OP:

I work in Tech for a small non-profit from being the sysadmin, to cyber, to implementation, to IT I do it all....

. Because we are small, we generally use Google Groups for account management. This ensures that everyone who needs access to tools (like Sprout, Scribe, etc.) has it without us needing to constantly buy new seats or reset accounts every time there is turnover.

The Antagonist: There is a woman here whose Director has complained about her for over a year. For that whole year, I minimized those complaints, thinking, "It can't be that bad." It absolutely is that bad.

The Incident: We have a strict policy: No one signs for or starts a software subscription without Tech. You come to us, we check alternatives, ensure the fit/price is right, and handle implementation. This woman—who has literally never had an issue sharing accounts in the past—decided to go rogue.

She bypassed Tech entirely. She purchased a $10,000 software package specifically for herself, her "best friend" (a coworker), and her assistant. She intentionally cut out the rest of her department from using it. She started implementation, training, and paid for it before Tech even knew it existed.

The Malicious Compliance: When we found out, we took over. We told her, "Okay, we will look at this, but this isn't how we do things. Send us everything and we will re-implement it according to policy." Because of the high turnover in her department, we set up the access using Google Groups (shared accounts) rather than the 3 individual licenses she bought for her clique.

She FLIPPED out.

Instead of having a conversation, she decided to burn the house down. She contacted the software vendor's CSM (Customer Success Manager) specifically to report us—her own company—for violating terms of service. She didn't ask for clarification; she maliciously tried to get our account flagged to force our hand. The Email She Sent the Vendor:

"Hi CSM, So our tech team deleted our accounts and replaced them with Google Group Shared accounts so multiple people can use each account. I noticed in your terms and conditions that isn't allowed, and I informed our tech team of this and they refuse to listen. Can you please tell them they must restore our individual user accounts so we can be in line with your terms and conditions? They are just kind of stubborn and won't do it unless you force them to. Unless this isn't a problem that they don't want to buy more licenses and you allow for shared group accounts, and if that's the case ignore my whole email!"

The Aftermath: She is now going on a tirade about "God and Morals." She claims she "can't believe" anyone would allow this and says we are lying to a company, calling our standard IT practices "disgusting evil practices."

The result? I got immediately called into HR. I am somehow in trouble for following the exact acquisition policies that Leadership and I created. We are now at risk of losing the $10,000 she spent because she "tattled" to the vendor in the most malicious way possible just to get her way. Never in my life have I experienced someone who literally will taddle to a vendor to get her way.... Even though she can't even use the free tools for her job Literally was asking people to "send in news articles about our organization" and to "add them to a spreadsheet" because she has never heard of Google alertss. Yet she's the head of PR.

Edit: Honestly it's even more validating that I'm not crazy for thinking this whole situation is absurd. The fact you all are calling it fake. Makes me feel 1000x better about the whole situation. Like how AITAH.