Manager Blames Employee for Late Reports, Leading Employee to Build a Tracker That Proves the Delays Are Manager’s Fault Entirely

Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor

Jun 26, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

How many times, on average, do employees get blamed for their manager's mistakes?

What does it take for a manager to be asked about a mistake, and for them to say, "It's actually [this employee]'s fault," even though it was clearly the manager's mistake?

Honestly, we imagine it doesn't take much. It seems like managers see their employees as the perfect tool to use whenever they need to pin the blame on someone. They never want to own up to their mistakes, and they know most employees won't argue against their own manager's claims, even if they are completely wrong.

Luckily, some employees refuse to back down when something like this happens. They won't let their managers get away with their own incompetence, and they are willing to fight to prove that the fault for an issue is not their own. They have to do it carefully, and in a manner that won't get them in trouble, but those who do it cleverly can achieve something that most employees only dream of: Retrebuition.

The manager in the story shared below on Reddit's r/revengestories thought he could get away with blaming late reports on his employee, but he didn't know who he was messing with. While this employee was in charge of submitting the reports, they couldn't do that without the entire team's own information, which the manager repeatedly sent in late. Sometimes he would even send it after the deadline, which forced the employee to send the report later than every other team.

After many failed attempts to get the manager to send the information in time, the employee decided to build a tracker that would provide solid information about when each employee sends in their data, and when every single action regarding the report is taken. With the help of this tracker, the employee could prove at any time that the delays were caused by the manager and that they themselves did everything right, every step of the way.

It was long before the employee used this exact tracker in a meeting that finally put the manager in his place…

via Vitaly Gariev

^{Image represents employee working on a report}
My manager kept blaming me for late reports, so I built a tracker that showed exactly where every delay came from

via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via Getty Images

^{Image represents a business meeting and presentation with colleagues.}
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via HollowledNomad
via Shoddy-Reason2193
via Feng-Shiu-man
via SonMii451

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