A private banker gave up his vacation day to cover for a coworker who texted in sick, believing he was saving a short-staffed team and a decent boss. Hours later he opened Facebook and there was the “sick” guy beaming on a beach, cocktail in hand, girlfriend plastered to his side.
Rage hit instantly. Instead of swallowing it, the banker screenshot the proof, sent it straight to management, and watched the liar get marched out the same week. Some cheer it as sweet justice for a shameless freeloader, others whisper he torpedoed a guy’s livelihood over one selfish stunt.
Man cancels vacation to cover fellow “sick” coworker, spots him at beach, reports him, gets him fired.
Canceling your own vacation to cover for someone who’s supposedly too sick to work? That’s the kind of loyalty companies dream about, until it backfires spectacularly. What we’re really watching here is a classic clash between personal boundaries, workplace pressure, and the age-old temptation to call out a liar when you catch them red-handed (or in this case, sand-handed).
On one side, the coworker clearly broke the golden rule of faking sick: never, ever post evidence. But on the other, nobody forced the OP to play hero and give up his day off.
Psychologists have long pointed out that “martyr behavior” in understaffed workplaces often stems from a mix of guilt, people-pleasing, and fear of letting the team (or the boss) down.
The real villain might not be the beach bum, it might be a company culture that relies on employees self-sacrificing instead of hiring enough staff.
Short-staffing is a widespread problem. According to a 2023 Gallup report, 71% of U.S. workers who quit during the Great Resignation cited feeling overworked because their teams were understaffed.
Bruce Tulgan, JD, workplace expert, addresses this head-on: “This is the toxic overcommitment cycle: When an organization is understaffed, the extra work inevitably must fall to someone. Everything is urgent and important.”
In this Reddit saga, both the OP (who gave up his vacation) and the fired coworker (who lied to escape) were reacting to the same toxic pressure, just in opposite ways.
A healthier path? Experts suggest setting firmer boundaries and letting management feel the pain of poor staffing. As Sharon Martin explains in a Psychology Today article: “Saying no or setting boundaries at work means you’re less likely to get burnt out because your needs, such as your need for time off, fair compensation, safe working conditions, and respect, are being met.”
Reporting the lie isn’t inherently wrong. Companies do have policies, but turning someone in out of personal resentment rarely feels good in the long run.
So what’s the takeaway? Protect your time off like it’s the last slice of pizza, document policy violations calmly if you must, and maybe nudge your boss toward hiring another human instead of relying on employee guilt trips.
Here’s how people reacted to the post:
Some people believe the coworker deserved consequences for blatantly faking sick and posting proof on social media.
Some people say YTA because OP voluntarily canceled their own vacation and then got a coworker fired, worsening the staffing crisis.
Others say ESH or that OP should have simply taken the vacation day instead of playing martyr.
At the end of the day, one guy lost a vacation day, another lost his entire job, and the bank is now even shorter-staffed than before. Was the whistleblower standing up for fairness, or did resentment win the round?
Would you have sent that screenshot, or simply enjoyed your day off and let karma sort it out? Drop your verdict below, we’re all ears!
