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

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Jun 26, 2026 12:00 PM 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…

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  • Image represents employee working on a report
    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

    For almost a year, I was responsible for preparing a weekly report that needed information from four different department managers. The report was due
    via HollowledNomad
  • every Friday morning. I could usually complete my part in less than an hour, but only after everyone sent me their numbers.
    via HollowledNomad
  • One manager almost always submitted his information late. Sometimes Thursday night, sometimes Friday morning, and occasionally not
    via HollowledNomad
  • until after the report was already due. Whenever senior management asked why the report was delayed, he would
    via HollowledNomad
  • say that I had trouble "staying organized." He never directly accused me of refusing to work, but he made enough small comments that people started treating the delay like.
    via HollowledNomad
  • my problem. At first, I tried reminding him earlier. Then I sent follow-up emails.
    via HollowledNomad
  • Nothing changed. So I stopped handling it privately. I created a shared tracker showing the exact time each department submitted its
    via HollowledNomad
  • information, when I started working on the report, and when the completed version was sent. I also added automatic email reminders
    via HollowledNomad
  • and copied the project director on them. For the first two weeks, the manager ignored the tracker and continued submitting
    via HollowledNomad
  • late. Then we had a meeting about "ongoing reporting delays." He started giving the usual explanation about my organization. The director opened the tracker on the
    via HollowledNomad
  • conference-room screen. Every other department had submitted its information by Wednesday afternoon. His section arrived at 9:42 a.m. on Friday, twelve minutes after
    via HollowledNomad
  • the full report was supposed to be delivered. The tracker also showed that I had completed and sent the report twenty-eight minutes after receiving his numbers.
    via HollowledNomad
  • Image represents a business meeting and presentation with colleagues.
    via Getty Images

    Image represents a business meeting and presentation with colleagues.

  • The room went quiet. The director asked him why his department had missed the deadline eight times in ten weeks. He tried to say the
    via HollowledNomad
  • tracker was unnecessary and made the process too complicated. The director replied that the process only seemed complicated because it now showed where the
    via HollowledNomad
  • delays were happening. After that meeting, responsibility for collecting his department's numbers was moved to his assistant, and
    via HollowledNomad
  • the reports started arriving time. on He never apologized to me. He also never mentioned my "organization problems" again.
    via HollowledNomad
  • Shoddy-Reason2193 I don't know you and I am so proud of you.
    via Shoddy-Reason2193
  • Feng-Shiu-man Nice revenge story. How did you create the tracker? Would like to implement something like that in my dept.
    via Feng-Shiu-man
  • SonMii451 There are templates online that you could use.
    via SonMii451

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boss workplace-stories employee manager job meeting revenge tales-from-the-workplace track reporter emails workplace company
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