By: Trends DeskNew Delhi | November 13, 2025 02:54 PM IST 3 min readDespite putting in extra hours for weeks, the situation reportedly took a turn when he requested for a leaveAn Indian professional, working remotely for a US-based startup, recently shared on Reddit how a disagreement with his American boss almost led him to resign.In his post, the employee explained that he had joined the company just a month ago but soon developed a stress-related medical condition. “Started working for a US based startup from India. My boss is a white male. I developed a medical condition in the first month and my doctors told me it was due to stress. But I wanted to push through and get better by myself,” he wrote.Despite putting in extra hours for weeks, the situation reportedly took a turn when he requested for a leave. His boss, he claimed, demanded a detailed reason and denied the request when none was provided. The employee added that his boss had earlier allowed time off for Diwali, which he had informed him about in advance. “The leniency and time off that he mentioned in the text was for Diwali (which I let him know a week in advance). I revoked his access from my drive because I was afraid he won’t pay me for the work I have done this month and wanted to get that first,” he explained.Things got tense, but the two later cleared the air. “Anyway, we had a talk after this. I let him know this is not cool. If the concern is projects getting delayed, then I would’ve managed that by working at nights. If the concern was that he only wants to pay for working days, then I wouldn’t mind taking unpaid leaves. Also, I told him that I have worked at a lot of toxic places and I am not gonna let people rule over me,” he said.Following their discussion, the boss reportedly suggested improving communication through more frequent calls to avoid such issues in the future. The employee agreed, saying they have decided to move forward on better terms. “My goal was to let him know that I am not helpless and I can quit anytime I want if he wants to deny leaves or be toxic,” he wrote.Take a look at the post:Joined here a month ago, leave denied, resigned immediately, asked to stay.byu/scaringthepharmacist inIndianWorkplace Reddit users flooded the comments section with their own workplace stories and advice. One wrote, “Trust once broken can never be repaired. Please find another job and move on.” Another said, “Had the same discussion with my AM last week. Then I escalated it to company’s legal team because it’s so difficult to get a leave even when company is providing you that.”A third commenter noted, “I’ve had many white managers but none of them talked like this. While reading the chat I assumed that was an Indian manager. I’m surprised why a white guy would ask such details.”Story continues below this adMeanwhile, one user praised the employee’s confidence: “Good job brother. I really liked your reply to your boss. You have courage to reply and quit the job when dealing with a toxic manager, which everyone doesn’t have.”© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd