Student Secretly Removes Classmate’s Name From Group Project, She Fails the Course

It’s no secret group projects are less than ideal for many people. Having your grade hinge on the contributions of others is always a gamble — especially when the assignment has the power to make or break whether you pass a course.

And there are various mature ways to address the situation when someone isn’t pulling their weight.

However, Redditor u/SignificantCod6561 took a rather severe approach. After explaining their recent group project experience to the often controversial r/AmItheAsshole subreddit, the consensus was: Yes, they are the asshole.

Here’s what went down.

The rollercoaster story began with some much-needed context about the stakes of the group assignment. According to the Redditor, their final project counted for 24 percent of their grade, and the instructor randomly assigned the teams.

Much to their dismay, one of their group members was a person — they referred to her as Ann — they had worked with before, and she was known for being flakey in group settings.

They mentioned that they’d often had to pick up the slack for Ann in the past and feared she would behave the same way for their last assignment. However, they were pleasantly surprised by her willingness to participate equally this time.

But Ann was nowhere to be found when the group members convened to complete the project over Zoom. After working six hours, the team created a cover page and added all their names, including Ann’s.

However, when the meeting ended, the Redditor did the unthinkable. “I removed Ann’s name and waited [until] everyone in my group submitted it to completely delete the document,” they admitted.

And it only got worse.

Shortly after the Redditor removed Ann’s name from the project, she contacted the group, saying she had gotten sick and went to the hospital. The team told her it was OK; she should still have access to the document.

However, Ann couldn’t find the project and asked the Redditor to send it to her. Because they didn’t believe Ann’s excuse, the Redditor forwarded her an unrelated assignment to complete as payback.

As a result, Ann failed the course.

And the Redditor’s teammates had a few thoughts. “My other group members are calling me an asshole for removing her name secretly and lying about the document. And that she was sick and had an excuse,” the user justified. “But I don’t believe an ounce of it.”

After significant backlash in the discussion, the Redditor added a side note to their original story. They admitted that this was an out-of-character decision for them and that they should have been the bigger person.

The Redditor explained that since they rarely stand up for themself, they didn’t realize they mishandled the situation. However, the irony of the user’s supposed accountability lies in their final sentence.

“I hope both Ann and I learn from this situation and the mistakes we made,” they concluded. “I think we were both being assholes and both handled the situation incorrectly.”