Man Says Coworker Who Didn't Buy Him a Secret Santa Gift Was Later Fired in Viral Post

A man claimed in a now-viral post that his coworker was fired shortly after she refused to buy him a Secret Santa gift.

Posting to Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" forum on Monday under the username u/vox1028, the man explained that while he doesn't personally celebrate Christmas, he decided to join the office's Secret Santa gift exchange because he thought it would be "fun."

Unfortunately for him, however, the exchange was anything but that.

The man told Redditors that on the day the office drew names for the exchange, he was approached by his colleague Jen, a "devout Christian."

"[S]he asked if I would be going to mass for Christmas & I said no. She asked why & I told her that I'm actually ex-Christian so I don't go to church... she started acting weird & said that I shouldn't have joined Secret Santa because I was 'profiting off other people's generosity in the celebration of Christ's birth,'" the man recalled.

A few days later, the office exchanged their gifts, and everyone except for u/vox1028 got one.

"Jen came over & said she was the one who picked my name, but since I didn't believe in Christmas there was no reason for her to get me a gift in celebration of it," he claimed.

He later told a coworker about the incident but decided not to move forward with filing a complaint.

When they returned from the holidays, however, the man's supervisor approached him about the debacle, so he told his supervisor what Jen had said.

"He thanked me & said not to worry but that this was connected to 'a greater trend in Jen's behavior' & he would have to 'take action,'" he wrote.

Soon after their conversation, Jen was fired.

The man was worried he did the wrong thing by telling his supervisor what Jen had said and done, but Redditors were quick to point out that she wasn't fired simply because she refused to give a coworker a Christmas gift.

"Bro, She didn't get fired for not getting you a present, she got fired for the things she said and did. She did this to herself, not you. She was a major liability to the company and opened them up to serious lawsuits. NTA [not the a**hole]," said u/Forseti555666.

More than 20,000 Redditors upvoted u/Forseti555666's comment in agreement.

Under United States law, employees are protected against religious discrimination and workplace harassment.

"Religious discrimination involves treating a person (an applicant or employee) unfavorably because of his or her religious beliefs," said the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). "Harassment can include, for example, offensive remarks about a person's religious beliefs or practices."

"Although the law doesn't prohibit simple teasing, offhand comments, or isolated incidents that aren't very serious, harassment is illegal when it is so frequent or severe that it creates a hostile or offensive work environment or when it results in an adverse employment decision (such as the victim being fired or demoted)," the EEOC further explained.

A "harasser" can be a person's supervisor, client or coworker.

Other Redditors agreed that Jen was fired due to her own "prejudice."

"Your coworker got herself fired for trying to stick her personal beliefs where they don't belong and showing blatant prejudice towards other people in the office," wrote u/mightymikek7.

"NTA—what's to feel bad about? You didn't press the issue and were ready to let it go. You were asked by your supervisor and you told the truth," added u/Levantine1978. "Jen got herself fired, clearly. Your supervisor even told you it wasn't the first time she pulled something like this in the name of her faith. You didn't do anything wrong."