After enduring months of toxic and unsafe working conditions, an employee texted her boss about a serious safety hazard. A boss is responsible for ensuring their employees’ safety, but this employer clearly disagreed. The response the employee received was absurd and left her looking for a new job.
Worker Criticized for Reporting Safety Hazard
“This might seem petty, but this is just one example in a series of horrible business practices I’ve seen,” she wrote in her Reddit post.
“For context, I’m 5’2″, and many items in our kitchen are placed high up,” she explained. Recently, she needed to retrieve a heavy box from a high shelf, which required her to kneel on the line—the cooking station—something she described as “unsanitary” and “dangerous” since it was on wheels.
“I had to reach above my head and support the weight of this box as I lowered it down to avoid spilling it over the food I’m packing,” she continued.
Even though she managed to bring down the box with a coworker’s help, she decided to notify her boss about the safety issue.
“I never want to be in that situation again,” she messaged. However, the conversation with her boss didn’t go as expected.
“In the future, could we avoid storing heavy boxes where I have to stand on the line to get them,” she wrote in a Discord message to her boss, their primary communication channel.
Despite using what some commenters call “crude” language, she pointed out their previous conversations were similarly informal — it’s a small local business with employees of similar ages.
However, the manager’s response wasn’t as casual; in fact, it was somewhat hostile. “Normally, you don’t have to get them,” they wrote. “There’s not really anywhere else to put them, so if you have a suggestion instead of a complaint, I’ll hear you out.”
Her manager not only acknowledged they were aware of the safety concern before her message but also responded condescendingly.
“It was more of a safety concern,” she replied.
Workplace Safety Concerns Ignored and Mischaracterized
She admitted she’s not the only one who noticed these safety hazards and health concerns. Another employee chimed in on Discord, saying, “I have a bad back, and the number of times that box has fallen on me while pulling it down is frustrating … And now we’re labeled as ‘complainers’ for raising a safety hazard?”
Health and safety organizations like OSHA advise employees to bring concerns to their managers before filing a complaint, as they often address them promptly. However, instead of addressing their concerns, this woman’s boss labeled them as “complaints” and became defensive.
“It’s considered complaining because you haven’t suggested a solution,” her boss wrote. “If anyone has a suggestion, I’m open to moving them to a safer place … We also have a dress code that’s not being followed, which poses a bigger hazard than unreachable boxes.”
Her boss responded with hostility, prompting her to consider filing a report and seeking a new job. The boss threatened action over alleged dress code violations, accused the employees of “ganging up” on them via Discord, and suggested they were working while “impaired” — issues that had never been raised before. Despite this, the manager denied any hostility.
“I’m not being hostile; what you’re reading is our management team asserting ourselves and setting an example that we won’t be taken advantage of,” he wrote, according to a follow-up Reddit post.
Many commenters pointed out that the manager appeared to be preparing to terminate these employees, possibly for a dress code violation or other reasons. They advised the employees to promptly file a complaint with OSHA regarding the safety hazards and health concerns before facing involuntary termination.