Coworker insists every discussion happen on a call, then ghosts meetings and delays project for weeks, forcing manager to step in: ‘She’s withholding the information I need to do my work’

Author image for Celeste Mello
Celeste Mello • Writer and Editor
Jun 6, 2026 4:00 PM EDT

One of the perks of remote work is flexibility. It's really practical that most communication can be handled through messages, shared documents, and quick meetings when it's necessary. But that flexibility only works when everyone communicates and respects what's scheduled. What would you do if a coworker kept ghosting meetings to the point that it started affecting your workflow and your ability to meet deadlines? 

In the normal corporate world, when someone requests a meeting with you, you naturally expect them to show up. Well, that's not what happened here. This coworker insisted that all communication had to be handled by calls, but for some reason, she never showed up to the calls she requested. So it became impossible to move the project forward when the person holding the information was never available. What's worse, deadlines don't wait, and they kept getting closer and closer. 

Advertisement
  • Frustrated coworker struggling to coordinate a meeting with a colleague, represented by a model.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    Frustrated coworker struggling to coordinate a meeting with a colleague, represented by a model.

  • Coworker keeps ghosting me during meetings she asks for

    Honestly, I don't know what to do about this. I'm working a remote, contract role with no schedule. It used to be a chill job for me; just me working independently and sending my finished work/updates primarily though email to my manager.
    via yuneti
  • Recently we've had a new team member join. She's in a similar position as me (also remote, on-contract), and we have some overlapping responsibilities that we need to work together on. I was excited about this at first but I'm getting to the point now where I'm getting frustrated by how flaky and avoidant she is.
    via yuneti
  • As soon as she joined, I noticed she's very insistent that all of our conversations (even just small updates/check-in's) need to be done through virtual calls.
    via yuneti
  • I'm fine and all with this, but honestly it's a confusing choice because one; we're in different time zones (she's three hours behind where I am), and two; this isn't our only responsibility- we both have either school or another job outside of this role.
    via yuneti
  • So because of that all of our conversations needs to be coordinated in advance, which has begun to slow things down for me because I can't get started or advance on my work until these conversations happen.
    via yuneti
  • What's really making this frustrating is it's become a very regular thing for her to never show up and ghost me during these meetings that she requested.
    via yuneti

  • It's curious how some people still prefer verbal communication over written messages nowadays. Okay, that's perfectly fine when you need to solve something fast. A quick 5-minute call can be faster than an email chain. But having calls for everything is simply not practical and not productive. Sometimes you just send a message, and that's the end of the story. And if the quick 5-minute call takes a month to happen… Then it's not an efficient 5-minute call. The call itself became the obstacle rather than the solution. And more importantly, if you know you're not going to make it, the least you can do is send the information in writing so your colleague can continue working. 

  • It's become a common routine where I'll join the meeting and have to wait up to 30 minutes for her to join. I'll send her a message during it asking if she can make it, only to receive a response either hours or days later with a simple "oh sorry." There's never an excuse or explanation, instead she requests we do it instead on later date. Then when I join that later meeting.. the same thing happens again.
    via yuneti
  • Remote worker waiting for her coworker to join the call after being repeatedly ghosted.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    A representation of a remote worker waiting for her coworker to join the call after being repeatedly ghosted.

  • I'm not even joking. I've had a request from her for a "quick 5-minute call" to answer something for her while she troubleshoots an issue, continuously get pushed back and rescheduled by almost an entire month because she could never commit to the times she'd request.
    via yuneti
  • I got really irritated and eventually asked her to just write what she needs so I can get to it immediately, but no, she'd insist it needs to be done in a call.
    via yuneti
  • Finally, we were able to resolve it during our monthly check-in meeting with the manager. It literally went like this: Her: "are you able to see this thing on your end?" Me: "no" Her: "oh, okay" .. Seriously? That was all it was.
    via yuneti
  • I was able to get away with not needing to work closely on anything for a while after that, but recently, I'm now relying on her to get context on a project I need to do, and again I'm dealing with this same routine.
    via yuneti
  • I wasn't able to join our check-in meeting at the beginning of the month. It got rescheduled last minute to a time I wasn't able to attend, so I asked her to please fill me in on what gets discussed and what I need to work on.
    via yuneti
  • She scheduled a meeting with me to discuss the project and same thing, she never joins it. A week later my manager sends us both a message asking for progress and I message her again to please fill me in so I can work on it immediately. She responds a week later saying "a call would be suffice."
    via yuneti
  • Well for two days now I've given her my availability and asked her to call me whenever works best for her, and I'm getting ghosted again. I'm so over it. It's at the point now she's just withholding the information I need to do my work, and now I'm about to miss the deadline for it.
    via yuneti
  • An illustrative image of a colleague finally showing up to a meeting with manager after ghosting her coworker.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    An illustrative image of a colleague finally showing up to a meeting with manager after ghosting her coworker. 

  • I don't understand the logic. She's not old (she appears to be around my age or younger), so I don't understand her reliance on everything needing to be discussed verbally. It's like impossible for her to just write things down.
    via yuneti
  • I was trying to theorize why she's like this with my partner - I thought maybe it gives her an excuse to put things off, or maybe that she's just doing everything as a meeting to look more professional, but then get anxious last minute and avoids them. But at this point it's starting to almost feel malicious and deliberate, which is also odd to me since she's relatively nice when I'm able to talk to her.
    via yuneti
  • Edit: For more context - I have let my manager know about this. After he requested updates I followed up with a private message letting him know I've been unable to get in contact with this coworker (no direct evidence or screenshots yet). My manager has sent another message directed at the coworker asking them for updates but she hasn't responded to it from what I can tell.
    via yuneti

  • By the way, the manager took too long to step in. As a manager, he should have confronted the coworker earlier, not because of a personality clash between colleagues, but because this recurring pattern was clearly affecting the entire workflow.

  • UPDATE: Last night after she failed to call me or give her availability during the time frame I provided (she messaged me the evening before saying she can call during the morning)- I sent her a follow up message telling her I'm no longer available for a call and for her to send me a written overview of the project because the deadline is soon. At the same time I updated my manager letting him know I'm still unable to get in contact with this coworker (if he asks why I'll send him evidence).
    via yuneti
  • Last night at 9PM (6PM her time) I received a text message from her saying: "hey this is [coworker], feel free to call me if you have time today (??) or tomorrow." It's starting to get ridiculous at this point. I reiterated that I'm not available and she needs to send me a written overview. I guess I'll just wait and see now.
    via yuneti
  • During our check-in meeting my coworker was acting really weird. She joined 7 minutes late with her webcam turned off, said it was because of a technical issue, then left the call again for another 5 minutes to restart her computer. When she rejoined again she ended up still keeping her webcam off and claimed she couldn't figure it out.
    via yuneti
  • Finally, when my manager confronted her and asked why she's been unresponsive she was quiet for a bit and then said, "Oh sorry, you're breaking up. Could you repeat that?" The whole thing was really odd, this was the first time she's ever gotten technical issues and the timing was a little too convenient.
    via yuneti
  • When she did get around to responding she just repeated that me and her couldn't find a time to connect. I didn't argue with her (I already shared evidence that she's lying, so there was no point) - but I was really disappointed that my manager didn't press her and just moved on.
    via yuneti
  • My manager ended up requesting I cc him in all of our future conversations, but I really lost respect for the role after dealing with this.
    via yuneti
  • I've been searching for a new role for months and finally joined a new role two weeks ago which has been like night and day. I'm just so relieved to be leaving all of that mess behind.
    via yuneti

  • In the end, the employee probably made the right decision by leaving her job. She documented everything and kept her manager informed, but still, she received no retribution or help from his side.  

  • Oh - I also did a bit of research into my coworker and realized she's offering professional services on her Linkedin, which explains why she was so difficult to reach. She was likely working with multiple companies at once. It still doesn't explain all the weirdness or her not just being transparent with me that she's busy, but I thought that was interesting.
    via yuneti

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

workplace-stories remote work manager coworkers
Scroll Down For The Next Article