainWaveCC
  • • I indicated that I was not going to go back and forth with him as it was no longer a positive conversation
    via BrainWaveCC
  • Hands typing on a laptop with email open
    via Unsplash+ (and Glenn Carstens-Peters)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
    Hands typing on a laptop with email open

  • Why is it so embarrassing when you hit reply all on an email that was not important to all in the thread? Even if it is a harmless email, it's embarrassing. In this case, however, this went beyond embarrassment. His response to her, which he didn't realize, was actually replying to everyone in the company, revealing his unprofessional behavior, his entitlement, and his disrespect. Now, every one of his coworkers knows exactly the kind of employee he actually is, and it's not a respected one. 

  • When I sent this email, I also changed the reply header of the message so that it included all the people from the original message.
    via BrainWaveCC
  • He gets this message from me, sent only to him, with " PRIVATE" in the subject, and my comments about his failed project and lack of professionalism make him so mad that he hits REPLY
    via BrainWaveCC
  • -- but does not pay attention to how the header changes for this reply message -- and writes all sorts of things that I'm certain he only expected me to see.
    via BrainWaveCC
  • I looked at that message with exquisite humor, and said/did nothing. Three minutes later I see a failed attempt at "Message Recall", and my enjoyment knows no bounds.
    via BrainWaveCC
  • Some senior folks spoke to him that day, and he was far more circumspect in his response to messages I sent out. (For well over a month, he didn't even reply to any of my FYI messages at all.)
    via BrainWaveCC
  • No one said anything to me about my email chain, because I ensured that my part of the chain would survive public scrutiny...
    via BrainWaveCC
  • When a message gets you bent of of shape, be very careful how you respond, and always check the sending information....
    via BrainWaveCC

  • So what did we learn, class? Always make sure you are not replying to all, and always stay professional on work emails. It's as simple as that. 

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