Boss forgets she approved employee's project and publicly calls them out, employee fights to prove boss is wrong: ‘I have the approval in writing’

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Bar Mor Hazut • Senior Editor
Oct 1, 2026 7:15 AM EDT

Raise your hand if you have yet to learn that you must get everything in writing.

For those who raised their digital hand, here is an important lesson you must learn if you want to succeed in your career: Every person you work with, whether they are a coworker, a boss, or an employee, will, at some point, forget or deny something you discussed about work. You might have been talking about a certain task, a deadline, or even your own compensation. It doesn't matter how good your working relations are; one day they will decide to deny the conversation ever happened.

When that day comes, you have to be prepared. Any conversation that seems even remotely important to you must be accompanied by receipts. That means that you must either hold the entire conversation in a clearly documented messaging system, or follow up any verbal conversation with a written summary that the other party must confirm. Sure, it must sound like more work; it might even seem pointless to you, but stories like the ones below prove that it's not. In fact, documentation like that is very likely to save your job.

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  • The employee here was talking to their boss about a side project they were assigned to, something that their boss approved and wanted them to work on. They spent months slowly getting the project up and running, all while the boss was fully aware of the progress.

    However, one random day during a group conversation, the boss suddenly lashed out at the employee and claimed she never approved the project. Whether she forgot or was trying to shake off the responsibility was unclear to the employee; all they knew was that now they had to prove that the boss was in the wrong.

    Had the initial conversation about the project remained verbal, the employee would never have had the chance to prove that they had the boss's approval. But the employee was smart, and they had it all in writing, so it was easy to show the boss that they were always following her instructions.

    Is that enough to clear the employee's name, though? You'll have to keep reading to find out.

  • Boss mad during a meeting.
    via Yan Krukau

    Boss mad during a meeting.

    Models pictured are not representative.

  • My boss forgot she signed off on something and blew up at me in front of everyone

    I just need to vent and I don't know where else to go. My boss signed off on a side project for me to work on with another
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • team, and we've been chipping away at it slowly. Just for fun, we gave it a codename and started some early feasibility
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • work. My boss knew about the project, knew the codename, and had even mentioned it herself before. I just haven't had
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • any concrete updates to give her, because we're still figuring out whether the idea even works.
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • Fast forward to recently. In a group chat, in front of other managers, she suddenly lashes out at me, demanding to know
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • who approved this project and why this is the first she's hearing of it. I replied that we'd been exploring whether it was
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • feasible, and that I had no idea the other team was going to raise it at a senior meeting without telling me. She kept
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • going, saying she was completely blindsided and it had affected her work. Okay, fine.
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • The next day I tried to talk it through with her and she refused to discuss it.
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • Then today she follows up in writing, basically lecturing me about how things are supposed to be done around here.
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • I am so done with this person. Job market isn't that great where I am but i guess its time to find something else.
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • Just a quick edit: I have it in writing the approval from her to proceed and even the weird project name for it. The follow up
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • email today was her replying to that email. So somehow still my fault
    via Nobodyherebutusthree
  • Gmail opened on laptop.
    via Stephen Phillips - Hostreviews.co.uk

    Gmail opened on laptop.

    Still frame for contextual reference only.

  • Patalos First rule is always cover your a. If your boss is willing to throw you under the bus, a simple "We did talk about this. You approved it on x date." is very appropriate. If you don't have those receipts, gotta start making sure everything is in writing.
    via Patalos
  • Nerdsamwich The manager didn't forget. One of her peers found out about it, used it to make her look bad somehow, and she's trying to save face by pretending you went behind her back.
    via Nerdsamwich
  • JimmiRustle If she brings it up at a meeting you bring her own written approval to the meeting. Normally I'd say such stuff should be resolved in private but if she's willing to lash out in public then then justice demands resolution in public.
    via JimmiRustle
  • squirrel-phone A simple statement on the group chat that she herself signed off on this on date is all that was needed. If she buries herself, that is her problem, not yours.
    via squirrel-phone

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boss workplace-stories employee fired manager job tales-from-the-workplace ceo overworked-employees workplace company
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