Manager notorious for stealing credit for emails gets exposed by clever employee in front of client

Often, when people are given responsibilities of leading others, they do their best to rise to the occasion. Others with an inflated ego, however, tend to overdo it. One such case was shared by a Reddit user u/overeasyallie on September 7, who recounted their experience with a manager who stole credit for the team's work.

The user wrote about their time working as a recruiter for an agency when they had just graduated. Very quickly, they discovered that their manager was obsessed with micromanaging every single detail — yes, including any outgoing mail. She demanded to be CC'd into each email, while also throwing a tantrum when employees (instead of her) were congratulated by clients. The employee went on to underscore the irony of the boss' proposal as she "was not well spoken or smart and not even a particularly good writer." However, fearing the agonizing outcome, the employee chose to stay silent and let their boss go about business as usual. 

The user shared that while their manager was reviewing one of their emails that was meant for an employer "who pumped a lot of money into our agency," she insisted on the Reddit user's wording being inaccurate. They wrote, "Miss Manager comes to my desk and tells me the email looks good except it should read 'passed experience.' I told her that was incorrect, and she told me I was wrong and that she knows the difference between the two words. I wasn't in the mood to argue, so I wrote it as 'passed experience' and CC'd Miss Manager on the email."

However, the employer who hired people to work on printed literature responded to the mail stating that the correct term was 'past experience' and not 'passed experience'. The Reddit user took this to their advantage and pressed 'Reply All' to thank them for the correction, "and explained my manager values all feedback and since she proofreads all outgoing emails, she was the one who insisted on writing 'passed experience.'" This malicious compliance played out well, as the manager quickly announced that she would no longer be proofreading external emails.

Oftentimes, malicious compliance can drive a positive change. In an article, Dr. Chris Fuzie, the Vice President of the National Leaderology Association and practitioner at CMF Leadership Consulting, argues that when an individual intentionally follows instructions to the letter in a way that undermines them, it can expose impractical or outdated rules and highlight organizational weaknesses. By intentionally following the directives given by the user's manager, the Redditor managed to expose her incompetence without facing any negative consequences. 

The thread that grabbed the attention of fellow Reddit users had others hyping the Redditor for handling the situation, while praising the user for exposing the manager through malicious compliance.

One user named u/Initial-Shop-8863 wrote, "Congratulations, OP. You also managed to do something that reminds her, every time she sees the words past or passed for the rest of her life, exactly how arrogant and inept she is. I hope she's come to terms with the humiliation. But I doubt it."

Another user named u/pranksterjoker seemed baffled at the manager's grammar. "Passed experience? Where was she the day they taught the correct spelling of words in elementary school? After saying she doesn't want to proofread anymore, you should have sent her a consoling email saying "their/they're/there everyone makes mistakes. You'll get passed this one." 

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