edit: i did use ai to clean up the text a bit more and help the flow
I (23F) think my ex-best friend (31F) is trying to ruin my job and I just got suspended because of her
I honestly don’t even know where to start, but I feel like my life has turned into some kind of workplace drama nightmare and I need advice.
I (23F) used to be best friends with this woman (31F, I’ll call her April). When I say best friends, I mean attached at the hip—talking every day, hanging out constantly, the whole thing. I was there for her through everything. Me and another friend (Liz) supported her through every possible “girlhood” crisis.
But the friendship was… off. Every time I had a bad day, hers was worse. Every conversation somehow came back to her. I ignored it because I cared about her.
Eventually, I transferred to a different plant for my own sanity. That’s when I met my boyfriend, Travis, and for the first time in a long time… I felt peaceful. Less anxious. Happier. Looking back, I think that says everything.
I’ll admit I started pulling away from April, but I still trusted her. I told her everything. I went to her for advice. At the same time, I’d vent to Travis and he started pointing out things I didn’t want to see. That she was toxic. That she used people.
I didn’t listen.
Then she transferred to my building and everything blew up.
Before she even got there, there was already drama: hooking up with supervisors, selling pictures to a manager, starting smear campaigns against other women at work. Somehow, during her transfer process, she got *very* close with her future boss (Brian). Constant messaging. Hanging out outside of work. You can connect the dots.
Once she arrived, the chaos followed immediately.
One night she messaged me going OFF about a coworker (Cody) reporting her. She was furious, threatening to fight him, saying he was targeting her. I tried to calm her down like I always did.
But then I found out the truth from another supervisor (Romeo), who I trust completely.
It wasn’t just “sitting down” or “taking off her vest.” She was acting wildly inappropriate at work, wearing revealing clothes, drawing attention to herself, pushing boundaries in a way that made people uncomfortable.
I tried to warn her. I told her to be careful. That people were watching.
That’s when everything turned.
She got defensive, started being rude… and then went behind my back and called her boss crying, blaming ME for everything. She sent him screenshots of our private conversation to make me look like the problem.
I got pulled aside by her boss (Brian) and Romeo, thinking I was in trouble, only to find out she had twisted everything onto me. Thankfully, Romeo backed me up, but that was the moment I realized I couldn’t trust her at all.
So I started quietly distancing myself.
No confrontation. No drama. Just space.
And then, out of nowhere, she blocked me on EVERYTHING. No explanation. No conversation. Just gone. When I saw her at work, she was cold, rude, and hostile.
I decided to leave it alone. I didn’t talk about her. I even asked mutual friends not to get involved because I didn’t want drama.
Didn’t matter.
She started going around asking people if I was talking about her (I wasn’t), harassing others for information, and somehow HR got pulled into it. I was called in and told to “stop talking about her,” which I had already done.
At that point, I realized something bigger was happening.
So when a higher-up asked me if there was anything else going on, I told them everything. The lies. The screenshots. The situation with her boss. All of it.
I walked out of that meeting feeling like I had finally protected myself.
A week later, I got pulled aside and suspended. No explanation. Just “pending investigation.” I was escorted out like I did something wrong.
Now it’s been TWO WEEKS, and I still have no answers.
And here’s the part that’s really getting to me. My boyfriend heard that her boss (Brian) has been pulled into meetings and may be lying. We genuinely believe they’re trying to protect themselves and silence me because I know too much.
So now I’m sitting here, suspended from my job, feeling like I’m being punished for someone else’s behavior and lies.
What do I even do in this situation?
Does this count as retaliation?
Should I be looking into legal options at this point?
I never thought cutting off a toxic friend would turn into something like this.
Any advice would mean a lot because I feel completely blindsided.