A woman who refused to let her colleague stay with her when she was at risk of becoming homeless has said she has been shunned by her other co-workers for not upholding the "family culture" of their workplace.
The woman, who posted her story online anonymously, said she lives alone in a one-bedroom flat and was approached about her living situation by her supervisor after they had been chatting to one of the woman's colleagues named Aly about potentially being "laid off".
And although the woman didn't "really know" the co-worker, she was asked by her supervisor to allow Aly to live with her for the time being since she lives alone and could use the company.
The woman put her foot down and refused, but has since been getting stick from her other colleagues, who have made passing comments about working with "caring people" while giving her the "side-eye".
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In a post on Reddit, she said: "I live alone in a one-bedroom apartment. Recently a coworker, let's call them Aly, has been coming to my supervisor to talk and visit almost every shift. They've been talking about how Aly has had a downturn in job performance and might be laid off soon if things don't improve. Aly is nice and outgoing but not reliable when it comes to office work.
"For the past couple of days, my supervisor has been very interested in my living situation. Always asking how the area is, how I decorate my space, and how my relationship is with the property management. They have even started making comments about how lucky I am to live alone and how important community is.
"Yesterday, after Aly's usual gossip, visit my supervisor messaged me on the company chat asking if I knew of any open apartments that Aly could rent for cheap. When I told them that there are only a few apartments in my building and they are all occupied they asked me to come over to their desk for a talk.
"It turns out that Aly's current roommates are breaking their lease and she needs a place to stay. For over half an hour they went on about how I could let her live with me and how good it would be to carpool, split expenses, and have company at home.
"I tried to keep the shocked look off my face as I told them that I felt for Aly and her situation but that I want to live alone and that my lease doesn't allow sublets. My supervisor got visibly upset by this and kept pushing how we need to take care of our own and I have all this space that I could surely share for a while. I repeated that I am not looking for a roommate and left to get back to work.
"Ever since then several co-workers have started giving me the side eye and water cooler talk quickly turns to how we are a family culture here and how nice it is to work with caring people. So am I the a**hole for not taking in a coworker I don't really know when they might get fired soon?"
Commenters on the Reddit post could sympathise with the woman's colleague, but were mostly on the woman's side as they insisted she isn't obliged to open her house up to anyone that she doesn't want to.
One person said: "If they're so upset, she can move in with one of them. It's easy to be generous with other people's space, time, and money. They can all put up or shut up."
While another posted: "Your boss massively overstepped in even asking you that. If she feels so bad for Aly then she can offer her own couch for her to stay on. So can all of the side-eyeing, water cooler gossiping co-workers."
And someone else added: "If your supervisor is so concerned with Aly’s living situation then Aly can move in with your supervisor."
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