WWYD-coworker weirdness

[wdwmom2]

I was one of the posters who said to let it go. I do agree that I am suprised she was not written up over the prior incident.

However, what is going to be accomplished by telling the former coworkers of this issue? So the OP tells her former coworkers about the coffee theft. Are they going to confront her, shun her? That could lead to fights in the workplace and the coworkers OP is trying to help getting in trouble with management.

The coworkers should already be guarding their belongings since the thefts appear to be common knowledge. It is possible that if the coworkers focus on the one woman and she isn't the thief then they will let their guards down and more items will be stolen. Yes, she took the Kcups. But she may not have been the person who stole the other items. There may be several thieves in their midst!

Also, no one knows how the management is handling the situation. It is possible that they are laying the groundwork to catch the thief. In my prior workplace, we had someone stealing small items from unlocked desks and food from the frig. He was also stealing large amounts of money from the company. Management took its time to make sure they had proof of the thefts then the person was perp walked out in handcuffs one night.Management may be working on finding out who is stealing. They may not want to let the employees know what they are doing, that may be counterproductive.

So those are my reasons for thinking she should not mention anything.

In most offices, this type of word spreads fast. I can't imagine that the other employees don't already know that there is a thief among them. Just to point out this one woman may not help. She may not be the one who stole the other items. And because everyone is so focused on this one woman, it could possibly make it easier for the other thief to keep on thieving.

I stand by my original statement of always watching over whatever possessions you may bring into the workplace!!

 

[S. C.]

As fast as she ran to the boss last time to say you were harrassing her, if she heard you were blaming her she might get a lawyer involved to say you are ruining her good name.

As someone else said, it is very possible there is more than one thief.

 

[indimom]

I'll admit it. I would tell my friends about the incident with the coffee. I have a BIG MOUTH though.
If you think stealing coffee is sad, how about stealing food out of other's lunches. This was happening at DH's work for a year or so before the owner set up a hidden camera and caught the guilty party. Ridiculous.
The guys in the brake room spent many a boring lunchhour deciding how much x-lax in the brownies would be enough to get the evidence they needed...

 

[arminnie]

Wow I can't imagine working for a company where this sort of stuff is tolerated.

I worked for a lot of companies, but the one thing that all had in common was ZERO tolerance for this type of behaviour. Mostly in the financial industry especially in the IT areas. I've seen someone just GONE. No second chances. No "it was just lunch". Truly a one strike and you are out policy.

When a company moves billions of dollars a night and employees have access to every credit transaction that has taken place in the past six months, very stringent standards are enforced.

I was even called in once and grilled over an expense account. The person reviewing it had made a mistake. My entertainment expense was for a breakfast not a dinner so that person misinterpreted what was presented. If I had not had an explanation I would have been toast. Cheating on a $10 expense item would have been grounds for out the door with zero notice.

Knowing that you are working in an environment that does not tolerate cheating/stealing, etc. really does keep people on their toes. No grey areas that it was just this one time. Just this one time usually means it was just this one time that they got caught.

 

[Nancyg56]

Please don't flame me. I honestly would like to understand why some people don't think it's appropriate to speak up about the incident.

I would probably agree with some of you if it were only a matter of the OP put the K-cups down, left the room, Co-worker walks in and OP comes back, K-cups gone. Yes, suspicious, but not proven.

In this instance, the K-cups were found in co-workers bag. GOTCHA!!! Why she's still there I just don't get .

Stranger things have happened. If I was working where there were thefts, and I have been in that place, I would not be leaving things around to be stolen. Actually, i probably would ntoleave my personal things unnatended anyway.

If I was the OP I might tell friends but after that I would just stay out of it. She really does nto know what is happening, and if she accuses anyone it could cause issues.

 

[mtblujeans]

As fast as she ran to the boss last time to say you were harrassing her, if she heard you were blaming her she might get a lawyer involved to say you are ruining her good name.

As someone else said, it is very possible there is more than one thief.

I agree with this...PLUS....since you don't work there any more, it could appear that you cannot let the previous incident go and you actually hold it against the previous co-worker. It is up to the management that addressed the two of you about that incident to step up.

 

[chloelovesdisney]

First, yes I would tell my friends what happened. The lady was caught with the coffee in her bag and acted like a kook saying she was being framed. Sorry, she's a fibber and a thief and for sure I would tell my friends.

Second, we had an internal thief a couple of years ago and the security department did NOT want me talking about the issue as they were installing cameras and planting things. They had a suspect or two in mind but were not sharing that information. They did involve the police as well. I was not told who was being watched or when, so it's possible that although it doesn't look like anything is being done, there is an investigation underway.

 

[SandrA9810]

There can't be any retaliation against the OP, she doesn't work for the company anymore. Unless she expects to need a written referral from that boss/supervisor. So what if she decides to butt her nose in. The ones that still work there can believe her or take it with a grain of salt. And there might already be accusations being thrown around, so the whole office could be against this one person, or against each other. In either situation, it's not a good work environment to be in.

People should always be more careful of their personal belongings, but you can't stand at the fridge all day to guard your lunch. At the same time there should be enough level of respect for each other and their belongings that they shouldn't have to worry about theft.

When I worked at Qdoba there were accusations of a co-worker stealing meats from the freezer. So he installed a camera in the walk-in, hoping to catch the thief redhanded. A) it doesn't help when the manager starts "talking rumors" to other co-workers, B) boasts about installing a camera in the walk-in. In the end it was a bunch of fluff, and the manager just trying to stir trouble like he always did. At least every one else was used to his stupid little games and took whatever he said with a grain of salt.

 

[OK!]

Well, a slander suit is one possible thing the OP could face if her former coworker decided to go that route after finding out that word had been spread of her previous offense. I think I'd also either keep my mouth completely shut or possibly let a trusted friend or two who's still with the company know about it, as an "FYI" kind of thing.

 

[tlbwriter]

Well, a slander suit is one possible thing the OP could face if her former coworker decided to go that route after finding out that word had been spread of her previous offense.

If the OP told a former coworker "The K cups I brought to work went missing while I was in the bathroom, and they were discovered in Jane's bag," that would not be slanderous (at least not based on my journalism education, which is admittedly rather old).

 

[Wishing on a star]

Would I try to do anything actively? NO way.

Would I remind those who I know personally (thru personal communication) that I personally had these items go missing, and then found in this woman's possession... And that you would advise them to never leave anything at all unsecured at any time....

YOU BET!

PS: If this company is not the type of company where theft/embezzlement/etc. are very closely scrutinized, due to the nature of the business.
I highly suspect that there are some 'personal' reasons why this supervisor seems to be protecting this woman.