PENNSYLVANIA, PA — A Pennsylvania Reddit user says she was stunned to learn that a coworker and that coworker’s children had hand, foot and mouth disease, yet still came to work. She said the illness was treated lightly even though it is known to spread easily. According to her account, the boss also knew about the situation and waved it off as something that was “not common.”

The employee, who posts under the name MyDamnCoffee, said the news left her furious and worried about bringing the illness home. She said she was concerned enough that she feared for her daughter’s safety after being around the workplace environment. Her post quickly drew attention from other users who shared her frustration.

Why hand, foot and mouth disease alarmed the worker

Hand, foot and mouth disease is especially associated with young children, but the Pennsylvania Department of Health says anyone can catch it. The disease can spread easily, which is one reason the worker said she reacted so strongly. She described it as “incredibly contagious” and said she did not want to risk passing it along to her family.

That concern was part personal and part practical. She said she was afraid to pick up her daughter from the child’s father because of the possibility of spreading the illness further. The worry, in her telling, was not only about one employee showing up sick, but about a workplace decision that could affect families beyond the office.

Commenters pushed for stronger workplace precautions

Many Reddit users sided with her, arguing that a contagious illness should have triggered a more cautious response. One person said they would want to know why no precautions were taken after the employer learned that someone at work had a highly contagious condition. Another commenter called the boss an idiot, saying the disease is both painful and easy to spread.

Others said the situation reflected a broader problem they have noticed since the pandemic, with some workers now more willing to come in sick despite the risk to others. That reaction turned the post into a broader workplace conversation about when employees should stay home and how supervisors should respond once a health issue is disclosed.

The boss was described as a doctor who has not practiced in years

What made the story stand out even more, according to the worker, was that the boss is a licensed pathologist who has not practiced medicine in about 20 years. She said he is current with his license but no longer works in active practice. That detail made his dismissal of the illness even harder for her to accept.

She also said he had made other comments that she saw as troubling, including a claim that he had only seen black lung in miners when they also smoked. Those remarks added to her impression that he was minimizing health risks rather than taking them seriously. In her view, the response was not just careless but coming from someone with medical training.

A side comment about politics added another layer to the reaction

One commenter brought politics into the discussion by guessing that the boss was conservative. The worker answered directly, saying, “You nailed it. He’s a Christian nationalist.” That exchange appeared in the comments rather than in the original workplace complaint, but it helped fuel debate around the post.

Even so, the central issue remained the same: an employee believed a contagious disease had been brushed off inside a workplace. The political aside did not change the health concern, but it showed how quickly online conversations can widen once people begin reacting to a story like this.

The worker said she was still symptom-free but remained worried about her family

By the end of her post, MyDamnCoffee said she had not shown symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease herself. Even so, she said the situation still worried her because she did not want to carry anything back to her daughter. Her concern was less about her own health than about protecting the people around her.

Several commenters suggested that a firm email to the boss might be the next step. Their advice reflected a common theme in the discussion: if a contagious illness is known in the workplace, employees want clear action rather than reassurance that it is nothing to worry about.

For the worker, the episode became a reminder of how vulnerable families can feel when workplace health decisions seem casual. Her post did not describe any formal response from the company, but it made clear that the risk of passing along an infection had become the main source of fear.

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