Office politics can get messy very quickly, and it's important to have a level of professionalism at all times.
One woman was left reeling after she was reported to HR after refusing to use her colleague's full names.
While her approach may seem petty - she flocked to Reddit to ask for advice and explained how she had ended up in that situation.
After hearing more about the unusual situation, many people sided with her - and urged her to fight any penalties.
She explained: "I have the sort of name that has several common shortened versions - think Samantha/Sammy/Sam.
Get the news you want straight to your inbox. Sign up for a Mirror newsletter here
"And my entire life, people have insisted on being too familiar and shortening it against my wishes. I only ever introduce myself as ‘Samantha’, sign off all my emails as Samantha, and insist on it when people ask what I prefer.
"I think Sammy is too young-sounding for me, and growing up I knew another Sam who was a real piece of work, so I hate being called by that name."
But much to her disappointment, her fellow workers always shorten her name - despite her repeatedly correcting them.
"I’ve only won the battle with one person, who took the hint after I started calling him Jonathan instead of his preferred Jon," she added.
"He asked if he was in trouble since only his mother calls him Jonathan, and I told him that I thought we were playing a game of getting each other’s names wrong… He now calls me the right name, so success!"
But things turned sour recently after she fell out with a manger who insists on calling her 'Sam' despite her obvious attempts to correct him.
So she came up with a simple way to get back at him - but it has landed her in hot water.
The woman wrote: "His name is Richard, so I’ve been casually calling him Dick all week. It’s a valid shortened version of his name. And when he’s objected, I’ve reminded him that I’m Samantha and not Sam.
"I had such high hopes for progress… but instead I’ve earned myself a meeting with HR. "
Asking for advice on what to do next, lots of Redditors advised her to stick to her guns.
One commented: "Be factual and concise with your story to HR. Ask why it's OK for him to shorten your name, but you can't shorten his.
"Take all emotions out of it. My guess is he's spun this to where you're "calling him A dick", and not just calling him Dick."
Another wrote: "If you drop in the words: ‘toxic workspace’ ‘calling me inappropriate names in a manner calculated to annoy’ and ‘hostile work environment’ while you explain your point of view, I predict you will have a more favourable outcome."
But others disagreed, with one adding: "I have a similar problem with people shortening my name but I would never be dumb enough to call a manager in my company “Dick” no matter if it is a legitimate nickname from way back when."
"Choosing an insult-related version of his name was deliberately provocative. You know exactly what you called him, as your half-hearted defence of ‘it’s a valid shortened version of his name’ proves. Protesting a bit too much there," commented one person.
