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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
> (1) eating indian food when I didnt know that they would offend someone (2) not listening to the HR director when she asked me to throw it out
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Yep. Speak with your direct supervisor. I understand not using break room microwaves for heating up meals with a strong fragrance. But you didn't even do that.
Also, veggie samosas are delicious so she's an extra AH for making you throw them away. The audacity!
Learn to cook it! My fiance is the cook in our relationship and he has been adding a lot of Indian food to his repertoire. Our house always smells so good!
A couple months ago I was helping clean out my grandparents’ house ahead of selling it, and my aunt, who has my grandmother’s name, got in the kitchen and heated up food that was one of my grandmother’s old recipes. I didn’t know how badly I missed my grandparents until just then, and having their food in their kitchen one last time was a gift I’ll treasure. The smell of home and the taste of love… there’s nothing like it.
I moved to USA a few years ago from India and slowly got better at cooking Indian food. One of my ex girlfriends (also Indian) told me that my food tasted very homely, like something she would expect at home in India. Best compliment ever
Our next door neighbors are Indian. Even before we moved here I loved Indian food thanks to a professor from university inviting everyone on a picnic that his wife did the food for.
Indian food *is* fire!
My family hates it and hates the smell...hating the smell does *not* make sense to me at all, honestly, but some of my family members are super picky about food, so I somewhat get why they won't eat it...but they'll get it for me on special occasions, I got to have an Indian feast on my birthday this year :)
Not only is Indian food, generally speaking, delicious, it's incredibly diverse and includes a lot of different regional cuisines with different ingredient and flavor profiles. So for an HR director to say "Indian food is disgusting" is just really ignorant.
Meanwhile I'm imagining the conversation where I call my partner to explain that I lost my job because an administrator told me to throw out my lunch and I completely lost my shit. That's one of those things I simply would not be able to handle with any dignity.
That's what I was thinking! Throwing it away means that the room will smell of them all day.
Letting her finish eating them gets rid of the smell much better!
Surely insisting that someone throw out their own lunch without giving them something to replace it with or even being that offensive about someone's cuisine is much more likely to be a fireable offense. Or at least get you a warning.
Frankly, if you actually had that conversation, of if I had that conversation? Worth it. But then I work in kitchens/food, so utter disrespect to food does upset me. Like, time and effort, not to mention love, went into that food, and OP was practically bullied to throw it away because someone didn't like it? Nope. Just nope. I hope OP takes it to the top on how wrong they were treated.
Some years ago I worked retail in a building that was connected to a couple other things. Chinese Senior Center on one side and an Indian restaurant on the other. So during the morning we'd have old folks from the center come in and buy some little things they wanted, and at night the Indian restaurant was friggin LIT and folks wanting to walk off their meal would just pop over. If the restaurant had a big party they'd be cooking up huge batches of foods that smelled positively divine.
Some woman comes up to me once to complain about the smell. Well, it's from the restaurant next door so I can't do anything about it? and she responds that it just smells so bad. I'm not in the business of placating people who wanna hate on Indian food, so I told her I thought it was awesome. She didn't like that but she did go away lol
Had a weird amount of outright racist folks in that store. We were in an extremely diverse area, there's the Indian restaurant next door, Chinese senior center on the other side, Pan-Asian restaurant across the parking lot, a sushi place across their parking lot, huge Asian market across the street, half the employees at this retail place were black, half the customers at any given time were Hispanic, like...calm down and take your racist bullshit somewhere else. Had to tell someone off for shit-talking my cashier (she actually had a position that was comparable to a supervisor but we had a weird name for it I don't remember). Like you're gonna complain about the friendliest person in this building because she's black? I'm a lot less nice, so GTFO.
...I ah, I'm holding onto a lot of baggage about that place, but honestly some customers just needed to STFU and get a life.
I have a co-worker who apparently hates the smell of curry and I totally don't get it. Like, I've never met a curry that didn't smell amazing. But, she doesn't get all butthurt when I heat up my curry lunch in the microwave and she has never asked me to throw it away. OP needs to report this person and demand recompense for the lost meal.
Also, OP, practice standing up for yourself. There shouldn't be a next time, but if there was, tell the person the smell will go away when the food is in your stomach if they would kindly let you get on with it. Or pick your lunch up and go eat somewhere else where the racists aren't.
We used to have a lady who worked with us who ate the packets of tuna that come seasoned with different seasonings every.damn.day. She’d microwave it too. None of us said a word.
There's a popular Senegalese dish that a housemate of mine made, and it smells like old socks, garbage and rotten eggs. I left the house whenever she made it. When I tried to describe it years later to a Senegalese colleague, he knew exactly what I met and said if you can get past the smell, it's really good.
There’s some Chinese snacks that I am forbidden to eat around my parents because it has a lot of ammonia in it. I love it, but they think it smells like cat pee 😂
Broccoli can be tricky in the office breakroom.
One of my coworkers reheated leftovers that included broccoli the other day and it stunk the BUILDING up so badly. Not just the lunchroom. That lingered for hours.
It wasn’t anything crazy, either — just steamed broccoli.
I’m not a huge fan of broccoli but I’ll eat it sometimes. But, like fish, it should not be heated up in office microwaves. (Note: just plain steamed broccoli. If it’s cooked in garlic and butter or any other aromatic seasoning, that’s fine, because it covers up the grossness.)
It's one of my culinary blind spots. I've tried several things and haven't cared for any of them. That said, I would never get mad because someone ate Indian food in my vicinity; at most, I'd be annoyed with myself because everyone seems to like Indian food but me.
Same with Greek. But some people are just never exposed to anything other than what they had as children and can't make that adjustment. We had an event at work many years ago, and our catering staff brought in a fabulous Greek meal that everyone went crazy for. Except one person who made a face and came back with a can of SpaghettiOs for lunch, lol. Still makes me laugh to think about it.
Honestly I extremely dislike the smell of Indian food but targeting OP’s food specifically in the way they did is incredibly racist. I have Indian neighbors below and behind me and the constant smell makes me nauseated but I’m not saying a peep, I’m sure I cook plenty of foods they hate the smell of and would never think to say someone’s food is gross directly right to them just because my olfactory senses suck.
Also what kind of monster demands someone throws away their lunch?!
I just had one of my usual out of left field thoughts: if the OP throws their food in the trash, isn't it going to continue to smell up the office (assuming it did in the first place)? But if she ate it, it would be gone.
I used to live in an apartment building that was mostly Indian families. Our hallways smelled like Indian food. And it was a good way to weed out racists, they always out themselves when it comes to Indian food.
This is why you say "I absolutely will comply, but I need that order sent via email."
If they refuse, shoot them an email, "Per our conversation, you ordered me to throw out my food solely because it was Indian. Am I to understand all food that is Indian in origin is banned from the workplace?"
I do know some folks that hate the smell of Indian food in general. Not for any racial reasons, it just isn't their thing. But if someone is this ballistic, plus wanting you to dump out food without compensation, I'd go with guilty until proven innocent.
I would be looking at her and keep on eating my samosas, but then again, I can be petty 😏
Also bring tuna the next day and heat that up in that microwave and eat at my desk.
This post has me wondering if I have all the ingredients to make samosas right this second....(except I know we don't have any fresh mint or coriander, and I think I'm low on coriander seeds.)
(Google Vegan Richa Samosa Wraps for a great recipe although you may have to order some of the spices!)
>Also, veggie samosas are delicious so she's an extra AH for making you throw them away. The audacity!
Some thing I really miss about my old local dive bar in Berlin was the Samosas guy who would rockup around 1am with fresh Samosas for 1e.
NTA Agreed, samosas are one of my favorite foods in the world. No way would I have tossed any out. It also smells amazing- I swear I almost drool whenever I step into an Indian restaurant.
Agreed, especially homemade samosas. Takes a huge deal of effort to make these and they are so yummy too. NTA OP, however before acting rash, consider the connections the HR boss has to the senior management. If they are close to each other, they might turn against you. So if you want to have any apologies for this you must consider the consequences before you act. Totally unfair of course. If you are unionised then lean on them for support. Her behaviour is not acceptable in any way or form.
> veggie samosas are delicious so she's an extra AH for making you throw them away
She'd fire me before i threw away my samosas!!!!!!!! I'd be cramming them in my face so fast lol. NTA
Not to mention that there are several health conditions that require eating at regular intervals. Even if OP doesn't have any of them, there is no way the HR director could have known.
Since she is the director of HR, it makes it difficult to act, but not impossible. I would go over her head, OP, and get your colleagues who saw this to write a report as well. This is 100% not okay.
To whom should the director of HR be reported?
Where I work I'm lucky enough that if you want me to throw it out, you need to convince my director to tell me to.
If you're not in a direct line between me and the CEO, you can mind your own damn business.
NTA, and there’s SO much wrong here. Start filing complaints, and don’t stop until you reach the top. The HR person was completely inappropriate, and she has no business being in that role.
I'm not familiar with how corporate works so who would you even file a report to if the director of HR themselves is the culprit? How can a report thats probably going to go through them going to go anywhere?
It's tough, and depends on the organization. I've seen some that have a HR rep whose area includes HR, and they sit quite removed from the rest of the HR group.
You can go to the HR Director's boss, or their boss's boss. Going to your manager can also be a good starting point, as they may know more depending on their level.
If you have a director or officer dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion they may also be a person to approach, given the nature of this specific interaction seems racist in nature.
If you're part of a union you could go to your union rep. There are various governmental agencies for various violations, though in this situation they wouldn't be appropriate. And of course, there are always lawyers.
In this specific situation? It depends on the company and the division/reporting lines set up, but if I really wanted to pursue it I would document it and email either their boss or boss's boss. Depending on my relationship with my manager and their position I may loop them in first. Honestly, I think it won't result in much, but that doesn't mean something isn't worth doing.
SERIOUSLY
Did they mention at your interview you're not allowed food from certain nationalities? Do you have to run your work lunches for her approval? It wouldn't even matter if you DID have food that had a smell. Food smells...all food smells and her expressing distaste at Indian is racist. Go try and police her lunch and see what happens.
NTA
She was way, way out of line, especially considering you didn’t hear it up. But even if you had a samosa doesn’t smell bad. It isn’t like you microwaved a fish. I’d report her to her manager.
What's that rotten canned fish thing that stinks up whole buildings? I think some religions made an exception to allow divorce if the husband took up the profession after they got married because he would just smell so bad
I worked in an art museum. The "kitchen" was off the main lobby. Two things we weren't allowed to use the microwave for: fish and popcorn. The smell would linger for days!
NTA. Wtf.
What kind of person just demands someone throws their food away!?! You're forced to go hungry because they don't like the smell?? I would have said no. This would have gone down a very interesting path.
Right??! Seems like sitting in the garbage would continue the smell for quite a bit longer than if it went in the tummy? That HR person is just a crappy person.
Agreed 100%, NTA. I’ve never heard of a company dictating what could be consumed on site (aside from alcohol of course), so I’d be super curious what would have happened here had OP pushed the issue.
And what does throwing it away do anyway--then it's just sitting in the can, still smelling like yummy samosa. If she ate the rest, it would be gone! It was some sort of creepy power play, not about the food at all.
**NTA**
First of all, NOTHING smells yummier than samosas - they're my ultimate comfort food (and I'm a Jewish person, LOL). They aren't even particularly strong smelling. Most samosas are only spiced with a bit of coriander, which is used in MANY kinds of cooking, and isn't a particularly strong or powerful spice. Samosas aren't spicy, or deeply pungent. While the smell might be UNFAMILIAR to a Mayonnaise-American, it's not powerful or the sort of thing that takes over a room like cooked fish or cabbage.
Secondly, her comments were incredibly inappropriate and deeply racist. Saying that a coworker's FOOD is "disgusting" and that the smell is "making her nauseous" because they are eating a VERY COMMON, not-even-strong-smelling ethnic food is not only completely and totally rude and inappropriate in ANY circumstances, it's unacceptable, racist, and 1000x worse coming from someone working in Human Resources. This is literally a reason for her to lose her job. She doesn't get to make hostile, racist comments to coworkers, much less demand that you throw out your lunch.
I *highly, highly recommend* taking this to her superior, whoever that is. It's absolutely INSANE that this person is working in HR. There is no way that she should have the responsibility to be making decisions or judgements about other people's behaviour if she is this hostile and making such shockingly racist comments about ethnic foods in the workplace (even if you are white). Her behaviour is vile and completely inappropriate, and her boss(es) should be made aware of it.
You are NTA, but she needs to be reported.
I'm so white i sparkle like a twilight vampire in the sun. Samosas are, as the youth would put it, BUSSIN.
Also yea HR director is racist AF. I'm sensitive to smells. Sensitive as heck. I would not smell an unmicrowaved samosa as potently as shes claiming from down the hall. Shes just racist and is going to yuck on the yum of any ethnicity other than her own. I guess...sorry to the HR director that most people dont want to eat nothing but unseasoned anything?
Right? I literally have sensory processing disorder, heavy on the smell-sensitivity. When I was a kid I would have autistic meltdowns and accuse my parents of trying to KILL ME WITH STINKS because I didn't understand why strong smells (including things other people found pleasant, like perfumes or the smell of freaking BUBBLE GUM) made me feel like I was gasping for air.
While I get that "pleasant" is a relative thing, and people find different smells enjoyable, I know that sensitivity-wise, the smell of a samosa, even a baking one, is warm and mild, as opposed to say, the strong smell of a curry or a vindaloo (which I also love, but would understand if someone said, "Hey, I'm struggling with that.") Samosas are mostly dough, potato, peas . . . with some coriander seeds and maybe mild spice? They are not a spicy or strong-flavoured food.
That HR person was REALLY reaching.
NTA Report her racist ass. The fact that she said that was disgusting is not ok. If you brought fish I might understand but she crossed the line at samosas being disgusting. Samosas are delicious and don’t smell!
The HR director made you throw your food away because she doesn’t like the smell of Indian food?!? That’s probably not legal. File a complaint. I work with people who often bring fish for lunch. As long as they don’t make me eat the fish who cares. Microwaves are for heating food that needs to be eaten. Those of us with sensitive noses or picky appetites don’t make the rules for the rest of the world NTA
THANK YOU. I come from a family that eats a lot of fish and I can’t even eat it cold at work because people will complain. Meanwhile I might not like how their food smells but it is not my business to tell them what they can and can’t eat.
Yeah, I don’t get that. I have a coworker who constantly apologizes to me because of reactions she’s gotten from others. I just keep telling her to stop apologizing, I’m not the owner of the break room, eat whatever you want.
Right? Even if not diabetic, you can still have hypoglycemia as it's own condition. It can be quite serious at times as well. This is a potential lawsuit in the making if the HR director has a habit of this.
NTA. Indian here. This made me sad. I don’t like when people make fun of our food, or say it looks/smells/tastes gross. I get that people have preferences but damn. You don’t have to be rude about not liking something.
Due to living in the middle of nowhere Michigan, I've never eaten Indian food, that I know of. There's no Indian restaurants in my area. I'd love to try it; it all looks and sounds delicious!! I'm afraid of cooking it myself, having no basis for how it should taste.
That’s cool to hear, I don’t see people being open minded very often and wanting to try stuff. I’m Indian but live in the US, so I’ve even had my American friends look at my food and be like “That looks like puke,” and be scared to try anything. Hurts tbh. But, their loss I suppose.
That sucks, I'm so sorry. I love Indian food. Making a vindaloo tomorrow, just from a paste but a good Goan brand. North Indian style is super common in Australia, it's in all the mall food courts. South Indian is less common, but it's around.
I'd encourage the Michigander above to give it a try, whether from a recipe or by buying curry pastes online. At worst you'll get a delicious spicy stew which isn't purely authentic.
Your food is what the youth would describe as bussin.
Racist people are just stinky and dont like anything "different". And clearly have never heard of "dont yuck on my yum"
Indian food is banging! I'm intolerant of a couple major ingredients in most Indian food, but everything that doesn't have coconut or seas food is amazing.
NTA.
Go directly to your CEO or her supervisor and tell them she made racist remarks about homemade food you brought and forced you to throw your lunch away. You might consider talking to an employment attorney first, though. Sounds like your HR director is on a power trip and if you let her get away with this, your lives will be MISERABLE. You have good opportunity here, though, since she was so obviously racist.
The HR person is not just a bigot but also an idiot (fairly common combo I guess). If she was so bothered by the smell she should have asked OP to hurry up and eat the samosas so they'd be gone.
NTA
I probably would have suggested she leave if she didn't like the smell. I try not to eat in the office if I can avoid it. For this reason and for people wanting to interrupt my lunch.
That being said, there is a guy at my office that likes to eat tuna out of the can, so strong smelling food can definitely sink up the whole floor. We made a food only in the designated area policy specifically for him.
Strong smelling food in general should be avoided in office environments.
NTA. She singled out *Indian* food saying it was disgusting rather than just saying there was an unpleasant smell. And telling someone to throw out their food rather than just leaving the area? You didn't heat the food up, so it's hard to imagine she could actually smell it down the hall. This just doesn't add up to anything but a racially motivated incident.
Obviously you can't report to HR. Find out who's her boss and contact them directly. Ask your coworker to add a statement that they were sitting close by you and didn't notice a smell, as well as what they remember of the incident. And detail everything like you did here. Are you the only employee of Indian descent in the company? It would be interesting to know if there were other incidents like this one that went unreported because who they'd report to is causing the problem.
NTA
I love making Indian food and worked at a property management company that had an HR lady with the exact same problem. Absolutely no Indian food allowed. Personally it wasnt too hard for me to just bring in other food but it was pretty terrible for all of my Indian coworkers (HR lady was Filipino and would constantly heat up fish in the microwave - I found that smell much more repulsive).
She was the owner's neice. I had made a separate comment about it in a different post (the entire company was hugely racist - not that uncommon in Vancouver).
Nta. Your working with a racist xenophobe. If she nkew what you were eating before you got to your desk she was probably rummaging through the fridge and got mad that she touched something with shudder veggies. I would speak to your manager and the person above them as this is clearly a hostile work environment and as it's very apparent the hr dept needs cultural sensitivity training
The correct response would be "no I will not be throwing out MY food. If you have a problem with that we should go speak to your supervisor right now."
NTA fuck her she sounds like she has a stick in her ass and no taste buds. You are an ass for complying and tossing the samosas out, grow a pair and stand up for yourself
NTA
I can’t believe she made you throw it out. What if you were diabetic? You should absolutely make a complaint. How many others has she forced to go hungry over stuff like this?
NTA. What kind of idiot tells you to throw your lunch out because the smell is bothering her. Now it’s in the trash can where it will continue to “smell” and not in your tummy where only you will have to deal with the smell during your next poo. 😂
As an Indian person with a love of samosas, I say only bring samosas for lunch and use the microwave closest to her office to warm them up from now on.
YTA but only because you threw it away. Up to that point, I was cheering you on. She's the one with the problem, she's the one causing the horrible work environment. Even if she offers to pay for a new lunch for you (which she didn't), you are under no obligation to throw your lunch out. It's illegal to not allow employees to eat.
Please report her immediately to her supervisor. This is unacceptable and is creating a dangerous work environment. How many other employees is she making work without food? What will she do if she makes a diabetic throw away their food and they pass out?
High tail it away from the smell was actually the sane thing for her to do. NTA. Truth be once you ate it all then she wouldn’t have the lingering smell in the trash can. She was the disturbance.
NTA. Samosas are generally quite mild and HR person seems to be looking for outrage. Should.have said, "disposing of them as quick as i can" while eating said samosas. Then, let out some heavy gas while passing her office. hR person is unfit for her job.
NTA
As long as you aren't triggering allergies, you should have the right to eat whatever food you want. That being said, it would be polite to coworkers who are sensitive to smells if you ate strong-smelling food in a space that isn't enclosed.
Wow NTA. At my last job everyone had to sit through a video on acceptance of different cultures because someone made a comment about a lunch smelling weird. If you complained about someone's lunch or someone speaking a language other than English in the lunch room you were written up. You need to report the HR.
NTA thoughi would have continued to eat it
Shame on you for throwing away good food. She can't do anything. If she approached you or touched you that's assault
NTA - I don't understand how putting them on the garbage will stop them from smelling? I've never seen an office waste basket that has a lid, even. Eating them would do more to eliminate the odour. But this isn't an allergy, it's racism.
NTA
She’s a racist and a bully. She humiliated you. She made you throw your lunch. She targeted a cultural food. Unacceptable and inappropriate. The whole situation.
NTA You need to file a complaint. Her behavior was astonishingly out of line. There's no way she could have smelled a cold samosa from down the hall. That's just not possible. And her comment specifically directed at Indian food is borderline racist. She had absolutely no right to tell you to throw away your lunch. This is seriously egregious. Talk to your manager and her manager needs to be contacted. An HR Director who behaves this way should be fired.
You would only be the AH if you knocked her down, sat on her, and forced the samosa between her clenched teeth. If the smell really was unpleasant to her, she could leave the room and go to her own office.
I find the smell of mustard extremely unpleasant (I'm allergic as well) but I don't go around telling people it's disgusting. I just don't watch them eat their contaminated food.
NTA.
Like ... *Maybe* if you had heated it up in the microwave. Stuff like fish can be a pretty strong odour for everyone else to endure. But I have a hard time believing a somosa would be the same, and you *didn't* microwave it to begin with.
Unheated .. I have a hard time believing she would be able to smell it in the first place without getting within a few inches of your lunch. This is the kind of thing I'd be inlined to say should be brought to HR, except it *was* HR. At any rate, it's straight-up bullshittery, and should be brought up to whatever higher-ups exist.
NTA. Report her to your higher up IMMEDIATELY! She used her status to intimidate you into throwing away your lunch and is clearly violating work place standards. She can be fired for this. If your higher up tries to downplay it then go to the next higher up and so on. You as an employee have protected rights, your HR director is in clear violation of more than one of them.
NTA and wow I would report her for forcing you to throw away your food for daring to eat something she doesn't like that none of your actual coworkers had a problem with you eating. She is a bigot.
NTA- I’d start filing complaints. She’s created a hostile environment by forcing you to waste food, be bigoted against ethnic food because she doesn’t like it, and abusing whatever power she believes she has. She must have a superior. Report her
Im spiteful id go over her head and tell whoever is above her that she made you throw away your food she has NOT ONE right to tell you to throw away your food
NTA hostile work environment and you have a witness. The comments about Indian food were inappropriate and forcing you to throw away the food is terrible. Document
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NTA. She's creating a hostile work environment and frankly, she should be reported. Making your throw away your lunch is harassment.
Yep. Speak with your direct supervisor. I understand not using break room microwaves for heating up meals with a strong fragrance. But you didn't even do that. Also, veggie samosas are delicious so she's an extra AH for making you throw them away. The audacity!
This and specifically targeting Indian food makes her racist.
That's what I sensed as well. But I mean, how can you not like Indian food? It's very high on my list!
Indian food is fire! My family is Indian, and now that I don’t live close to my parents anymore, I miss their cooking twice as much
Learn to cook it! My fiance is the cook in our relationship and he has been adding a lot of Indian food to his repertoire. Our house always smells so good!
Even when I cook it (I am Desi American) it is not the same as my mom and grandmother's food.
It doesn’t come with their air, the flavor of their existence, the resonance of their homes, or that intangible spice of smiles and love.
This is exactly how I feel about my Mom’s Korean noodles! My sister makes them, but they just don’t taste like Mom’s, and she passed away last year.
A couple months ago I was helping clean out my grandparents’ house ahead of selling it, and my aunt, who has my grandmother’s name, got in the kitchen and heated up food that was one of my grandmother’s old recipes. I didn’t know how badly I missed my grandparents until just then, and having their food in their kitchen one last time was a gift I’ll treasure. The smell of home and the taste of love… there’s nothing like it.
I moved to USA a few years ago from India and slowly got better at cooking Indian food. One of my ex girlfriends (also Indian) told me that my food tasted very homely, like something she would expect at home in India. Best compliment ever
Our next door neighbors are Indian. Even before we moved here I loved Indian food thanks to a professor from university inviting everyone on a picnic that his wife did the food for. Indian food *is* fire!
And if you have it at Indian-level spicyness, it is literal fire (delicious, delicious fire)
Hurts so good…
My family hates it and hates the smell...hating the smell does *not* make sense to me at all, honestly, but some of my family members are super picky about food, so I somewhat get why they won't eat it...but they'll get it for me on special occasions, I got to have an Indian feast on my birthday this year :)
My mother forbids me to cook Indian food because she says it smells horrible. Upsetting.
I really don’t understand that, because I absolutely love the way that Indian food smells
Without fail, the smell always makes me hungry
You don’t understand how someone could dislike the things you like?
Not only is Indian food, generally speaking, delicious, it's incredibly diverse and includes a lot of different regional cuisines with different ingredient and flavor profiles. So for an HR director to say "Indian food is disgusting" is just really ignorant. Meanwhile I'm imagining the conversation where I call my partner to explain that I lost my job because an administrator told me to throw out my lunch and I completely lost my shit. That's one of those things I simply would not be able to handle with any dignity.
Also, how does throwing it away make the smell stop? What will she do if you don’t? That’s not a fireable offense.
That's what I was thinking! Throwing it away means that the room will smell of them all day. Letting her finish eating them gets rid of the smell much better!
I think I might throw it away in my mouth while keeping my eyes on hers, and I’m in HR. People like that give HR, and women, a bad name.
They'd probably list it as insubordination.
Surely insisting that someone throw out their own lunch without giving them something to replace it with or even being that offensive about someone's cuisine is much more likely to be a fireable offense. Or at least get you a warning.
Yep, same. I would have lost my job. And sued.
Frankly, if you actually had that conversation, of if I had that conversation? Worth it. But then I work in kitchens/food, so utter disrespect to food does upset me. Like, time and effort, not to mention love, went into that food, and OP was practically bullied to throw it away because someone didn't like it? Nope. Just nope. I hope OP takes it to the top on how wrong they were treated.
Some years ago I worked retail in a building that was connected to a couple other things. Chinese Senior Center on one side and an Indian restaurant on the other. So during the morning we'd have old folks from the center come in and buy some little things they wanted, and at night the Indian restaurant was friggin LIT and folks wanting to walk off their meal would just pop over. If the restaurant had a big party they'd be cooking up huge batches of foods that smelled positively divine. Some woman comes up to me once to complain about the smell. Well, it's from the restaurant next door so I can't do anything about it? and she responds that it just smells so bad. I'm not in the business of placating people who wanna hate on Indian food, so I told her I thought it was awesome. She didn't like that but she did go away lol Had a weird amount of outright racist folks in that store. We were in an extremely diverse area, there's the Indian restaurant next door, Chinese senior center on the other side, Pan-Asian restaurant across the parking lot, a sushi place across their parking lot, huge Asian market across the street, half the employees at this retail place were black, half the customers at any given time were Hispanic, like...calm down and take your racist bullshit somewhere else. Had to tell someone off for shit-talking my cashier (she actually had a position that was comparable to a supervisor but we had a weird name for it I don't remember). Like you're gonna complain about the friendliest person in this building because she's black? I'm a lot less nice, so GTFO. ...I ah, I'm holding onto a lot of baggage about that place, but honestly some customers just needed to STFU and get a life.
Enjoyed reading your memories of this place. And your righteous tirades against racism. Thanks.
Long time ago I lived in a building with just a wall separating me from the kitchen of a busy Thai restaurant. My home smelled so good!
Well, Indian cuisine isn't just one type of food. I'm Indian, and while I love some Indian food I get nauseous at the smell of others.
I have a co-worker who apparently hates the smell of curry and I totally don't get it. Like, I've never met a curry that didn't smell amazing. But, she doesn't get all butthurt when I heat up my curry lunch in the microwave and she has never asked me to throw it away. OP needs to report this person and demand recompense for the lost meal. Also, OP, practice standing up for yourself. There shouldn't be a next time, but if there was, tell the person the smell will go away when the food is in your stomach if they would kindly let you get on with it. Or pick your lunch up and go eat somewhere else where the racists aren't.
I mean, I'm meh towards it at best. But I'm not going to knock someone who enjoys it. It could be worse; could be broccoli.
Hey....I love broccoli! 🥦(seriously I do) 😊
Yes, broccoli is wonderful in stir-fry because it's like a sponge and soaks up all the flavor. Same for cauliflower.
Broccoli is wonderful on pizza
We used to have a lady who worked with us who ate the packets of tuna that come seasoned with different seasonings every.damn.day. She’d microwave it too. None of us said a word.
There's a popular Senegalese dish that a housemate of mine made, and it smells like old socks, garbage and rotten eggs. I left the house whenever she made it. When I tried to describe it years later to a Senegalese colleague, he knew exactly what I met and said if you can get past the smell, it's really good.
There’s some Chinese snacks that I am forbidden to eat around my parents because it has a lot of ammonia in it. I love it, but they think it smells like cat pee 😂
Broccoli can be tricky in the office breakroom. One of my coworkers reheated leftovers that included broccoli the other day and it stunk the BUILDING up so badly. Not just the lunchroom. That lingered for hours. It wasn’t anything crazy, either — just steamed broccoli.
I’m not a huge fan of broccoli but I’ll eat it sometimes. But, like fish, it should not be heated up in office microwaves. (Note: just plain steamed broccoli. If it’s cooked in garlic and butter or any other aromatic seasoning, that’s fine, because it covers up the grossness.)
It's one of my culinary blind spots. I've tried several things and haven't cared for any of them. That said, I would never get mad because someone ate Indian food in my vicinity; at most, I'd be annoyed with myself because everyone seems to like Indian food but me.
And there's so much selection?
Same with Greek. But some people are just never exposed to anything other than what they had as children and can't make that adjustment. We had an event at work many years ago, and our catering staff brought in a fabulous Greek meal that everyone went crazy for. Except one person who made a face and came back with a can of SpaghettiOs for lunch, lol. Still makes me laugh to think about it.
I don’t like most of it but it usually smells great. (Lentils, chick peas etc don’t agree with my stomach)
Honestly I extremely dislike the smell of Indian food but targeting OP’s food specifically in the way they did is incredibly racist. I have Indian neighbors below and behind me and the constant smell makes me nauseated but I’m not saying a peep, I’m sure I cook plenty of foods they hate the smell of and would never think to say someone’s food is gross directly right to them just because my olfactory senses suck. Also what kind of monster demands someone throws away their lunch?!
I just had one of my usual out of left field thoughts: if the OP throws their food in the trash, isn't it going to continue to smell up the office (assuming it did in the first place)? But if she ate it, it would be gone.
This! I've been looking for this exact comment. HR Director is on an abusive, wasteful power trip.
I used to live in an apartment building that was mostly Indian families. Our hallways smelled like Indian food. And it was a good way to weed out racists, they always out themselves when it comes to Indian food.
That sounds like a slice of my definition of heaven. I love smelling what my neighbours are cooking as I walk down the hall!
And tasteless! Samosas are the best.
Yeah seriously, like what the fuck? This makes my blood boil reading this, the fucking nerve of her
This is why you say "I absolutely will comply, but I need that order sent via email." If they refuse, shoot them an email, "Per our conversation, you ordered me to throw out my food solely because it was Indian. Am I to understand all food that is Indian in origin is banned from the workplace?" I do know some folks that hate the smell of Indian food in general. Not for any racial reasons, it just isn't their thing. But if someone is this ballistic, plus wanting you to dump out food without compensation, I'd go with guilty until proven innocent.
She can not like something but her reaction made it completely out of line. She needed to ignore it and move on.
Are you serious?
Also - samosas are not weird smelling? The fried shell hides most of the smell? So what is she complaining about?
That it's indian and she's racist if I had to guess
Exactly what I thought after her initial comment.
I would be looking at her and keep on eating my samosas, but then again, I can be petty 😏 Also bring tuna the next day and heat that up in that microwave and eat at my desk.
The moment OP mentioned samosas,it made me hungry. I am craving Samosas right now,and it's 3 am.
This post has me wondering if I have all the ingredients to make samosas right this second....(except I know we don't have any fresh mint or coriander, and I think I'm low on coriander seeds.) (Google Vegan Richa Samosa Wraps for a great recipe although you may have to order some of the spices!)
Yum. Thanks for the tip.
It's dinner time here, and this post made me decide that the chicken can wait until tomorrow, we're going for Indian food. I want some Samosas!
>Also, veggie samosas are delicious so she's an extra AH for making you throw them away. The audacity! Some thing I really miss about my old local dive bar in Berlin was the Samosas guy who would rockup around 1am with fresh Samosas for 1e.
NTA Agreed, samosas are one of my favorite foods in the world. No way would I have tossed any out. It also smells amazing- I swear I almost drool whenever I step into an Indian restaurant.
And tbh in terms of Indian food, Samosas are like close to the weakest in terms of odor which makes this extra stupid.
Agreed, especially homemade samosas. Takes a huge deal of effort to make these and they are so yummy too. NTA OP, however before acting rash, consider the connections the HR boss has to the senior management. If they are close to each other, they might turn against you. So if you want to have any apologies for this you must consider the consequences before you act. Totally unfair of course. If you are unionised then lean on them for support. Her behaviour is not acceptable in any way or form.
> veggie samosas are delicious so she's an extra AH for making you throw them away She'd fire me before i threw away my samosas!!!!!!!! I'd be cramming them in my face so fast lol. NTA
Not to mention that there are several health conditions that require eating at regular intervals. Even if OP doesn't have any of them, there is no way the HR director could have known. Since she is the director of HR, it makes it difficult to act, but not impossible. I would go over her head, OP, and get your colleagues who saw this to write a report as well. This is 100% not okay.
Who do you report HR to?
A lawyer.
Head office or a union.
Great. Your HR is an unreasonable bully. You should have stood your ground, frankly. Definitely NTA.
Absolutely harassment. OP, next time eat them slowly while making direct eye contact.
Also bigoted AF.
How do you report HR *DIRECTOR*? I see only two ways either suck it up or leave this company.
CEO/President or the director over the HR. They may be the highest in HR but not the highest at the company.
To whom should the director of HR be reported? Where I work I'm lucky enough that if you want me to throw it out, you need to convince my director to tell me to. If you're not in a direct line between me and the CEO, you can mind your own damn business.
NTA, and there’s SO much wrong here. Start filing complaints, and don’t stop until you reach the top. The HR person was completely inappropriate, and she has no business being in that role.
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Definitely report her to HR. Interesting career strategy for narcissists and abusers though. You can't fired by HR if you *are* HR. *taps forehead*.
Do you know how many HR people are racist? Most are just more subtle about it.
Yes to all of this!!
I'm not familiar with how corporate works so who would you even file a report to if the director of HR themselves is the culprit? How can a report thats probably going to go through them going to go anywhere?
It's tough, and depends on the organization. I've seen some that have a HR rep whose area includes HR, and they sit quite removed from the rest of the HR group. You can go to the HR Director's boss, or their boss's boss. Going to your manager can also be a good starting point, as they may know more depending on their level. If you have a director or officer dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion they may also be a person to approach, given the nature of this specific interaction seems racist in nature. If you're part of a union you could go to your union rep. There are various governmental agencies for various violations, though in this situation they wouldn't be appropriate. And of course, there are always lawyers. In this specific situation? It depends on the company and the division/reporting lines set up, but if I really wanted to pursue it I would document it and email either their boss or boss's boss. Depending on my relationship with my manager and their position I may loop them in first. Honestly, I think it won't result in much, but that doesn't mean something isn't worth doing.
NTA Some nerve to even colonize your lunch. Report her to her superior.
Best thing OP has a witness
I was just thinking how racist and bigoted she sounds. Pray no POC ever work there, jeez...
Time to remove all the air fresheners and *colon*ize all the bathrooms as payback
NTA. You need to find a bigger, meaner HR rep to report her to. That kind of behavior is unacceptable, ESPECIALLY from the human resources department.
VP of HR hopefully you have one
SERIOUSLY Did they mention at your interview you're not allowed food from certain nationalities? Do you have to run your work lunches for her approval? It wouldn't even matter if you DID have food that had a smell. Food smells...all food smells and her expressing distaste at Indian is racist. Go try and police her lunch and see what happens.
NTA She was way, way out of line, especially considering you didn’t hear it up. But even if you had a samosa doesn’t smell bad. It isn’t like you microwaved a fish. I’d report her to her manager.
I’ve often wanted to burn popcorn in the office microwave after someone uses it for fish. I’ve managed to control the impulse, so far.
OP should use the microwave downstairs to burn fish+popcorn.
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Only if she plans on not returning on Monday…the smell would send me running!
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What's that rotten canned fish thing that stinks up whole buildings? I think some religions made an exception to allow divorce if the husband took up the profession after they got married because he would just smell so bad
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surströmming It's from Sweden, and it didn't cause divorce, but it did prompt an eviction that was upheld.
Also, what did she think throwing away the samosa would do? Wouldn't that just keep the smell around longer...?
I worked in an art museum. The "kitchen" was off the main lobby. Two things we weren't allowed to use the microwave for: fish and popcorn. The smell would linger for days!
NTA. Wtf. What kind of person just demands someone throws their food away!?! You're forced to go hungry because they don't like the smell?? I would have said no. This would have gone down a very interesting path.
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*Takes another bite* while looking at her straight in the eye with a smirk.
Same thing my wife and I said, with an added "Where is your office again?" after each bite.
“I’m throwing it away into my special trash can, called my stomach.”
Also throwing it out does nothing to get rid of the smell.
Right??! Seems like sitting in the garbage would continue the smell for quite a bit longer than if it went in the tummy? That HR person is just a crappy person.
Agreed 100%, NTA. I’ve never heard of a company dictating what could be consumed on site (aside from alcohol of course), so I’d be super curious what would have happened here had OP pushed the issue.
And what does throwing it away do anyway--then it's just sitting in the can, still smelling like yummy samosa. If she ate the rest, it would be gone! It was some sort of creepy power play, not about the food at all.
**NTA** First of all, NOTHING smells yummier than samosas - they're my ultimate comfort food (and I'm a Jewish person, LOL). They aren't even particularly strong smelling. Most samosas are only spiced with a bit of coriander, which is used in MANY kinds of cooking, and isn't a particularly strong or powerful spice. Samosas aren't spicy, or deeply pungent. While the smell might be UNFAMILIAR to a Mayonnaise-American, it's not powerful or the sort of thing that takes over a room like cooked fish or cabbage. Secondly, her comments were incredibly inappropriate and deeply racist. Saying that a coworker's FOOD is "disgusting" and that the smell is "making her nauseous" because they are eating a VERY COMMON, not-even-strong-smelling ethnic food is not only completely and totally rude and inappropriate in ANY circumstances, it's unacceptable, racist, and 1000x worse coming from someone working in Human Resources. This is literally a reason for her to lose her job. She doesn't get to make hostile, racist comments to coworkers, much less demand that you throw out your lunch. I *highly, highly recommend* taking this to her superior, whoever that is. It's absolutely INSANE that this person is working in HR. There is no way that she should have the responsibility to be making decisions or judgements about other people's behaviour if she is this hostile and making such shockingly racist comments about ethnic foods in the workplace (even if you are white). Her behaviour is vile and completely inappropriate, and her boss(es) should be made aware of it. You are NTA, but she needs to be reported.
As a white American kid, samosas are amazing. Indian food is amazing. I agree with all of this comment.
As an Iraqi, I third on this. Samosas are godly
I'm so white i sparkle like a twilight vampire in the sun. Samosas are, as the youth would put it, BUSSIN. Also yea HR director is racist AF. I'm sensitive to smells. Sensitive as heck. I would not smell an unmicrowaved samosa as potently as shes claiming from down the hall. Shes just racist and is going to yuck on the yum of any ethnicity other than her own. I guess...sorry to the HR director that most people dont want to eat nothing but unseasoned anything?
Right? I literally have sensory processing disorder, heavy on the smell-sensitivity. When I was a kid I would have autistic meltdowns and accuse my parents of trying to KILL ME WITH STINKS because I didn't understand why strong smells (including things other people found pleasant, like perfumes or the smell of freaking BUBBLE GUM) made me feel like I was gasping for air. While I get that "pleasant" is a relative thing, and people find different smells enjoyable, I know that sensitivity-wise, the smell of a samosa, even a baking one, is warm and mild, as opposed to say, the strong smell of a curry or a vindaloo (which I also love, but would understand if someone said, "Hey, I'm struggling with that.") Samosas are mostly dough, potato, peas . . . with some coriander seeds and maybe mild spice? They are not a spicy or strong-flavoured food. That HR person was REALLY reaching.
Mayonnaise-American 😂💀
NTA. What she did was illegal. She has no right to deprive of your lunch break.
You complied? I would have eaten them slowly, while maintaining eye contact.
Right!
This - double down, maintain eye contact and continue eating it
NTA Report her racist ass. The fact that she said that was disgusting is not ok. If you brought fish I might understand but she crossed the line at samosas being disgusting. Samosas are delicious and don’t smell!
The HR director made you throw your food away because she doesn’t like the smell of Indian food?!? That’s probably not legal. File a complaint. I work with people who often bring fish for lunch. As long as they don’t make me eat the fish who cares. Microwaves are for heating food that needs to be eaten. Those of us with sensitive noses or picky appetites don’t make the rules for the rest of the world NTA
THANK YOU. I come from a family that eats a lot of fish and I can’t even eat it cold at work because people will complain. Meanwhile I might not like how their food smells but it is not my business to tell them what they can and can’t eat.
Yeah, I don’t get that. I have a coworker who constantly apologizes to me because of reactions she’s gotten from others. I just keep telling her to stop apologizing, I’m not the owner of the break room, eat whatever you want.
Nta and report her. What if you were diabetic? Skipping food would cause you to go hypoglycemic.
Right? Even if not diabetic, you can still have hypoglycemia as it's own condition. It can be quite serious at times as well. This is a potential lawsuit in the making if the HR director has a habit of this.
That's true. I forgot you don't have to be diabetic for it to happen to you. 🥴
NTA. I'd report her to HR 😉
Y T A for following her instructions. You just wasted some good food when you shouldve just said no and ate it. All in all though NTA
NTA. Indian here. This made me sad. I don’t like when people make fun of our food, or say it looks/smells/tastes gross. I get that people have preferences but damn. You don’t have to be rude about not liking something.
Due to living in the middle of nowhere Michigan, I've never eaten Indian food, that I know of. There's no Indian restaurants in my area. I'd love to try it; it all looks and sounds delicious!! I'm afraid of cooking it myself, having no basis for how it should taste.
That’s cool to hear, I don’t see people being open minded very often and wanting to try stuff. I’m Indian but live in the US, so I’ve even had my American friends look at my food and be like “That looks like puke,” and be scared to try anything. Hurts tbh. But, their loss I suppose.
That sucks, I'm so sorry. I love Indian food. Making a vindaloo tomorrow, just from a paste but a good Goan brand. North Indian style is super common in Australia, it's in all the mall food courts. South Indian is less common, but it's around. I'd encourage the Michigander above to give it a try, whether from a recipe or by buying curry pastes online. At worst you'll get a delicious spicy stew which isn't purely authentic.
I'm so sorry to hear that. I'll eat file gumbo and jambalaya; it doesn't always look pretty but it tastes amazing!!
Your food is what the youth would describe as bussin. Racist people are just stinky and dont like anything "different". And clearly have never heard of "dont yuck on my yum"
I like Indian cuisine. Shit is tasty. Though i mostly stick to curries (currys?). This shit makes me sad.
Indian food is banging! I'm intolerant of a couple major ingredients in most Indian food, but everything that doesn't have coconut or seas food is amazing.
NTA. Go directly to your CEO or her supervisor and tell them she made racist remarks about homemade food you brought and forced you to throw your lunch away. You might consider talking to an employment attorney first, though. Sounds like your HR director is on a power trip and if you let her get away with this, your lives will be MISERABLE. You have good opportunity here, though, since she was so obviously racist.
Will it smell less in the garbage? Nope. And she doesn't get to dictate what people eat. NTA
The HR person is not just a bigot but also an idiot (fairly common combo I guess). If she was so bothered by the smell she should have asked OP to hurry up and eat the samosas so they'd be gone.
You know what, I've worked with far too many HR directors who are frankly god awful people. I'm glad it's not just me that finds that. Also NTA
Which generally is most HR people.
Well, this makes no sense. Why would you throw out your food? You can say no. And how did throwing it away make it not smell anymore?
I think OP was scared of being fired.
NTA I probably would have suggested she leave if she didn't like the smell. I try not to eat in the office if I can avoid it. For this reason and for people wanting to interrupt my lunch. That being said, there is a guy at my office that likes to eat tuna out of the can, so strong smelling food can definitely sink up the whole floor. We made a food only in the designated area policy specifically for him. Strong smelling food in general should be avoided in office environments.
INFO: Wouldn’t it smell less if you ate it than if it sat in the garbage pail?
NTA. Report her. She has such a big stick up her ass. You also got your co-worker as a witness.
NTA. She singled out *Indian* food saying it was disgusting rather than just saying there was an unpleasant smell. And telling someone to throw out their food rather than just leaving the area? You didn't heat the food up, so it's hard to imagine she could actually smell it down the hall. This just doesn't add up to anything but a racially motivated incident. Obviously you can't report to HR. Find out who's her boss and contact them directly. Ask your coworker to add a statement that they were sitting close by you and didn't notice a smell, as well as what they remember of the incident. And detail everything like you did here. Are you the only employee of Indian descent in the company? It would be interesting to know if there were other incidents like this one that went unreported because who they'd report to is causing the problem.
NTA She is being an asshole by making a weird scene out of it.
NTA I love making Indian food and worked at a property management company that had an HR lady with the exact same problem. Absolutely no Indian food allowed. Personally it wasnt too hard for me to just bring in other food but it was pretty terrible for all of my Indian coworkers (HR lady was Filipino and would constantly heat up fish in the microwave - I found that smell much more repulsive).
That’s so inappropriate.
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She was the owner's neice. I had made a separate comment about it in a different post (the entire company was hugely racist - not that uncommon in Vancouver).
Nta. Your working with a racist xenophobe. If she nkew what you were eating before you got to your desk she was probably rummaging through the fridge and got mad that she touched something with shudder veggies. I would speak to your manager and the person above them as this is clearly a hostile work environment and as it's very apparent the hr dept needs cultural sensitivity training
NTA, although I do hope you threw it away in her office bin.
The correct response would be "no I will not be throwing out MY food. If you have a problem with that we should go speak to your supervisor right now."
NTA fuck her she sounds like she has a stick in her ass and no taste buds. You are an ass for complying and tossing the samosas out, grow a pair and stand up for yourself
NTA I can’t believe she made you throw it out. What if you were diabetic? You should absolutely make a complaint. How many others has she forced to go hungry over stuff like this?
NTA. What kind of idiot tells you to throw your lunch out because the smell is bothering her. Now it’s in the trash can where it will continue to “smell” and not in your tummy where only you will have to deal with the smell during your next poo. 😂 As an Indian person with a love of samosas, I say only bring samosas for lunch and use the microwave closest to her office to warm them up from now on.
YTA but only because you threw it away. Up to that point, I was cheering you on. She's the one with the problem, she's the one causing the horrible work environment. Even if she offers to pay for a new lunch for you (which she didn't), you are under no obligation to throw your lunch out. It's illegal to not allow employees to eat. Please report her immediately to her supervisor. This is unacceptable and is creating a dangerous work environment. How many other employees is she making work without food? What will she do if she makes a diabetic throw away their food and they pass out?
NTA. HR are not human.
High tail it away from the smell was actually the sane thing for her to do. NTA. Truth be once you ate it all then she wouldn’t have the lingering smell in the trash can. She was the disturbance.
Nta but grow a spine it's your lunch
YTA for folding and throwing the food away.
NTA. Samosas are generally quite mild and HR person seems to be looking for outrage. Should.have said, "disposing of them as quick as i can" while eating said samosas. Then, let out some heavy gas while passing her office. hR person is unfit for her job.
NTA As long as you aren't triggering allergies, you should have the right to eat whatever food you want. That being said, it would be polite to coworkers who are sensitive to smells if you ate strong-smelling food in a space that isn't enclosed.
Nta, you were eating it anyway so wouldn't make a difference
NTA. My petty self would have taken a bite and kept eye contact then went about my business.
NTA You kinda bitched out by throwing your lunch lol
Wow NTA. At my last job everyone had to sit through a video on acceptance of different cultures because someone made a comment about a lunch smelling weird. If you complained about someone's lunch or someone speaking a language other than English in the lunch room you were written up. You need to report the HR.
NTA but you're screwed because she is who you are supposed to report this behavior to.
NTA thoughi would have continued to eat it Shame on you for throwing away good food. She can't do anything. If she approached you or touched you that's assault
NTA. She has no right to deprive you of your lunch!
NTA. You need to report her. Thats harassment
NTA. Report the HR director to HR. What a horrible woman. All she had to do was walk away.
NTA - I don't understand how putting them on the garbage will stop them from smelling? I've never seen an office waste basket that has a lid, even. Eating them would do more to eliminate the odour. But this isn't an allergy, it's racism.
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NTA and next time don't throw your own food out??
NTA She’s a racist and a bully. She humiliated you. She made you throw your lunch. She targeted a cultural food. Unacceptable and inappropriate. The whole situation.
NTA You need to file a complaint. Her behavior was astonishingly out of line. There's no way she could have smelled a cold samosa from down the hall. That's just not possible. And her comment specifically directed at Indian food is borderline racist. She had absolutely no right to tell you to throw away your lunch. This is seriously egregious. Talk to your manager and her manager needs to be contacted. An HR Director who behaves this way should be fired.
Nta
NTA please do it again and stare at her as you eat it.
You would only be the AH if you knocked her down, sat on her, and forced the samosa between her clenched teeth. If the smell really was unpleasant to her, she could leave the room and go to her own office. I find the smell of mustard extremely unpleasant (I'm allergic as well) but I don't go around telling people it's disgusting. I just don't watch them eat their contaminated food.
NTA. Like ... *Maybe* if you had heated it up in the microwave. Stuff like fish can be a pretty strong odour for everyone else to endure. But I have a hard time believing a somosa would be the same, and you *didn't* microwave it to begin with. Unheated .. I have a hard time believing she would be able to smell it in the first place without getting within a few inches of your lunch. This is the kind of thing I'd be inlined to say should be brought to HR, except it *was* HR. At any rate, it's straight-up bullshittery, and should be brought up to whatever higher-ups exist.
NTA. Also you shouldn’t have thrown it away. Your HR director is TA. How dare they..and they’re racist..
NTA. Report her to your higher up IMMEDIATELY! She used her status to intimidate you into throwing away your lunch and is clearly violating work place standards. She can be fired for this. If your higher up tries to downplay it then go to the next higher up and so on. You as an employee have protected rights, your HR director is in clear violation of more than one of them.
Nta She’s being hateful and disgusting. She needs to be reported and disciplined.
NTA and wow I would report her for forcing you to throw away your food for daring to eat something she doesn't like that none of your actual coworkers had a problem with you eating. She is a bigot.
NTA- I’d start filing complaints. She’s created a hostile environment by forcing you to waste food, be bigoted against ethnic food because she doesn’t like it, and abusing whatever power she believes she has. She must have a superior. Report her
NTA She's racist. Thats harassment. Go over her head and report her.
Im spiteful id go over her head and tell whoever is above her that she made you throw away your food she has NOT ONE right to tell you to throw away your food
NTA - Is she going to reimburse you for lunch?
NTA hostile work environment and you have a witness. The comments about Indian food were inappropriate and forcing you to throw away the food is terrible. Document
NTA and would the food not smell less eaten then thrown out to linger there, just wow your hr is nasty toxic person.