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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

See all MNHQ comments on this thread

To have left him stuck in the cellar?

534 replies

FreddysTash · 02/05/2019 14:13

We have a new starter at work who is a pain in the arse. He’s shadowing me and constantly disappears and is always off exploring rather than doing what he should be doing. This morning we were in the office and he asked me where he should put clinical waste. I told him we put it in the cellar but that we didn’t have time to do it now as we had to go out of office. He said he’d be quick. I said no because it takes ages to get down there, he’d need codes for the lift down there, and two different doors. He grabbed a pen and paper and asked me for the codes. Getting frustrated I wrote down the codes and told him to be really quick and off he goes.

15 minutes later he’s still not back so I check time and decide if he isn’t back by half past I’d do without him. Half past came so I packed up and headed to my car. I’d just set off when I got a frantic phone saying he was stuck in one of the rooms in the cellar. I told him to repeat the code he had and it was right so I said he’d just have to keep trying. I drove off. 5 minutes later he started ringing again. I ignored it. All in all 4 missed calls. I rang him back and he admitted he was in a different room and that’s why the code wasn’t working. I told him I’d be back at lunch. It was 9.45 at the time. He started getting irate saying it stunk down there, it was freezing, pitch black and the wind was hammering on the fire doors. I left him until 11. AIBU as he got stuck because he went where he wasn’t supposed to go?

OP posts:
NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 03/05/2019 19:30

He wasn’t trapped, he was insistent that he would rather remain trapped, than get someone who may fire him to release him

The op herself said he was trapped the only person at risk of beong fired is OP

only she isnt because this didnt happen

Sb74 · 03/05/2019 19:30

I think he has every right to complain. Maybe he was trying to look keen by insisting on taking it down to the cellar. You don’t know him. What if he had epilepsy or asthma and had an attack whilst down there? An environment such as a cellar could easily trigger an asthma attack and 1 person every 7 minutes dies from this. It was a nasty thing to do.

colditz · 03/05/2019 19:31

I'm not saying that what you did was illegal, or even unjustifiable.

But I'd be so ashamed of myself if I was ever that unkind.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 03/05/2019 19:32

Maybe it was open when he got there?

Errrr a restricted access door thats just oeft open. Errrrr yes that would be the case wouldnt it??!!

Dropitlikeitshot · 03/05/2019 19:33

@Naught - That sounds the most likely scenario.

However if it is true it’s probably as he said stuck and it’s another word for it.

Dropitlikeitshot · 03/05/2019 19:36

I doubt OP would dish out a code for a place he wasn’t meant to be though.
Unless they knew he’d go in there and would end up getting stuck.

bellabasset · 03/05/2019 19:37

I had a smile at reading OP's post as I can think of an employee who provoked a similar reaction.

The only error OP made was not to call a colleague to ensure he got out, the fact that he wouldn't phone a colleague proves that he knew he had blatantly ignored a work instruction.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 03/05/2019 19:38

You are joking aren't you drop? You think that places just leave restricted access doors open.

I'd say that was the LEAST LIKELY senerio

TheGrey1houndSpeaks · 03/05/2019 19:42

It was open when he got there Grin. No, that wouldn’t have happened. Even if someone had breached regulations by propping it open, why would he close it behind him?

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 03/05/2019 19:43

I doubt OP would dish out a code for a place he wasn’t meant to be though.
Unless they knew he’d go in there and would end up getting stuck*

Oh now this i agree with, OP and her defenders say he just wandered ofc and ended up in a room he wasn't meant to be in. A restricted room hence why he got stuck. So either yes OP gave him the code which was the one i was going for.

Or yes it was entirely premeditated on OPs part which actally i hadnt thought of but given she proposed leaving him till lunch time then i guess it might well have been

ifeeltheneedtheneedforspeed · 03/05/2019 19:45

You are a nasty vindictive bully. You wanted to 'teach him a lesson' for not doing as you wanted! Remember YOU gave in and gave him the codes. He didnt do anything wrong, he just didn't do what you wanted when you wanted. I really hope he makes a formal complaint about you.

Merrymumoftwo · 03/05/2019 19:47

I am a bit bewildered how someone trusted enough to mentor/train someone in a fit of annoyance breached basic health and safety. I am sure wherever you work you have fire drills and so would be aware of the need to ensure someone knows where you are. In this case, as others have said, o a colleague you had to leave and trainee was not back from the cellar.
You stated you did not want to get them in trouble but also advised he was not listening to instructions which you would need to raise with whoever was overseeing the training anyway.
When he called the first time in addition to checking the codes with him you should have notified him that you were now off site and that x in the office knew he was there and to call them.
Given the history of not listening you should have followed it up with a call to that person so they could go and retrieve him or the manager overseeing could so they could deal with the inability to follow instructions and decide what to do from there. Whether that is to give him to someone else to train or to advise that they have shown that as they are unable to follow instructions that this role was not suited for them.

LadyOfTheCanyon · 03/05/2019 19:53

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Jeschara · 03/05/2019 19:55

Nasty thing too do if true. I wonder if OP has written on here, if it Is the latter, because she is scared she will be in trouble at work and wants to see what others think.

That said anyone who could do that is a nasty bully and very inadequate as well. Also silly to write about it on a public forum.

Aridane · 03/05/2019 19:56

What a vile thing to do. Hope you get fired - sorry!

Dropitlikeitshot · 03/05/2019 19:59

Depends if it’s a shared basement really.
Maybe somebody closed it once they were done unloading items, but didn’t know he was in there snooping. And yes, that has happened in a previous place I’ve worked, though not to a member of my team.

As I’ve said, it’s seems more likely it didn’t happen.

NaomifromMilkshake · 03/05/2019 20:00

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Persifleur · 03/05/2019 20:03

When I saw the thread title I was thinking: how? How could this ever be a way of treating anyone? Possibly an aggressive man who'd threateningly pursued OP, possibly with a weapon...

Yes, I've seen the update and how the trainee could have got out if he really needed to. He wasn't really trapped. But still, it's a display of power. OP recognises it as such when the thread title says to have left him stuck in the cellar.

I won't reiterate all the good points PPs have made about how else to deal with his alleged naivety and insubordination, or pontificate on the apparently non-existent health & safety risks.

Just let it hang there: is it reasonable to punish a n00b for being a n00b? Let alone by setting him a trap...
Are we teenagers?
Actually, I'd expect a lot better of the teenagers I know - and get it.

Persifleur · 03/05/2019 20:05

Btw, his induction should have included orientation, ffs.

NaughtToThreeSadOnions · 03/05/2019 20:06

Depends if it’s a shared basement really.
Maybe somebody closed it once they were done unloading items, but didn’t know he was in there snooping. And yes, that has happened in a previous place I’ve worked, though not to a member of my team

Who the hell are a clincial setting going to be sharing with tje local branch if wilkos?

Oh just pop down to the basement to dispose of clincal waste and see if theres any new dresses in next while your down there.

clincal waste=clincal setting

rwalker · 03/05/2019 20:06

thought we did away with bulling new starter and apprentices

Dropitlikeitshot · 03/05/2019 20:09

Off the top of my head, Boots Opticians have clinical waste, and have shared basements with Boots the chemist, the other part of the company.

It’s two clinical companies which also lock up high priced items.
Are you always this condescending?

LadyOfTheCanyon · 03/05/2019 20:11

Ooo I think that's my first deletion! And I've been here four years! Who knew it would be on a thread about a bloke being locked in a cellar!

Aridane · 03/05/2019 20:14

Ah, troll hunting !

ilikemethewayiam · 03/05/2019 20:23

OP, as annoying as he was you could be in serious trouble knowingly leaving him in a locked cellar! Imagine the tabloid headlines! Employee perishes in fire after his Mentor refuses to call help for him after accidentally locking himself in a cellar! You could be held responsible if anything happened to him as a result!

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