New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- When an employee tells her boss that her mother has been hospitalised in an emergency, most people would expect the conversation to pause-at least briefly-to acknowledge the situation.

For one employee on Reddit, however, the response she received was very different. After informing her director that she would not be able to report to work because she had to travel home to be with her mother, the employee was asked about the company's month-end sales closure.

She later took to Reddit to ask whether she was overreacting or whether the response was a genuine red flag.

According to the employee, she works for a small sister company of a software firm and is essentially the only person working there. She has been with...