Nosy employee knows everyone's secrets, takes coworker to breaking point: 'Denise asked her if she was looking for another job'

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Ally Perry • Writer and Editor
Jun 17, 2026 9:15 AM EDT

There is no better spy than the office busybody.

In almost every type of workplace imaginable, there is a certain type of person who is more concerned with knowing everything that goes on with their coworkers than doing their actual job. There is no denying that a little idle office gossip can be a fun way to pass the time when every minute on the clock is dragging, but there is a difference between an occasional indulgence and letting it become an obsession.

The types who make knowing everybody's business their profession have a tendency to run into problems when their predilections become known. A lot of people are not going to want to have a positive working relationship with the work gossip, because they are worried about what they might let slip. In these hands, even the most innocent pieces of information can end up being something that gets used against a coworker. 

However, not every employee is privileged enough to be in a position where they can always avoid these kinds of individuals. Just like all kinds of irritating workplace characters, if we can't get a new job, we have to find some way of managing them without causing too much added drama. Considering that any dedicated gossiper probably thrives on escalating things, this can often be much easier said than done.

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  • A pair of female coworkers sitting at a desk and talking
    via Vitaly Gariev

    A pair of female coworkers sitting at a desk and talking

  • In this story, an employee was sincerely weirded out by everything that her coworker seemed to know. She enquired after a doctor's appointment she hadn't told her about when she left work early one day, and even asked another colleague if she was going to be changing her job after doing some snooping on her LinkedIn.

    It transpired that almost everybody who worked with this woman had a story about her knowing something which she probably shouldn't. Although some were willing to laugh it off, this employee was wondering about the best way to deal with her so she wouldn't keep spying on her life.

  • My coworker somehow knows everyone's business

    so i have a coworker named Denise and she's probably one of the weirdest people i worked with
    via victoriasparkly
  • okay for context, for some reason she always seems to know things she shouldn't know because she was never explicitly told abt it
    via victoriasparkly
  • a few months ago i told my supervisor that i needed to leave early because i had a doctor's appointment. the next day, Denise randomly asked me how it went when I never told her about it. I figured.. maybe someone mentioned it to her but whatever, i just brushed it off because i believe it wasn't that serious
    via victoriasparkly
  • however, stuff like that kept happening she would ask people about schedule changes, PTO requests, meetings they attended, things like that... it's like she became curious abt almost everything even if it's none of her business. yk, nothing major, but enough that people would stop and go, "Wait, how tf you know that??"
    via victoriasparkly
  • last week things finally got awkward because one of our newer employees, Jenna, came to the office annoyed because Denise apparently asked her if she was looking for another job and why/how did she know?
    via victoriasparkly
  • because Denise noticed she updated her LinkedIn profile... i'm sorry but who checks their coworkers' LinkedIn often to even notice as small as that???
    via victoriasparkly
  • once Jenna told us about it, everybody started sharing their own Denise stories and funny thing is that turns out almost everyone had one how do you even deal with/confront a Denise in your office???
    via victoriasparkly
  • https://unsplash.com/photos/two-women-talking-at-a-desk-in-an-office-aoweP90-XwM
    via Vitaly Gariev

    Two female coworkers sit at a desk discussing something

  • Spiritual_Ad6547 The problem isn't Denise. The problem is your boss is telling her all of these things. Try talking to your boss and ask them to keep your stuff private. Or go to HR.
    via Spiritual_Ad6547
  • newuser2111 Does Denise have seniority in the office? I would maintain strong boundaries at work with her and everyone else. Keep all
    via newuser2111
  • conversations strictly about work. If she asks you questions about PTO, meetings, etc., use the gray rock technique. Give boring one word responses. Or say the least amount of information.
    via newuser2111
  • SnooCakes9900 You don't confront them, you stop engaging.
    via SnooCakes9900
  • 9ScoreAnd10Panties Whatever you do, do not take this to HR. This isn't an HR matter. It's a management issue and HR doesn't manage these sorts of issues.
    via 9ScoreAnd10Pnties
  • Stop giving so much information when calling out no matter what.
    via 9ScoreAnd10Pnties
  • MidwestNightgirl It seems every office has one a busy body. You could ignore it and do your best to keep things as private as possible. You could make up some wild stories to feed her
    via MidwestNightgirl
  • DMargaretfootgoddess Unless she is good friends with one of the supervisors or has access to the company data to see those things or really seriously, just listens really close to everything that's said. There's no
    via DMargaretfootgoddess
  • way to figure out what exactly is going on. It sounds like she doesn't have very much going on in her personal life and therefore her job has become her family. However, the next time she asks you like what the doctor's
    via DMargaretfootgoddess
  • appointment, how did it go? I would look at her and say well. Thank you for your interest. But it's not really anybody's business and that is my private life, not my work life. There was nothing that would affect my job and therefore
    via DMargaretfootgoddess
  • nothing that anyone here needs to know anything about. I would continue the same type of answer.
    via DMargaretfootgoddess
  • Illustrious-Lunch 137 stop givng your boss too much info. you're taking sick leave of pto. no further info. they dont need to know why you need leave. Block her on LinkedIn in
    via Illustrious-Lunch137

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