Egotistic boss treats brilliant employee as a punching bag — and it blew up in his face

The HR Head of a company resigned almost immediately when her micromanaging boss tried to shortchange her brilliant performance. After spending years investing in the company's well-being, she refused to be a generic punching bag for her boss, who was clearly misdirecting his frustration. The ex-HR Head's daughter, who goes by u/rez2metrogirl on Reddit, shared the story on July 24, 2025, and the response was just unreal. 

After getting her PhD, the woman had been in the Human Resources department for most of her career. As a single mother, she was quite an achiever, raising her daughter all alone while proving herself daily at a high-stakes full-time job. "She’s arguably one of the most accomplished people I know," her daughter confessed. One day, her mother was preparing to discuss a 'potential legal risk' with her boss, alerting him of activities that could hamper the company's status. Consequently, when she was called into his office, she "was prepared to talk about potential legal risk, but that’s not what this meeting was about," her daughter recalled. Instead, her boss handed her a three-page document with 20 bullet points, apparently listing the things she had done wrong. Interestingly, she had received an outstanding performance review just a couple of months prior, and hence, she hadn't expected the criticism. 

The woman realized she didn't have to work in that company anymore; in fact, she knew she could retire and relax at home. The boss had the gall to follow up with, "Now, I’m not asking for your resignation," to which the woman promptly replied, "Honestly, you should be, but don’t worry about it. You’ll have it in 10 minutes." As she left her boss, she quickly typed her resignation letter, submitted it, and returned home. "The boss never found out about the potential legal problem," her daughter explained. "The other two HR people were out of state for a graduation." While they didn't stick around long enough to discover "how exactly this blew up in Boss’s face," they were satisfied with the "nearly instant karma."

The author's mom could afford to quit her job, but unlike her, many endure the unhealthy work environment for years, fearing financial instability. In fact, according to a 2023 survey by The Harris Poll, 72% of American working professionals tolerate a corporate hellscape due to financial reasons. Moreover, the survey also found that over 50% of those with a toxic boss confessed to experiencing nightmares about them. Meanwhile, the post received an overwhelming response, with netizens appreciating the author's mother for prioritizing her self-respect and resigning from the toxic job. For instance, u/parkesc commented, "I would’ve asked that doorknob to elaborate on many of those 20 points and then asked why they weren’t brought up in the performance review and watched him squirm." Similarly, a user who goes by u/lyrsa on Reddit shared, "Good. We need more people with her mindset. It's completely fine to walk out of a fire that is not your problem." 

On the other hand, a person, u/melodic_ad_3053, revealed, "I worked in a national company in healthcare as SVP. Our new COO decided that she needed to bring in 'new blood' (i.e., her friend). She presented me with a 5-page PIP in front of the CEO. A short discussion ensued where I made the comment that, clearly, I would not be working there much longer since I had no intention of working with her. The CEO had listened quietly and asked me to step outside, and she’d call me back in shortly. She proceeded to fire that bitch's ass! I worked there for ten more years until retirement and loved my CEO!" Another user, u/meritus2814, said, "It sounds like it was a setup for a layoff, and the 20 points were there to push back against a severance."