Worker Quits Her ‘Insufferable’ Job On A Company Wide Reply All Email
She'd had enough of her boss' inappropriate behavior.
Dean Drobot / CanvaPro We’ve all likely struggled through at least one horrible job. Whether it was a hostile work environment, a terrible boss, or impossibly high standards, it’s a universal experience we all loathe.
Jules Norton took to TikTok to share her own experience with an “insufferable” job and the breaking point that ultimately led to her resignation. Her creative “quitting email” gave her space to finally express her unhappiness to her boss and the entire company.
Norton quit her ‘insufferable’ job on a company-wide ‘reply all’ email to her boss.
As a project coordinator for a construction company, Norton shared that her job wasn't “all that stressful,” but her company culture made things a hundred times worse. While she tried to set her own expectations and hold herself to a high standard, her boss was never happy.
“My work environment was ‘go go go’ and ‘push push push’ and not in a positive way,” she explained. “It was a ‘do it, or else’ situation. It became very toxic.”
Despite having several high-ranking titles, she honestly admitted her boss needed some “management classes” because he often set impossibly high standards and micro-managed everyone on his team. In a role that had potential, she struggled to navigate the toxic work culture and debated her decision to quit for months before actually doing it.
“I was waiting for the ‘right time,’ but when is that?” Norton asked. “I was making great money. It was insufferable … but aren’t most jobs?”
However, after she made a small mistake — sending an email to the wrong person — her boss’ reaction made the decision for her after months of uncertainty.
After her boss broadcasted one of her small mistakes in a company-wide email, Norton took the opportunity to express her ‘unhappiness’ in a reply all.
Norton acknowledged her email error that was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, but she also pointed out that it was a simple mistake. “God forbid, I’m human and I make a mistake!”
After sending her email to the wrong person, she quickly realized and fixed it. Sending a quick email back, rerouting the message, and moving on with her day. She was surprised when she received another email from her boss.
Photo: Antonio_Diaz / Canva Pro
“What are you trying to achieve with this?” her boss wrote, replying to the email she originally sent to the wrong person. Confused by his blatantly passive-aggressive response, she didn't know how to respond until she saw the address bar on the email.
Instead of pointing out her mistake and sending her a private email, her boss decided to send his message to the entire company. Whether it was an attempt to embarrass her or call out a simple human mistake, it infuriated her — and rightly so.
“Now, I have ADHD,” she admitted, “and the rejection sensitivity is strong. I don’t do criticism well and I was already kicking myself for making the mistake. I’m sitting there at my desk, my eyes are starting to well up, but I went to the bathroom to ‘compose’ myself.”
In an email reply that included the whole company, Norton told her boss she was quitting and expressed her unhappiness with the job.
After taking a deep breath and sitting back down at her desk, Norton had no problem in pressing the “reply all” button herself.
“In this email, I wish I could say I went out in a ‘blaze of glory.’ I basically said, ‘Clearly this was a mistake, but this is as good a time as any to say I’m unhappy here.’”
Although she mentioned wanting a remote job and needing more work/life balance in her email, the truth was the company culture drove her out. If she had a healthy boss, a great work atmosphere, and achievable expectations she would have stayed.
As author Mike McFall explained in a TikTok, company culture is “not about foosball or weekend volleyball” with your team. It’s about “being a part of something meaningful,” where you feel respected and valued at work.
Company culture is essential both to creating healthy, happy employees and to bolster productivity. A survey by Flexjobs found over 62% of people leave their jobs due to company culture or toxic working environments and it remains the number one reason people quit their jobs in the United States.
After officially putting in her two weeks and leaving, Norton said she's soaking up her ‘fun unemployment’ while it lasts.
Quitting her job was nothing short of a “weight” off her shoulders. It gave her a chance to enjoy all the benefits of “fun unemployment.” Although she is “not receiving unemployment” benefits for quitting her job, she’s lucky enough to still enjoy her time away.
“I saved up a little bit, I have a husband that can support his family. Don’t quit your job if you have nothing lined up,” she said in an updated post. “I was in the fortunate position where I was able to quit and it’s not going to completely ruin my life.”
Don't get complacent in a job you dislike because you feel you have no other options.
Although not everyone in a toxic job has the freedom to quit on a whim, Norton's story gives a little bit of hope to those struggling through their 9 to 5s. Even if you're still working, dedicate a few minutes each day to saving money, looking for a new job, or making connections.
Give yourself avenues to pursue new opportunities or connect with people in industries you enjoy. You never know when a job opening could save you from a potentially toxic situation in the future.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a news and entertainment writer at YourTango focusing on pop culture analysis and human interest stories.