Malicious Compliance

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Advanced_Memory_9436 on 2025-05-20 19:23:51+00:00.

I’ve been working for a company that started out small and grew steadily over time, but unfortunately, the way they run things never really kept pace with that growth. When I first joined several years ago, I quickly noticed how outdated and inefficient many of the processes were. Right from the start, I pointed out the urgent need to automate repetitive tasks to save time and reduce errors. For example, instead of using straightforward payment solutions like PayPal or similar services, the company insisted on manually calling customers to follow up on payments. After a few months of insisting, they finally agreed to use PayPal, and voilà — fewer errors and more orders.

It was time-consuming and frankly unnecessary in today’s digital world. On top of that, they were using multiple software tools that didn’t communicate with each other at all, which meant we had to pay an employee simply to re-enter data that the client had already submitted elsewhere. This duplication of effort was not only a waste of resources but also a source of avoidable mistakes.

We were a small team with limited time and energy, and it made no sense to spend so much of it on tedious manual tasks that any computer could easily handle faster and more accurately. I was constantly pushing for improvements, but change just didn’t happen. Every time I raised the issue, the answer was always the same: “Ask John,” the IT guy. John didn’t really care, and the company’s attitude was basically, “We’ve always done it this way, so why change now?”

Over the years, all my requests were ignored or dismissed with excuses that it wasn’t possible. The truth is, nobody wanted to put in the effort to rethink how things were done—they preferred sticking to the status quo rather than disrupt their routines.

Fast forward five years, and I finally decided to quit. That’s when it became clear that the processes everyone assumed were automated were actually being done manually—by me. Suddenly, my boss sent me a message:

“Can you document all the processes you handle so someone else can take over?”

My answer was simple:

“Ask John.”

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/MadrasMusez on 2025-05-20 17:36:58+00:00.

A few years ago, I worked at a company where our manager was obsessed w/ punctuality. She had constantly say, “If you’re on time, you are late.” She wanted everyone there at least 15 minutes early and unpaid, of course and would shame people who showed up just on time.

I asked once if we had be paid for those extra 15 minutes, and she laughed like I told a joke. So I decided to comply. Maliciously.

I started arriving 30 minutes early every day, clocking in exactly when I arrived. When she confronted me abt it, I told her I was just trying to be really prepared “You always say 15 minutes early is the bare minimum, right?”

She tried to argue, but since I was hourly and our system logged every minute, payroll started paying me for all that early time. After a month, upper management noticed and asked her why overtime had increased for her team.

She backtracked so fast. Suddenly ON TIME was fine again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/DenseReplacement7581 on 2025-05-20 14:59:12+00:00.

Most of these events happened years ago. A few of the details I only found out about recently.

So there was a soldier we’ll call ‘Jo’. Jo and I were in the Army together. Jo was late for formation and unfortunately, other people had been late earlier that month so the chain of command was looking for someone to make an example of. Our Sergeant Major always said, “Regardless of the circumstance if you did ‘it’ you should get punished”. SGM would go on about even if other people didn’t get caught or punished if you got caught you should be punished and eventually it would catch up with the other people… He would tell us this in formation all the time. So Jo ends up with extra duty and looses about $2,000 in pay. What I only found out recently and thought was karma turned out to be Jo’s malicious compliance. Turns out the Sergeant Major was having an affair with a woman in town who just so happened to be Jo’s cousin.

Jo’s cousin sends Jo incriminating texts and pictures and Jo sends them to the Sergeant Major’s chain of command and wife. Adultery being a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Sergeant Major was forced to retire, career ENDED, finical loss projected at approximately half a million in retirement to the ex-wife. But in the end Jo followed Sergeant Major’s direction that, “Regardless of the circumstance if you did ‘it’ you should get punished”.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Trees977 on 2025-05-20 14:21:34+00:00.

Source: BBC News

“Ryanair has ordered some flight attendants in Spain to repay salary increases of up to €3,000 (£2,525) following a legal dispute with their union.

A pay rise had been agreed with the Spanish union, CCOO, and it applied to all flight attendants regardless of what union they belonged to. But another Spanish union - Union Sindical Obrera - won a court case in March to nullify the deal.

The Irish airline has now written to Union Sindical Obrera to say it will be informing its members how much they owe.

Union Sindical Obrera has hit back at Ryanair's decision to claw back five month's worth of pay rises, but the firm said: "USO are complaining about pay cuts that result from their court case."

It added: "Ryanair is complying with the court case that Union Sindical Obrera took to cut pay while it is under appeal."”

Pretty crazy case of malicious compliance. Union shot its own members in the foot.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/alcewll on 2025-05-18 23:44:02+00:00.

I (18F) work part-time at a small grocery store. One of the full-timers (let’s call him Dave) is lazy as hell. Leaves carts everywhere, skips facing shelves, dumps all his tasks on others. Every time I politely asked him to finish something he was supposed to do, he’d just go:

“If you don’t like how I do things, do it yourself.”

So I did.

For two weeks straight, I did everything. I organized the backroom, cleaned his section, finished his carts, stocked for him. Quietly, no complaints. Management noticed and pulled me into the office.

They said they were impressed and asked if I wanted more hours and responsibility. Dave? Got moved to carts full-time and isn’t allowed behind the register anymore.

Guess I’m doing it myself now. With a raise. :)

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Lucy_Bloom45 on 2025-05-18 13:46:34+00:00.

I used to work for a middle manager who hated reading emails. Every time we’d send project updates or questions, he’d ignore them. When called out on it, he loudly declared, “If it’s important, PRINT IT and hand it to me. I don’t read emails!”

Alrighty then.

Cue the malicious compliance. I printed every single email I sent him—reminders, client follow-ups, even memes someone accidentally CC’d me on. I’d walk over to his desk 6–8 times a day with a mini stack of paper like, “Per your request!”

Within a week, his desk looked like a filing cabinet exploded. He couldn’t find anything. He started snapping, “Why are you printing all this!?” I smiled sweetly and reminded him: “You told us to.”

Two weeks later, he sent out a company-wide email (yes, really) asking us to only email him from now on.

Guess he learned how to open Outlook.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/oliviamonro on 2025-05-18 11:28:33+00:00.

I work in quality control at a packaging facility. Part of my job is reviewing reports from the production leads before they get sent to clients. It’s usually small stuff typos, incorrect counts, mislabeled batch numbers nothing huge, but things that matter.

One of the leads, didn’t like me reviewing his work. Said it was “a waste of time” and that he’s “been doing this longer than I’ve been alive.” One day he flat-out told me “You don't need to double-check my reports anymore. I’ve got it.”

Alright. Your call, man.

So the next few reports I just filed as-is. Didn't even open them. Fast forward to end of the month client calls pissed because their shipment labels didn’t match the manifest. Turns out he had flipped two digits in every single report that week.

Management was not happy.

When they asked why I didn’t catch it, I just said “I was told not to double-check the reports.”

Now those same reports from that lead show up on my desk with a sticky note that says “Please review. Thanks!”

Guess I’m back to wasting time only now, by request.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Less_Walk_7101 on 2025-05-18 07:02:11+00:00.

I was not aware of that until informed in an angry voice by the person who read the meters. The type of meter as is on the side of a house. Having just said good morning to that person and offered them a cup of coffee I was somewhat taken aback by their angry words.

Silently I reached into my desk drawer (yes my office was in the utility room, thats how I ranked) and pulled out my tape measure. My job was that of a qc coordinator in a boiler shop. All I did all day was read codes and customer specs. I was somewhat familiar with the idea of malicious compliance.

I walked over to the folding tables covered in customer final documentation in progress. I extended the tape measure 18 inches or whatever it was I forget. I pulled the tables out exactly 18 inches. I walked back to my desk, sat in my chair, and sipped my coffee while she squeezed her much larger than 18 inch ass down the eight foot long gap from the end of the table to the meters. While she stared laser beams at me the entire way.

One of the more satisfying coffees I have had.

See? I had not had my coffee yet. She could have used one as well probably.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Significant-Colour on 2025-05-17 16:11:14+00:00.

I studied at the military university, in service - meaning before uni, we had basic training and we were getting salary; let's say "enough for a relatively comfortable student's life".

Obviously, they started the first year by teaching us the difference between being soldier and a civilian, including the legal stuff - what we are not allowed to do, what rights did we give up by signing up.

One of the lecturers was adamant that, because we are in salaried service studying state uni, we are not permitted to use a "student discount".

OK, if that's the rule, that's the rule. And I was careful to never request a STUDENT discount for the next 3 years.

However... there was no rule prohibitting us from having an ISIC card. I asked!

Solution was trivial: For the next 3 years, I would just ask for "an ISIC discount", as a law-abiding soldier; never for "a STUDENT discount".

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/franktrollip on 2025-05-17 14:34:07+00:00.

Years ago I was working on an IT contract with a bunch of some of the worst managers I'd ever encountered.

Malicious compliance: we discussed renewal of my 1 year contract and they said no, I was too junior (it was one of my first IT contacts). BUT they set me an impossible task and demanded that I finish it in the few weeks I had until my contract ran out. I told them it was impossible but they insisted they only needed a temporary solution so I should be able to do it, if not, I'd face disciplinary action and they would give me bad references for not being able to do the job. So I complied and set myself to do it, but I'd do it with an extra bit of functionality - like a sting in the tail. Here's the full story:

They demanded that I develop a system for them which was way out of scope for what I was being paid, and job description. It would require a huge amount of effort and stress. They said I can't get paid anything extra for it because it was only a "temporary solution" and that at some stage in future they'd get "real professionals" to come in and set up a "real" and permanent solution.

I did it anyway, out of a misguided youthful sense of duty, and it was a massively good learning opportunity. But it took its toll on my mental health because of the bullying and threats, and zero gratitude when I delivered a fine product that surpassed everyone's dreams.

I saved them hundreds of thousands of dollars in development costs, and my system immediately generated colossal revenues and savings.

My contract ended and they offered me an insulting bonus (way less than even my monthly rate). Once again reminding me that this was only a temporary solution until they got a "real" project and dev team in place to build the real thing.

But I turned the tables on them. I'd made sure from the start that all my code was inaccessible and then I'd set a timer so that after a certain time period since my last log in, the whole system would stop working.

Instead, it would generate a continuous repeating error message "CRITICAL ERROR: Overclock collision: Temporary Solution no longer temporary"

I heard it caused them a massive loss of business because my system had worked so well they'd decided to keep it instead of getting something "real". But never called me up to offer thanks or rewards.

So when the director phoned me in desperation when it broke I just said there was nothing I could do as I was fully engaged at this time and had no idea what that error was about - must have been something they'd done. I was as friendly as can be but basically put the phone down asap and ignored future calls, except a few where I'd fake it like "sorry can't talk, just boarding a flight".

Am I evil. No. In all the times they contacted me they never once expressed recognition for my fine work, the huge benefits I'd brought them, and no regret for the disgusting way they bullied and threatened me while working for them. In fact, on the first call, the director still spoke to me in a bullying and threatening tone. He only started to get polite at the point where he realised I was about to put the phone down after telling him I'm currently fully booked.

That was one of my first ever contracts. They were so horrible to me. I was young and inexperienced so didn't know how to deal with the situation at the time.

I hear they finally got a "real" system, but it took 3 times longer to get it up and running than I'd done alone, and they'd hired 3 developers to do the work.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Obvious_Time_1243 on 2025-05-17 11:03:58+00:00.

I work as a project coordinator. Basically I just keep track of what everyone’s supposed to be doing and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. My supervisor (we call him James) is fine at pretending he’s on top of stuff… but the dude forgets everything unless someone’s reminding him.

So I usually give him heads up when things are due. Like last week, I said “hey just a reminder, that report’s due Friday.” He looks at me and goes,

“I don’t need to be babysat. I know what’s on my list”

Alright then, you got it. So I keep my mouth shut. No reminders, no check-ins. I let him be the expert. Friday comes, nothing. Monday morning, he’s suddenly in panic mode cuz the director is asking where the hell the report is, he turns to me like

“Why didn’t you remind me?”

I just said, “You told me not to”

Now he thanks me every time I send a reminder lol. I guess we’re back to babysitting, but at least he asked nicely.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Wonderful_Rule_2515 on 2025-05-17 07:40:48+00:00.

The shift lead who said it, Adriana 20-something, tried to get me fired after dismissing me from my shift. I got the job at 16 because I was dating one of the other shift leads, already off to a terrible start I know.

My boyfriend was one of those characters that people either loved or hated. mostly hated if you come from a loving home, because he was admittedly a terrible person. And Adriana especially hated him. I’m sure she had her reasons.

One Saturday morning I showed up to work to find Adriana yammering about my bf calling out that day. He didn’t tell me he was calling out, and since Adriana was visibly upset already about his absence, I texted him to ask “what’s up? Why did you call out? Adriana is really mad about being short staffed on a Saturday and now she’s going to be yelling at me about it all shift. “

My boyfriend was a real shit stirrer and I was somehow incredibly fucking oblivious to this at the time. I texted him mostly to vent, but of course he used this as an excuse to start an argument with Adriana. He texts her something accusing her of “talking shit”, which for the record I DID NOT say she was doing, and I can hear from the kitchen she immediately started yelling into oblivion about how if I have something to say I should say it to her face. And how I’m a “stupid fucking dumb bitch” “literally so fucking stupid” “this bitch is the dumbest girl I’ve ever met why are you even with him”

So valid queen, I was a little dense back then I guess

Amidst her tirade about how stupid she thinks I am, she comes into the office, where I’m eating my pre-shift breakfast of boston market macaroni in total silence. This whole time I was just dissociating into my mac, because what the ever loving fuck else would I do? No only did I come from a home where yelling often lead to me dodging flying lamps and drawers, but I was genuinely scared she’d have her cousin jump me if I pissed her off, well before this even happened.

So she’s standing there, I’m eating, kinda smiling out of discomfort, just watching her tear into me even more about my intelligence. Why? Because my boyfriend called out of work. It was honestly so bizarre, had escalated so quickly, and I was so dissociated, life kinda felt like it was moving in slow motion in that moment.

She eventually says the magic line that snapped me out of my dissociation and freed me from my wage slave chains that lovely Saturday morning. “if you don’t want to be here then leave, because I don’t need you”.

Now again. This is Saturday morning. At a Pizza Hut. That is already short staffed. I knew for a fact that she was bullshitting not needing me. But I also knew that she said it right in front of the office cameras. So I’m thinking, that sounded like approval to leave early didn’t it? Especially after being fucking berated for 15 minutes straight, AS SOON AS I WALKED IN THE DOOR, for something I DIDNT EVEN DO.

She later tried to get me fired for walking out on my shift, and the first thing I did was tell the general manager to check the cameras. I should’ve just let them fire me honestly.

Adriana, if you’re out there, I live every day thanking god that I didn’t have to experience a phase of life that included screaming at 16 year old girls first thing in the morning at my big fancy Pizza Hut shift lead job. I heard you also got fired for assaulting a customer. It’s okay, I understand that being a shift lead at Pizza Hut is a very high stakes environment to be working in. No really, you don’t look insane at all screaming your head off inside a fast food joint on a near daily basis. Completely sane and very intelligent behavior right there.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/DiverseVoltron on 2025-05-17 05:59:51+00:00.

So I bought a house in 2018. I had to in a hurry so I could get my mother in my old home before her chemo got intense. My family had outgrown the one we were in, and we found one that needed some work but had 5.25 acres and a chicken coop. Neighbor (Dan) obsessively manicures his property and it is much nicer as a result, but the price and features worked for us on our side.

We fix up and paint the chicken coop, only interrupted once by Dan asking us to tear it down or move it. Surely the coop was well on our side of the property line, I thought. I politely declined and described how the only thing I'd be doing is building an enclosed run toward my house to protect the birds from predators after fixing some things inside the house that have been neglected. The previous owner was a serious alcoholic and there's a lot of work to do. Dan walks away angry but defeated.

A couple of years pass and the run is built exactly as described and our informal survey shows the property line about 20ft back, and I build gardens roughly the same distance from the property line. Dan has a survey done that suspiciously puts the back corner of the coop and about 1/3 of the run over the property line, but we agreed that it could stay so long as I don't encroach any further and I eventually move it which WAS my actual plan. He said to take all the time I need, declining my offers to buy the dirt or trade easements and reimburse him for the cost of the survey.

Another year goes by and Dan has changed his tune. He interrupts a target practice session with my two foster kids to demand that I demolish the coop and run soon, to which I said "I suppose I could push that project up to next fall (2024)". He isn't happy but seems pacified. I wasn't thrilled either but I'm a reasonable guy and would prefer to have a good relationship with a neighbor I don't like much.

Enter May 2024, six months before I agreed to do anything, and this guy shows up in my back yard wanting to talk about the god damned coop again. "You know, Dan. You said I could have all the time I needed and then demanded I tear it down, going back on your..." Cue the most childish temper tantrum I think I've ever seen. He was literally stomping on the ground with elbows out, screaming about suing me and how he'll own my whole house by the time he's done with me.

Malicious compliance: fuck you, Dan. I decided the best place for that coop is exactly where it is. It's been there about 20 years and adverse possession only requires 10. I can take that 12sqft of dirt from you and you'll even have to pay my legal fees. Only the run needs to move since it's only been there 5 years. That's exactly what I did. The new run connects to the gardens and the roof funnels the roosters' crows right to his house. Setback requirements say structures must be 5' from property lines. The back corner of the run is now exactly 5'2" away from the supposed property line and he gets to hear and smell my chickens every single time he's outside. He will not have peace until he dies or moves. I am well within my rights and while I do struggle with medical and PTSD issues from my service, I learned very well from the Navy how to be technically correct in a way that works only for me.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/blackwidow_211 on 2025-05-17 00:23:22+00:00.

Newer manager (we will call him Chuck) recently came on and immediately started throwing his power around. He's not my direct supervisor, but I deal with him directly often. I also have to mention I'm in the construction industry, so females are not usually given the same respect as our male coworkers. He decides he's going to try and manage members in my department (not his job), and most of them cower to him, and he finally gets to me. Email starts "Ashely (not my real name), get this done." I reply "Hi Chuck! My name is spelled Ashleigh. I'll get right on that as soon as I get my managers approval." They only get one chance. "Ashley, why isnt this done yet?" "Hi Charles! My manager has not yet approved this. I've copied her for your convenience." He storms into the highest manager on site's office to complain about me and my "disrespectful insubordination." I get called into my managers office with her manager there as well (whom I'm very tight with both of them). They asked me to explain my side. I told them he had been warned once that he had misspelled my legal name. He was the one being disrespectful, not me, as I was using his legal name. They agreed I hadnt done anything disrespectful, which pissed ol' Chuckie off... He kept misspelling and demanding things of me, which I ignored completely. He came to my desk and started raising his voice to bring attention to my insubordination. I politely replied, I had assumed he was speaking to someone else because 1. That wasn't my name, and 2. He was going around my (female) manager and he wasn't my manager. This had reached my GM. Well, my manager and I gathered all of our evidence on how many times he had refused to do or work with the other females in the office, but the males would ask for the exact same thing and he would do it. We had proof of all the times he had refused, demeaned, or worked around the women. And had it all documented with HR. We got an email the next day "Chuck Smith is now pursuing opportunities outside the company."

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/angelabirkin on 2025-05-16 22:15:39+00:00.

I (18F) worked part-time at a smoothie shop while finishing high school. My manager was this guy in his 30s who took the job way too seriously. He loved acting like we were working for NASA, not blending bananas.

One morning, I was 3 minutes late. Literally three. I apologized, clocked in, and got to work. He pulled me aside and gave me this dramatic speech like:

"If you're late again - even one minute - don't bother showing up."

I said okay.

A week later, I hit traffic and pulled into the parking lot 2 minutes late. I sat in my car, looked at the time, and remembered what he said.

So I didn't go in. I turned off the car, texted:

"Per your request, I'm not showing up today. I'm two minutes late."

Cue frantic calls, voicemails, texts. I ignored them all. Next shift, he tried to guilt me about it. I just said, "I thought you were serious. You made it very clear."

He never said that line again.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Expert-Magician1531 on 2025-05-16 18:28:02+00:00.

I work for a Nissan dealership as a vehicle technician and I look after the high performance vehicles (GTR’s, 370Z) and about 13 years ago we fitted a set of front parking sensors to a Nismo 370Z and they didn’t work properly for some reason, these were Nissan branded sensors and we had fitted them on many other vehicles with no issues. After a while replacing the control unit and the sensors they still refused to work correctly so we got in touch with Nissan technical support and found out from them that they don’t work on the 370Z’s and the GTRS so please don’t fit them. We had to replace the front bumper of the Nismo 370Z and take the expensive lesson on the chin. A few months later we sold a new GTR to a to put it mildly an aggressive customer that had to have things his way and we were definitely perceived as the lower class. He wanted front parking sensors fitted to his new car and the salesman let the order through to us. The sting of what had happened before was still there and we told the salesman straight away that it’s not a good idea and tell the customer that they will not work. The customer knowing everything stated that they will work and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t he’s had them on previous vehicles and wants them fitted and at a reduced price for the stress we caused telling him he can’t have what he wants. So it fit them, they don’t work great but do to a degree and we tell the customer that we warned him they wouldn’t. He took the car away and was back in a couple of days saying it’s unacceptable and we need to get them working correctly or he will cause a big stink on social media and get his lawyer involved! So we spend a week tinkering with the car and no joy, they just wouldn’t work right by now he’s ringing in everyday to see if they are fixed, we would say sorry sir as we were told by Nissan and passed that information on to you they won’t work on your vehicle you were advised strongly not to have them. So he wants them removed and to fit them you need to put holes in the very expensive bumper. Obviously he isn’t happy with the 4 holes in the front of his car and demands a new bumper from us. Luckily all calls are recorded at our dealership and we had him on call requesting sensors to be fitted despite our advice, we refused to replace it for free, he stormed off threatening lawsuits. A few weeks later it’s back for a new expensive bumper at his cost.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/shieldtown95 on 2025-05-16 17:32:48+00:00.

This happened years ago. I was working in engineering and fabrication and my CEO was a classic micromanager who was also a salesman. To him “the customer is always right” even when the customer has no idea what they’re talking about.

We had a project where a customer requested a custom-built sheet metal rack to hold several heavy bottles. Their sketch showed a V-shaped piece to cradle the bottles. But these bottles are heavy, and a V-shape (especially out of thin sheet metal) would inevitably start to deform under load due to the force distribution.

I proposed an L-shaped design instead. It wasn’t as “aesthetic,” but it would distribute the weight better, resist bending, and still securely hold the bottles. The customer was fine with this once I explained the mechanics.

But then my CEO jumps in.

“No, we’re going with the customer’s original idea. Make it V-shaped. They wanted a V, they get a V. I don’t want to explain why we changed it.” He was actually visibly anxious that I wasn’t planning of giving the customer their exact design.

I pushed back, explained the issue again, and reminded him the customer already accepted the L-shape — but he doubled down. “Follow the original request exactly”

So… I did.

I built the V-shaped piece, precisely as requested. Installed it. Placed the bottles on it.

Within 24 hours, the V started to deform. Sheet metal bowed outward, and the whole structure looked like it was wilting under pressure. The customer called us and said, “Yeah… maybe your engineer had the right idea.”

Guess who had to fix it? Me.

Guess what design we went with the second time? My original L-shaped version.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/FlossingHorse741 on 2025-05-16 17:10:55+00:00.

I booked accommodation 2 months in advance for St Patrick’s weekend in Dublin.

It was a fairly ancient b&b but for €115 it was a place to sleep and cheapest option for the busiest weekend of the year in Dublin. It was one double bed for me and a buddy to share. It was pay on arrival.

3 weeks before the stay, the accommodation manager messaged me on the app I booked the stay on telling me there’s a problem, I can no longer stay and to cancel on my side immediately. No apology let alone help offered by them. This was followed by multiple phone calls daily, along with text messages in a harassing nature saying I need to cancel now so I can get my money back (once again, it was pay on arrival). I didn’t answer the calls or messages telling me to cancel.

Something felt off, so I checked the listing for the night I was supposed to stay and it just so happens the accommodation had been listed again for double the price. Likely the manager realised St Patrick’s weekend was a cash grab.

Maybe not immediately but at the property manager’s request, I simply rang booking.com, and told them I’d like to cancel my booking. The customer service rep asked why I was cancelling. I explained in detail all the above to her and things took an unexpected turn for the property manager.

Ultimately the rep agreed the property was acting in an unfair manner and the solution was that booking.com would find me accommodation within 1km (originally they tried to get me to stay waaaaay outside of the city but I wasn’t having it) of where I intended to stay. The original property would then be liable to cover any difference in cost.

Here’s the good part - finding accommodation 3 weeks before St Patrick’s Day in Dublin is about as difficult as trying to light a fire with flint and steel in the rain, near impossible. Everything within a 1km range was booked out except for a well known 4 star hotel.

The room alone cost 350€ per night, and had 2 double beds, much bigger room and in a nicer location. The customer rep had to get it cleared by her team lead, so I just sat on hold doing chores for 25 minutes. Eventually they came back and said it was all signed off on and they’ll send me a special link. What a treat, I gladly accepted their compromise.

This in turn meant the property owner that tried to force me to cancel on my end was now indebted €235 and we got a massive upgrade for the same price we originally had!

I had to pay the €350 upfront and had to keep receipts and show proof of payment to the booking partner after our stay but got my refund of €235 the following week.

TLDR: property demanded I cancel my booking on my end, they ended up having to pay an extra €235 and I got a free upgrade

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/ConsequenceCold11 on 2025-05-16 15:10:31+00:00.

My team lead Dan told us to “document everything,” every meeting, conversation, and issue, to keep full transparency.

So I did exactly that. At first, I documented project updates and blockers like normal. But then I started adding everything he said in meetings, including his rants, insults, and bad takes. Stuff like:

• “Dan called Sarah’s question stupid.”
• “Dan dismissed John’s idea without explanation.”
• “Dan ranted about how kids these days don’t work hard.”

I quoted him word for word and added time stamps, just like he asked. The reports were shared company wide, including his manager and HR.

After a few weeks, Dan complained that I was making him look bad. I reminded him he told us to document everything.

Soon after, HR stepped in, and Dan was moved to a non lead role.

Moral: if you ask for everything documented, be ready to hear everything.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/EchoNyx32 on 2025-05-16 14:21:26+00:00.

A client demanded a very specific feature change that I knew would conflict with other critical functions. My teammate said, "Just do exactly what they say, no questions. "So I followed every detail no adjustments, no improvements. Predictably, their system broke down the next day, and the client pulled out completely. Now my teammate's stuck firefighting, but I'm safe because I gave them precisely what was requested. Sometimes the best way to comply is to follow orders to the letter.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/cjdubais on 2025-05-16 13:22:06+00:00.

So,

I was a contractor in a Government office. My background is extensive starting with multiple engineering degrees, and many years of designing, building and operation of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV's).

There was constant personnel churn in the office, and the contractors were the corporate memory. It's an interesting situation, I always likened it to a feudal society. Staffers (direct Government employees) were the royalty and contractors were the serfs. Sometimes it was bothersome, but the position paid very well, so that was some benefit. Most of the time, the staffers knew they were in way over their heads and gladly accepted our advice.

A woman staffer arrived one day as head of the department that managed our outside service contractors. Typically, I played a large advisory role in dealing with these folks as someone familiar with the industry and able to call bullshit if you will.

Well, this woman decided that I was conspiring behind her back with the contractors virtually on the first day there. Why, I never knew, but it was what it was.

Luckily I didn't answer to her, I answered to a guy who in a former life was a member of Seal Team 6. Basically a trained killer, Great guy, he liked me a lot, and we got along well together. When the foo foo started, he pulled me aside and said, "document everything you do".

So I did as he suggested. I had a notebook in OneNote that I would record whatever I did that involved this woman, including her increasingly anti-social behavior towards me. We would be in meetings, and not only would she not look at me, when I asked her direct questions she wouldn't answer. Several times, this happened and then there was this dead silence until someone else spoke.

About this time we got a new division manager who was very.... personnel "sensitive". He was a PhD type in an operations role and completely out of his league, so he regressed to what he knew, making the office "kinder and gentler". This was quite a challenge as we had an office full of ex-Navy types, and they weren't exactly used to being "kinder and gentler".

In a short period of time, the woman in question had skewered 5 other males in the office in her short tenure, with the result of them departing the office. Both staff and contractors. I would have been her 6th if she had had her way.

So, there was a lot of concern about my position. My boss was in my office one day talking about the latest anti-social behavior demonstrated by this woman. He made a comment, "boy, I wish I had documentation of all this". I laughed, went to my computer and printed off a 20-page dissertation on all the stupidity. His eyes lit up. Come with me, he said.

We went into the office of the new director and my boss gave him my dossier. It took him a bit to read through it all. I had used the word "harassment" (which turned out to be the magic word) in description of many of the episodes. He said, I think harassment is too strong a word for this behavior. I asked him if a contractor was exhibiting this behavior towards a staffer, what would you call it?

He didn't answer the question.

About a week later, the woman was reassigned to a different organization.

I always say, it's not good to go head to head with a trained killer....

LOL

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Own-Dragonfly-942 on 2025-05-16 13:21:11+00:00.

I worked in fast fashion retail for 9 years on the tills. Every year roughly the store manager would decide that water bottles weren't allowed behind the tills and we needed permission to go upstairs to have some. It would only last a couple of weeks before it became too hot in summer and the rules changed back.

The last time she tried putting this in place, I'd been diagnosed with diabetes and my vertigo had finally been recognised by my doctor. The main factors of both being if I get too hot or don't have water I can faint. I got told by my line manager (whose under the store manager) that I needed a write note from my doctor saying I needed it and until that time I couldn't have it with me.

So, I took a week off work saying it was causing health issues while I waited for my doctor to write me up a letter. I went back and had a sickness meeting with my line manager and before sitting down I passed her this letter, still in the sealed envelope. On the letter, it said "£10 charge before giving to patient" and my manager looked horrified that I'd actually paid £10 to do what I'd been asked as evidence by herself. At the time, my hourly wage was £9.50 and I didn't get paid for sick days, so that £10 letter ended up costing a weeks wage too.

The best part, in the letter it was stated that I could use the toilets whenever I needed without asking (another rule) and could have a quick 5-10 minutes paid break when I needed to check my sugers and have a snack or anything as needed. So I started doing exactly that, even when I had a good day and didn't need the snack I went upstairs to just escape. This went on for about three years until I quit last year.

The store manager (as far as I know) has never implemented the water bottle rule again, or limited when employees can take toilet breaks. Apart from things like this, the store manager is a nice(ish) woman, so it was always out of character when it came about.

I still have a copy of the letter in case my current employer tries anything, but they're a pretty decent lot, so no worries there. There's over things from this place, but this one always stands out to me.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/Comfortable_Tooth132 on 2025-05-16 08:29:16+00:00.

Year 7 Humanities class in Australia. Students are asked to research the daily life of Spartan and Athenian women in Ancient Greece. Then they choose between creating a Venn diagram, an article, a poster about the topic or a dialogue between the women.

One student writes a dialogue. In Ancient Greek.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/kschmitz22 on 2025-05-16 04:33:13+00:00.

Me, a sysadmin. Spend 6 months making a finely tuned alerting system that tells us when anything critical to our company's operations goes down.

Corpo. Asks ChatGPT what our alerting policies should be and directly dumps it to us as directives to follow.

Me. Of course! Let me just turn it back to the way it was! Queue turning on absolutely every alert in the system as instructed. We had > 175 completely useless alerts within 8 hours.

Corpo. (Surprisingly) decided it wasn't actually good to spam there employees at all hours of the night for unimportant servers that don't make us money. And rolled back the policy the next day.

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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/82dsoldier on 2025-05-16 01:39:43+00:00.

I used to work in a transmission shop as a front wheel drive transmission puller. A friend of the boss brought his car in for a rebuild, so that made it a rush job. After getting the car in the air I find out that it has locking luggage nuts and he hasn't bothered to leave the key. I report this to my boss who screams "I DON'T GIVE A G*DDAMN HOW YOU GET THOSE WHEELS OFF, JUST MAKE IT HAPPEN NOW!" No problem, boss-man. I go back into the shop, grab my air chisel and start cutting the lugs off. This has the wonderful side effect of leaving large scars across his $3000 set of rims. I was halfway through the second side when the boss comes back into the shop and completely loses his mind. I very calmly remind him what he had told me earlier. He turns immediately back around and goes back into his office. To give the man some credit, he did come back an hour later and apologize to me for going too far.