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A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
11–20 of 220 posts
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#12Be sure to read the update at the bottom of the article:
http://www.askamanager.org/2016/10/update-a-coworker-stole-m...
Looks like the situation worked out fairly well in the end.
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#13Well, to me it seems plausible that the writer is not telling the whole truth. They noticed food being stolen from the fridge and he purposely put extremely hot spice in the food to harm the perpetrator.
But how do you prove that. And even if you prove it, would it hold in court since the food was stolen?
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#14Kind of orthogonal to the story, but anyone who steals lunch or food from a co-worker should be fired immediately. There's a 0% chance that someone who steals others' stuff is a good, honest person in other parts of their life.
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#15Well, to me it seems plausible that the writer is not telling the whole truth. They noticed food being stolen from the fridge and he purposely put extremely hot spice in the food to harm the perpetrator. But how do you prove that. And even if you prove it, would it hold in court since the food was stolen?
> They noticed food being stolen from the fridge and he purposely put extremely hot spice in the food for the purpose of getting back at the perpetrator.
Even if that were the case (which I doubt), why is that wrong? On what planet is it OK to defend the actions of the thief?
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#16My guess is this falls under the same purview as booby-trapping your house: Yeah, they're committing a felony by breaking into your house, but you're not allowed to setup a "Home Alone" defense system (if nothing else because first responders might need to get into your home).
It's dumb in this case because the "booby trap" likely isn't one at all, but at a very cursory glance I could buy that someone would make their lunch exceptionally spicy to thwart a would-be thief - in the same vein that people might suggest laxatives, etc.
Anyway, I'm surprised people don't just have locked lunchboxes or something like that.
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#17The update to the post can be found here: http://www.askamanager.org/2016/10/update-a-coworker-stole-m... TLDR: Guy gets his job back and a generous raise (almost double his paycheck) after getting fired and threatening legal action.
And he's being compensated to build his skills and increase his professional value. Excellent leadership shown by the owner once he caught wise of what took place IMO
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#18The update is far more delicious than the original: http://www.askamanager.org/2016/07/a-coworker-stole-my-spicy...
I'm not sure that the original advice given was ideal. I'd recommend consulting with a lawyer first before giving any information to HR given that OPs job was at risk. But I'm happy for OP that it all worked out in the end.
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#19The update to the post can be found here: http://www.askamanager.org/2016/10/update-a-coworker-stole-m... TLDR: Guy gets his job back and a generous raise (almost double his paycheck) after getting fired and threatening legal action.
It's literally incredible that they fired someone for having their lunch stolen. It's great that sanity prevailed, but gods what a ridiculous situation. I hope whoever that HR person was is never employed in a position of authority again. The lunch thief is bad, but the HR person is much, much, worse. I'm still mad over here just thinking about it.
Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)
#20Well, to me it seems plausible that the writer is not telling the whole truth. They noticed food being stolen from the fridge and he purposely put extremely hot spice in the food to harm the perpetrator. But how do you prove that. And even if you prove it, would it hold in court since the food was stolen?
> They noticed food being stolen from the fridge and he purposely put extremely hot spice in the food for the purpose of getting back at the perpetrator. Even if that were the case (which I doubt), why is that wrong? On what planet is it OK to defend the actions of the thief?
Is it not always wrong to cause someone harm?
edit: If he would have poisoned the food and the thief died, would that be ok?
I guess the point I'm trying to make is that if he did purposely contaminate the food in order to get back at the thief, instead of just talking to him about it, the talk with HR seems justified.