[00:00:00] Speaker A: If you ever left work and immediately had to text somebody like, yo, you're not going to believe this. This podcast is for you. Welcome to Work Drama, the podcast where we unpack workplace stories people whisper about trauma, bond over and still think about years later. I'm Lizbeth. I come from the medical world, so I'm here to add context, logic, and the questions that should have been asked before someone hit reply all.
[00:00:22] Speaker B: And I'm Sharon, today's resident instigator, group chat voice and depending on the situation, HR's worst nightmare.
[00:00:30] Speaker A: I left my in person job for remote work and I realized you don't miss the commutes, but you definitely miss the drama.
[00:00:37] Speaker B: Meanwhile, I'm still in the trenches.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:00:39] Speaker B: So we fixed that.
[00:00:40] Speaker A: We'll be breaking down anonymized stories from offices, hospitals, and everywhere in between, reacting in real time, calling out the nonsense, and figuring out if something is actually toxic or just wildly mishandled. You got a story for us?
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Send that shit in.
[00:00:54] Speaker A: Names, change jobs, protected opinions, very much included. And for legality purposes. This is not legal advice, girl.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Let's get into it.
[00:01:05] Speaker A: Imagine sending something wildly inappropriate to a co worker, thinking you got away with it, and then losing your job a year and a half later because of a screenshot. And somehow that wasn't even the strangest part.
Hey, Sharon.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: Hey.
[00:01:19] Speaker A: Welcome back, everybody.
So this week we had. Well, not this week. Last week we had a special day happen. It was your birthday.
[00:01:27] Speaker B: It was.
[00:01:28] Speaker A: How you feeling?
[00:01:29] Speaker B: Good. Old.
[00:01:30] Speaker A: Old? No, girl, you're not old. You're wiser. You're not old.
Well, what did you do for your birthday? Tell me. I mean, I know I went to see you for your birthday. So you had that special little visitor.
What else did you do for your birthday? Did you work?
[00:01:47] Speaker B: I did not work.
I got some food. I got some free Starbucks, which was super nice, but nothing really. I just relaxed.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: Just like a nice day, no work and then collecting your free stuff. I love that. I want to get the free stuff.
[00:02:00] Speaker B: Like, me too.
[00:02:01] Speaker A: I used to go even to, like. Well, where we live, we have the casinos, right? So I used to go to the casinos and like, go to all like, the Ulta Sephora, I think it was in the casino and other things. But then it turned into a day of like, driving everywhere. So then I kind of stopped doing it because I was like, now I'm wasting gas for all this free stuff. Sephora had like the little mini.
[00:02:17] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:02:17] Speaker A: Crap.
[00:02:18] Speaker B: That's why it didn't stop.
[00:02:19] Speaker A: Yeah. So sometimes it's worth it. But what did you get at Starbucks?
[00:02:22] Speaker B: I got a Trenty. I got a refresher or whatever they're called there.
[00:02:27] Speaker A: Oh, nice. So that's worth it.
[00:02:28] Speaker B: Yeah, it was a huge one. Yeah.
[00:02:31] Speaker A: Damn. Yeah. I don't know what the sizes are, but that sounds.
[00:02:33] Speaker B: It was the big one, like the biggest one.
[00:02:35] Speaker A: Trenty.
[00:02:36] Speaker B: I guess.
[00:02:36] Speaker A: That's crazy. That does sound. Because I think. Is a Venti supposed to be the biggest that I knew?
[00:02:41] Speaker B: No idea. I still say large or small?
No idea.
[00:02:45] Speaker A: Small or large? Like all these weird names like where are we?
All right, well that's good. And actually the last time I talked to you also you had mentioned you were interviewing or like applying for jobs, how that's going.
[00:02:58] Speaker B: I shut it down.
I decided not to go along with it. Just cuz gas is expensive and I would have to use my own vehicle, so.
[00:03:08] Speaker A: Oh, cuz you had, you had kind of like a pre interview, right? That was the case and so you didn't go with that job but you're still applying places.
[00:03:16] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:03:16] Speaker A: Yeah. That sucks that they would have to make you drive your own car, not give you like a stipend. So what kind of job? Like since you're applying, what kind of job? Like what are you looking for? Like in a good job, like what's the.
[00:03:28] Speaker B: Anything, as long as it pays well.
[00:03:31] Speaker A: Honestly, you're like just dying to get
[00:03:33] Speaker B: out of the place.
[00:03:34] Speaker A: That makes sense.
[00:03:35] Speaker B: It's just unfortunate. I love my job. I love supporting the people that I support. It's just managers managing, it's always the managers.
[00:03:46] Speaker A: I swear to God, I've left jobs over managers. I've actually even didn't take jobs after I interviewed because the manager that interviewed me I could just tell was going to be like, actually there was this one job where I interviewed and I knew somebody that I knew worked there and she was the one that like referred me to the job in the interview. The lady was super nice, but the girl had warned me like, she's crazy. Like everybody has a problem with her. But I'm like, I never have any issues with my managers. I just come to work, do my job right. No, that first day that I went to the job after training, she was horrible. She was like literally telling people like, oh, I don't know why they're so happy to see you, blah blah, blah. I'm like, well maybe because they've been burnt out because they're, you know, they need help and I'm here to help. And because the other employee that's Here is a friend of mine and knows me and maybe she's been talking nice about me. Like, what the, what's like, shouldn't you be happy that people are happy for somebody new to come in? Because sometimes they could be messy when a new person comes in and they could be like, you know, there could be some drama, but people were actually happy. And like that second day she had already like, kind of like set the tone. Like, I could tell she didn't like me. I don't know what I did. Literally, I did nothing. But she ended up asking, like, I think you should think about this job. All because I thought I was going to be leaving at 5 and it was actually until 5:30. I'm like, oh no, that's cool. Like I had applied to like five other jobs at the time and had different like time frames. And I told her that. I was like, oh, sorry, I just thought, I'm like, but that's totally fine. I only live 15 minutes on the road. Like, that's no problem. I think you should consider rethinking over the weekend. And I'm like, no, I just rethought it right now, as you said that. I rethought it. And I sent him a letter to hr. I was like, look, this is how she treated me from the minute I came into the building. And like, I'm sorry, I'm not taking this, like, this job, whatever I said. And I see her on it too. So she could see everything I said about her because I'm like, so. Yeah, but it sucked because it was, it was an office, a medical office that was like a state run kind of office so you can retire early. Really great benefits. My daughter could have gone to the college associated with the school for free. Like all these benefits. And just because of her, I was like, nope, I can't do it. I can't work with somebody like that.
[00:05:43] Speaker B: So sometimes it's better not to.
[00:05:45] Speaker A: Yeah, I mean, I think I would have been just miserable if I worked there. So it wasn't worth it. All the benefits weren't worth it. So I get it. But at this point, anything is sounding better than where you are right now. I'm sorry about that.
[00:05:57] Speaker B: It is what it is. Yeah.
[00:05:59] Speaker A: Well, I know that there are people out there that are probably feeling the same feeling, like I'm sure, you know, they're doing the job. I mean, in this economy, right? Like you kind of just need the job. And that kind of takes us into our next story because there was somebody in this next Story in this next work drama that we're about to say tell everybody where she was trying to keep her head low and just do the job because she needed the job.
[00:06:23] Speaker B: Right?
[00:06:23] Speaker A: Our work drama for today comes from our work bestie, Kate. And by the end of the story, I think we're gonna guess what Kate's position at the office and how she got this piping hot tea we're about to spill. So, Sharon, are you ready?
[00:06:36] Speaker B: Ready.
[00:06:39] Speaker A: This story starts in 2020. Peak lockdown era. Everyone working remotely, cameras off slack, messages flying, boundaries a little blurry. The company was a midsize logistics and sales operations. You know, account managers, customer service reps, operations, staff leadership like that. Very corporate vibe. One of the higher ups there was a regional sales director. We'll call him Dan.
Dan was a type everyone knew. Loud, confident, smooth talker. Thought he was funnier than he was. The kind of man who mistakes being over the top for being charming. Sharon, you know the type.
[00:07:13] Speaker B: Definitely. I'm working with one right now.
[00:07:15] Speaker A: Oh, that sounds really annoying. I had a doctor. Actually, I had a doctor that was like this. But he could get away with it. He was the top shit at the office, like doing all the surgeries. And he was cute, like he could get away with it.
[00:07:28] Speaker B: Not the one I work with.
[00:07:29] Speaker A: No.
[00:07:30] Speaker B: He acts like a know it all and has no idea of anything.
[00:07:34] Speaker A: Oh, that's.
[00:07:34] Speaker B: And he's weird.
[00:07:35] Speaker A: And he's weird. Oh, I think you might have told me about this weirdo. Okay, yeah, I remember the stories. Okay, so yeah, there was a younger employee working at customer service. We'll call her Maya. Maya was quieter, newer to the company and still trying to establish herself. She was smart and professional and definitely not trying to make any waves.
Dan and Maya occasionally communicated for work reasons. Mostly customer service issues, accounts escalations, things like that. Nothing unusual. Until one day, Dan messages Maya privately on Slack, saying he has something to show her. Now, Maya assumes it's work related, right? Maybe a client issue, maybe a file, maybe even some dumb meme. It's not work related.
Instead, Dan sends her an explicit and bizarre personal photo.
Something no employee should ever receive, especially from a senior leader. Sharon, you want to know what the photo was?
[00:08:29] Speaker B: Most definitely.
[00:08:30] Speaker A: Alright, well, I don't want to gross out the group chat, so I'm just gonna give you a couple details and let your imagination do the rest of the work. It involves male genitalia and some tightly wound string.
[00:08:44] Speaker B: Ew.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: Like, what possesses you? Seriously, I can't even imagine what Maya was thinking, But Maya's reaction? She says nothing. No reply, no confrontation, not even a report. She simply closes the message and tries to move on with life. Why?
Because it was 2020. People were scared to lose their jobs. The economy was uncertain. She was newer to the company, and he was leadership. And you know how that goes.
Sometimes silence isn't approval. Sometimes silence is just survival. What do you think?
[00:09:18] Speaker B: Yeah, I understand her survival mode on, not wanting to express what was going on. You know, she's here to lose her job and whatnot. And 2020 was a very hard time for jobs. Yeah, for sure.
[00:09:32] Speaker A: Because, like, even working from home, like, you don't even. You don't know, are you gonna get an email? You know, that's gonna be like, you don't have a job anymore. Not even just because something happened, but just in general. Right? So you're just trying to protect yourself at all costs.
So that was. That was a hard time.
Well, weeks turn into months, then months turn into a year. People slowly return to hybrid work, and then eventually back to the office. Dan is still there, still walking around like nothing happened. And Maya, she's still there, too, keeping it professional, never even mentioning it. Now, here's where the story gets a little messy. About a year and a half later from that incident, Dan gets caught cheating in his personal life.
And his partner, well, she doesn't handle it quietly.
One morning, employees arrive to the office and see printed photos posted outside of the office.
Embarrassing photos of Dan, personal photos, Humiliating and explicit photos of his partner doing some very inappropriate but consensual things. To Dan, these photos were enough for everyone to know immediately that some. Somebody in Dan's personal life woke up and chose violence.
The office is buzzing. People were talking, laughing, whispering, pretending not to stare at these photos. Dan ends up calling out for a couple days, you know, to get his shit together.
But he does take some banter. When he eventually returns, he takes it like a champ.
But hidden amongst those photos was something much more serious. One of the papers posted outside included a screenshot of a Slack exchange.
And in that screenshot was the explicit image Dan had once sent to Maya. You remember the strangled eggplant? Mm, yep, that one.
Well, that was enough context for HR to realize that message had been sent to another employee. See, the streets are always talking.
[00:11:23] Speaker B: Sure are.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: Suddenly, what was office gossip became a workplace liability. HR calls Maya in privately.
They ask if the screenshot is real, because, like, on Slack, I don't know if you've ever used Slack. I actually use Slack right now. It's like A messaging service where you can have personal, like DMs, or you can have public conversation and there's like, what they call channels. And you see. You see the person's name sometimes if you go on their profile, you can see their job description or whatever, like what their title is, but you usually put a picture of yourself. I don't know if every office is like that, but with the remote job, I do. I have a picture of me. And any message is going to show, like, who I'm talking to. So that was going to be a very obvious screenshot that this was sent to her from this person. So just to give you some context on Slack.
So, yeah. So after they call Maya in privately, they ask if the screenshot is real. She goes red in the face, quietly confirms it, and for the first time tells the story.
Then HR calls in Dan, then senior leadership gets involved. Then Dan is asked to explain himself. According to our work bestie, Kate, Dan didn't last long in that meeting.
[00:12:30] Speaker B: Uh oh, Kate was definitely hr.
[00:12:33] Speaker A: Sounds like it. Right? So it sounds like we're getting the tea right from the person that heard everything go down, which is a little exciting. Thank you, Kate. He quits on the spot. No graceful exit, no redemption speech just gone. Sharon, would you resign or would you be, like, getting escorted out, like, trying to fight for your job?
[00:12:50] Speaker B: If I sent something inappropriate, I would probably resign. Or let me correct myself. I wouldn't be sending anything inappropriate.
[00:12:57] Speaker A: Right. But if you were feeling spicy one day, you got caught doing something crazy like that.
[00:13:04] Speaker B: No, you take respectfully, I would just resign.
[00:13:08] Speaker A: No. Yeah, you're like, could never be me.
No, same. But I think if I were in dance position, I'd be like, I mean, now we could be like, that was AI. That's so fake like that, you know? And then I just probably throw Maya under the bus. That's if I was Dan, though. But I'm not that type of person, so I could never be Dan. But I'm just saying, putting myself in Dan's shoes. So anyway, he. He resigns. He's like, I gotta go. He knows that it's all real. He's also dealing with the drama at home.
[00:13:38] Speaker B: Right.
[00:13:38] Speaker A: Or whatever that's going on. He's just like, I gotta go. So, whatever. Good for him. Maya, she still works there. She never really talks about the situation. And anytime someone brings it up, she turns bright red and just changes the subject. Which, honestly, it makes sense because while everyone else remembers it as gossip and something funny that happened at the office right she remembers it as something violating.
So on that note, let's unpack this because there's a few layers here. Right? We have, again, another situation where leader, like a senior leader, shit person sending inappropriate content or being inappropriate with an employee. That's just not bad judgment. It creates pressure, discomfort, fear. It just sounds like this happens so much, right. And I feel bad. Like, in this case, unlike the last story that we kind of touched on something like this, it seems like Maya really was like, I just want to work my job. It was unsolicited from the sounds of it.
[00:14:34] Speaker B: Right.
[00:14:34] Speaker A: He just sent her this message out of nowhere.
[00:14:37] Speaker B: And not everybody handles, you know, conflict, you know, gracefully or, you know. Right, right.
[00:14:45] Speaker A: Yeah. And who knows, like, what trauma response that could have been for her too. Right. Who knows what she's gone through?
[00:14:49] Speaker B: So.
[00:14:50] Speaker A: Which also then kind of brings us into, like, the fact that she didn't report it, right? Like, either right away or she just didn't say anything. Like you said, some people just react differently, and that's up to them. Because then she said something. Where does that leave her? Now the office knows, right? And now people are. Because now she's like. Like they said, whenever somebody brings it up, she's embarrassed. Well, now she has to, like, hear about this and can't really focus on judgment.
[00:15:13] Speaker B: The looks from your peers, and it
[00:15:15] Speaker A: seems like the women always get the worst of it, Right. Like, she's still there. People are still talking about it. Mind you, Dan is now at some other job, probably doing it somebody else or whatever. He's moving on with his life. But she has to sit with this just horrible, you know, and because of job security, fear of the retaliation, the shame, and not wanting that attention, Like, I can see that being the case. And, like. And if I'm being honest, I've had that situ. Not that specific situation. I didn't have anybody send me a strangled eggplant. But, like, I've had a situation at my job where it's something inappropriate happened. And I was also. I was younger. I think I probably would have handled it differently. Now that I'm, like, In my late 30s, I probably would have said something, but it was somebody that was above me.
[00:15:57] Speaker B: Right.
[00:15:57] Speaker A: I didn't know how it was going to be handled. Am I even going to be believed?
Like, and I was just like, you know what? Everything else is going fine. My job, I'm getting paid really good. I'm just gonna not say nothing. And maybe if it happens again, maybe I'll say something. Luckily didn't Happen again. But, you know, and this person didn't always work at the office. It was a per diem person. So I was like, I don't even have to see them that often, so I'm just gonna move on, whatever. But I get it. Like, I was just like, do I say something?
[00:16:21] Speaker B: I don't know. Sometimes you can speak up and HR just doesn't listen or turns the head to, you know, the other side or whatnot. And so it's like a hit or miss.
[00:16:30] Speaker A: That's true. Especially like this person was, I'll just say was a provider. So they're bringing in the money. You know what I mean? Like, my position compared to their position was not anything. You know what I mean? Like, to me at that point in time, it was like privately owned office. And it was just, who are they going to listen to? And how they'd probably rather get rid of me than the person that's bringing in the money, right? So that's how I felt. I'm just like, I'm going to stay quiet. Even though that person was like, pretty, maybe they would have gotten rid of them, I don't know. But I was like, I don't even want to deal with it. I don't want to tell people. I don't want people asking questions. I just like, I'm just gonna move on with my life. So I've been in miles position, although I don't. I think nowadays, especially after the MeToo movement, I think I'm like, just like. I would probably say something just to protect other people, I guess, from happening. But yeah, people don't react the same way.
And then I think, like, the last thing is just the fact that, like, eventually karma is gonna turn her beautiful head of hair and just like this happen a year and a half later, Dan, you got caught.
He's walking around like, oh, I got away with it. I got sent that picture.
Good thing that he kind of like got the message and didn't send her more. Or like, you know, the fact that she just didn't say anything was enough for him to be like, oh, like, maybe he thought like, oh man, I fucked up or something. Or. And I'm wondering, your work from home, was he drinking? Like, I mean, I don't want to give him excuses, but like, what?
[00:17:43] Speaker B: You could just be a creep.
[00:17:44] Speaker A: Just be a creep. Yeah. And just see, like, maybe if I send this to see what happens and who knows if he's done it before and somebody didn't say anything, right? Because to. To have the Audacity to send that in a slack message. Something that's related to work and at least the way my slack is set up with my job. We can't see each other's DMs, but I had somebody else tell me that they can see certain things. Maybe it depends on kind of like the access, but that's crazy. I feel like Dan has done this before, probably doing it again, probably because that's really weird behavior. You didn't even start with flirting or, you know, or anything. You didn't even try to tiptoe around. You just sent the picture and that's a crazy picture to send.
[00:18:18] Speaker B: Some people are just have no thought process to the words that they say. Yeah, I have.
I had one co worker maybe two years ago now. He. I was wearing some jeans, some skinny jeans. And in front of everyone, he had the nerve to ask me how I put my jeans on just because they were too tight.
[00:18:38] Speaker A: Oh my God. Yeah, like, thanks for noticing. Like, what a creep.
[00:18:42] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm sure he noticed by my reaction that I was just like, what the fuck is wrong with you?
He ended up quitting.
[00:18:49] Speaker A: Good.
[00:18:50] Speaker B: Honestly, just. I'm pretty positive. Because of me.
[00:18:53] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:53] Speaker B: But like, why be a weirdo because
[00:18:56] Speaker A: of himself for being weird? Yes.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:18:59] Speaker A: Oh my God. Yeah. And to say that in front of people, in front of everyone, I mean, and that's just like a man thing, right? Like men just like. I mean, sorry, not all men. Let me not say that because not all men, but like you're not really gonna catch too often a woman just making these weird, creepy comments like, hey,
[00:19:16] Speaker B: how you put your jeans on?
[00:19:18] Speaker A: That bulge is looking a little tight.
[00:19:21] Speaker B: I put one arm first and then my head through my jeans.
[00:19:24] Speaker A: Like, what in the world you expect me to put it on? Oh, my goodness. That's crazy. Now that I say that, right before coming to the to record today, I went to the gym and I happen to look behind me and I gotta say, I looked at the guy's butt that was right next to me. Not like I was trying to look at his butt, but I just like, look, you know, I just looked over and he had a hole right in the middle of his butt. Like right in the middle of the crack. And I'm like, oh my God, I wanted to tell him, but then I'm like, then I have to admit that I looked at his butt, but I was like, but now he's walking around with a hole. I couldn't do it. I couldn't even do it.
He's Just gonna have to figure it out when he gets home.
But yeah, maybe I was a little bit of a creep, but I wasn't really trying to look. I just was looking around. I don't know. I don't even know it is what it is, but I think I would have probably looked creepier. And I thought about it as I'm doing my work. I'm like, I could just be like, hey, sorry. I happened to notice just because I felt bad because he had this big hole in his butt. I don't know. Anyway, but I didn't. I didn't say anything, whatever.
Anyway, I just had to throw that in there because, like, relatable.
Anyway. Well, yeah, I think karma in this situation basically used the printer. Used the printer and used Dan's partner to bring this to light and be like, look, not only did he just cheat on his girl and is doing all this messy stuff, let's bring back what he did last time and make him pay for it. Finally.
[00:20:40] Speaker B: Good.
[00:20:41] Speaker A: Now he's like doubling down. Karmas all doubling down. Let's fuck up Dan's situation. Behavior, bad behavior. Yeah, let's make him pay. Which karma, we love you.
But yeah, basically, Dean lost his job over a screenshot. But the truth is he lost it the day he sent it because honestly, you gotta expect that was gonna come back. You know, he just didn't know it yet. So that, that story was interesting.
[00:21:02] Speaker B: It was.
[00:21:03] Speaker A: I feel bad for Maya because now she has that picture in her brain forever.
And now people are still talking about. I think I would eventually leave the job, get my experience and leave. Because if people are going to keep bringing it up, that would be super annoying. But. Yeah, but that was a good one. Thank you, Kate. And Kate, we're pretty sure you were hr.
I'm just going to throw that out there. Thank you for that. Because good story. She had all the details. I like that. That was really good. Keep up the good work, Kate.
And yeah, so if you guys have your own workplace story, send it in. Become the next work bestie of the day. Work best. What is it? Workdramapodmail.com Girl, I got too many things. I remember Workplace. No, not even workplace.
Workdramapodmail.com Send your stories. We'll anonymize them. Names change, job protected. Opinions very much included.
All right, guys, we're gonna get the next story ready for you. I can't wait. It's gonna get juicier and juicier. And girl, we got our first mailed in.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Nice.
[00:22:10] Speaker A: Yeah, we've been sourcing from the Internet, but we just got a really juicy story and I'm, I'm super excited about it.
[00:22:15] Speaker B: That's exciting.
[00:22:16] Speaker A: So I'm working on that. There'll be a couple episodes before that one comes out. But, but send in your stories because the ones that are getting emailed, I'm noticing, have more details. More, you know, it's, we got all the juicy details in those. I'm sourcing from the Internet and I'm grabbing some good ones from the Internet. But when you really have somebody sending in and they know that it's going to be talked about, oh, they're getting juicy. So I can't wait for those. So sending your stories. But yeah. Hope you enjoyed today's episode. Until next time.
[00:22:41] Speaker B: Bye.
[00:22:45] Speaker A: That's it for today's episode of Work Drama. Today's Work Drama was read by Lizbeth Marquez with opinions, reactions and group chat energy provided by our resident instigator, Sharon Rodriguez.
Music for the show is by Donzel Zambo, "Fairy Tales".
And a special thank you to Project Emo for letting us record this podcast in their studio Idea Forge Studios.
If you've got your own workplace story you can't believe actually happened, send it our way to
[email protected] linked in the show Notes Names changed, jobs protected. This has been Work Drama, where the meetings end, but the stories don't.
[00:23:27] Speaker B: Sam.
