Her coworkers tried to shame a single mom for dozing off on a team call — then the management turned it into a masterclass in work-life balance
The workplace often praises resilience; however, there are times when a single moment of exhaustion makes people forget there's a human behind the job. Something similar happened with a single mother who became the subject of intense office scrutiny as she accidentally fell asleep during a team call. Her story was shared by her colleague on Reddit on December 15, 2025, which sparked a discussion online. The post made by the user under the handle u/SpicyDragoon93 initially looked harmless, but updates showed it quickly escalated into "office politics." Her co-workers tried to shame her for sleeping on the call. Later, she was given time off work for related stress.
A single mother colleague fell asleep on a teams chat at work and now everyone suddenly acts like she committed an act of terror.
byu/SpicyDragoon93 inantiwork
According to the post, the woman was juggling her work responsibilities and motherhood. The user found the moment "funny," but the reaction from colleagues was far less forgiving. "I guess, personally, I find it funny, but everyone's acting like suddenly she's worse than Hitler. One thing I always hated about office culture is that it takes one tiny thing for everyone to turn nasty," they explained. The user tried to highlight one of the most troubling aspects of office culture.
In the same post, the user claimed that a colleague had been fired, also informing that this was when co-workers suddenly began expressing guilt and sympathy for how they treated her. In a second clarification, the user emphasized that the issue wasn’t performance or accountability but rather the “savagery of office politics,” where people harshly judge another person and then express regret when real harm is done.
Later, in an update, the user clarified that she was not fired but was instead given some time off due to work-related stress. “Better outcome than expected,” the post read. The incident resonated with fellow users, who chimed in with their own opinions. It reignited the conversations about burnout, workplace compassion, and how easily, in a professional environment, people tend to lose sight of the human realities. “This is peak office nonsense,” mentioned u/MochaModem-, expressing that this is more about a lack of empathy. u/Marinemussel commented, “I bet dollars to donuts it was also a call that could have been an email.” Meanwhile, u/aroaceautistic compared the situation to that of school life, “People don’t fall asleep in these situations on purpose as some sort of intentional act of disrespect or disregard. They are too exhausted to stay awake.”
When unfairness shows up on the job, collective support can make all the difference. In another incident, an openly trans teacher, Henry Zahid, was on the brink of losing their job. They faced non-re-election despite their positive service in the South East High School in Los Angeles. They believed that this decision came from a place of discrimination rather than performance. Zahid was not entitled to a detailed explanation because they were a probationary teacher under the district’s credential program. However, more than 2,000 people, which included the educators’ union and community members, rallied behind them. They wrote letters until the decision was overturned.
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