To have asked colleague to pay for my coat?

[GreenSnot]

Office based job. Colleague was flying around the office on a wheeled chair on Monday, I’d asked her to stop twice but she carried on. Then she ended up wheeling over my coat which was on the back of my chair (but partly on the floor). The coat got tangled in the wheels and ripped. It was a Barbour coat so not cheap but not massively expensive either. I said “you should pay something towards me getting a new one” and she said “oh chill out, it shouldn’t have been on the floor”. I said “you shouldn’t be flying around on the office on the chair!” Anyway another colleague charmed in and said she’d knocked a dent into the filing cabinet last week after crashing into it and she should offer to pay for that too.

Now a number of colleagues have taken her side and have started taking the piss like dropping a tea bag and shouting “someone needs to pay for that” etc etc

Was I unreasonable to ask her to pay towards my coat?

Personally, I’d have demanded the money their and then. She’s ruined your belongings so she owes you for what she’s damaged.

Bloody hell. I have a feeding tube that is in a rucksack that hangs in my chair. It has a long giving set to it. Which means it’s a pain in the arse. But what if she’d caught that? Pissing about on a chair?!?

Good lord.

I'd ask that she buy a new coat of same value or the same if they are still on sale, if the coat could not be fixed seamlessly. I would also take it up with someone higher as a grievance and put in a complaint. That sort of behaviour is not acceptable even in school.

@GreenSnot

There is nowhere else to hang coats.

She was flying around and spinning around messing about, treating it like a fairground ride

Then I would bring it to the attention of your boss.

Your coat has been damaged due to colleague negligence and her pissing about in the office, when she should’ve been working and also the company not having a suitable place to hang your coats, thereby causing a H&S hazard.

And I think you were quite within your rights to ask her for money towards replacing it. If she’d have been working rather than behaving like she was in a playground, it wouldn’t have happened. She needs to grow up.

This is a brilliant thread. Very good story @SheldonesqueTheBstard

I’m sorry your colleague ripped your coat @GreenSnot

Are you going to talk to HR about this and the bullying?

Where the fuck do you work OP that people behave like children in the office?

I’d be disciplined if I did this at work.

I was inspired by ill’s Mr Tickle. Little 🐉

Bloody wonderful post by them!

Report her to HR

Dunno about the coat, but she's a heath and safety hazard and needs disciplining. Talk to your manager?

If she is going to whizz about on an office chair like a toddler playing with it, then there is no way she's going to pay for your coat. It pisses me off when people are paid to work and actually sod about like prats instead. I suggest you get a sturdy bag for life type thing and fold your coat into it and put it under your desk where the deranged colleague cannot run over it. It was not a fantastic idea to let it drag on the floor, but nevertheless she should have behaved herself.

I don't know much about Barbour coats, but if it is not a fabric that can be sewn, perhaps it can be taped (a proper tape job like seams of waterproofs are done)

Honestly I don’t know

I think it’s a complaint you should have raised privately with management, you should have taken it through official channels. Ultimately she won’t have to pay for your coat, but she shouldn’t be behaving like that at work and at the very least, she should have apologised to you.

@Brefugee

well there should be somewhere to hang coats. That is a safety issue right there.

I agree.

I've never worked anywhere where that didn't have coathooks or somewhere to hang them. Anything that trails on the ground from the back of a chair is a trip hazard.

I'm surprised at so many people saying costs shouldn't be on chairs. All the offices I've worked at (big well known companies) there haven't been lockers or staff rooms etc. Everyone puts costs on chairs as there's no where else for them to go.

Any updates op ?

Then I would bring it to the attention of your boss. Your coat has been damaged due to colleague negligence and her pissing about in the office, when she should’ve been working and also the company not having a suitable place to hang your coats, thereby causing a H&S hazard. And I think you were quite within your rights to ask her for money towards replacing it. If she’d have been working rather than behaving like she was in a playground, it wouldn’t have happened. She needs to grow up

This, she is an idiot. She caused the damage. She should pay.

Evil thought - (Maybe wheel about near her car and cause expensive damage to the paintwork?)

I would complete an incident form (ie accident at work type form as you would if you had been injured by the idiot) and raise it with your manager - your workplace should pay for your damaged coat because they permitted their staff to behave like children and so they should bear the cost of damage caused. You absolutely should not have to cover the cost. If your employer wants to recoup the cost from her that is up to them.

Barbour also do repairs so worth seeing if they will repair and your work can cover that cost.

Of course you should be allowed to hang your coat on your chair without it being damaged.

She sounds childish, but also your coat shouldn't be on the floor either if you valued it. It could have been stepped on, trip hazard, etc.

The fact there is nowhere to hang coats is an issue. But the sort of thing that doesnt get addressed until it's pointed out.

Raise it with your admin, Hr, FM or whoever has sway.

We had the same issue, was fixed the same day when Jim the Janitor pulled out a load of coat hooks on strips of wood and hung them on a wall. Situation much improved.

Your colleague needs her attitude adjusting. I'm not immune to such childish games. Mid covid lockdown 1 we was slinging each other down the now abandoned corridors in the middle of the night on office chairs in some sort of curling challenge. Our manager called us out for it.. (after he'd had a few goes and been beaten).

There is a balance, the only thing in danger of being damaged was the then new covid signage.

And another Barbour one bites the dust...

I agree with others, you should talk to her boss and put in a grievance. What on earth is a grown woman doing behaving like that in a work environment.

She sounds childish, but also your coat shouldn't be on the floor either if you valued it. It could have been stepped on, trip hazard, etc.

Won't somebody read the BLOODY THREAD?! Or at least the OP's posts.

@iklboo Yes I did read OP's posts. Still, I think it's her fault that it was on the floor. You can fold it and put away somewher, or fold in half and hang from the chair without touching the floor, etc, there are many ways to make sure your valuable coat isn't on the floor.

Yes, you should ask her to pay for a repair. Make a complaint