My male coworker got a standing ovation for fixing a problem I created the solution for.

Okay, I need to share this because I’m genuinely questioning my sanity right now. So, I’ve been working on this massive project for the past year—it’s a complex system optimization that I designed and implemented from scratch. It was a nightmare to build, but it’s now saving the company thousands of hours and a ton of money. Everyone knows it’s my baby.

Enter: Brad. Brad joined the team six months ago and has been… fine. Not great, not terrible, just fine. Last week, we hit a snag where the system started throwing errors during peak usage. I immediately identified the issue (a memory leak caused by an edge case I hadn’t accounted for) and spent two sleepless nights fixing it. I documented everything, tested it thoroughly, and pushed the fix.

Cut to the next team meeting. Brad, who had nothing to do with the fix, stands up and starts explaining the problem and how he “led the effort” to resolve it. He even used my slides and diagrams without crediting me. My manager, who was in the room, nodded along like Brad was some kind of genius. At the end of his presentation, the team gave him a standing ovation. A STANDING OVATION.

I was too stunned to say anything in the moment, but afterward, I pulled my manager aside and explained that it was my work. Their response? “Well, Brad did a great job presenting it, and it’s good for team morale to celebrate wins together.”

I’m so beyond frustrated. Brad is now being fast-tracked for a leadership role, and I’m being told to “keep up the good work.” Am I overreacting, or is this as insane as it feels? Should I quit, go to HR, or just start forwarding Brad’s emails to the entire company with corrections?

P.S. If anyone’s hiring for a senior engineer who’s tired of cleaning up after Brads, let me know. I’ll even bring my own standing ovation.