NEWCASTLE OFFICE NAMES EMPLOYEE OF MONTH AFTER 83 ANONYMOUS COMPLIMENTS ARRIVE IN SAME HANDWRITING
PLAQUE ALREADY ENGRAVED BEFORE HR NOTICES EVERY NOMINATION PRAISES SAME MAN USING SAME PHRASE
By Daniel Raines, Senior Reporter
KTNB 27 Tri-City News
NEWCASTLE, OK — A Newcastle office's new employee-recognition program has entered an internal review after one worker received 83 anonymous compliments in the same block handwriting and was named Employee of the Month before anyone compared the cards.
The program began Monday when management placed a locked compliment box in the break room and encouraged employees to recognize coworkers for teamwork, leadership and “quietly making the office better.”
By Wednesday afternoon, the box contained 91 cards.
Eighty-three were about Brett Ramsey.
Ramsey, who works in the office's operations department, was praised for punctuality, professionalism, printer knowledge, microwave cleanliness and “consistently carrying the department without requesting recognition.”
That final phrase appeared on 46 separate cards.
All 46 were written in blue ink.
All 46 used the same capital R.
Management initially viewed the volume as evidence that Ramsey had made a significant impression on his coworkers.
“We thought maybe Brett had been doing a lot behind the scenes,” one supervisor said. “Technically, he had.”
The recognition committee counted the submissions, approved Ramsey as the monthly winner and ordered a walnut-colored plaque before human resources noticed that every card leaned slightly to the right and misspelled “dependable” as “dependible.”
Ramsey denied writing the compliments.
He then completed a routine acknowledgment form in the same handwriting.
Asked about the similarity, Ramsey said block printing is common in office environments and accused management of creating a hostile climate for employees with consistent penmanship.
The explanation prompted coworkers to request what they called a handwriting runoff.
Employees were each given a blank card and asked to write the sentence, “Brett consistently demonstrates leadership without requesting recognition.”
Ramsey objected to the wording on the grounds that it was leading.
He submitted his sample anonymously.
Human resources identified it immediately.
The review expanded Thursday morning after an unsigned complaint appeared beneath the HR manager's door accusing the company of “punishing initiative, morale and one highly dependable employee.”
The complaint used blue ink, leaned slightly to the right and spelled dependable incorrectly.
Ramsey said the similarities proved only that more than one person in the office supports him.
Several coworkers disagreed and began checking security-camera footage from the hallway outside the break room. Ramsey then filed a second anonymous complaint arguing that reviewing footage near an anonymous compliment box defeats the purpose of anonymity.
That complaint was typed.
It was printed from Ramsey's workstation.
Management has not rescinded the award because the plaque has already been engraved and the vendor does not accept returns on personalized recognition materials.
For now, the plaque remains on a shelf behind reception with a yellow sticky note reading “UNDER REVIEW.”
Ramsey has asked whether he may display it at his desk until the investigation is complete.
The request was submitted anonymously.
© 2026 KTNB 27 Tri-City News. All Rights Reserved. — KTNB 27 Tri-City News is a satirical news outlet. This story is entirely satire/parody. Names, dialogue and events depicted in this story are invented for comedic purposes. Any resemblance to actual people or events is coincidental. Tuttle • Newcastle • Blanchard.
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