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Mindaugas Balčiauskas

67 Petty Work Dramas To Help You Feel Better About Your Own Job

HR Indeed

Good bosses know how to manage their staff. Great bosses, however, know that they should lead by example, inspire their team, and cultivate a healthy workplace culture. Oh, and they know to swiftly shut down office drama instead of adding fuel to the fire.

Some work nonsense continues to haunt you for years to come. And it can be therapeutic to spill the tea. A bunch of emotionally weary employees opened up online about the pettiest, most toxic, weirdest drama that they ever experienced at work. It’s frustrating beyond belief to know that someone had to go through all of that nonsense.

#1

A girl wore trainers to work against office policy. Got reported to HR by a colleague which caused all sorts of drama in office. Instead of just taking the reprimand, she countered it by joining the wellbeing committee, produced evidence of why wearing trainers was not counter productive to anything and got the policy changed. So now we all wear them, except the person who reported her ’out of principle’.

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Conflicts are, to a large extent, unavoidable in all parts of life, including at work. However, it’s perfectly possible to have healthy, polite, and professional arguments without them devolving into petty drama. This does, however, require your company to have capable leaders who put effort into creating a supportive, transparent, and fair workplace environment.

As Indeed points out, workplace drama can come in many forms, including gossip, arguments, power struggles, and insubordination.

Toxic workplace environments lead to pessimism, bullying, cliques, and alienation, resulting in worse mental health, higher turnover rates, poor brand reputation, and worse work efficiency. Not only that, but by allowing these things to continue, you’re opening your corporation up to potential lawsuits.

In short, if you let drama get out of control, there’s more stress at work, your top talents leave, and you’re turning less of a profit. That’s bad for everyone, including the business itself, your employees, and your clients.

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#6

There was a woman who would give another woman a lift home everyday, one day she wasn’t in so someone else gave her a lift instead. The next day the woman came in with a big bunch of flowers to the person who gave her the lift as a thank you, the woman who normally takes her kicked off because she had been doing it for years and never got any flowers, anyway they didn’t speak a word to each other for 10 years after that even though they worked in the same office.

According to Indeed, some of the main reasons behind drama at work are poor leadership, a lack of respect in the workplace, employee boredom, division, romantic relationships, and poor transparency.

For example, managers and supervisors who are hypocritical, disingenuous, and don’t lead by example can demotivate the staff. “Telling employees to behave one way while modeling a different type of behavior is ineffectual and can breed criticism, gossip, pessimism, and negative talk behind management’s back.”

Another leading cause of drama is the proliferation of disrespect, and it needs to be handled immediately. On top of that, bored workers who don’t feel challenged in a healthy way tend to gossip and complain.

#7

Had a meeting because someone didn’t say good morning to another person.

#8

I got told by a man that I had baby brain after I asked 1 question on my first day. Took me 15 years to say another word to him.

#9

Got a disciplinary for wearing blue jeans on dress on friday, by my manager who was wearing blue jeans…

Something else that contributes to office drama is a culture of secrecy. When there’s a lack of transparency, workers gossip among themselves and distrust management. “To create a respectful workplace where everyone feels valued, management should strive for honesty and transparency about its policies. Your workers are intelligent and will be able to tell if you’re keeping important information hidden,” Indeed explains.

Meanwhile, Forbes stresses that office drama thrives on emotional reactions, turning even small issues into large crises. Workers who have to exist in drama-filled environments tend to experience more stress, decreased engagement, and lower productivity.

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#12

Someone ate only the tomatoes out of someone else’s salad in the fridge.

One of the ways to fight back against drama is for workplace leaders to stay factual, calm, neutral, and unemotional. They should avoid reacting to overly exaggerated emotional responses from their colleagues and focus on what actually happened.

“This technique is grounded in behavioral psychology. When people realize their theatrics aren’t getting the expected reaction, their energy shifts. Drama relies on an audience, and when it doesn’t get one, it naturally fizzles out,” Forbes states, stressing the importance of rational problem-solving, which builds long-term trust.

“When employees see that decisions are made based on clear, objective information rather than emotional reactions, they feel more secure in their workplace interactions. Over time, this consistency builds confidence in leadership and encourages open, honest communication throughout the organization. If there really is an issue that needs addressing, you can now deal with it without unnecessary exaggeration clouding the solution.”

#13

Someone was selling jewellery on the side, another colleague reported her to HMRC and she got tax audited! the woman who was selling on the side used to take the other woman home! The woman who reported her still expected lifts home and kicked off thoroughly demanding to know why she won't give her a lift home.

#14

#15

My parents were both [very sick]. My mum went into hospice, I told my boss I would be having my phone on me just incase the hospice called. She gave me a written warning for not saying please...

What is the worst, pettiest, most bizarre, and infuriating drama that you’ve ever witnessed at work, Pandas? What happened, and how did you deal with it?

Do you have any colleagues who love to spread drama and dissent everywhere that they can? How do your managers and supervisors handle these chaotic coworkers of yours?

Share your work stories in the comments at the bottom of this list!

#16

Someone threw out her mango from the fridge and she went off with stress and we never saw her again.

#17

I got a verbal warning for loudly saying "labubu" at our Christmas meeting during a lull. Not my fault others repeated it after me.

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#21

The morning I got a call my dad had passed, she immediately texted and said “so how long do you plan to be out.” 8 mins after I told her. I quit.

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#23

A female boss got annoyed when I had to go to antenatal appointments and asked me why I couldn’t go at night. Also tried to force me to clear out a water-logged basement by lifting heavy boxes (I was in an Admin role). It was a long time ago. She [passed away] 😊

#24

#25

My manager and I screamed at each other over my pink keyboard.

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#27

A co-worker was given disciplinary action being “caught” clocking into work several times at 3am in the morning.. despite her very clearly saying she was asleep in bed.. turns out the system malfunctioned and she most definitely was not getting to work at 3am.

#28

Office was talking about MAFS (which had finished, and spoilers all over social media), I said something about how 2 people are together now (who weren’t a couple in the show), and my desk neighbour told me I’d ruined her whole day, and we haven’t spoke since.

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#40

My entire office was made do anti bullying training because someone allegedly overheard a racist comment. Our team are from all over the world (Irish, Canadian, Chinese, Indian, Australian, Iranian). We weren’t told who said it or what was said. Nobody said anything but the president of the company did come over at one stage and say we were like the United Nations. We had to do the bullying training regardless. We all think it was him that said it and someone blamed us for it.

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#48

Ended up in a HR meeting because another co worker thought I had an issue with him for weeks - I didn’t. When asked why he thought I was so mad at him it was because one morning when starting early after very little sleep I didn’t say "good morning"

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#56

My boss telling me not to send a welcome email to my new employee who I inherited through a merger because she wanted full control - my employee wondering why I’m not contacting her and my boss tells me if I email her it will make her nervous - guess what? I quit that job!