Employee gets coworker Perry fired after discovering he had been taking credit for months of their work: ‘I brought documentation’

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Cata Holmes • Writer
Jun 28, 2026 8:00 PM EDT

Should you confront a coworker before going to HR?

This question is an eternal debate. From one perspective, you want to value and respect your work, and getting the recognition you deserve is part of that- But, on the other hand, reporting a coworker to HR is a whole other thing. In this story, an employee realized that one of his teammates was putting his own name in a compilation of very important reports, as if he were the one writing them. The OP, who is the OG writer, got so mad that he told HR and got him fired three days later.

I'll be the first to say that I think the OP did well. It's hard to get some good work done, and if she has to demand one of their coworkers, no matter how good their relationship is, I don't believe it's a wrong move. Maybe she wasn't expecting management to fire him; perhaps that's a bit extreme, but when it comes to making yourself worthy, I'm all for that.

Now, I'd love to see how her other piers reacted. This is the lore I want in my office. Such a fun thing to witness, although I'd feel bad for that person leaving. But, I wonder…. is it okay to feel bad about him? Because, at the end of the day, he was getting praised for work he hadn't done. That's stealing in my handbook. Anyways, I think she did well.

Just some corporate advice for y'all today: professional accountability can feel harsh, especially when personal circumstances enter the conversation. But having a family or facing financial consequences doesn't erase workplace misconduct. Responsibility ultimately rests with the person who chose to claim someone else's work, not with the employee who documented it and followed the proper reporting process.

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