Relentless coworker demands employee move out of “her seat” in break room, despite knowing there are no assigned seats, employee firmly refuses: ‘You don't own it’

Author image for Bar Mor Hazut
Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Aug 12, 2026 9:45 AM EDT

"Just because you usually sit somewhere doesn't mean you own the chair, Jasmine."

Everywhere you go, there are seats, and people who use those seats. In school, every student had a chair and desk in the classroom, and a place to sit at lunch. In cafes, restaurants, and libraries, people find a comfortable place to sit and do whatever it is they came to do. There are chairs everywhere, and we all share them. 

There isn't a single place we can think of, other than someone's home, that grants someone the option to claim a seat as their own. The world isn't divided into assigned seats, and unless you bought the chair, you have no claim to it, and should expect others to abide by rules you made up in your head.

That is what we would have said to the coworker below, called Jasmine, who for some reason thought she owed 2 of the 5 chairs in her workplace's break room. 

It is one thing to claim ownership of a work desk and chair, which we can understand why some people prefer to assign. But the seating in a break room is open for all; no one can claim they have a bigger right to sit in one of them than someone else. The fact that Jasmine decided she owns not one, but two seats in the office she worked at is truly baffling, and we were even more baffled to learn that she actually came up to one employee and demanded they move.

The first time she did it, the employee decided it was not worth the argument and moved. But when she came up to the same employee for the second time and asked them to move out of a completely different seat, the employee decided enough is enough. She doesn't own the seat; she has no right to demand it, and it's time she knows it.

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  • Coworkers sitting in the break room.
    via Alyssa Jane

    Coworkers sitting in the break room.

    Subjects are models.

  • AITA for not moving out of my coworker’s “seat”?

    I've been working with this coworker, Jasmine, for about 7 months and we became friends. I give her rides to work sometimes,
    via Just_proving_points_
  • and she and her mom has given me a ride home before. I don't mind helping her, and I appreciate the things she's
    via Just_proving_points_
  • done for me, but lately I've been getting really irritated with her.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • She can be pretty demanding. She'll tell/ask me to do things and I usually just do them because I don't want to
    via Just_proving_points_
  • make a big deal out of it. But it bothers me because she doesn't seem to have the same energy with everyone else. She's even
    via Just_proving_points_
  • said she only listens to our GM, Jade, and basically ignores our night shift manager, Christian, when he asks her to do
    via Just_proving_points_
  • something. She also gets into a lot of confrontations with people. She'll talk cop about other coworkers, but gets extremely defensive if
    via Just_proving_points_
  • anyone says something about her. She's gotten into several arguments over things like this.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • The biggest thing happened today. There are 5 chairs in our break room, and there are no assigned seats.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • Jasmine usually sits in the same one or two chairs.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • The first time I sat in one of her usual chairs, she immediately said, "Girl, get out my seat." I told her, "You don't own it. Your name isn't written on it."
    via Just_proving_points_
  • She kept telling me to move and got annoyed, so I eventually moved because I didn't feel like arguing over a chair.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • Today, I was in the break room with 3 other coworkers. Carrie was sitting in the chair Jasmine
    via Just_proving_points_
  • had gotten upset about the first time, and I was sitting in another chair Jasmine usually sits in, which is closer to the door.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • Jasmine walked in, stood in front of me, and said something like, "Bruh, get out my chair." I said, "I thought that was your seat," referring to the
    via Just_proving_points_
  • chair she was already sitting in. She told me to just sit in the other chair, and I said, "You sit there too."
    via Just_proving_points_
  • Casual conversation in an office.
    via Andrej Lišakov

    Casual conversation in an office.

    Subjects are models.

  • This time I didn't move because, again, there are no assigned seats and there were enough chairs for everyone. Carrie even
    via Just_proving_points_
  • said, "I know we don't have assigned seats." Jasmine got mad, walked
    via Just_proving_points_
  • away, and said, "You're getting on my f on my f¨ng nerves."
    via Just_proving_points_
  • What bothered me was that Carrie was literally sitting in one of the chairs Jasmine had previously claimed as "her seat," but
    via Just_proving_points_
  • she didn't have the same energy with Carrie that she had with me. It felt like she specifically expected me to accommodate her.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • There's also been another issue where Jasmine has said things like, "My mom gave you a ride, so don't do that," during
    via Just_proving_points_
  • arguments. I appreciate the rides her mom has given me, but I've never used that against her or acted like she owes me
    via Just_proving_points_
  • something because I gave her a ride. Then after all that she tries to talk to me like everything's fine and i'm not in the mood.
    via Just_proving_points_
  • So, AITA for refusing to move out of her "seat"?
    via Just_proving_points_

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