Woman Reports Co-Worker To HR For ‘Creating A Hostile Environment’ By Not Inviting Her To Her Wedding
Trying to get someone fired over a wedding invitation?
shisuka | Canva Pro Usually, when you hear insane wedding stories online, it's the bride being a monster, a mother-in-law being insane, or a bridesmaid trying to get with the groom or something. This time, however, it's a wedding guest who's acting like a lunatic. Or a would-be wedding guest anyway, because after what she pulled, it's unlikely this woman will be invited anywhere near the bride for any reason now, let alone to her wedding.
A bride was reported to HR by her co-worker for not inviting her to her wedding.
This insane story, as always, comes via Reddit, the world's foremost treasure trove of bizarre wedding misbehavior. And boy, is this one a doozie. The bride wrote in her post that it was "honestly one of the weirdest work things I’ve ever dealt with," which honestly seems like an understatement.
For starters, she and this co-worker weren't even close. "I’m friendly with [her]," she wrote. "We’ve had small talk here and there, nothing deep. No lunches together. No real outside-of-work connection."
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But when news got around of her impending nuptials, she was the first person to ask about the guest list. "She straight up asked if she was invited," the bride wrote. "I kinda laughed and said, 'Oh no, it’s really small. Just close friends and family.' I didn’t think anything of it." Turns out she should have.
The co-worker reported the bride for 'creating a hostile work environment' by leaving her off the guest list.
She could tell right off the bat that her co-worker was offended, and her demeanor very clearly turned cold immediately. But she said she didn't think much of it, and who would? This is not a normal thing to be angry about, and it's not her problem.
But it seems the co-worker was determined to make one. "Turns out she filed a complaint saying I was being 'exclusive' and 'creating a hostile environment by leaving people out.'"
This caused the bride to be hauled into the HR office, where she had to "explain that I’m not required to invite coworkers I barely know to my literal wedding. That it’s a personal event. That it has nothing to do with work or who’s in the office."
For once, the HR team did the right thing and blew the entire thing off, as opposed to what they usually do, which is blame the victim and make a mountain out of a molehill. But the co-worker is still obviously furious.
The co-worker still brings it up constantly in passive-aggressive comments.
"I can’t believe she actually thought HR could… what, make me invite her?" the bride mused in her post, going on to say that the woman really does seem to think she's "the main character." That seems like an understatement, because this is beyond unhinged.
The entitlement is one thing. But to go tattle to HR about it is a whole other ball of wax. Running to HR about basically anything can get a person fired, and because people who work in HR are usually some combination of incompetent, dishonest, and loyal to the boss over all else, incidents like this can easily escalate into a "her word against mine" situation that is totally unwinnable.
As the saying goes, "HR is not your friend," and accusations of creating a "hostile work environment" can easily become legal liabilities. As any veteran of the corporate world will tell you, it's kind of surprising that this worker's HR team was so willing to wave this off as the lunacy it was.
At least the bride got a good story out of it, but personally? I'd rather deal with an unhinged mother-in-law than some utterly insane co-worker like this. At least you can tell a mother-in-law to kick rocks without ending up in front of an HR tribunal!
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.
