Boss Demands To Inspect Employee's Phone, Claiming He Didn't Receive Her Text About Being Late, She Refuses And Now Expects To Be Fired

"He told me to hand over my phone so he could check but I refused."

Filip

• Published in Interesting
• December 3, 2023

In order to maintain a professional and respectful workplace environment, the first rule is to respect private boundaries. Everyone has the right to protect their personal privacy, so any requests to access personal devices or information implies crossing the line into unprofessional territory and violating someone's boundaries.

For instance, a boss's insistence on examining an employee's personal phone is not only intrusive but can also undermine trust and morale. Professionalism demands that any concerns about attendance or communication be addressed through appropriate channels that respect personal boundaries and privacy.

So, when a Reddit user was faced with such a request, she refused it, feeling it violated her privacy. The OP, a 26-year-old female, faced a challenging situation when her 3-year-old son fell ill, and she needed to take him to a hospital in the morning.

Consequently, she had to request an hour off from work and communicated this to her boss via text. Upon arriving at work later, her boss called her to his office and began questioning her about her lateness.

The OP reminded him of the text she had sent explaining the situation. However, her boss claimed he hadn't received any message and demanded to see her phone, which the OP refused.

She suggested showing the text on her phone, mindful of private conversations with her boyfriend that she wanted to keep confidential. Her boss, doubting the existence of the text, refused her offer and insisted on checking her phone himself.

But the OP declined again. This refusal escalated the situation, leading to her boss asking her to step outside and wait.

After a long wait, her boss's female assistant attempted to convince the OP to let the boss briefly examine her phone, but the OP stayed firm with her previous decision. The OP questions whether she was unreasonable in this situation.

Her boyfriend believes she should have given her phone, while the OP feels deeply uncomfortable about her boss accessing her private conversations.

The original question:

The OP informed her boss about being late at work through text:

But when she arrived, he told her he received no message and demanded to see her phone:

The OP offered to show him the text, but he insisted on checking it alone, so she refused:

His assistant also tried to convince the OP to just let him check her phone, but the OP stayed firm in her stance:

So, she wonders if she was in the wrong:

She should report him to HR

Another Redditor agreed

"She should take a screenshot of the message she sent"

It is an invasion of her privacy

A Redditor offered her several suggestions

This could also be an explanation

Redditors advised the OP to take a screenshot of the message and email it to her boss and HR. She shouldn't be fired because someone tried to violate her privacy.

The fact that she wanted to show her boss the text herself, but he insisted on checking it personally, suggests that his behavior was very strange.

Filip