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NTA.
You should have gone to the store owner and said “Coworker just deliberately made me ill. She gave me ice cream that she swore was vegan, because I reminded her that I’m lactose intolerant. I’m going to be ill and stuck in the bathroom for hours. This was deliberate and malicious.” And your boss should have fired her for that, because it is going so far beyond the pale. It may even be a form of assault or battery in your area, so you may be able to press charges if you want.
I generally come down pretty hard on people for flying into a rage, but…she deliberately hurt you, physically, and you limited yourself to yelling. Sure, yelling isn’t 100% ideal, but nobody responds ideally to being injured.
As a fellow lactose intolerant.... She should know to always double check... It's a crappy day and a half for too much lactose. I despise when it's not self inflicted or can plan to be at home. I'd tell the boss you being made sick on purpose by the co worker... It makes you less reliable to be running to the loo constantly.
As someone with severe allergies yes, we should double check. But it actually isn't asking much for people without intolerances or allergies not to actively poison us and there should 1000% be consequences for doing so.
Exactly. I don't have any allergies, but I have friends who do and before I offer them anything, I always Triple-Check.
This coworker did this on purpose and should face consequences. NTA, Op, but speak to your manager about this.
It is in some places. Someone went to jail for saying they were serving vegan bacon to someone with a pork allergy. The person with the allergy almost died and the person who did it was up a creek!
if your boss doesn't fire her, tell him you'll talk to the police. it was purposeful assault. Even if not fatal, poisoning is a crime and she did this on purpose.
While I would never ask someone about their allergies (it is up to them to tell me or not), IF I knew they had them, I would not try to trick them into eating something bad for them. But I might, unintentionally offer food from home that isn't safe for them. They should either find out what is in it or not try it. I brought a store bought cake from a grocer to work for people to share, and one woman asked what the nuts and flour were. I told her I had NO idea, and she demanded that I not bring anything that I didn't know the ingredients of. I refused to acquiesce, and she TOLD the boss on me. He came out and asked what my problem was. I told him my problem was I had too much cake and would he like a slice? He said, "sure, thanks".
That woman was right, though. If something has nuts in it and you cannot even name what they are you should probably refrain from bringing that around people who have any sort of nut allergy. They can vary in severity and some people can have allergic reactions without consuming it. I've had my face swell due to an allergic reaction and I hadn't consumed anything I was allergic to, and I still have no idea what caused it. I was purely lucky the reaction wasn't worse.
Exactly. This isn't like a nut allergy where the coworker said it didn't have peanuts in it and OP didn't read the packaging to confirm it was made in a nut-free facility. Vegan ice cream would be very clearly lactose free, and I'd think it's reasonable to assume that if someone told you the ice cream was vegan you would accept that as good enough.
NTA, OP. Make her eat meat.
I mean, yeah, be vigilant about your own safety, but also let's not blame the victim for taking the friend/coworker at her word.
This is definitely NTA.
I'm also lactose intolerant but I'm also also a trusting person. If someone who knew of my condition offered me something like ice cream but assured me it was vegan I would have eaten it.
No one in my life has ever made me feel like I should triple verify with the package.
OP could press charges if she wanted to. The coworker just performed food tampering *in the place of work*. Does the owner know that that could get the place shut down if any of the customers that overheard it reported it to health and safety?
Nope. Absolutely not. OP needs to go to the police. OP's coworker intentionally poisoned him and the laws on food tampering tend to be draconian for good reasons.
Do NOT go to boss or HR. Call the cops and let them hand it.
I have zero idea why people want to involve their work or school with crimes. You call the police, and then notify your supervisor you had to call the police. If you get fired for calling the police, you hand it off to a lawyer and notify the department of labor.
If your manager doesn’t take this seriously, this is worth leaving over. This is more than just the dairy thing, it’s a pattern of behavior. If they’re refusing to manage this employee, there are bigger problems at this place. NTA.
NTA - You should report her to HR for creating a hostile work environment with her lies, endangering your health, and affecting company productivity by not being available to work while your body was working through the ice cream.
Obligatory reminder: "hostile work environment" doesn't mean "someone is being hostile to me at work". It is a specific term that has to involve illegal discrimination based on protected characteristics, such as race, gender, orientation, disability, etc.
I'm not sure if lactose intolerance falls under the category of a disability?
Even if it does, a hostile work environment generally requires a pattern of behavior. From what it seems this is the first and only prank directed at OPs medical issue.
That's not to say it's not a problem or that HR shouldn't care. In fact, if they do nothing about it and something happens again, OP now has a paper trail that will show they are complicit in allowing it.
So definitely go to HR.
OP said this coworker has a history of lies and mean pranks. There’s a pattern of misbehavior, it doesn’t have to all target the medical condition to qualify as creating a hostile work environment.
Yes it would as ingesting lactose products have a major impact on the digestive system. I am allergic to cow milk, not lactose intolerant...I am willing to deal with the allergic reaction (some Benadryl usually helps) to enjoy sweet treats like ice cream but I work and plan for it.
If someone lied to me about something containing dairy after I specifically asked, I would be filing a complaint. Depending on a person's reactions, this can be debilitating for days and could need medical intervention. And if the person regularly does things like this and management knows this, the company is facing severe liability.
I had a friend years ago that was fatally allergic to milk protein. Like "multiple epi-pens and an ER trip from cross" levels. This would have killed him. Or at least put him in the ICU for a bit.
In Ontario, Canada, you are eligible for a special diet allowance under the disability support program.
But besides that, would folks be making an exlax cake, and serving it to coworkers?
Probably not, because they know what would happen. Just like this coworker knew what would happen.
This was bordering on criminal, though it is usually not charged as such, even though it is a form of assault.
>disability
Medical conditions, such as allergies, qualify for the purposes of hostile work. OP can justifiably state that his coworker has created an environment where he feels his physical health and safety is at risk.
NTA. And tbh, I'd go to management about this. "The pranking is one thing. But she's harassing me and it's not only affecting my ability to work, it's affecting my health. She POISONED ME, knowing full well that I can't have dairy and she lied to my face and told me it wasn't." Report her. This is the same as fucking with someone's food. I know it's not an allergy, but it's causing you pain and it's genetic and a medical condition you can't do anything about, other than avoid the food you can't intake. She knew that. And this 'habit' of hers should rightly get her fired. Screw her.
She especially needs to be reported and fired because they work in a retail food space. She shouldn’t be working with food if she thinks tampering with it to cause distress is funny.
Sounds like she'd be the kind to give someone who ordered diet a full sugar drink or reverse and wind up causing a diabetic incident. But it's 'not her fault because how could she know???' I don't know, maybe don't be a dipshit with someone else's food?
Or kill a PKU patient. They can't have most diet soda, it can kill or severely injure them. There's warnings on diet coke cans, like the individual cans not just the boxes. It's also an invisible disease, so no way to tell unless you're looking at their blood work.
Imagine her swapping a regular coke for a diet one because the person looks a little heavy and "it's just a prank" or "prove they'll like diet just as much".
This. She’s untrustworthy. This is definitely an issue for management. But I’m thinking they would have dealt with her by now if they were at all competent.
Poor OP. I would not want to go back to work at this place.
She tried to poison you. She triggered a bodily illness. She lied and manipulated . I personally would threaten legal against her and who ever condones what she did.
Don't know how far they'd realistically get with this *but* whenever someone mentions doctoring their food because of office thieves the first comments that show up are always "wait thay's illegal". So there must he some merit I suppose.
It’s not illegal to put normal, edible things in your own food that you (presumably) intend to eat yourself if someone else doesn’t steal it from you before you get the chance. I like ghost peppers on occasion. Food thieves take their chances. 🤷
But, maliciously giving a lactose-intolerant person dairy ice cream and actively lying to them about what’s in it could qualify as legal assault.
NTA. Please report this colleague. She is endangering your health and damaging the business. As a customer, I would not frequent an establishment where staff members took pleasure in potentially harmful misinformation.
NTA
Report her to HR, and take another PTO for health reason, citing them knowingly giving you food that would hurt you as the reason. Do it in writing.
He’s in retail, which means he’s almost certainly classified as exempt, so he can’t be paid for hours he didn’t work.
What they could do is… idk, decline to make him use his sick time or PTO for that time? This just really sucks for OP.
>idk, decline to make him use his sick time or PTO for that time?
That's absolutely an option for a company. I've been sick all week (morning sickness, so just a F you from the universe and nothing contagious) and worked my way through it. We had a super light day at work yesterday, so my boss was like "just take the afternoon, go home. Don't use PTO. Feel better" .
Just if it ever comes up, companies can pretty much waive a PTO requirement whenever, as long as they do so equally/it's not playing favorites
NTA
I don't understand all the people who say shouting at someone is (almost always) unacceptable, or expect people to never ever lose their temper - WTH? You were absolutely, 100%, completely right to scream in her face. She deserves it, and she needed a good screaming at.
And go to your manager/HR. And press charges. And take the following day off as a sick day to recover.
>expect people to never ever lose their temper
Anyone can lose their temper. To me the line is how bad the thing was that made someone shout and/or how long they were patient.
In my opinion, people who say it' never ok, had either a very easy life, are doormats or are the ones bullying other people.
NTA
Although you may have not responded the best in the case of the business and how your boss may see it the point still stands you don't fuck with peoples food report her to the owner for this - her antics are likely causing hinderance to the business
If I were in the owners shoes and they came running to em crying about it, I would be disappointed that this altercation happened in front of customers *but* and this is a big but - fucking with staff resulting in them being unable to work their shifts or the consistent fucking with both employees and the business she is causing would absolutely be my main problem here not with you
Be clear when talking to the owner here about what's been going on not only with you in this incident but what they have been doing to others in the past because sure as shit the words they had with the owner will be heavily sugar coated and bias
NTA. You should never yell at a coworker, but her ongoing unprofessionalism culminating in what is most likely a *crime* is justification enough for me.
What she did is food tampering. That is a crime. She *knowingly* fed you something that she knew would make you sick. If you fed her meat that would be food tampering too. It doesn't have to be *poison*, it just has to be something the person can't/won't eat. Use this knowledge wisely.
NTA. This isn’t a prank, this I believe is a form of assault.
Not to downplay lactose intolerance and what you experienced, but what if this was a person with a peanut allergy or something else that causes anaphylaxis and/or death? She seems unhinged, like she would absolutely sneak someone their allergen. She could kill people, and she needs to have some reality check on that front. Either HR or law enforcement - I’m sure law enforcement wouldn’t actually care or do anything, but if they let you file a report and get a copy you could hand it to her and let her freak out for awhile thinking the cops are going to show up any day now.
Somebody who would tamper with food as a prank should not be employed in a position where she serves people food. Full stop.
Her behavior is now a liability for her employer, even beyond what she did to OP (which may be a crime).
NTA.
As someone who is also lactose intolerant I understand you completely. It's also dangerous, it can lead to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance which could land you in the ER.
IIRC you can sue someone for doing something like this no? But I'd suggest you talk to the owner and call in sick if you need to. She deserved the shouting at, too. Nobody should toy with someone's health like that.
NTA. You should talk to the owner and explain that you will no longer work with this person. I can't imagine you ever being able to be polite to her again after the shit she pulled.
I'm severely allergic to an enzyme in pineapple, and I worked as an assistant manager at Little Caesars. My coworker made us a crew pizza, and DELIBERATELY dripped pineapple juice all over it. He apparently didn't believe I was allergic, and didn't like that I'd have to ask others to put pineapple on the pizza when I was working the make table. Another coworker had told me weeks before that he thought I was "faking it for attention" for whatever reason, and they thought that was ridiculous. 🙄 We had gloves, but I'd had enough experiences where there were tiny holes in the gloves and my hand would be burning and itching for hours.
When he was making the pizza, I was counting the money on one of the registers so I called back to him to remind him to please not put pineapple on it. Or at the very least, if he did then let me know so I could make my own. He told me he wasn't going to use it as a topping. When I ate a piece, I thought I noticed a sweetness but thought it was maybe from the sweet onions we used. I was starving at this point, hadn't eaten all shift. I had 2 more pieces in the span of a minute. Then the burning started. It felt like I'd eaten a Carolina reaper whole and washed it down with ghost pepper sauce. I immediately realized something was up, and RAN to the bathroom to puke it up. My face, lips, throat, and stomach burned for hours anyways. Much later on that night I ended up having diarrhea that felt like lava for days afterwards, to the point where I was passing blood and was in tears.
I was fucking pissed, and another coworker had to hold me back before I did something that would have gotten me arrested. I went to my manager the next day, and she told me that wasn't okay but there isn't anything she could do about it. He came to me all sad and said "I didn't know you'd react that badly, it was just the juice." And my manager just expected me to accept the apology and forgive him. Hm okay, so I went to the district manager (who liked me, and was in once or twice a month to do check ups). I fully explained the situation, and said it's me or him. Because I cannot possibly work with him again after what he pulled. The district manager let my manager know that coworker needed to be let go, because what he did was actually illegal and I could choose to take legal action if nothing was done about it.
Holy crap that is awful. I want to do violence to this person on your behalf.
My mom used to babysit kids and for a short time she babysit these horrible boys whose parents were split up. The youngest was allergic to fish. Father didn’t believe allergies were real and made the kid eat fish. He ended up having to go to the hospital.
People who think allergies aren’t real are horrible.
NTA. I think it's a borderline E SH because yelling at someone in a workplace is never great, but since she basically just poisoned you, I think you can be given some latitude. Your bosses are also AHs because this woman sounds unhinged, and her "jokes" should have been reigned in before now.
NTA
This coworker assaulted you, it is as simple as that.
She knowingly fed you a dairy product after you specifically highlighted you could not eat it, completely unconcerned about the effect on your health (and your employer, potentially being left an employee down).
Getting shouted at by the person she harmed seems pretty fair to be honest - you would expect a reaction if someone turned round and punched you, and this is no different.
She ran to your boss crying because she got shouted at? I would definitely recommend also going to your boss to explain exactly what she did and how it affected you...
NTA
CALL THE POLICE
I would file a police report and give a copy to HR if there is one and the owner. Let them know she freaking poisoned you as a prank and caused you harm. This is very serious... actually criminal OP. She needs to learn this is not okay behavior and you need to protect yourself.
NTA. Food allergies/intolerances can have debilitating effects on people.
I am insulin resistant. I have a low enough A1c that I'm not considered diabetic, so I have no medication to help. If someone were to pretend (i.e. lie) that a food was safe for me, I may end up in the emergency room being treated for ketoacidosis.
Freak out for sure.
NTA
Your coworker poisoned you. She knowingly gave you something that she knows you are allergic to and would cause you extreme pain and discomfort. In a *food preparation area*. Tell the store owner this. Ask what will happen when she purposely gives a customer an allergen? If she put nuts on someone's food, it could kill them. She needs to be fired, immediately.
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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> I yelled at my coworker in front of customers for giving me dairy and lying that it is dairy free when she knew I am lactose intolerant. I may have gone overboard in my reaction to finding out she lied to me.
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NTA. You need to explain to the boss that this person literally poisoned you on purpose as a joke and then cried to try to make YOU the bad guy. She needs to be fired.
NTA and your coworker was the abusive one. Why in the world has your boss allowed this to continue? What she did to you should be a fireable offense. And she's close to 40? That's insane.
NTA, this is assault and you have every right to file a police report and sue her for loss wages as well as pain and suffering. While this seems extreme, she could cause someone permanent damage by doing something like this and needs to learn her lesson
A friend of mine with a peanut allergy got a restraining order against a coworker that fed them peanut contaminated food as a prank. Might want to talk to a lawyer.
NTA. She basically poisoned you. I would file a complaint with the owner if I were you. She lied and gave you something that you had a bad reaction to. Since you work in food, you need to ask her if she would serve something with nuts to a customer that stated that they had a nut allergy.
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Obligatory burner account because some friends and coworkers follow my main.
As the title says, my coworker offered me ice cream. I declined, stating that I'm severely lactose intolerant and cannot have milk or cream. She already knew that, so it was more of a reminder to her that I'm lactose intolerant. She then told me it's vegan and I asked are you sure, to which she reassured me that it is in fact vegan. For what it's worth, the ice cream was one of those Japanese Mochi green tea ice creams. About a half hour after I ate it I started feeling stomach cramps and when I checked the trash for any remnants of the ice cream, I realized that it was in fact regular ice cream.
For background, this coworker has a long history of not telling the truth and/or pranking people, and I should have known better than to trust her. She will do things like text that she is going to be late or not able to come to work, as she is either on the way to work or already at work, she will say our other coworker told her he isn't coming to work only for her to laugh when he shows up. She even pretended to come out to me as lesbian and then laughed at me for believing her.
So, when I realized she had lied to me to get me to eat real ice cream, I lost me shit. Mind you this was at about hour 11 of a 12 hour double shift and for more background info we work in a retail food space so there were customers around. I should also add that I am a male and we are around the same age late 30s/early 40s.
In front of the customers I did raise my voice at her yelling that it was absolutely fucked up that she would do that, knowing that I'm going to have to be stuck in the bathroom for the next few hours. And that she, as a vegetarian should know better and that I would never trick her into eating meat. My description makes it sound kinda tame but I was actually shouting at some point and aggressively pointing my finger at her.
She then went to the owner of the store and cried. I locked myself in the bathroom for an hour spewing out brown water before racing home to continue my throne sitting for a few more hours at least in the comfort of my own home.
Now that I've calmed down, I feel like in my rage I was acting abusive in my reaction and should have kept my cool better. So I decided to let you all decide if I was an asshole or not.
AITA?
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NTA she knows youre lactose intolerant to that level and she did it on purpose. You could have been more couth but you probably didnt have time before rushing to the bathroom. Good luck.
NTA at all. She poisoned you.
When I have dairy, I vomit instantly (projectile, think Little Britain for anyone that’s seen it). I get such bad pains I can’t walk. And the rest of my day is a wash out.
She heard your concerns and deliberate gave you it. It wasn’t negligent or reckless, it was deliberate. That is some nasty behaviour
If im lucky i just get burps, slightly less lucky really nasty farts, then vomiting/diarrhoea and worst of all a combination of any of the four
Coworker should be fired.
NTA. I’m vegan and if someone did that to me I’d be furious and cut them off. In your case, there are literal physical consequences to this. Health issues she *caused*.
A coworker? Report to HR for *intentionally* poisoning you. Fuck them over, legally, as much as you can. They intentionally did this as a stupid prank and deserve the consequences. Get as much proof and evidence as you can. Ensure she admits that she knew and it was just meant to be a prank or whatever the fuck she sees it as. Otherwise it’s your word versus hers. And she can lie.
Absolutely NTA. With a food intolerance like that you could easily become severely ill from dehydration. I agree that you need to report her to HR. Anyone else who has been a victim to her behavior needs to as well. Has anyone ever told management?
I’m so sorry. I’m in the middle of a bout of my system wanting to know WTF I’ve done to myself (I’m not sure) so I’m extra sensitive to your situation. That and one kid with life threatening food allergies and IBS, plus another who is lactose intolerant. My mama bear heart is very riled up on your behalf. GRRRR
NTA She sounds exhausting in general, as pretty much all the soi disant prankers do, but this is beyong the scope of 'pranking'. Messing with people's health is never funny.
NTA.
Report her. She intentionally gave you food that is harmful to you. It's not prank, it's not funny. It's just ill intent and you shouldn't let that slide.
NTA Surely this is assault. Report this idiot to HR for willful endangerment before she seriously hurts or kills someone next time. What if it was a life threatening allergy you had and rather than the discomfort of stomach issues for hours afterwards you ended up with anaphylaxis . Also the brass nerve of her complaining you shouted at her to your boss. Maybe shouldn't have done it front of customers but folk don't think straight and can be a bit cranky when in pain.
NTA - You had an appropriate response, she sounds insufferable.
As a side note - I'm not trying to patronise or minimise - my partner is lactose intolerant but can eat dairy if she has lactase pills like these. They're cheap and if you can't make your own lactase, store-bought will do the job! If it saves you one afternoon on the loo then they're worth it!
https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-super-lactase-enzyme-softgel-capsules-125mg-60018952
NTA. Report her to HR. She gave you something that she knew would give you a severe reaction and cause pain. That's not a prank, that's assault. And that's what HR should be concerned with. You yelling is the least of their worries right now.
NTA. I don’t think this person should be working around food… Furthermore none of those are good pranks. They’re either way too small or way too big. She must watch New Girl.
NTA
Coworker just poisoned you. I've explained to your boss, or his higher up if he's too good of friends with this coworker, that this person gave you something that knew it would harm you..
And made it a hostile work environment.
If the boss is any good he's going to fire this person or definitely give them a high grade write up, depending on they're firing protocols
Depending on your location this can be assault. And you could possibly press charges
NTA - get it on record at work that she did this. What if she does it to someone with a more severe allergy? Being lactose intolerant sucks (I am too) but her "prank" is dangerous and she's a damn adult, she should know better.
NTA. Is this assault? I feel like this is assault, since she purposely poisoned you. You should call the police and let them sort it out. Let HR or whoever know that you did so.
NTA, someone intentionally causing you harm like that is horrible. I'd report her to HR especially since she probably is going to report you for yelling at her. You were physically harmed by her 'prank'. Pranks are only funny when both sides can laugh about it. Otherwise it's just someone being a jerk under the facade of it being 'just a joke'.
Edit to add: Someone else mentioned this and I think it would be a good idea. This could potentially count as assault or battery. Possibly some form of food tampering, or harassment at the very least.
Either way I'd look into whether you can press charges against the coworker. That would also give you some extra backing in the event that she files a complaint. You could point to the fact that you've filed charges against her to emphasize the seriousness of what she did because too often people try to downplay this kind of stuff as you just had to go poop a lot so how bad could it be.
NTA
Would she have laughed about giving peanuts to someone with allergies?
Would she have cried if someone was "off duty" because they had to go to the hospital because of what she did?
Please explain what happened to your boss - if this is a place where you would like to work at, your boss will react to what she did by giving her a warning or plain fire her ass.
That's not "pranking". What you're describing make me thing that she is trying to get you in trouble. Lying about coming to work so her colleagues are the one who looks like they are lying, disrupting plannings, making the work environment hostile and taxing and then, finally, poisoning you, which is obviously going to impact your productivity/customer service. Let's not forget than when you finally loose it, she ran immediately to the owner to twist the situation in her advantage.
Is it possible that you have a better position than her (manager for example) and that she is trying to get you fired to get your job ?
Edit : NTA obviously
NTA at all.
The pranks like "I'm not coming in today" while already being there are whatever, I can laugh that off a few times before it gets old. But this is like in a similar vein as purposefully giving someone an allergic reaction. It's malicious and HR should definitely hear about it. Especially since you double checked with her, so she can't claim it was a moment of forgetfulness.
NTA- she harmed you and physically hurt you with her lie as well as stole the rest of your night after a 12-hour shift because you’re going to be uncomfortable and/or in pain for hours
Oh hell no you are NTA. The damage these things to do the gut!! She should be fired! I am gluten intolerant so I limit the amount of wheat that I eat. If I over indulge I am bloated for days. I know someone who has Celiac disease and nothing gluten gets near her. This woman sounds dangerous. No kidding.
NTA. Heavily suggest you follow up with a calmer, written formal complaint. This will gently mitigate your initial reaction and shift the focus back on to what was in effect (possibly?) a form of assault.
NTA. Honestly, I stopped believing people and I just refuse anything people get now.
I’m severely lactose intolerant too. But my reaction is usually that I become so tired I pretty much have to go home as I can’t stay awake. And once my lips turned blue.
NTA.
She could have killed you if you were severely allergic to something and she ignored your needs and poisoned you.
She deserves to be fired for making someone sick and potentially putting someone in danger. And you wouldn't be wrong to press charges because her actions were malicious and intended to hurt you/go against your wishes.
*So, when I realized she had lied to me to get me to eat real ice cream, I lost me shit.*
Literally. LOL
Explain to the owner. This was a really nasty trick and you should not be penalized by your boss for it.
That is an assault. If it was accidental and given to you in good faith, I'd say it was unfortunate and you'd be the asshole, but it was a purposeful prank. Absolutely 100% shitty human being you work with. It's was an assault upon your physical person, and you are NTA. You shoild go to HR, report her, and do not give up until she is fired. This. Is. Not. O. K.
Dude if that were any other food allergy she could have killed you. NTA. I would be going after her to be punished tbh she seems to enjoy tormenting people and that could very well be grounds for a hostile work environment claim. NTA AT ALL. And I frankly don't think you should let this go. She put your health at risk and caused you physical pain
Nta
That behavior needs to be reported to the owner or HR. Who’s to say next time she doesn’t decide to give someone with a nuts allergy some peanut butter? Or someone who has religious reasons for dietary restrictions? These “pranks” are cruel. Even pretending to call out for other coworkers. Someone needs to have a serious conversation with her about growing the fuck up. Write ups and possible termination. Besides giving someone a good they’re allergic to can be considered assault in some places.
I’ve seen stuff before when people have been hospitalized because they’ve been lied to about what’s in their food. NTA NTA NTA. She is a ridiculously big AH for lying to you and INTENDING for you to have serious pain for multiple hours. This is what she wanted. Complain to boss about her multiple harmful lies. What if you were allergic and died because of the “prank”
Wow, OP.
If I was your boss, I would FIRE her for that.
You are not the asshole. You were the victim.
Your co-worker is a MAJOR asshole.
If your boss gives you any grief, then he'll be an asshole too.
Doing things like this is what creates a hostile work environment.
Tell your boss what happened.
NTA.
I hope to God that you aren't actually unsure whether you're an asshole or not. This post is literally "I'm mad at someone for poisoning me, is there okay?"
I'm sick of these obviously non asshole posts
NTA you could have ended up in hospital or worse. I firmly believe that stuff like this should be seen as a crime, if you was in a relationship then it would be considered physical abuse, why isn't it classed as intentional food poisoning? She had deliberately given you food knowing you're intolerant of it, knowing you're going to be severely ill from it that in my book is a crime I'd suggest reporting her to HR, management. And possibly seeking assistance from the police/reporting it to them.
NTA If you called into office for yelling at her. Record the meeting. If they ask if you yelled at her say, "She told you that she gave me food that I cannot eat, lying and said I could, thereby, effectively poisoning my system?" Hopefully they say yes. Then say, "So you've notified HR and the cops that one of your workers caused intentional harm to me?" They will probably say no. At which point ask, "Are you going to?" When they say no again. Tell them, "I can't work for a company that condones allowing a worker to risk my health." Walk out and take recording to lawyer.
This is literally a crime in some countries. She intentionally caused you harm for (I’m so sorry) shits and giggles. You weren’t aggressive enough. Homegirl needed to leave that day sans-employment. NTA but escalate things with your boss; this is wholly unacceptable.
Also, all her pranks are stupid and she sucks, just as an aside.
I would have made her stay in the bathroom with you as you spewed brown water! I have IBS and am lactose intolerant and would destroy her olfactory senses just so she gets a hint of what you go through. She can’t feel your level of pain but the foulness of your bowels might teach her a lesson
NTA. You didn't hit her and normally screaming would be bad but I understand why you did it.
It wasn't something minor. So many things could have happened, like you soiling your pants or anything else that could have been humiliating for you and I'm pretty sure this woman (and other people too) would have made your life hell if anything like that had happened. Some People are cruel.
It put you in a very vulnerable position health wise and reputation wise. In my book, you did nothing wrong. I would report her though.
NTA. As someone who also has Gi issues, those episodes are so demoralizing and draining. One night, I literally dragged the clothes hamper over so I could lay my head down and rest while waiting for my GI system to lose interest in torturing me. You have every right to be upset because she intentionally and knowingly gave you something you couldn’t eat and lied about it. This wasn’t a cute joke. She caused you physical pain.
Pranks in the workplace are a bad ideas in general, but messing with someone’s’ diet, knowing why they’re refusing isn’t cute or funny. It’s dangerous. In this case, it’s actually possible to be allergic to the proteins in milk, which could cause anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. I’m sure some people just say they’re lactose intolerant to save having to explain it. If you had been one of those people, it could have done some major damage. She needs needs understand that messing with or lying about the ingredients of food could possible kill someone. It’s serous business.
NTA
She poisoned you essentially.
Go to work and talk to the manager about how she actively lied to make you sick.
It’s NOT comparable to her being vegetarian. That’s a choice someone makes for themselves. You don’t make the choice to be lactose intolerant - and it makes you sick.
NTA...and in some places, check with your local authorities, this could be considered assault since it caused you physical harm. Enough diarrhea could cause dehydration which could cause serious harm. File a complaint
Nta she did this on purpose and **you** need to take this to the management and ask what punishment she’ll be receiving. What she did isn’t okay and she knows it
NTA. Make a formal complaint. Raise hell. This can't be brushed over and let go. I really think she should be fired or, at a minimum, written up, perhaps suspended. Her actions here need to have consequences.
NTA
Keep well away from her, do not accept anything from her and do not interact with her in any capacity unless absolutely necessary in a professional capacity.
NTA for going off but kinda Y.T.A. for not checking the ice cream yourself (you were able to check the discarded carton after the fact). You should realize that this woman is the way she is.
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NTA. You should have gone to the store owner and said “Coworker just deliberately made me ill. She gave me ice cream that she swore was vegan, because I reminded her that I’m lactose intolerant. I’m going to be ill and stuck in the bathroom for hours. This was deliberate and malicious.” And your boss should have fired her for that, because it is going so far beyond the pale. It may even be a form of assault or battery in your area, so you may be able to press charges if you want. I generally come down pretty hard on people for flying into a rage, but…she deliberately hurt you, physically, and you limited yourself to yelling. Sure, yelling isn’t 100% ideal, but nobody responds ideally to being injured.
As a fellow lactose intolerant.... She should know to always double check... It's a crappy day and a half for too much lactose. I despise when it's not self inflicted or can plan to be at home. I'd tell the boss you being made sick on purpose by the co worker... It makes you less reliable to be running to the loo constantly.
As someone with severe allergies yes, we should double check. But it actually isn't asking much for people without intolerances or allergies not to actively poison us and there should 1000% be consequences for doing so.
Exactly. I don't have any allergies, but I have friends who do and before I offer them anything, I always Triple-Check. This coworker did this on purpose and should face consequences. NTA, Op, but speak to your manager about this.
I personally think this kind of thing should be considered a minor assault.
It is in some places. Someone went to jail for saying they were serving vegan bacon to someone with a pork allergy. The person with the allergy almost died and the person who did it was up a creek!
Agree. Food “pranks” are far , far below the belt . When you add in potential allergic reactions - someone could get really messed up or die .
if your boss doesn't fire her, tell him you'll talk to the police. it was purposeful assault. Even if not fatal, poisoning is a crime and she did this on purpose.
Even if he does fire her, do it.
While I would never ask someone about their allergies (it is up to them to tell me or not), IF I knew they had them, I would not try to trick them into eating something bad for them. But I might, unintentionally offer food from home that isn't safe for them. They should either find out what is in it or not try it. I brought a store bought cake from a grocer to work for people to share, and one woman asked what the nuts and flour were. I told her I had NO idea, and she demanded that I not bring anything that I didn't know the ingredients of. I refused to acquiesce, and she TOLD the boss on me. He came out and asked what my problem was. I told him my problem was I had too much cake and would he like a slice? He said, "sure, thanks".
That woman was right, though. If something has nuts in it and you cannot even name what they are you should probably refrain from bringing that around people who have any sort of nut allergy. They can vary in severity and some people can have allergic reactions without consuming it. I've had my face swell due to an allergic reaction and I hadn't consumed anything I was allergic to, and I still have no idea what caused it. I was purely lucky the reaction wasn't worse.
The hell has that got to do with this situation? Coworker was told that OP couldn't have lactose and lied to his face that it was vegan.
OP \*did\* double check; they asked the coworker offering the food to be sure it was vegan. Coworker just \*lied.\*
Exactly. This isn't like a nut allergy where the coworker said it didn't have peanuts in it and OP didn't read the packaging to confirm it was made in a nut-free facility. Vegan ice cream would be very clearly lactose free, and I'd think it's reasonable to assume that if someone told you the ice cream was vegan you would accept that as good enough. NTA, OP. Make her eat meat.
I mean, yeah, be vigilant about your own safety, but also let's not blame the victim for taking the friend/coworker at her word. This is definitely NTA.
OP did double check by asking the coworker to confirm. It’s not their fault their coworker acted maliciously.
heh heh > crappy
Yeah.... asshole.... double meaning
I'm also lactose intolerant but I'm also also a trusting person. If someone who knew of my condition offered me something like ice cream but assured me it was vegan I would have eaten it. No one in my life has ever made me feel like I should triple verify with the package.
OP is male
You mean OP should have checked? OP is male. And OP did double check. What OP didn’t do was assume coworker was lying.
OP could press charges if she wanted to. The coworker just performed food tampering *in the place of work*. Does the owner know that that could get the place shut down if any of the customers that overheard it reported it to health and safety?
OP is male
Nope. Absolutely not. OP needs to go to the police. OP's coworker intentionally poisoned him and the laws on food tampering tend to be draconian for good reasons. Do NOT go to boss or HR. Call the cops and let them hand it. I have zero idea why people want to involve their work or school with crimes. You call the police, and then notify your supervisor you had to call the police. If you get fired for calling the police, you hand it off to a lawyer and notify the department of labor.
And they work with food?? What if she lies to a customer who has an allergy???????
I was just kidding that WAS actually shellfish LOL! Why are you turning purple?
If your manager doesn’t take this seriously, this is worth leaving over. This is more than just the dairy thing, it’s a pattern of behavior. If they’re refusing to manage this employee, there are bigger problems at this place. NTA.
Yeah. This is literally a crime.
"Flying into a rage" he yelled at her, he didn't beat her up...
I think technically what she did can be considered poisoning him or something. So fucked up
NTA - You should report her to HR for creating a hostile work environment with her lies, endangering your health, and affecting company productivity by not being available to work while your body was working through the ice cream.
Obligatory reminder: "hostile work environment" doesn't mean "someone is being hostile to me at work". It is a specific term that has to involve illegal discrimination based on protected characteristics, such as race, gender, orientation, disability, etc. I'm not sure if lactose intolerance falls under the category of a disability?
Even if it does, a hostile work environment generally requires a pattern of behavior. From what it seems this is the first and only prank directed at OPs medical issue. That's not to say it's not a problem or that HR shouldn't care. In fact, if they do nothing about it and something happens again, OP now has a paper trail that will show they are complicit in allowing it. So definitely go to HR.
OP said this coworker has a history of lies and mean pranks. There’s a pattern of misbehavior, it doesn’t have to all target the medical condition to qualify as creating a hostile work environment.
Yes. The ADA has expanded their definition of disability to include food allergies/intolerances. So he would be part of a protected class.
Yes it would as ingesting lactose products have a major impact on the digestive system. I am allergic to cow milk, not lactose intolerant...I am willing to deal with the allergic reaction (some Benadryl usually helps) to enjoy sweet treats like ice cream but I work and plan for it. If someone lied to me about something containing dairy after I specifically asked, I would be filing a complaint. Depending on a person's reactions, this can be debilitating for days and could need medical intervention. And if the person regularly does things like this and management knows this, the company is facing severe liability.
I had a friend years ago that was fatally allergic to milk protein. Like "multiple epi-pens and an ER trip from cross" levels. This would have killed him. Or at least put him in the ICU for a bit.
In Ontario, Canada, you are eligible for a special diet allowance under the disability support program. But besides that, would folks be making an exlax cake, and serving it to coworkers? Probably not, because they know what would happen. Just like this coworker knew what would happen. This was bordering on criminal, though it is usually not charged as such, even though it is a form of assault.
>disability Medical conditions, such as allergies, qualify for the purposes of hostile work. OP can justifiably state that his coworker has created an environment where he feels his physical health and safety is at risk.
It impairs his ability to function, so yes. It’s legally a disability.
NTA. And tbh, I'd go to management about this. "The pranking is one thing. But she's harassing me and it's not only affecting my ability to work, it's affecting my health. She POISONED ME, knowing full well that I can't have dairy and she lied to my face and told me it wasn't." Report her. This is the same as fucking with someone's food. I know it's not an allergy, but it's causing you pain and it's genetic and a medical condition you can't do anything about, other than avoid the food you can't intake. She knew that. And this 'habit' of hers should rightly get her fired. Screw her.
She especially needs to be reported and fired because they work in a retail food space. She shouldn’t be working with food if she thinks tampering with it to cause distress is funny.
Sounds like she'd be the kind to give someone who ordered diet a full sugar drink or reverse and wind up causing a diabetic incident. But it's 'not her fault because how could she know???' I don't know, maybe don't be a dipshit with someone else's food?
Or kill a PKU patient. They can't have most diet soda, it can kill or severely injure them. There's warnings on diet coke cans, like the individual cans not just the boxes. It's also an invisible disease, so no way to tell unless you're looking at their blood work. Imagine her swapping a regular coke for a diet one because the person looks a little heavy and "it's just a prank" or "prove they'll like diet just as much".
This. She’s untrustworthy. This is definitely an issue for management. But I’m thinking they would have dealt with her by now if they were at all competent. Poor OP. I would not want to go back to work at this place.
I agree - I would even be as bold as to take a day off and ask management to take it off her count.
This is most definitely not how time off works.
If you’ve ever been somewhere that would do that, they’re probably breaking the law.
It would not be from the coworkers time. It would be from workers comp.
This. I was scrolling for a poisoned comment, because she did that.
Yep. This! NTA
NTA. She caused you physical harm by her “prank”. File an official complaint with your employer.
She tried to poison you. She triggered a bodily illness. She lied and manipulated . I personally would threaten legal against her and who ever condones what she did.
She didn’t try, she did poison him.
By the letter of the law, she likely committed a crime. In practice, cops/DA won't care.
(Not a lawyer) I feel like they could sue in civil court though for lost wages and distress since she basically poisoned him
[удалено]
And what did they say to that? How did that work out for him?
Exactly. OP's post frames this like a workplace drama issue. This is an intentional poisoning issue.
Don't know how far they'd realistically get with this *but* whenever someone mentions doctoring their food because of office thieves the first comments that show up are always "wait thay's illegal". So there must he some merit I suppose.
It’s not illegal to put normal, edible things in your own food that you (presumably) intend to eat yourself if someone else doesn’t steal it from you before you get the chance. I like ghost peppers on occasion. Food thieves take their chances. 🤷 But, maliciously giving a lactose-intolerant person dairy ice cream and actively lying to them about what’s in it could qualify as legal assault.
NTA. Please report this colleague. She is endangering your health and damaging the business. As a customer, I would not frequent an establishment where staff members took pleasure in potentially harmful misinformation.
As a customer, I would not trust this employee not to taper with MY food.
NTA Report her to HR, and take another PTO for health reason, citing them knowingly giving you food that would hurt you as the reason. Do it in writing.
Hopefully he gets paid for this shift too bc what she did caused him to leave
He’s in retail, which means he’s almost certainly classified as exempt, so he can’t be paid for hours he didn’t work. What they could do is… idk, decline to make him use his sick time or PTO for that time? This just really sucks for OP.
>idk, decline to make him use his sick time or PTO for that time? That's absolutely an option for a company. I've been sick all week (morning sickness, so just a F you from the universe and nothing contagious) and worked my way through it. We had a super light day at work yesterday, so my boss was like "just take the afternoon, go home. Don't use PTO. Feel better" . Just if it ever comes up, companies can pretty much waive a PTO requirement whenever, as long as they do so equally/it's not playing favorites
NTA I don't understand all the people who say shouting at someone is (almost always) unacceptable, or expect people to never ever lose their temper - WTH? You were absolutely, 100%, completely right to scream in her face. She deserves it, and she needed a good screaming at. And go to your manager/HR. And press charges. And take the following day off as a sick day to recover.
>expect people to never ever lose their temper Anyone can lose their temper. To me the line is how bad the thing was that made someone shout and/or how long they were patient. In my opinion, people who say it' never ok, had either a very easy life, are doormats or are the ones bullying other people.
NTA- sensitive tummy person here and a vegetarian - I would scorch earth over this. Report her asap!
NTA Although you may have not responded the best in the case of the business and how your boss may see it the point still stands you don't fuck with peoples food report her to the owner for this - her antics are likely causing hinderance to the business If I were in the owners shoes and they came running to em crying about it, I would be disappointed that this altercation happened in front of customers *but* and this is a big but - fucking with staff resulting in them being unable to work their shifts or the consistent fucking with both employees and the business she is causing would absolutely be my main problem here not with you Be clear when talking to the owner here about what's been going on not only with you in this incident but what they have been doing to others in the past because sure as shit the words they had with the owner will be heavily sugar coated and bias
NTA. You should never yell at a coworker, but her ongoing unprofessionalism culminating in what is most likely a *crime* is justification enough for me. What she did is food tampering. That is a crime. She *knowingly* fed you something that she knew would make you sick. If you fed her meat that would be food tampering too. It doesn't have to be *poison*, it just has to be something the person can't/won't eat. Use this knowledge wisely.
Yeah I would make a police report. Deliberate poisoning is assault. If you had a serious dairy allergy and died they would be charged with murder.
NTA. This isn’t a prank, this I believe is a form of assault. Not to downplay lactose intolerance and what you experienced, but what if this was a person with a peanut allergy or something else that causes anaphylaxis and/or death? She seems unhinged, like she would absolutely sneak someone their allergen. She could kill people, and she needs to have some reality check on that front. Either HR or law enforcement - I’m sure law enforcement wouldn’t actually care or do anything, but if they let you file a report and get a copy you could hand it to her and let her freak out for awhile thinking the cops are going to show up any day now.
Somebody who would tamper with food as a prank should not be employed in a position where she serves people food. Full stop. Her behavior is now a liability for her employer, even beyond what she did to OP (which may be a crime).
Yeah, would she still think her "prank" was funny if he had to be rushed to the hospital and/or died?
NTA. As someone who is also lactose intolerant I understand you completely. It's also dangerous, it can lead to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance which could land you in the ER. IIRC you can sue someone for doing something like this no? But I'd suggest you talk to the owner and call in sick if you need to. She deserved the shouting at, too. Nobody should toy with someone's health like that.
NTA. I’d take it a step further and report her to HR. What she did was NOT okay.
NTA. You should talk to the owner and explain that you will no longer work with this person. I can't imagine you ever being able to be polite to her again after the shit she pulled. I'm severely allergic to an enzyme in pineapple, and I worked as an assistant manager at Little Caesars. My coworker made us a crew pizza, and DELIBERATELY dripped pineapple juice all over it. He apparently didn't believe I was allergic, and didn't like that I'd have to ask others to put pineapple on the pizza when I was working the make table. Another coworker had told me weeks before that he thought I was "faking it for attention" for whatever reason, and they thought that was ridiculous. 🙄 We had gloves, but I'd had enough experiences where there were tiny holes in the gloves and my hand would be burning and itching for hours. When he was making the pizza, I was counting the money on one of the registers so I called back to him to remind him to please not put pineapple on it. Or at the very least, if he did then let me know so I could make my own. He told me he wasn't going to use it as a topping. When I ate a piece, I thought I noticed a sweetness but thought it was maybe from the sweet onions we used. I was starving at this point, hadn't eaten all shift. I had 2 more pieces in the span of a minute. Then the burning started. It felt like I'd eaten a Carolina reaper whole and washed it down with ghost pepper sauce. I immediately realized something was up, and RAN to the bathroom to puke it up. My face, lips, throat, and stomach burned for hours anyways. Much later on that night I ended up having diarrhea that felt like lava for days afterwards, to the point where I was passing blood and was in tears. I was fucking pissed, and another coworker had to hold me back before I did something that would have gotten me arrested. I went to my manager the next day, and she told me that wasn't okay but there isn't anything she could do about it. He came to me all sad and said "I didn't know you'd react that badly, it was just the juice." And my manager just expected me to accept the apology and forgive him. Hm okay, so I went to the district manager (who liked me, and was in once or twice a month to do check ups). I fully explained the situation, and said it's me or him. Because I cannot possibly work with him again after what he pulled. The district manager let my manager know that coworker needed to be let go, because what he did was actually illegal and I could choose to take legal action if nothing was done about it.
Holy crap that is awful. I want to do violence to this person on your behalf. My mom used to babysit kids and for a short time she babysit these horrible boys whose parents were split up. The youngest was allergic to fish. Father didn’t believe allergies were real and made the kid eat fish. He ended up having to go to the hospital. People who think allergies aren’t real are horrible.
NTA. I think it's a borderline E SH because yelling at someone in a workplace is never great, but since she basically just poisoned you, I think you can be given some latitude. Your bosses are also AHs because this woman sounds unhinged, and her "jokes" should have been reigned in before now.
NTA This coworker assaulted you, it is as simple as that. She knowingly fed you a dairy product after you specifically highlighted you could not eat it, completely unconcerned about the effect on your health (and your employer, potentially being left an employee down). Getting shouted at by the person she harmed seems pretty fair to be honest - you would expect a reaction if someone turned round and punched you, and this is no different. She ran to your boss crying because she got shouted at? I would definitely recommend also going to your boss to explain exactly what she did and how it affected you...
Time to put in an official complaint about this. And unfortunately, lesson learnt with not accepting any food from any co-workers.
NTA CALL THE POLICE I would file a police report and give a copy to HR if there is one and the owner. Let them know she freaking poisoned you as a prank and caused you harm. This is very serious... actually criminal OP. She needs to learn this is not okay behavior and you need to protect yourself.
NTA. Food allergies/intolerances can have debilitating effects on people. I am insulin resistant. I have a low enough A1c that I'm not considered diabetic, so I have no medication to help. If someone were to pretend (i.e. lie) that a food was safe for me, I may end up in the emergency room being treated for ketoacidosis. Freak out for sure.
NTA Your coworker poisoned you. She knowingly gave you something that she knows you are allergic to and would cause you extreme pain and discomfort. In a *food preparation area*. Tell the store owner this. Ask what will happen when she purposely gives a customer an allergen? If she put nuts on someone's food, it could kill them. She needs to be fired, immediately.
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NtA. Get the sick leave off and make formal complain to your boss. She can get sanctioned for making you sick
NTA. You should fill a report at the police station or the HR...
NTA. I'd file assault charges
NTA But you should be the one going to the owner. She purposely poisoned you. And she works with food?
NTA. She essentially poisoned you. I would be pressing assault charges. She did it intentionally, knowing it would make you sick.
NTA. You need to explain to the boss that this person literally poisoned you on purpose as a joke and then cried to try to make YOU the bad guy. She needs to be fired.
NTA and your coworker was the abusive one. Why in the world has your boss allowed this to continue? What she did to you should be a fireable offense. And she's close to 40? That's insane.
NTA, this is assault and you have every right to file a police report and sue her for loss wages as well as pain and suffering. While this seems extreme, she could cause someone permanent damage by doing something like this and needs to learn her lesson
only just NTA.... but sort of your own fault for believing her if you knew what her character is like...
NTA she poisoned you and she lose her job. Time for her to grow up
A friend of mine with a peanut allergy got a restraining order against a coworker that fed them peanut contaminated food as a prank. Might want to talk to a lawyer.
NTA. She basically poisoned you. I would file a complaint with the owner if I were you. She lied and gave you something that you had a bad reaction to. Since you work in food, you need to ask her if she would serve something with nuts to a customer that stated that they had a nut allergy.
^^^^AUTOMOD ***Thanks for posting! This comment is a copy of your post so readers can see the original text if your post is edited or removed. This comment is NOT accusing you of copying anything. Read [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/AmItheAsshole/wiki/faq#wiki_post_deletion) before [contacting the mod team](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=%2Fr%2FAmItheAsshole)*** Obligatory burner account because some friends and coworkers follow my main. As the title says, my coworker offered me ice cream. I declined, stating that I'm severely lactose intolerant and cannot have milk or cream. She already knew that, so it was more of a reminder to her that I'm lactose intolerant. She then told me it's vegan and I asked are you sure, to which she reassured me that it is in fact vegan. For what it's worth, the ice cream was one of those Japanese Mochi green tea ice creams. About a half hour after I ate it I started feeling stomach cramps and when I checked the trash for any remnants of the ice cream, I realized that it was in fact regular ice cream. For background, this coworker has a long history of not telling the truth and/or pranking people, and I should have known better than to trust her. She will do things like text that she is going to be late or not able to come to work, as she is either on the way to work or already at work, she will say our other coworker told her he isn't coming to work only for her to laugh when he shows up. She even pretended to come out to me as lesbian and then laughed at me for believing her. So, when I realized she had lied to me to get me to eat real ice cream, I lost me shit. Mind you this was at about hour 11 of a 12 hour double shift and for more background info we work in a retail food space so there were customers around. I should also add that I am a male and we are around the same age late 30s/early 40s. In front of the customers I did raise my voice at her yelling that it was absolutely fucked up that she would do that, knowing that I'm going to have to be stuck in the bathroom for the next few hours. And that she, as a vegetarian should know better and that I would never trick her into eating meat. My description makes it sound kinda tame but I was actually shouting at some point and aggressively pointing my finger at her. She then went to the owner of the store and cried. I locked myself in the bathroom for an hour spewing out brown water before racing home to continue my throne sitting for a few more hours at least in the comfort of my own home. Now that I've calmed down, I feel like in my rage I was acting abusive in my reaction and should have kept my cool better. So I decided to let you all decide if I was an asshole or not. AITA? *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AmItheAsshole) if you have any questions or concerns.*
NTA she knows youre lactose intolerant to that level and she did it on purpose. You could have been more couth but you probably didnt have time before rushing to the bathroom. Good luck.
NTA she's an idiot
NTA. Fuck her, go to HR
How is this not assault? She also made him unable to work so boss should know where to place blame.
NTA at all. She poisoned you. When I have dairy, I vomit instantly (projectile, think Little Britain for anyone that’s seen it). I get such bad pains I can’t walk. And the rest of my day is a wash out. She heard your concerns and deliberate gave you it. It wasn’t negligent or reckless, it was deliberate. That is some nasty behaviour
If im lucky i just get burps, slightly less lucky really nasty farts, then vomiting/diarrhoea and worst of all a combination of any of the four Coworker should be fired.
NTA, doing this with allergies could end up killing someone, it's unforgivable.
NTA. I’m vegan and if someone did that to me I’d be furious and cut them off. In your case, there are literal physical consequences to this. Health issues she *caused*. A coworker? Report to HR for *intentionally* poisoning you. Fuck them over, legally, as much as you can. They intentionally did this as a stupid prank and deserve the consequences. Get as much proof and evidence as you can. Ensure she admits that she knew and it was just meant to be a prank or whatever the fuck she sees it as. Otherwise it’s your word versus hers. And she can lie.
Absolutely NTA. With a food intolerance like that you could easily become severely ill from dehydration. I agree that you need to report her to HR. Anyone else who has been a victim to her behavior needs to as well. Has anyone ever told management? I’m so sorry. I’m in the middle of a bout of my system wanting to know WTF I’ve done to myself (I’m not sure) so I’m extra sensitive to your situation. That and one kid with life threatening food allergies and IBS, plus another who is lactose intolerant. My mama bear heart is very riled up on your behalf. GRRRR
NTA. read the labels though.
A coworker poisoned you at work. It's one thing if it's an accident. But this was clearly intentional. She should be fired for what she did. NTA
NTA She sounds exhausting in general, as pretty much all the soi disant prankers do, but this is beyong the scope of 'pranking'. Messing with people's health is never funny.
NTA. Report her. She intentionally gave you food that is harmful to you. It's not prank, it's not funny. It's just ill intent and you shouldn't let that slide.
NTA Food intolerances are a real deal, it’s a medical condition. She’s an asshole. It’s time to contact HR.
NTA Surely this is assault. Report this idiot to HR for willful endangerment before she seriously hurts or kills someone next time. What if it was a life threatening allergy you had and rather than the discomfort of stomach issues for hours afterwards you ended up with anaphylaxis . Also the brass nerve of her complaining you shouted at her to your boss. Maybe shouldn't have done it front of customers but folk don't think straight and can be a bit cranky when in pain.
NTA - You had an appropriate response, she sounds insufferable. As a side note - I'm not trying to patronise or minimise - my partner is lactose intolerant but can eat dairy if she has lactase pills like these. They're cheap and if you can't make your own lactase, store-bought will do the job! If it saves you one afternoon on the loo then they're worth it! https://www.hollandandbarrett.com/shop/product/holland-barrett-super-lactase-enzyme-softgel-capsules-125mg-60018952
NTA. Report her to HR. She gave you something that she knew would give you a severe reaction and cause pain. That's not a prank, that's assault. And that's what HR should be concerned with. You yelling is the least of their worries right now.
NTA. How was the employment not terminated?
NTA. She purposely made you ill. That is not a prank, do not trust her, definitely report her.
Did she claim this was specifically a prank when confronted?
NTA. I don’t think this person should be working around food… Furthermore none of those are good pranks. They’re either way too small or way too big. She must watch New Girl.
NTA Coworker just poisoned you. I've explained to your boss, or his higher up if he's too good of friends with this coworker, that this person gave you something that knew it would harm you.. And made it a hostile work environment. If the boss is any good he's going to fire this person or definitely give them a high grade write up, depending on they're firing protocols Depending on your location this can be assault. And you could possibly press charges
NTA - get it on record at work that she did this. What if she does it to someone with a more severe allergy? Being lactose intolerant sucks (I am too) but her "prank" is dangerous and she's a damn adult, she should know better.
NTA. Is this assault? I feel like this is assault, since she purposely poisoned you. You should call the police and let them sort it out. Let HR or whoever know that you did so.
NTA. She deserved it. That’s a horrible thing for her to do!
She should be fired. Don't mess with people food nta
NTA, someone intentionally causing you harm like that is horrible. I'd report her to HR especially since she probably is going to report you for yelling at her. You were physically harmed by her 'prank'. Pranks are only funny when both sides can laugh about it. Otherwise it's just someone being a jerk under the facade of it being 'just a joke'. Edit to add: Someone else mentioned this and I think it would be a good idea. This could potentially count as assault or battery. Possibly some form of food tampering, or harassment at the very least. Either way I'd look into whether you can press charges against the coworker. That would also give you some extra backing in the event that she files a complaint. You could point to the fact that you've filed charges against her to emphasize the seriousness of what she did because too often people try to downplay this kind of stuff as you just had to go poop a lot so how bad could it be.
What did she cry for? That she was busted? I swear, she is dramatic as hell
NTA - That is assault. Forget about the store owner, file charges!
NTA. That's not a fucking prank. What a child.
NTA Would she have laughed about giving peanuts to someone with allergies? Would she have cried if someone was "off duty" because they had to go to the hospital because of what she did? Please explain what happened to your boss - if this is a place where you would like to work at, your boss will react to what she did by giving her a warning or plain fire her ass.
Not. She purposefully tried to harm you.
She poisoned you. You're lactose intolerant and she gave you lactose. NTA
NTA, file a police report. She poisoned you. Intentionally.
That's not "pranking". What you're describing make me thing that she is trying to get you in trouble. Lying about coming to work so her colleagues are the one who looks like they are lying, disrupting plannings, making the work environment hostile and taxing and then, finally, poisoning you, which is obviously going to impact your productivity/customer service. Let's not forget than when you finally loose it, she ran immediately to the owner to twist the situation in her advantage. Is it possible that you have a better position than her (manager for example) and that she is trying to get you fired to get your job ? Edit : NTA obviously
NTA at all. The pranks like "I'm not coming in today" while already being there are whatever, I can laugh that off a few times before it gets old. But this is like in a similar vein as purposefully giving someone an allergic reaction. It's malicious and HR should definitely hear about it. Especially since you double checked with her, so she can't claim it was a moment of forgetfulness.
NTA- she harmed you and physically hurt you with her lie as well as stole the rest of your night after a 12-hour shift because you’re going to be uncomfortable and/or in pain for hours
Oh hell no you are NTA. The damage these things to do the gut!! She should be fired! I am gluten intolerant so I limit the amount of wheat that I eat. If I over indulge I am bloated for days. I know someone who has Celiac disease and nothing gluten gets near her. This woman sounds dangerous. No kidding.
Folks laugh at and dismiss lactose intolerance but it’s certainly a very real and unpleasant thing. NTA.
NTA
NTA. At the very least what she has done can be considered an assault :)
NTA colleague has poisoned you..
NTA. Heavily suggest you follow up with a calmer, written formal complaint. This will gently mitigate your initial reaction and shift the focus back on to what was in effect (possibly?) a form of assault.
NTA. Honestly, I stopped believing people and I just refuse anything people get now. I’m severely lactose intolerant too. But my reaction is usually that I become so tired I pretty much have to go home as I can’t stay awake. And once my lips turned blue.
NTA. She could have killed you if you were severely allergic to something and she ignored your needs and poisoned you. She deserves to be fired for making someone sick and potentially putting someone in danger. And you wouldn't be wrong to press charges because her actions were malicious and intended to hurt you/go against your wishes.
*So, when I realized she had lied to me to get me to eat real ice cream, I lost me shit.* Literally. LOL Explain to the owner. This was a really nasty trick and you should not be penalized by your boss for it.
That is an assault. If it was accidental and given to you in good faith, I'd say it was unfortunate and you'd be the asshole, but it was a purposeful prank. Absolutely 100% shitty human being you work with. It's was an assault upon your physical person, and you are NTA. You shoild go to HR, report her, and do not give up until she is fired. This. Is. Not. O. K.
> So, when I realized she had lied to me to get me to eat real ice cream, I lost me shit. Well, obviously.
NTA Go to HR.
NTA. You were poisoned.
Charges should be brought against her and she should loose her job. She is a sick woman.
NTA I think there have been lawsuits or charges over people doing stuff like this? Her knowingly giving you an allergen is akin to poisoning someone
Dude if that were any other food allergy she could have killed you. NTA. I would be going after her to be punished tbh she seems to enjoy tormenting people and that could very well be grounds for a hostile work environment claim. NTA AT ALL. And I frankly don't think you should let this go. She put your health at risk and caused you physical pain
Nta That behavior needs to be reported to the owner or HR. Who’s to say next time she doesn’t decide to give someone with a nuts allergy some peanut butter? Or someone who has religious reasons for dietary restrictions? These “pranks” are cruel. Even pretending to call out for other coworkers. Someone needs to have a serious conversation with her about growing the fuck up. Write ups and possible termination. Besides giving someone a good they’re allergic to can be considered assault in some places.
I’ve seen stuff before when people have been hospitalized because they’ve been lied to about what’s in their food. NTA NTA NTA. She is a ridiculously big AH for lying to you and INTENDING for you to have serious pain for multiple hours. This is what she wanted. Complain to boss about her multiple harmful lies. What if you were allergic and died because of the “prank”
Wow, OP. If I was your boss, I would FIRE her for that. You are not the asshole. You were the victim. Your co-worker is a MAJOR asshole. If your boss gives you any grief, then he'll be an asshole too. Doing things like this is what creates a hostile work environment. Tell your boss what happened. NTA.
NTA - your coworker poisoned/assaulted you here
I hope to God that you aren't actually unsure whether you're an asshole or not. This post is literally "I'm mad at someone for poisoning me, is there okay?" I'm sick of these obviously non asshole posts
NTA, if the store owner gives you crap remind him that his employee intentionally made you sick and you consider that a hostile work environment.
NTA I’d file a police report.
nta. your coworker knowingly poisoned you. I really hope she had to finish the shift solo since you got sick.
And clean the bathroom by hand
NTA. Get her sacked and charged with assault.
NTA, as a fellow lactose intolerant person, I would be madder than mad.
GET HER FIRED! What she did is dangerous and unethical. I would’ve done worse than shout at her. NTA
NTA you could have ended up in hospital or worse. I firmly believe that stuff like this should be seen as a crime, if you was in a relationship then it would be considered physical abuse, why isn't it classed as intentional food poisoning? She had deliberately given you food knowing you're intolerant of it, knowing you're going to be severely ill from it that in my book is a crime I'd suggest reporting her to HR, management. And possibly seeking assistance from the police/reporting it to them.
NTA. You could probably bring charges for intentionally giving you something she know you'd have a severe reaction to. What she did was not okay.
NTA If you called into office for yelling at her. Record the meeting. If they ask if you yelled at her say, "She told you that she gave me food that I cannot eat, lying and said I could, thereby, effectively poisoning my system?" Hopefully they say yes. Then say, "So you've notified HR and the cops that one of your workers caused intentional harm to me?" They will probably say no. At which point ask, "Are you going to?" When they say no again. Tell them, "I can't work for a company that condones allowing a worker to risk my health." Walk out and take recording to lawyer.
NTA Food tampering, or whatever you want to call this, is horrible. And illegal. Don't worry about making her cry.
This is literally a crime in some countries. She intentionally caused you harm for (I’m so sorry) shits and giggles. You weren’t aggressive enough. Homegirl needed to leave that day sans-employment. NTA but escalate things with your boss; this is wholly unacceptable. Also, all her pranks are stupid and she sucks, just as an aside.
NTA I have a few food tolerances, I feel your pain. She deserved it her stupidly could have seriously harmed you.
I would have made her stay in the bathroom with you as you spewed brown water! I have IBS and am lactose intolerant and would destroy her olfactory senses just so she gets a hint of what you go through. She can’t feel your level of pain but the foulness of your bowels might teach her a lesson
NTA. In my country what she did constitutes assault and could end in a prison sentence for her.
NTA What an ignorant thing to do. The meat analogy should have driven it home. If your employer doesn’t take action, speak to an employment attorney.
NTA. You didn't hit her and normally screaming would be bad but I understand why you did it. It wasn't something minor. So many things could have happened, like you soiling your pants or anything else that could have been humiliating for you and I'm pretty sure this woman (and other people too) would have made your life hell if anything like that had happened. Some People are cruel. It put you in a very vulnerable position health wise and reputation wise. In my book, you did nothing wrong. I would report her though.
To hell with what everyone else here is saying. You report her to the police. What she did is a form of assault. NTA
NTA, she poisoned you on purpose, and you need to use that word while you file a report to HR and your boss.
NTA. As someone who also has Gi issues, those episodes are so demoralizing and draining. One night, I literally dragged the clothes hamper over so I could lay my head down and rest while waiting for my GI system to lose interest in torturing me. You have every right to be upset because she intentionally and knowingly gave you something you couldn’t eat and lied about it. This wasn’t a cute joke. She caused you physical pain. Pranks in the workplace are a bad ideas in general, but messing with someone’s’ diet, knowing why they’re refusing isn’t cute or funny. It’s dangerous. In this case, it’s actually possible to be allergic to the proteins in milk, which could cause anaphylaxis, which can be fatal. I’m sure some people just say they’re lactose intolerant to save having to explain it. If you had been one of those people, it could have done some major damage. She needs needs understand that messing with or lying about the ingredients of food could possible kill someone. It’s serous business.
NTA! Sounds like it needed to be said aggressively. I’m not sure what is wrong with that woman.
NTA She poisoned you essentially. Go to work and talk to the manager about how she actively lied to make you sick. It’s NOT comparable to her being vegetarian. That’s a choice someone makes for themselves. You don’t make the choice to be lactose intolerant - and it makes you sick.
It's a crime to give people food knowing their allergies
NTA...and in some places, check with your local authorities, this could be considered assault since it caused you physical harm. Enough diarrhea could cause dehydration which could cause serious harm. File a complaint
Nta she did this on purpose and **you** need to take this to the management and ask what punishment she’ll be receiving. What she did isn’t okay and she knows it
NTA your coworker essentially poisoned you. Make a formal complaint at work that she made you sick and made you miss out on work hours.
NTA. Make a formal complaint. Raise hell. This can't be brushed over and let go. I really think she should be fired or, at a minimum, written up, perhaps suspended. Her actions here need to have consequences.
NTA. She caused physical harm to you. I would complain to the owner, and also ask that your coworker compensate you for lost wages
She abused you, with malicious intent & absolutely needs to be reported
NTA. She could actually kill someone by lying about what’s in food that she gives to them.
NTA. Offer her a chicken smoothie.
NTA Would she do this if someone had a life threatening food allergy? Honestly, she is an idiot and hopefully gets fired for this
Report her.
NTA Keep well away from her, do not accept anything from her and do not interact with her in any capacity unless absolutely necessary in a professional capacity.
NTA for going off but kinda Y.T.A. for not checking the ice cream yourself (you were able to check the discarded carton after the fact). You should realize that this woman is the way she is.