Nosy manager urges employees to 'spy' on friends, until a stack of screenshots leaves him with nowhere to run

Think of the last time you sat in your office break room and realized the person sitting next to you wasn't your teammate, but a potential double agent for the company. Sounds like the plot of a B-list spy thriller, right? However, for a senior developer (u/saturnlatch_7) at a mid-sized tech firm, it became a reality, thanks to their new department head. Well, their nosy boss asked some of his workers to spy on their colleagues, and in return, he would consider their efforts during annual reviews. However, his illegal surveillance eventually backfired when the developer exposed him to the management, resulting in strict disciplinary action. They recalled the incident on Reddit on April 21. 

The department head pulled a few of his teammates into a private meeting where he demanded that workers look out for "negative attitudes" or anyone considering switching jobs, and inform him about it. At first, the developer didn't think much of it, passing it off as a management gimmick, but that wasn't the case. The head actually wanted them to spy on their coworkers. As you'd expect, the developer wasn't really happy with his approach, but did not retaliate until things went over his head.

"He sent me a direct message asking why 'Dave' had been on LinkedIn twice that day and if I could 'keep an ear out' for any mention of interviews," the employee recalled, and this, right here, was the last straw for them. "I didn't reply to him. Instead, I took screenshots of every single request he made for us to spy on each other and forwarded the entire chain to HR and the CEO with a very brief resignation letter attached," they wrote. The developer already had a standing offer from a client, so he decided to finally teach this insecure head a lesson, and sure enough, he did. After the developer dropped this text, the HR realized that what the manager was doing could actually land them in legal trouble.

Not just that, the CEO was also furious because, besides the developer, three other senior employees also quit because of the manager's unprofessional requests. Consequently, the manager was sent on "administrative leave" while the company continued to investigate the matter. Meanwhile, the management also lost a key project deadline because of the fiasco.

Quitting a job because of a bad manager isn't uncommon across the country. A survey by GoodHire, which included around 3,000 full-time employees, found 82% would quit their job because of a bad manager. In fact, 83% of participants said that they could do their job even without a manager. That's quite concerning, especially because it makes everyone wonder what's wrong with managers across the U.S. That said, it's not surprising that the Reddit community rallied to this senior developer's aide, suggesting that they did the right thing.

Meanwhile, reacting to the Reddit post, u/starethruyou commented, "This manager has a Gestapo-style attitude. Makes it easy to understand how such fascist tendencies arise and grow. Good for you and all involved to expose and shame such lunacy." Similarly, u/nefariousnesstop354 commented, "You gave him exactly what he was asking for. You let the higher-ups know about an employee with a bad attitude who would harm the rest. Great job."

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