Internet Praises Man For Ruining Workplace Bully's Date: 'Dream Revenge'

Online commenters applauded a man who said in a now-viral post that he once got revenge on his former workplace bully, Chris, by confronting him in the middle of a date.

Posting in Reddit's "Petty Revenge" forum under the username u/DenniseDenephew, the man said he and his husband "felt bad" for Chris's date, but they were ultimately happy to see Chris finally face the consequences of his actions. The post has amassed over 13,700 upvotes and hundreds of supportive comments.

Workplace Bullying

Some research suggests that many workers, specifically LGBT workers, have been victims of workplace bullying. A 2017 study conducted by CareerBuilder found that four in 10 LGBT workers report feeling bullied at work, CNBC reported. LGBT workers added that they were "ignored, falsely accused of mistakes or judged on different standards than other workers."

"Let's be clear—homophobia and transphobia at work [are] undermining, humiliating and can have a huge effect on mental health...it has no place in a modern workplace, or in wider society," said Frances O'Grady, general secretary of England and Wales's Trades Union Congress, in a 2017 press release. "Employers must be clear that they have a zero-tolerance attitude to harassment of their LGBT staff—and stand ready to treat any complaint seriously."

Speaking to Psychology Today, CareerBuilder's Michael Erwin encouraged those facing workplace bullying to document everything and take the issue to Human Resources. He also urged workers to stand up to their bullies.

"Fifty-three percent of workers who were bullied at work confronted their bully, and 20 percent said the bullying stopped," Psychology Today reported.

'Petty Revenge'

In his post, u/DenniseDenephew said Chris would "relentlessly" tease him and some of their other co-workers.

"[H]e never knew when to quit. And if he noticed you were getting stressed or annoyed, he'd use you as a target of his teasing for the rest of the day," u/DenniseDenephew said.

At one point, Chris went so far as to falsely accuse u/DenniseDenephew of writing an "angry" Glassdoor review of their company, which ultimately affected u/DenniseDenephew's job.

"As much as I proved that it wasn't me...he was relentless with campaigning around the office that I was the one [who] wrote it. I also believe he told the boss that I was the one [who] wrote it once I [quit], and that's why I didn't get any freelance work from them afterward," u/DenniseDenephew said.

After u/DenniseDenephew left the company, the two unfollowed each other on social media and eventually lost touch. A few months later, however, u/DenniseDenephew and his husband spotted Chris on a date at a pub. Feeling "confident," u/DenniseDenephew approached Chris and called him out for his past behavior in front of his date.

"[Chris's date] asked how we knew each other...[and I said], 'Yeah, it's quite funny really—Chris used to be my workplace bully. He's the reason why I struggled financially after I left my old job because he accused me of writing a hostile review to the company...and lost me a lot of freelance work because of it,'" u/DenniseDenephew wrote.

"[To] add salt to the wound, I said, 'So is this your new girlfriend, Kathrine? Or is this Georgia? What happened with Sarah[?] Someone said you were still with her last week," u/DenniseDenephew continued.

u/DenniseDenephew told Redditors that while he felt "petty," he was happy to finally see Chris face the consequences of "being a d**k."

Redditors React

Redditors applauded u/DenniseDenephew for enacting his revenge, calling it a "dream" scenario.

"Living vicariously through you, OP [original poster]. Since leaving my toxic work environment, I've dreamt of bumping into my bully and doing a similar 'happy to see you' confrontation," u/GingeeBreadKnight said.

"It was petty as f**k. And I'm all here for it. Perfect revenge...good on you. F**k you, Chris," u/BikerJedi wrote.

u/creditspread added: "Bravo! I wish I were you, OP! This is the dream revenge..."

Newsweek has reached out to u/DenniseDenephew for comment.

More Viral Posts

Last week, Redditors cheered a man who quit his job because his employer "ignored" his PTO demand.

In August, commenters applauded a man who said he once insulted his manager in front of his manager's boss.

And in July, Redditors praised one man's "petty" response to being asked to move seats halfway through a meal.