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A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

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Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#31

Post by cortesoft »

pm90 wrote: post #21
jobowoo wrote: post #4

There's an update to the original post. What a lovely ending to the story. http://www.askamanager.org/2016/10/update-a-coworker-stole-m...

It is a lovely ending! What I fear for is that the termination will be in his records and he will have to explain this extremely bizzare story to whoever asks or is interested. I'm glad it all worked out so well for him. Hopefully that silly detail will not affect his future.

'Records'? You mean, like the 'permanent record' teachers talk about to scare kids in school?

Just an FYI, there is no such thing. There isn't going to be a record that he was fired.

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#32

Post by hughes »

jessaustin wrote: post #2

Your company’s HR is terrible. One suspects this could be written on every occasion.

I think it bears repeating that HR exists to protect the company, not the employee. Often, an interaction with HR will work out terribly for the employee when HR is acting in the company's best interests.

That's not the case here though. They're just terrible.

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#33

Post by DoofusOfDeath »

sh4z wrote: post #20
seattle_spring wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

We won't all agree on ethical system and world views, but a useful thought experiment is whether or not you'd be willing to shoot Hitler at any point in history.

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#34

Post by strictnein »

AnimalMuppet wrote: post #25
avs733 wrote: post #8

I'm reaching the point where I don't think people should be allowed to interact with each other.

Yet here you are, using HN to interact with us...

Pretty sure you're all just markov chain bots.

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#35

Post by welly »

sh4z wrote: post #13

Well, 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?

Why are you inventing scenarios in this story that you could never possibly prove to exist?

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#37

Post by toomuchtodo »

yannyu wrote: post #24
pm90 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a lovely ending! What I fear for is that the termination will be in his records and he will have to explain this extremely bizzare story to whoever asks or is interested. I'm glad it all worked out so well for him. Hopefully that silly detail will not affect his future.

What "records"? Unless he filed for unemployment, the only other people who would know would be his employers.

And employers rarely confirm anything other than hire and seperation dates during reference calls due to liability/litigation risks.

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#38

Post by sxates »

sh4z wrote: post #20
seattle_spring wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

It's often considered justified in self-defense.

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#39

Post by njharman »

wgerard wrote: post #16

My 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 thei…

Is it illegal to booby trap your property?

Re: A coworker stole my spicy food, got sick, and is blaming me (2016)

#40

Post by cortesoft »

seattle_spring wrote: post #14

Kind 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.

Mistakes happen. There are all sorts of ways you could accidentally eat someone else's lunch, and having a 'zero tolerance' policy is a good way to end up firing an innocent person.
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