'AITA for icing my co-worker out after she set me up to get in trouble with HR?'
"AITA for treating my coworker differently after she accused me of making her uncomfortable when I covered for her at work?"
Unlikely-Panic-5574 writes:
I (30M) work in an office with a small team. A few months ago, my coworker, Samantha (28F), had an emergency and had to leave work early. She was supposed to finish a report that was due the next morning, so she asked if I could help cover for her. I had some extra time, so I finished her report and sent it in under both of our names to make sure she got credit.
The next day, she thanked me but seemed a bit off. A couple of days later, I was called into HR. It turns out Samantha had filed a complaint, saying that my "taking over her work without explicit permission" made her uncomfortable and that it felt like I was trying to undermine her. I was completely confused because (1) she had asked for help, and (2) I didn’t take credit away from her.
HR conducted an investigation, and after a week, they cleared me. But the whole thing shook me—I never expected that helping a coworker would land me in trouble. After that, I kept things strictly professional with Samantha. I still say hello and work with her when needed, but I don’t chat with her casually, offer to help, or include her in group outings anymore.
She’s noticed and confronted me about it, saying I’m treating her unfairly and being cold. She explained that she was just setting a boundary and didn’t mean for HR to investigate so seriously. I told her I understood, but I need to protect myself too, so I’m just being more cautious now. She said I was being dramatic and should move on. AITA for keeping my distance?
Here are the top rated comments:
xasdfxx says:
Time for OP to go to HR though. "Samantha is creating a hostile work environment for me because I only interact with her professionally."
AsbestosExposed says:
NTA. There’s almost no way for HR to have known what happened without her reporting it, so saying she “didn’t mean for HR to investigate so seriously” is disingenuous. If it was a small issue, she should have talked to you personally. She made it a big issue and you’re properly treating it as one.
Professional-Age8384 says:
Inform HR of the conversation before you are accused of creating a hostile work environment.
CTMom79 says:
NTA. She thought you were going to cover her work anonymously and she would get full credit. She was then trying to protect herself by saying you overstepped when making the complaint to HR. Continue keeping your distance.