Employee gets tired of awful client and wants to fire them, manager is against, so she decided to give a one-year notice for her PTO not to deal with the client: 'A year later, he finally got a taste of his own medicine and did not like it'

Author image for María Cetra
María Cetra • Writer
Oct 5, 2026 6:00 PM EDT

Getting a taste of your own medicine is something that every manager needs to go through. 

If you realize something at work isn't working the way it should, that maybe a process needs some changes, or that a business decision needs to be taken in the opposite direction, would you say something? And if you did and got completely shut down by your boss, saying it's not that important or completely dismissing your observation, then what? Would you just wish they had to do the same work you do so they can see how you are right? Well, if that is the case, then I have a story to tell you. 

We have an employee who was hired not only because of their great work, but also because they notice when things aren't working and fight for them to get fixed. They are a pusher; they tell their manager when they are wrong so that the mistake gets fixed. That's why, when they noticed that one client was not benefiting the business; on the contrary, it was making the workplace unbearable and more stressful than it should be, they had to do something. After being dismissed by their higher-ups over and over, the manager finally agreed to take care of the situation. This was possible due to the employee requesting PTO for the time of year this client always orders one year in advance —yes, it is crazy, but it worked. We can judge the ways, but not the results. That made the manager in charge of dealing with the client for one year; that was enough for them to realize that they needed to get that client out of their business. It was that easy!

After all, and to no surprise to us, this employee was right. They noticed something wrong and fought for it to get fixed. It's nice to see a manager taking care of things for once and getting a taste of his own medicine. Things are never that nice when YOU are the one who has to deal with it. Now, would you have done the same thing? Do you think they went a little overboard? Wouldn't you love to give people a taste of their own medicine sometimes? 

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  • 01
    I used to work for a small printing company that did work for a local college and their choir program. The director was a literal Karen (looked like one too) and made our lives a living h I leading up to her annual Christmas program. Without fail every year she would give us the artwork for the program at noon the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. This meant someone from our team would need to work the holiday or that
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 02
    A printing machine working.
    via Bank Phrom

    A printing machine working.

     

  • 03
    weekend to ensure it got out in time for her program. For four years I took the brunt if the project as I didn't want my team to work their holiday weekend and my family always celebrated Thanksgiving later to make scheduling easier for everyone. Me and the team constantly complained to the owner that this client was a nightmare and not worth our time. It was a large
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 04
    order for us but we didn't feel it was worth the headache. The owner's anniversary typically fell along this project timing and he was almost always out of town. The 4th year he wasn't so I decided to speak with him the Wednesday before Thanksgiving telling him we needed to fire the client. He was reluctant and downplayed our complaints and said she wasn't that bad. To which I
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 05
    replied, "Since this project isn't that difficult I figured I would let you know I'm taking this week off next year." The owner's face went pale. He's gut response was, "Why would you screw me over like that?" To which I replied, "I don't understand what you mean? I'm giving you a whole year to prepare for me to not be here. It isn't that big of a deal and she isn't that bad so a year should be
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 06
    enough time for you to figure it out." Mind you I love working for the company, the owner just got greedy sometimes and would put sales above the team and one of the reasons why he specifically hired me is because I would fight back when I thought he was wrong. That day was the day I decided I had enough and we went toe to toe arguing for about an hour in front of the team
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 07
    about my early vacation notice. He finally relented and was stubborn and ready to prove me wrong. A year later he finally got a taste of his own medicine and did not like it. I ended up working leading up to the holiday break because though I was adamant I wasn't going to work the holiday again I couldn't leave my team hanging. Yet again, right on time this Karen doesn't give us the files until
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 08
    Wednesday at noon before Thanksgiving. The owner went in person to speak to her. I don't know the full conversation but it basically came down to her calling him a complete idiot for not being able to manage around HER bad project management. He came back to the shop in literal tears stating he had never been treated so horribly in his life. In that moment I asked him if I
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 09
    could fire her as a client. I could tell he wasn't excited to admit he was wrong a year into this argument we had but he sheepishly nodded yes. He ended up finishing the project over the holiday for her that year to not ruin our reputation with the school as we did a ton of work for other departments but the next year I was the only one who got to speak to Karen. She asked for an estimate and I gave
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 10
    her the price and told her if files came any later than "X" date I would charge her $3,000+ $1,000 more for every day she was late. She flipped out and asked for the owner and I got to pull the, "He put me in charge, I'm the manager now." Card and told her she could kick dirt if she didn't like it. Our team had a literal celebration when she said she would go somewhere else to do the project.
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 11
    It is probably one of my proudest moments as a leader fighting for myself and my team.
    via u/lil_tink_tink
  • 12
    A woman working in the printing industry. Stock photography for depiction only.
    via ThisisEngineering

    A woman working in the printing industry. 

    Stock photography for depiction only. 

  • 13
    OriginalDanBlah Best thing you could've done. Make HIM deal with the problem so he can fine out it's not "just a small inconvenience". Also, if the school has a relationship with your company, the principal and superintendent might wanna know how a representative of their school treats people that is doing school business
    via OriginalDanBlah
  • 14
    Chemical-Demand-5741 As someone who's been working in the print industry for 25 years - Bravo! Well done.
    via Chemical-Demand-5741
  • 15
    entrepenurious i worked as a newspaper printer (hot type, pasteup, pagination, photoshop) for 40 years. i made myself a badge: THE LACK OF PLANNING ON YOUR PART DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN EMERGENCY ON MY PART
    via entrepenurious
  • 16
    Exact-Branch-8365 My engagement agreement includes an addon for rush jobs. Sounds like OPs shop needs a policy regarding lead time for work. They should have been charging "Karen" an expedite fee from the beginning. It is a great way to train clients. It will cost you $x if I get everything by this date. If I get it later, it will cost $x + $y. Their choice. The fee to expedite does a lot to help the workers feel motivated to work, and get paid, overtime.
    via Exact-Branch-8365
  • 17
    DoallthenKnit2relax Yes, Karen, you CAN go somewhere else. But they won't work with your late submissions either, these are standard operating deadlines. You need to get your end of the project up to speed.
    via DoallthenKnit2relax

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