Manager Writes Up Employee Who ‘Catfished’ Her on Social Media
A woman on Reddit believes one of the employees she manages at work breached her privacy after they created a fake social media account to spy on her.
"I'm a manager in a work environment that's rather casual where employees get close and spend a lot of time together outside of work," the manager wrote via Reddit.
She explained she typically shies away from sharing personal information with her colleagues as it makes her uncomfortable.
"I'm a little traditional when it comes to employer/employee relationships so while I do participate in some activities to build morale and camaraderie… I do not participate in social activities where things might get out of hand," she continued.
The woman noted her "personal policy" also extends to her social media, where she keeps her profiles private and refrains from adding or accepting "employees on all platforms."
So, when a new hire asked to follow her on social media, she politely declined, as she likes to keep things "private."
"I thought that was it, but [the employee] went ahead and made a fake account to follow me," the woman continued, adding that the account looked like it belonged to a former college classmate.
After accepting the request, the employee allegedly began taking screenshots of the woman's posts and sending them to fellow colleagues.
When the woman found out, she took action in the office.
"It was a huge breach of my privacy… and I ended up writing her up," the woman shared. "Since then, it's caused a huge drama at work with some employees thinking I can't take a joke and that I was taking things too far."
She detailed that upper management supported her decision to write the employee up, but others mentioned it was her "fault for falling for her catfish."
In the comments, users were baffled by the employee's actions, calling her behavior "gross."
"She deserved to be written up, she violated your privacy, your consent, and company policy by harassing you at work. Sometimes the boss has to be the boss. Spying on your private life and reporting back to co-workers was crossing a hard boundary," one person wrote.
"That is a gross violation. She pretty much took the worry most of the general populace have and made it a reality. The blatant victim blaming by your employees also needs to be addressed preferably in a seminar where they take harassment training. Keep an eye on those employees because it sounds like worst case scenario they would do something similar as a 'joke.'"