There are countless ways to have fun, but it’s pretty common for people to occasionally involve alcohol in the fun.
But that’s generally not advised when surrounded with coworkers, even if it’s off the clock, cringed the people in the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITAH) subReddit.
Redditor Not_What_I_Meant0000 noticed a coworker drinking a lot during a work trip, and when her coworker fell to the ground, she felt the need to get her coworker’s head checked to make sure she was fine.
But when going to the hospital ended up costing her coworker her job for also being inebriated at the time, the Original Poster (OP) was blamed for her getting fired.
She asked the sub:
“AITAH for calling an ambulance, which my coworker fired?”
The OP was recently on an intense work trip with a few coworkers.
“I (27 Female) was at a group work training for my job this past weekend. The company put a bunch of us up in a hotel and had us attend a day-long presentation about our goals for the next quarter.”
“For context: We’re in sales, it’s highly competitive, and the group consisted of mostly older employees with me being the youngest.”
One of the OP’s coworkers was blowing off some steam after one of the training sessions.
“After a full day of meetings, a few of us decided to get dinner at a restaurant down the street from our hotel. We carpooled, and when we arrived, one of the older ladies, Deborah (in her 50s) was already there, standing at the bar.”
“We invited her to join us for food, but she declined, and we moved on with our night.”
“I had two beers with dinner, so I’m not judging, but as we finished our meal, it became clear that Deborah was plastered. She was stumbling even though the ground was level and slurring pretty badly.”
“As we left, Deborah came outside with us and reached for her keys. I immediately stopped her and said I’d drive her back to our hotel.”
“She agreed, but as she went to grab the passenger door handle, she missed and fell straight back onto the pavement, hitting the back of her head.”
“I don’t mean to be gross, but it sounded like someone dropped a carton of eggs. I checked, and not only was she passed out, but she was bleeding from her head.”
The OP was insistent about getting her coworker some help.
“Everyone panicked, and I grabbed my phone to call 9-1-1.”
“One of the younger guys stopped me and said, ‘Help me get her in the car. We’ll get her room key out of her purse and just put her in bed.'”
“I was bewildered and said, ‘But she has a head injury. She’s bleeding. What if she cracked her skull?'”
“I’m no doctor, but if you go to sleep with a head injury, don’t you not wake up? I’m pretty sure I learned that in school, and some of the other employees agreed with me, so I called the ambulance.”
“Paramedics took Deborah to the hospital, and she survived, though she was in really bad shape when I checked up on her the next day.”
But there were consequences for the OP’s good deeds.
“Here’s where I may be the a**hole: our managers found out that Deborah was hospitalized for overdrinking while technically at a work function, and they fired her on the spot.”
“Everyone also found out that I was the one who insisted on calling an ambulance.”
“The older employees are all saying I did the right thing and that she could have died, but the younger ones are calling me a snake and saying I got her fired on purpose because she was ‘competition.'”
“AITAH?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some thought it was important that the OP had acted quickly and thoughtfully.
“NTA. You did the right thing. Smashing your head against the ground can be fatal from even small falls.”
“And she got fired from something she did do, and the fall, and the fact that someone probably would be responsible and call for help was a product of her over drinking on a job function.”
“For Pete’s sake, what’s the alternative? Let’s risk death or brain damage to minimize the chance of losing a job? NTA.” – Tofflus1
“NTA! You did the right thing. I had an acquaintance who slipped on a wet floor while on a trip and hit her head.”
“She didn’t have a visible head wound but the fall left her with a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). She was out of work for months, was only able to slowly and gradually go back to work, and wasn’t able to work full time for at least two years.” – AccordingToWhom1982
“I’m sure the coworkers giving OP s**t would’ve also given her s**t if she didn’t call the ambulance and the coworker died. She did the right thing for sure.” – suhhhrena
“Even if you’re worried someone has had waaaay too much to drink take them to the ER. In high school, a girl I knew got absolutely wasted at a party and they just put her to bed.”
“Someone’s older sister came to pick them up and asked where she was and when she was told she was ‘just sleeping it off,’ and she said absolutely not and checked on her.”
“Her breathing felt shallow so she took her to the ER. She was in a coma for two weeks but pulled through. BAC was 0.3 something. If they’d left her in bed she would have died at age 16. NTA, OP.” – Uhwhateverokay
“I got hit in the head with a lacrosse stick. It barely even hurt and I don’t think my head bruised.”
“I have had visual memory issues since and likely will for the rest of my life. I had to relearn how to read. I remember being different. I also get horrible migraines if I don’t take medicine and now get carsick and seasick which I didn’t before.”
“Be careful with your head, it really, really doesn’t take much.”
“OP, you helped her, whether she wants to see it that way or not.” – dasbarr
Others agreed and also pointed out that Deborah had gotten herself fired.
“OP didn’t get her fired. Deborah’s own awful judgment call did.”
“If you’re away at a work function, it’s not a solid strategy to get so hammered you can’t function. Head injuries are nothing to play with, and had they taken her to the hotel and tucked her in and she died in her sleep, then what?!”
“OP should tell every one of them she dodged a manslaughter charge for them and they’re welcome (not sure what the actual charge would be but it wouldn’t be nothing).”
“My ex’s dad was backing out of his driveway in the winter and he saw the man last second and stopped but the man slipped when he panicked and died almost instantly from hitting his head. It wasn’t a big, dramatic thing; it was just a fall from standing. Truly so sad.” – z00k33per0304
“NTA. Any coworker that gives you shade, just reply, ‘So what you’re telling me, in effect, is that no matter what the scenario, especially if it’s on company time, if you’re hurt and possibly near death, I should just… leave you? That’s super empathetic. I’m sure Deborah is more glad to be alive than worried she got fired.'”
“She’s old enough to manage her s**t, and if she can’t, then this was her wake-up call. Y’all need to stop acting like we’re still in high school and being responsible adults is ‘snitching’. Grow up. Until you can, don’t bother talking to me about adult behavior, since you’ve clearly not reached that mark yet.'”
“What a bunch of morons. They’re acting like the start of a godd**n killer thriller movie. ‘Hide the body! Put it in bed! No one will know!’ Hopefully, a moment of consideration will lead them to believe they were just reacting out of fear and their current reaction is from guilt and shame that out of everyone, you were the only actual adult.”
“You stopped her from driving drunk, potentially killing more than just herself, and then seeing to her medical needs when she fucked herself up. Do NOT let anything they say get to you.” – Perimentalpause
“There’s also no reason why the other employees needed to tell the managers the details of her falling.”
“The ambulance ride didn’t get her fired.”
“Whoever told the managers she was drunk did.”
“If they all just stuck to the story that she fell, and not given the details as to why she fell. Then the ambulance is a moot point.”
“She could’ve just as easily gotten fired if they took her back to the room, if people shared the details of the fall.”
“Also, this seems like a wrongful termination. Considering multiple employees were drinking, it seems unfair that only one would be fired. I know this is a business trip but either drinking was allowed during that time period or it wasn’t.” – kalel3000
“The OP should get in touch with Human Resources and report the people who call her a ‘snake’ and say she’s ‘trying to eliminate competition.’ They would have rather killed competition than helped.”
“Instead, she did what was best for ‘competition’ to stay alive with as much mental faculty as possible. It’s the employer who disapproved of this lady getting over drunk on a work-related function so they should discuss their point of view with them instead.” – LilithFairy
“I will say, it was a bit of a d**k move for the company to have this event and then fire someone for drinking too much and slipping. Either this employee has other strikes against them with HR, or the company is covering their a** somehow. Maybe their insurance premium would go up or something.”
“If companies fired any employee who drank too much after a work function, Wall Street would be a ghost town.” – rpsls
It was unfortunate that the OP’s coworker had lost her job over what happened, but her health and safety were more important than her work life, full stop.
If the critical coworkers needed some kind of reassurance, they should think about what they’d hope a coworker would do if they found themselves in the same situation as their coworker.