Employee sends petty email to boss, tattling on coworker who got a single word wrong on document

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Mar 15, 2026 11:00 AM EDT

This coworker is the definition of petty 

Some workers have that mentality where they want to climb the career ladder. Speed run it, in fact! They don't come into work to make friends or to waste time socializing. They have a singular goal in mind: to become the boss somehow, some way. And until they acheive that goal, they'll settle for bossing around everyone in their path!

This worker shared that their coworker is just that — a dude who they work with. He's not their boss, and they don't report to him. And yet, he's acting like a major tattle tale. 

Interestingly, though, I wonder if his petty move is just going to annoy the boss instead of doing what he wants, which is to belittle his coworker and make himself look competant. 

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  • Man types an email to the boss to point out coworker's small mistake.
    via Curated Lifestyle

    Man types an email to the boss to point out coworker's small mistake. 

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

  • Coworker who created a form emailed me (boss copied) to correct it by deleting one word... from the form he wrote.

    We have a form at work that some people need to fill out. The form was created by this colleague.
    via thejynerso
  • That same person emailed me telling me to delete a word on the form and included a long explanation about why it needed to be removed.
    via thejynerso
  • Our boss was CC'd on the email. I mean... what did I do? He made the form.
    via thejynerso
  • Does he need help editing the form he created? Fine. But it literally takes less than five seconds to remove that word.
    via thejynerso
  • He was asking me to remove one word and the email explaining why was long. He was basically ranting about how that one word in the form he made was wrong.
    via thejynerso
  • Worker fills out a form.
    via Getty Images

    Worker fills out a form.

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

  • He has a direct report. I don't report to him. We're on the same level in the organisation
    via thejynerso
  • There are four other people at our level who also use that form. So... why me?
    via thejynerso
  • Anyway, I didn't want any drama. I went to the form to edit it and found out from the edit history that he had already removed the word himself.
    via thejynerso
  • Wow
    via thejynerso

  • This guy is the worst, truly. I bet there are diplomatic, yet equally disdainful, ways of replying to this little snipe. Because he's truly wasting everyone's time by trying to prove that he's more competant than this person. 

    Maybe they can reply something like, “Thanks for catching this error! I noticed that you cleared this up before sending the email. In order to be mindful of everyone's capacities, please refrain from emailing over a mistake that's a very simple fix.” Something like that. 

  • Boss looking at email from coworker pointing out one wrong word.
    via Getty Images

    Boss looking at email from coworker pointing out one wrong word.

  • A lot of people offered their own takes on the situation, and provided some excellent email templates

    Sojum That's a "I'm happy to help here, but isn't this a form that you created and have access to edit?" response to all. Boss needs to see.
    via Sojum
  • thejynerso Original Poster's Reply Didn't think of this. Boss is aware though he made the form. They worked on it together.
    via thejynerso
  • HyperSpaceSurfer Don't presume, bosses can deceive. Then later "then why didn't you say anything earlier, hmmm?"
    via HyperSpaceSurfer
  • thejynerso Original Poster's Reply Dang. I just want to earn money and pay my bills
    via thejynerso
  • MrLegalBagleBeagle What was the word?
    via MrLegalBagleBeagle
  • thejynerso Original Poster's Reply Employee. The field says "Employee Name" but the people filling out the form are not employees yet so he said just use Name.
    via thejynerso

    This is a revealing comment! This wasn't even like, a misspelled name, or a mistyped word. This person just didn't have a name to input yet. 

    If they're really irritated by this coworker, they could always consider going to HR, or to their boss, to discuss how he's overstepping his boundaries. 

  • MrBully74 I am so done with idiota I would have replied (to all) "do you need me to hold your hand while you remove one word from the form you made?"
    via MrBully74
  • thejynerso Original Poster's Reply Hahaha i just ended work from my side of the world and my mind needs rest. This one made me chuckle. Thanks
    via thejynerso
  • Special_Artichoke When I get jobs that aren't my jobs I pretend they're asking for approval, so I reply "agreed. Happy for you to make this change". Game, set and match broski
    via Special_Artichoke
  • Legitimate_Cow2716 Maybe rub it in with a "If you need help understanding how to build your forms we can find a time to sit down so I can walk you through it." Shows leadership, asserts dominance. !gif
    via Legitimate_Cow2716

  • See, this person is a true professional

    Neurotopian Reply and say this: Bill, Thanks for the heads up. I noticed the file is already changed on the shared drive. Since this form lives with your team and the change has already been made, I'll assume your email was informational. Let me know if there's any other assistance you're asking of me/ my team. Jill
    via Neurotopian_

    This puts all the pressure right back on the coworker, yet still makes this person sound polite and helpful (and knowledgeable about her work!)

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