Man Claims Senior Fired From Company For Stealing His Helmet, Internet Calls It "Cruel Punishment"

A senior tech professional was apparently "blacklisted" and put on a "notice period" after being caught stealing a junior colleague's helmet worth Rs 1500 from the office parking area. The incident, shared on Reddit, went viral, sparking discussion on the senior's alleged actions, with users calling it "cruel punishment". The junior techie claimed in the long post that they parked their scooter in the office basement and left their helmet on the handlebars. When they returned, the helmet was gone, replaced with a damaged one.

"When I came back around 6 PM, my helmet was gone," the user named shaxcasm posted on Fresher Tech Jobs India subreddit. "But here's the weird part - someone had placed another helmet in its spot. Except this one was badly damaged, had a huge dent, and the visor was completely broken."

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The techie said that it wasn't a random theft, but someone "intentionally swapped helmets".

They then reached out to the security desk and learned that there was no CCTV coverage in the basement parking. "For almost one week, I kept going in circles with mails and follow-ups," the techie wrote.

"Finally, one day I learned that incidents related to parking and vehicles are handled by the transport team, not HR. So I contacted them immediately. Turns out, the transport team manages shuttle and cab services for multiple projects, and many of those vehicles run 24x7 dashcams inside the campus area."

Someone stole my helmet in TCS parking… and replaced it with a broken one. The ending surprised me.
by u/shaxcasm in FresherTechJobsIndia

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After the investigation, it was discovered that a senior colleague, with over four years of experience, was responsible.

The company took strict action, placing the senior techie on notice period and blacklisting them. "He was placed on notice period and reportedly blacklisted. And before anyone asks - no, my helmet wasn't some premium racing gear. It cost around Rs 1500," the techie wrote.

"Still can't wrap my head around risking your career over something like this," they added.

Social Media Reaction

The post received over 500 upvotes and thousands of views, with users condemning the senior's actions, questioning the motive behind stealing a helmet that couldn't be used without raising suspicion.

In the comment section, one user wrote, "That's really unfortunate that even after so much education and a high profile job people stoop to do such kind of things."

"The only time I don't lock a helmet is when it's become too old and needs to be replaced. The decision to get a new one becomes automatic," another user shared.

"Placing him on a notice period was a more cruel punishment than firing him on the spot!" wrote a third user.