It's always a good idea to remain on the good side of your colleagues.
After all, if you make it clear that they have your back, they will likely have yours in return.
However, it's far more important to make sure work is getting done properly than it is to be on good terms with your colleagues.
As this could result in your still having a job or not.
Redditor xTrainerRedx recently caught one of their colleagues doing something that was extremely against protocol.
While the original poster (OP) called them out on it, they were not convinced that their message was heard.
Leading the OP to contact their superiors.
A decision that got back to the OP's colleague, who was anything but pleased by this news.
Wondering if they overstepped, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**Hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:
"AITA for reporting my coworker for not washing patient gowns?"
The OP explained why they felt they had no choice but to report their colleague:
"I am an X-ray tech at a private imaging center."
"Over two months ago, I was waiting in my room for a patient."
"Front desk staff are assigned to collect, wash, and fold patient gowns from imaging hampers."
"A front desk employee, 'R', came in, chatted neutrally, and began folding dirty gowns straight out of my hamper onto my exam table."
"When I asked what she was doing, she said, 'If gowns don't look dirty, I usually just fold them and put them back on the shelf'."
"I kept my tone light but told her that was inappropriate'."
"She groaned and claimed she would wash them properly'."
"Selfishly, I wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and avoid stirring anything up and not jump to reporting her, so I checked the laundry area 20 minutes later, hoping she was just saying things and it wasn't true; the gowns were already in the dryer'."
"A coworker confirmed she hadn't seen them in the washer and noted the custodian's dry mop head was still in the machine."
"Given the timeline, it was highly unlikely R had run a full wash cycle, leaving me convinced she bypassed washing entirely."
"My license and duty to act dictate I protect patients and report health code violations."
"I texted my boss detailing the incident but kept R's name out of it as a courtesy."
"She said she'd send a reminder to all front desk staff."
"I assumed the issue was handled."
"Fast forward two months to today."
"While parked outside work waiting to clock in, R approached my car window, demanding to know my 'beef' with her."
"I explained I was obligated to protect patients and my license, adding that I kept the report anonymous."
"She somehow deduced it was me, likely after a management conversation or group text."
"R argued I should have followed her and watched her put them in the washer. "
"I replied that babysitting isn't my job."
"She claimed I should have confronted her personally instead of reporting it; I pointed out that calling her out immediately was doing exactly that."
"She then pivoted to personal attacks, claiming 'a lot of people at work don't like you and talk about you'."
"I recognized this as bait to hurt me and tried to stay on topic."
"She backtracked, claiming she was 'just talking sh*t' about not washing gowns."
"I replied that standard logic doesn't support casually joking about health violations while actively folding dirty gowns on an exam table."
"I reiterated my professional obligations."
"When the conversation kept spinning in circles, I stopped speaking and rolled up my window.I texted my supervisor that I no longer felt safe working with R."
"The situation escalated to her boss, who called me."
"She validated my actions, praised my positive patient reviews, and assured me my coworkers haven't complained about me."
"She promised to separate our schedules and offered to adjust shift coverage for the day."
"She noted that while all staff are needed, imaging techs are prioritized."
"Now, I feel unsettled and shaken by her deceptive, aggressive confrontation while my job feels caught in the middle."
"AITA?"
Fellow Redditors weighed in on where they believed the OP fell in this particular situation by declaring:
- NTA - Not The A**hole
- YTA - You're The A**hole
- NAH - No A**holes Here
- ESH - Everyone Sucks Here
The Reddit community unanimously agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for reporting R.
Everyone agreed that R's actions were not only unhygienic but also dangerous, with many even feeling the OP shouldn't have reported R anonymously.
"NTA, and thank you for standing up for all the future patients who don't want to get scabies when they go for a CT."- MollyOMalley99
"'R argued I should have watched her put them in the washer'."
"Strange take for her to make."
"While maybe you didn't need to talk about the washer timeline, I think it's a good point to make."
"Time wise, it is not possible for her to have gone through a washer cycle and a dryer cycle in 20 minutes."
"NTA."- National-Report-5473
"You obviously had no real choice in whether or not you reported this."
"Your duty is to patient safety not keeping things peaceful among colleagues who don't follow protocol."
"NTA."
"Which I'm sure you're well aware of."- user9876543121
"NTA!"
"Thank you for reporting this, I would be really upset if the 'clean and sterile' gown I put on my body had been worn by some random stranger before me without being washed."
"If she’s too lazy to do a key part of the job, that’s on her and she needs to find a new one."- Pringle2424
"NTA, if she was actually washing them, then she wouldn't have been so offended by a group message reminding everyone to wash the gowns."- StructEngineer91
"NTA, you did the right thing, that is highly unsanitary."
"She sounds toxic AF."- Woodstock_1972
"NTA."
"My partner and I caught scabies late last year (I'd traveled to Europe and stayed at countless hotels)."
"It took several weeks of treatment, thorough cleaning and a visit to a dermatologist to be finally cleared of scabies."
"I'm still traumatized over it."
"You are a phenomenal person looking out for the health of your patients."
"Keep it up."- pink-pitch
"NTA."
"While the speculative timeline could be contested, there's still the fact that you witnessed them folding dirty gowns back and that they openly admitted that they do that, both of which are enough IMHO for reporting."- weirdbr
"NTA."
"I’m disturbed now wondering how many R’s work in health care."
"Thank you for standing up for the patients."- ItsHyde
"NTA."
"Don’t feel bad at all."
"This is so, so upsetting and disgusting for the patients, and you did your duty in reporting a violation of their health and trust in a clean environment."
"She really should’ve been let go after coming to confront you tbh."- sweetpea_2020
"Thank you for doing this! "
"My husband has an auto-immune condition that's treated with an infusion that knocks out part of his immune system."
"Your co-workers' lackadaisical attitude toward infection control could have serious consequences for him and other immunocompromised patients."
"If I were in charge, she would be on a program of retraining and probation, with no second chances."
"Hopefully your management is taking steps to ensure that she complies with the rules to protect patients."
"My guess is that this is why she was so hostile toward you."
"Once again, thank you for protecting your patients!"
"NTA times 1,000!"- Born_Significance691
"NTA."
"Your employer isn't taking this seriously enough. R should have been fired."
"Her laziness and lackadaisical attitude compromised patient safety and wasn't immediately corrected when you first corrected her."
"She then went out of her way to fake doing the job properly."
"When the issue is brought up in a general and non-specific way, which was totally insufficient, she confronted you making for a hostile work environment."
"If your employer cares so little for patient and employee safety, I'd be looking for a new employer."- JazzyKnowsBest13
"NTA."
"You 100% did the right thing."- Humbled_Bumble
"NTA - a friend of mine recently had ringworm, I know she covered the spots but had some imaging done after finding out she had ringworm."
"It was already scheduled, I remember her texting me something about the gowns."
"What if someone just didn’t wash them after and it spread even tho she had the spots themselves covered?"
"You never know what people are carrying around!"- BlondeBrillo
"NTA."
"That's disgusting and dangerous."
"That's a vector for the spread of disease."
"Personally, I don't mind when ppl like that don't like me."
"I sure as f*ck don't like them, and I'm a poor liar; everyone will know anyway, lol."
"I also hate working with ppl like that you are literally going to be at work the same amount of hours regardless."
"Why would you rather be staring and drooling instead of doing your fucking job?!"- BigProduce6727
The OP is honestly lucky that her supervisors allowed an anonymous report.
As R's actions might not only have affected her job, but the imaging center itself.
As even one step out of protocol could be enough to shut them down entirely.
As it sadly doesn't seem the message fully sank in with R, it won't be too surprising if she's reported again by someone else down the line...
u/Dismal_Condition_824/Reddit