Redditor Called Out For Refusing To Lie To Boss For Coworker Who Always Takes Long Lunch Breaks

We've all been in the awkward situation of needing to "cover" for a friend.

Usually requiring a bit of dishonesty on our end.

Most of the time, this isn't much of an issue, as in the grand scheme of things, it doesn't deeply impact anyone.

Other times, however, being dishonest to protect a friend or acquaintance could end up getting multiple people in trouble, leading one to question if it's worth it.

Redditor LemonOk776 had a work colleague who had a somewhat problematic habit.

A habit that their boss recently noticed.

When the original poster (OP)'s colleague was eventually called out by their boss, she was furious with the OP for not covering for her.

Wondering whether her colleague's anger was justified, the OP took to the subReddit "Am I The A**hole" (AITA), where they asked fellow Redditors:

"AITA for not warning my colleague that our boss was looking for her while she was taking an extra long lunch?"

The OP explained why they found themselves at odds with one of their colleagues:

"I work in a small office of about twelve people."

"My colleague Rebecca and I sit near each other and have a decent working relationship, not close friends but perfectly civil day to day."

"Rebecca has a habit of taking long lunches."

"Not occasionally, consistently."

"Our lunch break is forty five minutes and she regularly comes back after an hour and a half, sometimes closer to two hours."

"Nobody has said anything officially but people have noticed."

"Last Tuesday our boss came back early from a client meeting, which nobody expected, and started looking for Rebecca to ask her something about a report that was due."

"Rebecca was not back yet."

"It was one hour and twenty minutes into her lunch at that point."

"My boss asked me if I knew where she was."

"I said she went to lunch and I was not sure when she was back."

"That was true."

"My boss waited at her desk for about fifteen minutes, visibly unimpressed, and then went back to his office."

"Here is the thing."

"Rebecca had texted me about ten minutes before my boss arrived asking me to cover if anyone asked because she was running late getting back."

"I had not replied to that message."

"I did not actively lie to my boss but I also did not text her a warning when I saw him waiting at her desk."

"She came back, saw the situation, and the conversation with our boss was apparently not great."

"Afterward she came to me and said I should have warned her and that she would have done it for me."

"I told her I did not feel comfortable covering for her and that I had not lied to anyone."

"She said I had let her walk into that on purpose."

"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 overwhelmingly agreed that the OP was not the a**hole for not warning Rebecca that their boss was looking for her.

Everyone thought that Rebecca needed to start taking responsibility for her lack of punctuality, with others pointing out that the OP didn't even do anything incriminating:

"NTA."

'You didn’t rat her out even though you knew she was taking a long lunch you just said she went to lunch and didn’t know when she’d be back as you should."

'Texting her to warn her could almost be seen as participating in her misbehavior."

'When you know a colleague is doing something they shouldn’t you don’t report them but you don’t help them."

'You do exactly what you did basically tell your boss 'not my issue'."- Individual_Check_442

"NTA."

"She's an adult and should take responsibility for her actions."

"It's a good thing you choose not to get involved in that."- Prisca_Pearl

"That's pretty hilarious that she said she'd have done it for you."

"You should have said 'There was never a need for you to lie to the boss about my taking a long lunch, because I don't do that'."

"It's okay to let people suffer the consequences of their own bad behavior."

"NTA."- Regular_Boot_3540

"Consistently doubling her lunch break time?"

"NTA."- More_Sir_1842

"She took a double risk: consistently cheating her lunch break time and relying on someone else to cover up for her."

"NTA."- AntiSnoringDevice

"NTA."

"But next time just say you didnt see the text."

"It would help you avoid the drama of a truthful response."- Legitimate_Job2188

"NTA."

"What could you have said that would have made it better?"

"She is asking you to jeopardize your job for her."

"The boss would have found out eventually."- Newsjunkie1922

"NTA."

"She is taking extra long lunches and expecting you to cover for her?!?"

"Ridiculous!"

"She sounds like the type of person who if you had covered for her she would’ve thrown you under the bus if it meant saving her own skin."

"You were right not to lie, why possibly get yourself in trouble over something you’re not involved in?"

"Besides your boss may have been tipped off by someone else about her long lunches and needed to catch her in the act to prove it."- Reignboughbright

"NTA."

"You should never have to cover for someone else that is taking too long of a lunch."

"If she was legitimately being held up, she could have texted the boss to let them know (i.e. flat tire)."

"Having only 45 min lunch and regularly taking half hour + longer is unethical."

"You're extremely NTA."- HorseygirlWH

"NTA."

"How would she possibly cover for you?"

"You seem to take the appropriate length of lunch and she doesn't."- CallMeMrRound

"NTA."

"Not your responsibility to lie to your boss about her poor behavior."

"She said she'd do it for you, but that sounds more like she'd do it because she is an unscrupulous employee, not because she is a good friend."- FacetiousTomato

"NTA."

"You’re her coworker, not her lookout."

"Taking two-hour lunches and expecting you to cover for her is pure entitlement."

'You didn't throw her under the bus—she walked into that situation all on her own."

'She’s an adult, so she can handle her own consequences."- NovemberRain_84

"'She said I had let her walk into that on purpose'."

"Well, that is true ... you let her walk into the consequences of her choices."

"As you said, this is a chronic thing and eventually we all tire of covering for that one person because it then impacts all of us."

"NTA."- txa1265

"NTA."

"She put your professional reputation at risk, you owe her nothing."- EdithVinger

"Obviously Rebecca was taking the piss with the regular long lunches."

"On a rare occasion i'm sure people wouldn't mind, but evidently people were bothered that she was getting away with it."

"You say you hadn't replied to Rebecca's message, but the question is, at the point boss asked you if you knew where she was, had you seen the message?"

"If so, i'd suggest you've technically lied by omission in that you did know Rebecca was running late getting back, you could've simply said 'I think something came up and she's running late getting back' - could've saved boss 15 minutes of waiting."

"Does beg the question of if boss is so impatient to see her, why didn't he just ring her to ask where she was?"

"Tbh as much as you were pissed off at her long lunches, you very much could've, after the conversation with boss, replied to her saying 'by the way boss is looking for you and he doesn't look happy'."

"Overall, NTA as she was a regular long-luncher."

"Vote would've gone the other way if this was genuinely a one off from her."- notrainsaroundhere

"NTA."

"I'd let it lie but if she says anything else to you, I'd just say- what exactly is the benefit to me from lying to the boss about something that they seem to already know about?"

"You prepared to replace my income when I get fired for lying to the boss?"

"No?"

"I didn't think so."- chuckinhoutex

"NTA."

"Your livelihood matters to you or you'd be taking lunches that are double what you're allotted to!"

"The boss isn't stupid and likely already knows about these lunches."

"You shouldn't put your job on the line to lie to save hers!"

"Further, if she was stuck and couldn't get back sooner, letting her know the boss was looking for her wouldn't have made her manifest faster, unless she was lying to you about where she was!"

"She's old enough to work, she's old enough to follow the rules and she's def old enough to understand why coworkers wouldn't risk their jobs for her!"- Scared-Listen6033

Everyone wants to look good in front of their boss, and no one likes to be thrown under the bus.

Even so, the OP did not throw Rebecca under the bus, just stated that she was at lunch.

And ultimately, the only person who has any real power in how she looks in the eyes of her boss is Rebecca herself.

Meaning, she might want to start seriously considering cleaning up her act.