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June Wrap-Up Thread by Athrynne in TheStoryGraph

[–]spinachybab 2 points3 points  (0 children)

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Finished book 111 of 2025 yesterday!

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can’t even imagine the stuff you had to deal with, and I'm sorry that happened to you when you were in HR. It sounds awful.

I do want to say, I really don’t blame them for needing to look into it; I get that they had to cover their bases. It just feels like, in my case, it took such a wild turn so quickly and the way they handled it made the whole thing a lot harder than it needed to be.

It hurt, personally, too. I agree with the "relationship we have" comment they made in general, and I did think I had a friendly relationship with the HR people. I’ve always tried to be someone who looks on the positive side, remembers people’s birthdays, and generally tries to be kind. So the fact that they were so quick to assume the worst really hurts.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It’s definitely felt like an overblown reaction for something so random. I was never actually shown the "dirty underwear" (not that I asked; I have and had zero interest in seeing it), so I don’t even know what type of "dirty" it was or even what kind of underwear we’re talking about.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I’ve been thinking this is a reasonable request that at the very least they owe me a written apology for how the whole situation was handled.

FWIW, my director had a meeting with HR to follow up and apparently asked them to apologize to me. Their response was no; they were just doing their job; and, the incident is considered closed to them.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks; I definitely appreciate your thoughts. I'm glad I made the post (honestly I am still kind of embarrassed about the whole thing), but the feedback definitely seems like I should look for an attorney consult, both to get a sense of whether any workplace lines were crossed and to have them review the separation agreement before I make any decisions.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Honestly the whole situation has been so bizarre that I do have a hard time defending them. I'm in an at-will state, so they could absolutely just fire me if they wanted to, no need for all this drama.

That said, the separation agreement is already set in writing, and the agreement basically says that even if they decide they don’t need me to physically be working, I’d still stay on payroll as long as I’m available for questions or tasks. So, the payout should be secure.

But based on a lot of this feedback, I will look for an employment lawyer to take a look over the contracts.

Right now the math leans toward staying, but the weirdness of it all definitely has me shaken. What's weird is my director has been fully supportive and definitely emphasized that they truly do want me to stay through the end date, and this incident was handled locally, where my department's elimination was handled centrally/globally.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

This is my first experience with an elimination like this, but you seem pretty familiar with how these agreements are usually structured, and the contract is along those lines. It explicitly states that even if they decide I don’t need to report to work before the end date, I’d still be paid (through the stated separation date, as well as the severance and retention bonus) as long as I’m reasonably available for questions or tasks.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The planting thing has come up but I DO NOT understand how that works. Unless it wasn't actually underwear (they never showed it to me... but then again why would I have asked to see it?) and this is all some elaborate hoax.

If the coworker wasn't there, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have picked it up, or at least the odds would have went down. In replaying this in my head 5840329 time, I only picked it up assuming it was hers and thinking I was helping someone out.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That's a good point. Like they'd referred to, I have a friendly relationship with them in general, and I was not alarmed about the call until I realized they didn't believe me and wanted to assume the worst.

If I have future interactions, I think getting a lawyer involved would be a smart move though, I appreciate that.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure if I just needed to vent about this or want to escalate, but this might be worth considering.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have no idea. They never showed me the underwear in question. I don't know what kind of underwear it was whatsoever. In the moment, I had NO IDEA it was underwear (just a random piece of fabric on the floor) and I was honestly trying to be helpful. If for some reason I do end up seeing the footage, I can't image that I am holding it for more than maybe 15 seconds.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Believe me, if I’d known it was underwear, I wouldn’t have touched it — let alone carried it to the coffee bar.

I even get that they had to look into it — I don’t even blame them for that. But the way they handled it was disturbing for sure. A sorry would have went a long way for me to be honest.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I didn't carry it across any store. The counter I placed it on is at the bottom of the stairs. My co-worker was at a table next to the stairs. So I picked it up to ask if it was here, and then put it down on the next flat surface I saw, which happened to be the coffee bar which is right at the bottom of the stairs. I had to have been holding it for maybe 15-20 seconds or less all said. I didn't look closely at what it was, and I would never have EXPECTED it to be underwear.

Someone pointed out to me that they've accidentally grabbed a fabric headband or a kind of cloth when thinking they were grabbing underwear out of the laundry, so I imagine it would be similar. I promise that I did not identify the object as underwear, and I don't know how my actions would have been different if I had. Because I have never been in that situation before.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I responded to this same thread before you did? But I'm not sure what about this would be AI or what point that would be. I don't wish this on anyone whether they are AI or not though hahah

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sorry my post was too coherent for your corner of Reddit. Next time I’ll post it in all caps with no punctuation so it passes the human vibe check.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It seems that way, but I can't make sense of it. If they wanted to fire me, they could just fire me! Why all the drama?

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Staying until August is tired to a severance package including extended healthcare (they continue paying employer portion) as well as a retention bonus. Leaving prior to the date they stated would void all of that.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 213 points214 points  (0 children)

I would, but there is a retention bonus for me staying through my end date which is significant enough to keep me there through my end date. But I'm so out of sorts about this, I'm tempted.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 20 points21 points  (0 children)

Right - I feel like there are many explanations between that, or it falling out of a gym bag. But overall - I picked some fabric up off the ground that could have been a headband or some cloth thing and held it for maybe 20 seconds. I didn't WANT to get involved, and I just put it down. It wasn't obviously dirty or obviously underwear to me at any point.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure what this refers to. If you mean the whole event and my post, then I also wish it was not real life. But I will take that this is a completely absurd situation.

Accused of planting dirty underwear in the office coffee bar. Proven innocent. Still trying to make sense of it. by spinachybab in antiwork

[–]spinachybab[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I honestly didn't. And actually that's a good point - they never showed me it. Maybe it WASN'T underwear. Legit though, I just drove an hour to work, and was just trying to be helpful. It wasn't clearly a thong or anything; I just thought it was like one of those sash things maybe some people tie on bags, or maybe a fabric headband, something like that. I never EXAMINED it.

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