Losing a job is never easy, especially when it happens unfairly. Most employees, when laid off, pack up their desks and move on. However, one woman decided she wasn’t going to walk away quietly—she was going to take everything that belonged to her.
A Reddit user, u/everybodys-therapist, shared how she turned the tables on her employer after being let go. Working as a media designer, she had spent years accumulating equipment and resources for the company, often using her own money. But when management blindsided her with termination—replacing her with an inexperienced recent graduate—her boss’s only instruction was to take what was hers and leave. So, she did exactly that.
Representative photo of fired employee by Canva
Years of dedication, dismissed in an instant
Spending years at the company, she had taken on more and more responsibilities beyond her original job description.
"This company held large events, and I was gradually assigned more and more unrelated responsibilities until I was effectively performing the roles of at least four people," she explained in her viral post. To make matters worse, she had even invested her own money in high-end equipment that helped with event production and promotions.
By her fifth year, she had contributed thousands of dollars in gear—cameras, AV equipment, and other essentials—only to be called into a meeting one day and told she was being let go. Management cited downsizing as the reason but revealed that they had already hired her replacement—someone fresh out of college with little practical experience.
Adding insult to injury, her boss made it clear that she wasn’t welcome back.
"He specifically told me to 'take everything that is yours, as you won’t be coming back,'” she recalled.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Mălina Sîrbu
Taking back what was rightfully hers
Determined to follow her boss’s instructions to the letter, she loaded up her car with every single piece of equipment that had her name on it. Box after box, she carried out cameras, sound systems, and tech gear—everything she had purchased with her own money.
"With every box we loaded into my car, my boss grew increasingly panicked. At one point, he said, ‘You can only take things that are yours,’" she wrote.
She kept her cool, calmly responding that everything she was taking was hers. The real panic set in when she told her boss she needed access to the arena’s AV booth and catwalk. One by one, she unplugged and removed all of her cameras from the events team.
"I felt like the Grinch just walking around and taking all the random things in the building that had my name on them," she joked.
Representative Image Source: Pexels | Antoni Shkraba
Karma comes full circle
By the time she drove away, the office had been stripped of critical media equipment, and her boss was left in a state of complete shock. While she admitted she felt a sense of satisfaction, the story didn’t end there.
Within a year, the company completely collapsed.
"The company only lasted another year before they folded entirely, and I like to believe that I had a hand in that," she added.
Her story quickly gained traction online, receiving over 12,000 upvotes and sparking conversations about workplace mistreatment and corporate karma.
Other workers share similar stories
Many Reddit users chimed in with their own tales of taking back what was rightfully theirs after being wrongfully dismissed.
u/AcmeCartoonVillian shared a similar experience:
"Twenty years ago, I did almost exactly this while working as a Sales Copy Center Manager. My colleague and I left to start our own sign company and copy center, taking a significant portion of legacy customers with us."
Image Source: Reddit | u/That-Dutch-Mechanic
Meanwhile, u/DracoDeVis recalled how his mother’s theater company employees rescued their work before bankruptcy:
"When my mother’s theater company laid off its production team before going bankrupt, her costume team discreetly retrieved thousands of costumes they had crafted, taking them back for themselves."
Image Source: Reddit | u/mrbitterness_
A lesson in knowing your worth
This woman’s story serves as a powerful reminder to know your worth in the workplace. Despite giving 200% to her job, she was replaced without hesitation. But instead of walking away empty-handed, she left with everything she had invested—both financially and emotionally.
For companies that take their employees for granted, this serves as a cautionary tale: Treat your workers well, or you may find yourself dealing with the fallout when they leave.
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