Employee who was sent home after a colleague spotted him ‘sleeping on the job’ sparks fierce debate after claiming he was just closing his eyes to ‘figure out a complicated issue’… so, do YOU think he was wrongly punished?

• A man shared that he was sent home from work for momentarily closing his eyes
• His coworker thought he was ‘sleeping’ and reported him to their boss
• The employee was then sent home – and is now afraid he ‘may lose [his] job’

A man has claimed he was sent home from work after a colleague told their boss she saw him sleeping on the job when in fact he was just trying ‘figure out a complicated issue.’

The employee took to Reddit’s r/antiwork forum to share his story earlier this week.

‘Sent home from work for “sleeping”. I was actually just reclined back in my chair eyes closed trying to figure out a complicated issue,’ he wrote.

The original poster – OP for short – initially admitted that he ‘was a little tired’ in the morning, but had made himself three cups of coffee and ‘was fine.’

A man took to Reddit to vent that he’d been sent home for sleeping on the job – when in fact, he claimed, he’d simply been trying to think (stock image)

He also added that while he was on ‘medications that could make [him] drowsy,’ he was ‘able to fight it off pretty well.’

The employee went on to explain how, during the workday, he ‘had a problem to solve.’

In the ‘open office’ floorplan of his workplace, his colleagues are easily able to see each other from their desks – but even so, OP figured it would be okay to temporarily shut his eyes and lean back in his chair while contemplating this ‘problem.’

At the same time, one of his coworkers noticed that he looked like he was sleeping – and ‘threw an object in [his] general direction.’ 

‘But she apparently “didn’t get the reaction” she wanted, probably because I’m wide awake,’ OP speculated. 

Next thing he knew his operations manager was sending him home after his coworker tattled on him to his boss. 

Of the other employee rudely throwing something at him, OP continued: ‘If I was sleeping she would have most likely triggered a PTSD episode (I was once almost killed in an attempted murder x3 via handgun at a previous job.)’

He concluded: ‘I’m now afraid I may lose my job because I was simply leaning back in my f***ing chair.’

He went on to explain that another coworker had spotted him momentarily closing his eyes and decided to report him to his supervisor

When asked by a user how long his eyes were closed, OP clarified: ‘Maybe 2-3 minutes tops. Nothing crazy.’

Other users flocked to the comments with astonished takes on the man’s plight. 

‘I’m surprised you agreed to leave. Someone threw an object at you, you didn’t entertain their shenanigans, and somehow you did something wrong,’ a Redditor said.

OP responded: ‘I’m sure if I stayed I would have made the situation worse plus I was asked to leave in front of a bunch of my co-workers which is embarrassing.’

Another offered a tip on navigating the habit of closing one’s eyes to think going forward: ‘You’ve got to massage your temples or something moving forward. I’d get this complaint all the time when in reality I needed to close my eyes and use my mental whiteboard to debug.’

Many more were quick to sympathize with OP – sharing they’d experienced similar situations.  

‘That happened to me and I was given so much s*** for it, I closed my eyes with my hands in my head waiting for something to finish uploading and someone tattled on me and I got accused of sleeping. Apparently its wrong for someone to just close your eyes and not look at a screen 24/7,’ one fumed.

‘Hahaha! That’s actually happened to me before (I worked Tech Support) and would meditate while dealing with the most tech illiterate people in our workforce. Just let the a**holery flow and wait for them to stop blaming you for their printer problems,’ a second echoed.

The comment went on to describe the anecdote: ‘Just sitting with my eyes closed, in my happy place. Then one day they brought in someone to “supervise” me and he told my boss to leave me alone afterwards.

Users took to the comments, many to express sympathy for OP and share similar situations they’d encountered on the job

‘One day that same boss tried to talk s*** and I told him the job is so easy I do it with my eyes closed and my help desk mates rofl’d – boss just walked away.’

A third person chimed in with another story – in which a coworker was likewise unduly rude about checking to see if they were awake. 

‘You reminded me [of] an old memory,’ they wrote.

‘One of my “first office jobs,” which was a call center, I was having a bad day, and I leaned back to close my eyes and think.’

‘The lady who ran the office (call center manager) leaned over IN MY FACE as I leaned back in my chair, and when I opened my eyes a second later, I got spooked. She made some comments that I can’t remember, but I do recall thinking that she had no right to assume I was sleeping. I also remember thinking I could have fallen,’ they concluded. 

A fourth recalled a time when they’d been giving their eyes a ‘rest’ and had assumed the exact same position as OP.

‘Looking at a computer screen all day always gave me eyestrain. One day, I needed to rest my eyes. I was in the exact same position as you were: leaned back in my chair with my eyes closed,’ they shared.

‘One of the managers happened by my desk and was about to say something to me when my phone rang. He was surprised when I picked it up on the first ring, and launched into my greeting without a trace of sleepiness in my voice.

‘Took care of the call quickly, and hung up.

‘He thought I’d been asleep. Nope. Just resting my eyes due to eye strain.’

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