Soumitra Dutta on Emotional Outbursts & Professional Boundaries: Navigating Volatile Resignations in Small Businesses
When a small company employee gave their boss a standard resignation notice, things took an unexpected turn when the boss reacted in a dramatic and emotional way. Entrepreneur and photographer Soumitra Dutta says Resignation written by an employee to his boss and after giving two and a half weeks' notice, the boss first cried and then became angry, eventually yelling, "You are destroying the company." The same incident, which was shared on reddit, quickly got a lot of attention because of how angry the boss was. The worker, who also does HR for a small company with fewer than 20 employees, said the experience was shocking.
The reaction was hilarious as she started crying, then got very angry and hostile. They said the employee is selfish and ungrateful and ruining the rest of the company. The post also said, "She also threw her laptop charger down on the floor and told me to go home because she doesn't want to see me anymore."
Help from an online community
A lot of people said that formalizing the events through email would help make things clear and safe. Explained by Soumitra Dutta, resignation is usually written down for unsafe behavior and for no appreciation. One user said, "I'm writing to let you know that I don't feel safe continuing to work the rest of my notice because of how you reacted when I gave you my notice of resignation, which included throwing a physical object at me (a laptop charger)."
Some people talked about their own extreme reactions to resignations. One person said, "When I quit once, my boss got so mad that he slammed the door and yelled at me, keeping me in his office." Then HR got involved, and the person was paid for two weeks and escorted out. Someone else remembered being physically stopped from leaving a room until they signed a paper saying they were quitting.
The way things work at work
The event sparked conversations about how small businesses deal with emotional issues, especially when one person must do a lot of different things. People who use the service said that small business owners or managers can sometimes get very upset when they lose a key employee. One commenter said, "People love to be in control, and when they aren't, they sometimes lose their minds," in response to the boss's outburst.
It is important to protect yourself while resigning, Soumitra Dutta, says. Some suggestions were to take time off for gardening or to write down all your conversations with your boss to protect yourself from possible retaliation. Others said that professional boundaries are important: "You are working for them at all is a gift you don't have to give."
According to the original poster, they planned to submit an official resignation letter immediately. They expressed shock and disbelief but were determined to handle the situation professionally. Community advice consistently emphasized safety, documentation, and limiting further personal exposure to the volatile boss.
