AITA For ignoring a coworker who refused to use my actual name?

A Reddit user shared a workplace conflict where a new coworker repeatedly refused to use his real name, calling him “Jack” instead of “John” despite multiple corrections. After warning the coworker to use his correct name or be ignored,

the coworker continued to use the wrong name and eventually demanded a ride back from a business trip — addressing him as “Jack” in a series of emails laced with threats and profanity. The Redditor ignored the requests, and the coworker was eventually fired for his behavior. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA For ignoring a coworker who refused to use my actual name?’

I’ve worked at my office for 8 years. I’m on good terms with management and most of my co-workers.. ​ Five months ago, a new guy was hired on a 6-month probationary period. I’m not his supervisor, but I’m definitely a senior employee. I’ll call the guy Ted Faro, because he’s a d**k.. ​

Supervisor was going around introducing Ted to people, and when he got to me said “This is John” and described my job.. ​.

Ted: “Hi, Jack.”.

Me: “It’s John.”. ​.

Ted: “What?”. ​.

Me: “My name’s John, not Jack.”.

Ted: “It’s close enough for me.”

Supervisor: “His name’s John, not Jack. Let’s move on.”. ​

This continued for a few months. Despite reminders from supervisors (when he referred to me when I wasn’t present) and myself, he continued to use the name Jack. I finally told him “You either use my name, or I ignore you completely, no matter what the situation is.”.

His response was “Sure thing, Jackie boy.”. Since I don’t work directly with him, I figured “s**ew it” and that I’d ignore him. Recently he had a 2-day business trip that required car rental. I work late some nights, and Ted came to me and says “Hey, Jack, I’ll be dropping the rental car off at 7 when I get back. See you there for a lift back to the office!”.

(they closed at 6 and there’s a drop box). ​. As promised, I ignored him. 7:15 rolls around on the night he’s dropping off and I get a call. I recognize his number, so I ignored it. He called 7 more times, then starts e-mailing.

The first one was along the lines of “Jack I’m at Enterprise. Come pick me up.” E-mails pour in every 5-10 minutes, addressing me as Jack, Jack-o, Jackie, and Jackie-boy. The emails also started being laced with profanity and a couple threats. I signed out and went home. It was raining hard.

Next morning, I saw that Ted had sent a few more e-mails. I printed them off. At 10am, he storms up to my desk and screams “Where the [f-bomb] were you? I told you when to pick me up! I HAD TO TAKE A CAB! DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH THAT COST ME?!” He goes on like that for a bit until his supervisor came and hauled him away and asked to speak to me.

Supervisor: “Ted tells me that you ignored his requests for a pickup when he dropped off the rental. He was caught out in the rain.”. ​ I relayed what happened, and showed him the printed e-mails. I’d highlighted the threats.

Supervisor: “I can see why you wouldn’t want to spend time around him. But it was still kind of inconsiderate to leave him stranded in the rain. That’s not the greatest neighborhood and he could have been hurt.”

he sighed and said “With the threats and him being on probation, he no longer works here. Just try not to be an a-hole in retaliation to your coworkers.”.A few people at the office have commented that I’m the j**k for ignoring Ted and getting him riled up, which got him fired.. ​. *AM* I the a-hole on this?

These are the responses from Reddit users:

czechhoneybee −  NTA what is that dudes problem? Why on earth would he think it’s okay to not call you by your actual name? Especially when repeatedly asked! The dude sounds like a massive a-hole and I’m happy for you that he no longer works at your company.

Lady_Smartie −  NTA. OP: If you do X then I’ll do Y. Ted: \*does X\*. OP: \*does Y\*. Ted: \*pikachu face\*

dtimm18 −  Obligatory “play stupid games, win stupid prizes.” NTA.

[Reddit User] −  NTA Ted got himself fired. You didn’t force him to swear/make threats and he could have asked the company for a reimbursement on the cab-fare. I don’t know why people think they are entitled to favors (and what he was asking for was a personal favor, not something that’s part of your job requirements) from people they’re disrespectful to/

gwacemom −  NTA. Your name is John. Those emails were to Jack.

jinglehelltv −  NTA, your supervisors should have dealt with this properly to begin with before it escalated like this, but you shouldn’t be expected to take that kind of harassment. You should have escalated it to begin with though.

[Reddit User] −  ESH,. but i approve.. r/pettyrevenge

owlcityy −  NTA He was forewarned after several friendly warnings that if he didn’t call you by your actual name that you would ignore him. If he was desperate to get a lift from the rental place, he would’ve used your actual name.

GuacamoleIsDaBest −  NTA, you told him you would ignore him.

avalanchepatrols −  INFO were you under any actual obligation to pick him up from the rental place? Is part of your job coordinating employee trips? It sounds like he doesn’t report to you, and from the way your op is worded he didn’t ask you for a ride, he just told you to be there. What would he have done if you hadn’t been there that day?

Frankly, a lot seems odd here. If you’re a senior employee and he was still in his probationary period, what made him think it was a good idea to 1) repeatedly and purposely call you the wrong name, 2) demand a ride if this wasn’t part of your job, 3) harass you verbally and in writing? Is this guy related to the CEO or something? Because that’s the only way any of this would make any sense.

Workplace respect starts with something as simple as using someone’s name correctly. Do you think the user was justified in ignoring their coworker after being repeatedly disrespected, or should they have handled it differently? Share your thoughts below!