We adapt to changes at work all the time. With brilliant ideas always coming into workers’ minds and new procedures taking place, it’s just the way it is. Yet, sometimes these transitions include a whole new regime and owners who have so much trust in their abilities, they do not see beyond their own noses.

Several days ago, Reddit user NotLagrange created a post on r/MaliciousCompliance about exactly that. They work as a logistical consultant and had a long-term contract with a friend who inherited his family’s machine shop. Everything was going fine until the pandemic forced him to sell the business to an ignorant entrepreneur (who they referred to as Bob) with zero experience in the industry.

“He did not understand what exactly my job was and thought it was unnecessary,” NotLagrange wrote. The new boss gave the author an ultimatum to take a pay cut and lose benefits or be fired. But what Bob forgot is that his employee has filed two patents that were crucial for the company’s survival. Read on for the whole story.

A new boss gave Reddit user NotLagrange an ultimatum to take a pay cut and lose their benefits or be fired

Image credits: Scott Graham (not the actual photo)

They created a post about how their decision ended up bankrupting the business

Image credits: NotLagrange

In just a few days, the thread collected more than 11.6K upvotes and several hundred comments of people admiring the author for standing by their principles. We managed to get in touch with NotLagrange who admitted that they had known of and read posts from r/MaliciousCompliance for a long time. “So when I finally had a story to share, I was thrilled to be able to contribute to the forum,” they told Bored Panda. When they decided to write out their thoughts, they “did not have any clue how many people would react positively to [the post].”

They never expected it to receive as much attention as it has. “I’m still shocked by the support and response I got,” they said. After all, people often see logistics as a dull field, so the author “rarely gets to talk about it outside professional settings.”

NotLagrange believes that many people have lived through similar situations and could relate to the story. When you’re working with a supervisor who undervalues you, there’s rarely “an opportunity to prove them wrong.” So when the author eventually did it, many thought the boss got what he deserved.

Later on, the user added an update. They decided to reach out to some of the coworkers who stayed on to learn about Bob’s plan. While the entrepreneur informed the author’s friend of the patent issue, he “was not especially concerned” and said that he has experience in dealing “with proprietary complications before.” It seems that the new boss had hired “a patent lawyer to find out what exactly would need to be changed to the process to no longer be infringing.”

“The warehouse manager was told to increase production and create a surplus before my contract expired,” NotLagrange wrote. This way “the line could be modified and the orders … could be filled while he had talks with the clients.” However, only a few people could help with changing the machines. “Between the lack of hands, unexpected complications in implementing the modifications, and having only two-thirds of the floor machines actually working, the surplus had run out and the orders could no longer be filled.”

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Bob overestimated his abilities and lost clients, employees, and his whole business. The situation is unlikely to be resolved soon but the author is already talking to his lawyer about an idea he has of giving the company back to his friend “as a birthday present.”

If you’re dealing with unfair bosses, the only piece of advice NotLagrange would like to give you is to know your worth and demand it. “People will always undervalue you if you allow them to. Stand up for yourself,” they advised.

Here’s how people reacted after reading the story

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