AITA for firing my assistant after she used company money to throw herself a “farewell party” … but didn’t actually quit?

A Reddit user, a business owner, recently fired her assistant after discovering the assistant had used company funds to throw herself a $2,000 farewell party—despite not actually quitting.

The assistant later admitted it was a “social experiment” to see how much she was appreciated. The employer, feeling deceived and concerned about the misuse of funds, terminated her immediately. Now, the assistant is publicly criticizing the decision on social media. Read the full story below.

‘ AITA for firing my assistant after she used company money to throw herself a “farewell party” … but didn’t actually quit?’

So, I (28F) own a mid-sized tech consulting firm and recently hired a new assistant, Lily (26F), a few months ago. She seemed competent, though she had a quirky personality and sometimes blurred professional lines.

Last week, I was out of town for a conference, and while I was away, Lily emailed everyone in the company, announcing she was “leaving to pursue new horizons” and threw herself a massive farewell party at the office.

She used the company credit card to order catering, decorations, custom cake, and even arranged for a bartender to set up a drink station in the break room. The total bill was close to $2,000.

When I came back, I was shocked. Not only did I never receive a resignation from her, but she also hadn’t actually quit! When I confronted her, she said she was “testing” how much people appreciated her and wanted to see if anyone would “convince her to stay.”

She called it a “social experiment.” I was furious and fired her on the spot for misuse of company funds and deceptive behavior. Now, she’s blowing up on social media, claiming I’m a “soulless boss” who has “no respect for mental health and personal exploration.”

She says I should have appreciated her “creative way of bonding with the team.” Some friends are telling me I might have overreacted and that maybe I should have just docked her pay or given her a warning instead.

I’m torn because I do value my employees, but this felt like an absurd breach of trust. So, AITA for firing her immediately over a “farewell party” that wasn’t even real?

Here’s what people had to say to OP:

Cursd818 −  NTA. Report her to police for fraud or theft. Pursue the amount she spent in court. Ask a lawyer if you can respond on social media that she stole $2k from your business. If he says go ahead, do it.

And reconsider if you want to be friends with people who seriously think you should allow yourself and your business to be abused like that. Why don’t they want you to stand up for yourself? Are they similarly used to taking advantage of you?

roxywalker −  NTA. She took advantage of access to the company credit card, misused funds, and committed fraud by lying to the entire company about her departure and celebrating at your expense. Any one of those is a reason to separate her employment from the company, but all three?

That’s grounds for suing her because she’s taken her ridiculous stance to social media to blast you. All you did was hire the wrong person for the job and go to a conference. Now she’s pivoting towards slander. No way.

Downtown_Bag_8008 −  You own a tech company, so you are not uneducated. Yet you question whether you were inappropriate for firing someone who embezzled $2000 to throw herself a party? I question whether this is real! Firing and charges are what is appropriate in this scenario.

No one in their right mind would think otherwise. This is straight-up theft which is an immediate termination offense. If you want to give her a chance, then give her a chance to not go to jail by not pursuing charges. But as for her job? I wouldn’t even allow her back in the parking lot

llama_llama_48213 −  Overreacting?! Her actions were completely inappropriate and I hope her final paycheck is docked. “Social experiment” my a$$. *Creative* gibberish nonsense.

With some companies, she’d have been charged with theft or fraud. She should consider herself lucky. A *warning* comes off she’s late everyday for a week. That wasn’t this.. NTA.

Alarming-Iron8366 −  OK, so you’re a 28 (F), who owns a mid-sized tech consulting firm. With a service dog (Lucy) who must be with you everywhere, but you can’t bring her to your sister’s wedding **AND**, you’re also a 23 (M) from Austria, working part-time at a law firm.

Which is it? Two posts in English in the last two days, 11 written in German since joining, but all now deleted. Joined Reddit 1 Oct 2024 and already racked up -14 comment Karma. I’m calling fake bs on this. Previous post (with Lucy the dog) was shown to be a copy/paste of somebody else’s post.

Illustrious_Name_842 −  NTA. She’s entitled and a crook.

BlueGreen_1956 −  NTA. Lily sounds deranged. Obviously, she is also an attention whore but that is pretty common these days. I love the “mental health and personal exploration” excuse.

I would say “F**k her mental health and personal exploration.” And then tell her she is lucky that your firing her will help her personally explore her mental health somewhere new.

kriti11 −  This has to be fake because why would OP’s friends say the worker shouldn’t have been fired? LOL

Agitated_Pilot_3055 −  Take her to court for stealing company funds for her party. She is not suitable for employment. She is a t**ef.. NTA. UpdateMe

Big_lt −  NTA. You should also open a lawsuit for embezzlement and reclaim that 2,000

Do you think firing the assistant was a reasonable response to her misuse of company resources, or could there have been a more measured approach? How would you handle an employee crossing boundaries in this way? Share your thoughts below!