This one’s genuinely tough. An advertising intern discovered their colleague stole work credit for complex product demos. However, the intern found a clever way to get revenge through subscription billing.

Colleague Stole Work Credit: The Backstory

Our story involves an intern at an advertising agency. They specialize in creating interactive product demos using various tools. Meanwhile, a senior colleague works with the same clients.

The intern had been paying for a subscription tool called Arcade out of their own pocket. Moreover, they’d spent several full days mastering the extremely complex interface. As a result, they created high-quality demos for a new project.

The Colleague Stole Work Credit Incident

Without warning, the senior colleague took the intern’s demos. Furthermore, they began presenting them to clients as their own original work. The colleague never asked permission or offered credit.

Initially, the intern didn’t confront their colleague directly. Instead, they chose a more strategic approach. They emailed their manager with the colleague CC’d on the message.

The intern explained that the demos were their original work. Additionally, they made a brilliant request. If the colleague planned to continue using these demos, then the subscription should transfer to the colleague’s credit card.

Consequently, the colleague became upset about the public exposure. They complained the intern was unprofessional. Moreover, they insisted the intern should have “talked privately” instead of escalating the situation.

What Reddit Said

Most people said the colleague’s response was completely hypocritical. However, they pointed out the colleague was unprofessional first by stealing credit without permission.

Some pointed out that workplace thieves prefer private conversations for manipulation purposes. In addition, they noted these people rarely come clean honestly when confronted privately.

A few suggested the intern handled the situation perfectly. Furthermore, they praised the clever billing solution as appropriate consequences for theft.

Nevertheless, many users emphasized that documentation was crucial. Therefore, the email trail provided important protection for the intern’s career.

The Verdict

Overall verdict: the intern was completely justified. When a colleague stole work credit, public accountability became necessary. In fact, the billing request was brilliant revenge that matched the crime perfectly.

This story reminds us that workplace credit theft requires immediate documentation. For more workplace drama, check out our work drama and revenge stories categories.

From r/pettyrevenge (6,265 upvotes)