The CEO of this company denies an employee two days of marital leave, saying, “It is our policy not to…”

Scale Systems CEO Lauren Tickner recently came under fire after she rejected an employee’s application to attend their wedding for two days. After Tickner posted on Threads, it was revealed that the employee had been on leave for 2.5 weeks without training a replacement for the position. She said that before going on leave, an employee should make sure someone can take care of the work; she mentioned two important projects.

Tickner’s words caused a furore on social media, with people accusing her of encouraging a toxic workplace. Things got worse when she published the post and it received over 2.9 million views in two days; people accused her of rage baiting, the practice of posting content that provokes emotional reactions.

In her defense, Tickner said her company has a “flexible leave” policy, which means employees can determine their own work schedule and take time off whenever they want. However, Tickner’s contradictory statements caused confusion among the audience. Although she rejected his request for leave, she also stated that there was no reason why employees should request leave under this policy. Some people have said that it’s unfair to force an employee to take on a new person for a short period of time while offering an open-door vacation policy.

Social media users were left wondering why the employee needed to “train” someone else to perform his duties in just two days. In an attempt to correct her words, Tickner tried to explain that tasks could easily change between team members, which only further muddied the waters regarding her previous statements.

This case demonstrates the practicality of leadership in managing operational needs and issues, including important events in an employee’s life such as a marriage.