'The audacity is stunning': Employee claims company promoted 25-year-old above her, refuses to train her

According to Jennifer Schroeder, management described her stance as unprofessional and suggested she was failing to act as a team player.

A workplace advocate in the United States has drawn widespread attention online after stating that she refused to train a younger colleague who was promoted ahead of her, despite what she described as her own extensive experience, according to a report in New York Post. 

Jennifer Schroeder shared her account in a video posted on TikTok under the handle @theunobsolete. In the clip, she said: “I watched a 25-year-old get my promotion, and then they asked me to train her. Here’s what I said — No.”

Schroeder did not identify her employer or the sector in which she works. However, she alleged that she had been overlooked for a role she believed she had earned.

“They passed me over for a promotion that I had earned, gave it to someone fresh out of grad school with zero experience, and then expected me to teach her how to do the job they said I wasn’t good enough for,” she said. “The audacity is stunning, isn’t it?”

In a longer caption accompanying the video, she elaborated on her refusal. “Train my replacement? Pay me,” she wrote. “Want 25 years knowledge? Triple salary consulting rates. Want me to smile while you humiliate me? Wrong person.”

She continued: “Not your free training program. Not making cheap hire look competent. Not handing over everything so you can pay her half.”

According to Schroeder, management described her stance as unprofessional and suggested she was failing to act as a team player. She said she received emails from human resources raising concerns about her attitude.

“They said unprofessional. I said appropriately compensated or not sharing,” she wrote. “They said not supporting team. I said team didn’t support me. Silence.”

In the same post, she added: “The second you stop being useful they stop caring. Stop pretending you owe them anything.”

Her TikTok account, which has more than 70,000 followers, describes her as a “workplace advocate” for professionals aged 45 and above. Her content focuses on employment trends, disputes at work and career progression, as per the outlet.

The video prompted thousands of responses. One viewer commented: “If I’m not qualified for the position, I’m not qualified to train the person receiving it.” Another wrote: “Can’t be a team player for a team that played you.”

Schroeder later uploaded a follow-up clip outlining what she described as the consequences of her decision. She said she attended a one-to-one meeting with senior management and was subsequently excluded from meetings and assignments. The matter concluded after approximately three weeks during a meeting involving her manager and a representative from human resources.

She said she arrived with documentation to support her position and ultimately negotiated six months’ severance pay.

“Ultimately, this experience has underscored the importance of standing firm on professional boundaries and the necessity for a fair corporate culture that cultivates talent rather than exploits it,” she wrote beneath one of her videos.

Research cited in coverage of the incident has highlighted broader concerns about age discrimination. A report by Forbes, referenced by the Daily Dot, found that 99 per cent of employees over 40 reported experiencing age-related bias at work. Separately, a study by AARP indicated that nearly one in four workers over the age of 50 feel pressured out of their roles because of their age.

Shortly after receiving her severance package, Schroeder said she was contacted by a former colleague, who informed her that the younger employee who had been promoted over her had left the role after four months.