This is taken from REDDIT AITA (Am I the Asshole). It is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine to scroll through on occasion.
This particular one I came across today, and the comments there are really split. I was curious what Unstuckers thought about a situation like this.
I(35F) lost my job after pandemic struck and found another working in a meat company. It was much lesser paid, more tiring and longer hours but beggars can’t be choosers, I have 3 kids to raise and need a job or it would be too much for my husband to shoulder. I was going to continue to work there until I find a more suitable job because the boss of that company is quite an asshole.
Some time ago my niece(19F) was looking for a part-job and since there were vacancy in my workplace I recommended her to my superiors. My brother’s family is quite wealthy, fully funding my niece’s studies and living expenses and my niece only wanted a job for extra allowance.
My niece soon found out that many of us working there are not paid the standard for over-time and our workload exceeding the norm. She was disgusted by the environment and wanted to file complaint about the company to the authorities. I begged her not to, not because of my love for the company(I was going to leave eventually), but because like me, many of us there have families to feed and needed the job.
My niece ignored me and ended up making quite a big deal out of it, posting pictures, videos and long paragraphs on social media and file some reports to “fight for our rights”. I have no idea if it changed anything in the company. However, as a result of this drama, the company decided to dismiss a portion of its staffs, and including me, a few other coworkers of mine had lost their jobs. They did not voice it out directly but they have been avoiding me, probably blaming me for introducing my niece to the job.
I have been avoiding my niece too because, despite her good intentions, I still lost my job. My niece had been texting me giving all sorts of reasons that what she done was for what is right. When I ignored her texts, she sent more with long paragraphs basically wanting me to acknowledge that she is right. I really don’t want to put blame or argue with a someone half my age still living in comfort with her parents, so in the end I replied “I just hope that you are proud of yourself.”
My brother texted me later saying that I was being unkind to his daughter, that as her aunt who witnessed workplace toxicity with her I should encourage her to continue to fight for what is right(still going on between her and the company). I may be unemployed but I am going to spend my time looking for a job instead of joining some vendetta, AITA?
Link to Reddit thread:
https://reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/comments/jqsw5y/aita_for_saying_i_just_hope_that_you_are_proud_of/
The gist of that Reddit forum is to determine who the asshole is. Not necessarily looking for the Reddit line from unstuck, but just feelings on what the niece did and if it was right or wrong. I don’t really care about the stuff where the niece tells her aunt to say she was right. I don’t even know if that is legitimate. You always have to read these with a salt lick because it is one side of a story told by someone asking if they are an asshole.
Anyways thoughts? Was the girl right to do what she did? Could she have more effectively brought attention to the problems at the workplace? Does the consequences to her aunt change any of that in hindsight? Did the aunt contribute to her own demise by getting this job for her niece without being honest about the workplace environment?