Reddit user quits job after boss rejects leave, WhatsApp chat goes viral

A workplace exchange shared on Reddit has struck a chord with Indian professionals after a user posted screenshots of a tense WhatsApp conversation with their manager—turning an ordinary leave request into an unexpected resignation moment.

The post, shared by Reddit user Quick_carpenter915, shows the user informing their boss that they would need to take Monday off due to an electricity and internet outage in their neighbourhood. According to the post, the disruption was caused by wiring issues that required replacement, making it impossible to work from home.

The response from the manager, however, escalated quickly. The leave request was denied, and the user was warned that “further negotiations will be considered as absconding from work.”

Rather than continuing the back-and-forth, the user replied with a short but decisive message: “Ok please consider Friday, 7th February to be my last working day.” They followed it up with another line: “My mistake for informing you of my issue honestly.”

In the caption accompanying the screenshots, the user laid out the sequence of events in a step-by-step post, describing how they informed management in advance, were asked to report to the office despite the issue, reminded their manager of the outage, and were then given an ultimatum. The post ends by noting that after the resignation message, the user was pulled into a call where their issue was finally “understood” and leave was “approved” till Tuesday.

The post has garnered over 1,200 upvotes and prompted a wave of reactions from users who said the exchange reflected a familiar workplace dynamic—particularly in environments where remote work flexibility exists in theory but not always in practice.

Commenters largely sided with the employee, praising the response and calling out what they saw as a power play. One user wrote, “I bet they had that smug Wojack meme face on while typing that. Tell them to go get jacked the next time they pull such a stunt. Proud of you for having self respect.”

Another comment, written partly in Hindi, read, “Aisa confidence mujhe bhi chahiye.”

Some responses took a broader view of work culture. One user advised building leverage before pushing back, adding, “No one should suffer this,” while outlining their own approach of respecting boundaries, avoiding after-hours calls, and encouraging employees to log off on time.

Others kept it simple, calling it the “best post” they had read that day and urging the original poster not to tolerate such behaviour.

(This report is based on user-generated content from social media. Livemint has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.)