Dealing with a Rude Coworker: AITA for Standing Up for Myself?

AITA for standing up to a rude coworker who accused me of pressuring her? Colleagues weigh in on whether I handled the situation appropriately.

Damjan

Published in Interesting
25 Dec 2025

Dealing with a Rude Coworker: AITA for Standing Up for Myself?

A new job, a tiny workplace, and one coworker who acts like every lunch run is a personal attack. That is the vibe in this Reddit post, where OP is only three weeks into the job and already caught in a full-on blowup with L.

[ADVERTISEMENT]

Here is the setup: OP has a hurt leg and brought lunch in advance. Later, L says she is hungry and wants to go to the shop across the mall, but only after the boss brings the rest of the stock. When the boss leaves, OP asks if L wants to go get food quickly, and that apparently triggers a rant about OP “pressuring” her, “making her look bad,” and getting food before the shop opens.

[ADVERTISEMENT]

Now OP is wondering if standing up for themselves went too far, because the final warning was basically, “If you keep talking to me like that, I’ll tell the manager.”

Original Post

So for context, I started working at a small business about 3 weeks ago, so small there is only three of us and we don't have fixed lunch breaks and usually I work with this woman L. Now this day I had bought my lunch in advance so I wouldn't have to walk anywhere too far that day because I had hurt my leg the week prior, about an hour into the day L said she's hungry and wants to go to the shop across the mall where we work, to get food but wanted to wait for the boss to bring the rest of the stock for the day, I said it was no problem.

So The boss comes and delivers the stock and when he leaves again, I innocently ask her if she wants to go get food quickly. That's when L goes off on me telling me that she doesn't answer to me and that I should stop pressuring her to do things.

I try to calm her down by saying that it's what *she* said she wanted to do and that I was just trying to be courteous but she keeps going on and on about how 'I want to make her look bad for being out of the shop too much' and by 'getting my food before we open so I don't have to leave', L kept getting angrier so I finally tell her I won't allow her to speak to my like that and if she kept going I'd tell our manager (the other person who works there). So I feel like I might have been the a*****e to threaten L with our manager but it was obvious that nothing else was going to calm her down.