My colleague threatened to report me to HR for ‘shaming’ her with food – I just asked a simple question about her dirty plate

An office worker recounted the conversation she had with her colleague at the communal microwave.

She shared how her co-worker accused her of “food shaming” and threatened to report her over the matter.

On your Reddit publishuser Runaway_Smoke explained how making a throwaway comment about someone’s lunch almost got her in front of HR.

“I was working at my desk when I noticed an absolutely foul odor,” she said.

She described how the smell took over the entire office and became increasingly difficult to tolerate.

“I tried to ignore it, but it got so overwhelming that I looked out of the headset and quietly asked, ‘Did anyone microwave fish?’” the Redditor wrote.

The office worker explained that she did not intend to confront anyone directly and was simply wondering aloud about the lingering smell.

However, the culprit, who was within earshot, became defensive about the lunch.

“I heard my co-worker mumble something and asked her to repeat it”, recalls the author of the post.

“She said, ‘Yes, it was me. Don’t embarrass me about the food or I’ll go to HR.'”

The Reddit user explained why she found the situation so “annoying.”

“We have a huge coffee shop downstairs that she could have used to heat up her food,” she said.

“Instead, she chose to heat it in our communal kitchen and make the entire office smelly.”

She added that she was further angered by her colleague’s exaggerated response.

“The fact that she feels so comfortable threatening to go to HR is beyond me,” she said.

While the Redditor also admitted to liking fish, she explained that she would never eat it in the workplace.

She also revealed that the interaction was the only encounter she had with her colleague other than saying “good morning” and “goodbye”.

Reddit users shared their thoughts on the situation in the comments section.

“People will be surprised when they find out that ‘Stinky’ is not a legally protected class of workers,” joked one reader.

“Go to HR yourself and tell her she threatened to report you for simply asking what was causing a smell that was incredibly disturbing,” another commenter suggested.

“Then let her go to HR, I’m 100% sure HR will take her side and tell her to heat up the food from that cafe. That smell can stop you from doing your job properly,” pointed out a third person.

“Funny enough, we just got a note from HR reminding us that particularly odorous foods should not be consumed in the work area,” said one Reddit user.

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