'We can give you a chair': Toxic boss's message to injured employee sparks internet outrage
A WhatsApp exchange between an injured employee and his unsympathetic boss has gone viral, triggering a flood of unpleasant stories about toxic work cultures.
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What would you do if, while lying in a hospital bed with a fractured leg, your boss texted you: "Don’t worry if you’ve broken your leg, I can give you a chair?"
That's the message that set social media ablaze this week after Ben Askins, known for exposing exploitative work environments, shared a WhatsApp exchange between a recently hired employee and his manager.
The employee, who had been in a bike accident and was recovering from a broken leg, informed his boss that he couldn't make it to work. Rather than showing empathy, the manager pushed back with a baffling level of persistence.
"But I need you for Friday shifts," the boss replied coldly, brushing past the employee's explanation that doctors had advised complete bed rest. When the employee offered to return if medically cleared, the manager insisted again - this time offering a chair as a solution.
As the conversation escalated, the manager shifted gears from denial to guilt-tripping, reminding the employee that he had only recently joined the company. Fed up with the lack of concern, the injured worker responded with clarity: "Then let me make it even easier for you. I quit."
The post has since gone viral, igniting a storm of similar stories from others who’ve endured uncaring and absurd workplace demands.
One Instagram user recalled being denied sick leave at a fashion magazine, where a boss once told her to “cough in silence” during a meeting. Another shared how an employer promised a chair during a medical leave for tendonitis — only to backtrack with a dismissive, “Can’t you stand on one leg?”
A particularly harrowing account came from a worker who was denied time off for a medical appointment, only to later be diagnosed with thyroid cancer. “My intention is to survive,” she told HR after her treatment, when asked about returning to work.
And then there were the pragmatists. “I wouldn’t have quit - not in a hundred years,” one person wrote. “Far better to wait to be fired so I could lodge a claim.”
