At the end of the day, our jobs lie within our bosses' hands; the choice to terminate us is theirs to make. And while things like our performance definitely play a role, they are not always the defining factor in the final decision.
To learn more about what shapes these decisions, Reddit user Imnutothis asked people who have been fired on the spot to share their side of the story. Just don't be surprised if, while scrolling through them, you find yourself shouting at the economy, "Where's HR!?"
#1
I handed my boss my two week notice and she ripped it in half and said "Don't bother, you're done today."
HR wasn't too thrilled with her decision as they had to pay me a severance because of her hatred towards me.
Image credits: anon
#2
Worked at a call center.(Telemarketing)
It was my grandmothers birthday.
We didn't hit sales quota for the day the boss told me I had to stay until we hit.
I told him family was more important.
Got fired immediately. Best decision ever.
Image credits: ExcusablePlot
#3
I was 16 and working as a dishwasher at a summer tennis camp at an exclusive tennis club. The owner of the club was upset that I hadn't taken all the trash out. I explained to him that the dumpster was full and overflowing. He told me that I needed to climb into the dumpster and jump up and down on the trash to create more room in it. I said that I wouldn't do it. He told me that he wouldn't ask me to do anything that he wouldn't do himself so I said "Fine, I want to see you climb into the dumpster and start jumping up and down".
He fired me on the spot.
Edit: For those of you that agreed with the owner you should really check up on how OSHA and the health department would feel about this.
Image credits: red23011
#4
I came back to my summer job at an amusement park from missing 3 days with strep throat, handed in my doctors excuse, and was fired for missing work. Apparently to call off you couldn’t just talk to a manager, you had to talk to the department head, a person I had never met with a phone number that had never been made available to me. Because I missed more than 2 days, it didn’t matter that I had a note because I was considered a no call/no show. The assistant manager I gave my excuse to handed me a letter back that said I had 10 minutes to clean out my locker and vacate the premises or they’d call the cops for trespassing.
I was 16, in a state with very liberal employment laws, and my mom retained a lawyer. I didn’t win any money but they ended up having to list me as rehire-able in their system and they paid a huge fine for essentially making it impossible for employees to call in sick.
Image credits: reflectorvest
#5
The summer between undergrad and graduate school, I was working in the customer service department of a Canadian department store. I got minimum wage + $1 extra an hour because I was the only person capable of answering the phones in English and French.
I asked for a Saturday off to attend my sister's high school graduation. They said "what's more important to you-- this job or the graduation?" I said, well, the graduation actually (particularly in light of the fact that I was starting my second degree in another city about 10 weeks later.) Axed *immediately*.
Well, good luck finding a bilingual Albertan willing to work for minimum wage plus one, you stupid c**ksuckers.
Image credits: anon
#6
I told my manager at a fast food place that I was going to be looking for a new job, and to not schedule me after this pay period. The next week, I see my name on the schedule and ask her what the deal is.
"I told you I was going to get a new job and not to schedule me"
"Well, did you get a new job yet?"
"No. But I'm still not sticking around this one."
"Well you know what, you can just not come back here now with that attitude."
She sure showed me.
Image credits: hihungryimdadDOTcom
#7
I was working for a small family owned restaurant. All the wait staff, and most of the kitchen staff was family or friends with the owner. I was hired as a waitress, and I did okay, not great, not terrible, it was my first time being a waitress.
One day, one of their regular customers came in, who is a bit of a local celebrity. He apparently came in once or twice a week, and tipped very well. Normally the owners daughter would take the table, but she was out sick so I took them. I got an amazing tip from him, and he told the owner that he would like me to wait on them if I am available in the future. The second he left I was fired.
Image credits: Devornine
#8
Did not happen to me, but I was involved:
at a place I worked, people came to me saying someone was making sexual comments about my body, and they told HR about it, so when I got called in, I said "well, yeah, that makes me uncomfortable" and the person got fired on the spot. It was a huge deal because everyone knew about it. I had only been working there for a little less than a year and they had been there for over 10.
Image credits: smallbankbigmouth
#9
Mom, brother and I were at Olive Garden about 20 years ago. We had the worst waiter in the history of the world. He was outrageously rude to the point of being abusive to us. At the end of the dinner my mom left him a dime for a tip and as we were leaving the waiter threw the dime at my mom (I was a little kid otherwise I would have probably at least attempted to defend her). Waiter's boss saw the dime throw and fired the waiter on the spot. Everyone has a bad day, but that guy was just a prick.
Image credits: RadBadGladCrab
#10
Fired a person for disappearing on their first day of work for a couple of hours. We worked in a manufacturing plant and he took off to try to find some cute girl he knew that worked there, the guy was married and he asked "what am I supposed to tell my wife?" I said, " probably not the truth".
Image credits: anon
#11
Boss wanted me to work extra hours, travel in traffic and congestion and do 14 hr long days for no extra pay or benefits. and i said not sure i am willing to do it, i need to think about it. next day pulls me in to his private office and fires me saying my skills were not on par with what they expected.
BYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE f**kerrrrrrrrrrr i now work in a place closer to home so i dont have to travel as much or as long, earning more for doing less hours and less work! xD.
Image credits: lolitololinho
#12
My boss found out that i (a man) was dating another man. not another man in the company. not on company time. it had nothing to do with the business or my work. he just couldn't stand that i was in a homosexual relationship. (btw, a coworker that i trusted was the one who told him. turned out that while i thought i could trust her, she was out to get me fired.) this was early 2000's and no, there was no protection for being gay where i worked.
Image credits: PirateCodingMonkey
#13
Me and my friend were two young Irish lads working on rebuilding the Canary Wharf tower in London (which had been blown up by some other Irish lads a year earlier, but that's another story.) It was like the Nakatomi Plaza. There were so many floors, if you didn't feel like working, you could just go to some random floor and hide out for a while.
So me and my friend, both 18 years old, were hungover one morning. We went to the 23rd floor where there was a comfortable couch and we lay there smoking weed. Suddenly the English foreman appears and fires us on the spot. As he was walking away, he says "That was taking the p**s, lads."
Unfortunately, there was somewhat of a misunderstanding here. What he meant was that our behavior was so bad we had crossed a line. However, in Ireland at that time, "that was taking the p**s" meant I'm only joking. So we continued working for another three or four hours before he came back and said "I fired you this morning, what the hell are you still doing here?".
Image credits: anon
#14
I was told that my position was being terminated, not just at our branch but company-wide, and was escorted back to my office to pack up my stuff. It wasn't dramatic or anything, but it was a shock. I didn't get to say goodbye to anybody. Just two days prior, I'd had my performance review and received glowing praise, while the entire time, they knew they'd be letting me go in a couple of days.
That's what bothered me the most.
Image credits: agentdanascullyfbi
#15
I was told Friday out of nowhere "we won't be needing your services anymore" after being told in November I would have a position into next year at the minimum. So that's a fun holiday gift.
Image credits: Chunderfluff
#16
Chef here. Got fired because I sent a steak out that "had char on it".
The only "char" on it was grill marks.
Ok lady, you probably just saved me a huge mess.
Image credits: anon
#17
I got fired from my first job at Panera. I was being trained on barista, and when told how many pumps of caramel to put in a caramel latte, I (very obviously) jokingly said, "Nah, let's do 8 pumps", then proceeded to make the drink correctly.
Next time I came in, manager called me into the office, and fired me for "going against specs" even though I didn't, I just joked about it, once.
Image credits: anon
#18
Was working in the deli counter of a supermarket. Asked from my closest manager that if I could come next week on thu 2 hrs later because I had a final exam that morning.
Got fired on the spot. " Don't bother coming to work tomorrow, you're fired"
O.o.
Image credits: KMelkein
#19
My first job out of college was for a very small dental insurance claims clearing house. The company had recently split from another company, whose name was on the software that all the Dentist offices used, so that was the name they recognized. The two companies were basically fighting over their client base. So, my job was to call up all of their clients to remove the old software from the former partner and install the new janky-a*s s**t they'd cobbled together since the split.
My job alternated between:
* Calling up customers to install the new software and train them on it
* Troubleshoot the problems with the software and come up with work-arounds, typically *during training calls*.
Clients typically were finding out from **me** that the software was changing and I was supposed to insist that it was the same company, just different software.
After almost a year of this, I was getting to a point where it just felt so awful to trudge my way into work because I knew I'd spend the day getting yelled at by clients who were upset that their routines were changing. I spent a lot of my downtime complaining to my friends over my personal email about how awful it was. Probably not the best thing to do, but I was young.
Well, one day I come back from lunch and find the door to my office closed and my boss standing there waiting for me. He showed me the emails he'd printed out from my personal email account with portions of conversations highlighted that he didn't like. I never used any names or revealed company information - just my emotions while working there. He shoved the papers in my hands and said "Explain this to me." I basically said I was just having trouble with the day to day grind, but he just responded with, "I think it's time for you to find something else. Get out of here."
Fine by me. I probably should have left before it got to that point, but hindsight is 20/20 and all that.
Image credits: argole
#20
17 still in high school. I was hired as a custodian for a hotel and was tasked to clean the pool. I was asked to back flush the system to clean the filters, which involves turning the pumps off, and closing pipe valves. Well, there's about 20 valves, but only 3 needed to be closed. I thought I did them right, went to open the filter on the pump, and BOOM! the cap shot off and water started dumping out of the pump. The pool maintenance room is in the basement next to the pool, so it'll dump the whole pool if it's not stopped. I panicked and tried forcing the cap back on. Ran upstairs and through the hotel completed soaked. It was the weekend so my boss was off. Took him about 20 minutes to reach and get him to the hotel to help me with the system. In the end, there was probably a foot of water flooded the floor. It damaged the water heaters, got into the furnace, maintenance office, and phone system. Not sure on the damage cost, but it had to be in the hundreds of thousands, if not over a million. I was promptly fired by the hotel manager.
Image credits: GooseOfDoom
#21
My boss set me up to be fired with an email he knew I would react badly to. When I reacted badly he fired me on the spot. Joke was on him, I took the other two guys in my department with me and our company suddenly had no tech support.
I was supposed to be going on an international trip the following week, and since we were all gone it had to be delayed indefinitely, which ended up costing the company the order. About $3 million because he didn’t like that I didn’t want to travel 150 days a year on a 5% travel contract. Karma’s a b***h.
Image credits: isabsolutelyatwork
#22
I was 15 I think. I was a lifeguard at a subdivision pool. Being the "new guy" and the "young kid" I worked every weekend. Friday night, Saturday night, Sunday day. I had already missed going to my grandparents a couple of times, and my parents were taking a vacation. I asked off and was told that I couldn't go. My dad basically said, "you are going, I don't care." I told the boss this and she said, you still have to work. I left with my parents, and when I got back there were a dozen messages on my parents answering machine saying that they couldn't open the pool because I wasn't there. She fired me 3 or 4 times that weekend.
She was a bored housewife hired by the HOA to schedule the lifeguards who were mostly high school kids. She fired another for wearing a bikini. They didn't use her the next year, but by that point in time I was 16 and had a better job.
Image credits: kloiberin_time
#23
This wasn't me, but I witnessed the following: I worked at a camera store many years ago and we received a life-size cutout of Andre Agassi (the tennis player) who was promoting Canon cameras. We set up the cutout in the store but our crotchety owner came in, didn't like it and told us to throw it out.
So we put it away, but when the owner went out for lunch, we took it back out and proceeded to take a few goofy pictures in front of it. Then we put it back away. When the owner came back from lunch, he returned to his office and then 5 minutes later came rushing down the stairs red-faced and screaming.
We had forgotten about the security camera and his secretary had snitched on us. "I told you to throw that thing out!", he screamed. He then went into the back room, dragged Andre out, and started trying to tear the thing apart, bending the head back and forth. That cardboard is pretty tough though, and he was not strong guy, so he just stood there for 30 seconds furiously struggling with it.
We were all trying to hold it in, but one of my co-workers couldn't help it and started laughing at the absurdity. Our owner heard it, whipped around and screamed, "You're fired! Get out of my store immediately". We were all shocked, but the guy picked up his jacket, walked out, never to be seen again.
Image credits: a_thousand_ninjas
#24
Not me, but my coworker at Subway got fired after giving her friend free food and paying for it IMMEDIATELY afterwards.
Image credits: anon
#25
Started work at a daycare once. We're told if littles have a hard time going down for nap, sit next to them and pat their backs. I was doing this, and my back was [hurting], so I stretched out next to the kid's cot. Was laying there patting when the boss stormed in and said, WAKE UP, YOU'RE FIRED! B***h I wasn't f*****g sleeping but these nursery rhymes damn sure got me ready to so toodles!
Image credits: kickingyouintheface
#26
I forgot to pay for a hotdog I ate the previous day of work. I had the money to pay and I would have if they asked me to. It genuinely slipped my mind but the manager was treating me as a serious thief. Kinda sucked but the job was pretty terrible too. Retail usually is.
Edit: I should probably clarify that some of my coworkers had this happen to them before I was fired but the difference being was that they got warnings. It doesn't bother me much because that manager was actually pretty scummy in the long run and she lost the majority of her employees about a week after I was fired.
Image credits: Strawberryswisher1
#27
Earlier this year I was working in a chicken processing plant, in the freezer section.
We rotated through 4 tasks in this area. Making boxes, packing boxes, labeling boxes, and stacking boxes.
Now; I had no problem with this; it was easy, if boring, work.
What I did have a problem was was labeling the boxes. We had to stand in such a way that I was slightly bent at the waist the entire time; and for some reason this was causing a nerve to get pinched in my back. Tons of pain.
I toughed it out for 2 weeks; after that I couldn't take it anymore. I explained this to my boss. Told her that I'd gladly do a double on packing the chicken (everyone hated that part), if I could just not label the boxes anymore. Or I'd take a double making boxes or stacking boxes; didn't matter to me.
Nope; instead I was fired, and told to vacate the property. They wouldn't even let me sit in the visitor area until my ride arrived.
Ended up spending 30 minutes standing in 27F weather on the side of the road waiting on my ride.
Edit: Lots of replies, and I don't have the time to respond to each individually.
Yes, I am aware of the fact that firing me in such a way was illegal; and no I couldn't draw unemployment. I had only worked there for 2 weeks. Officially I was fired for "refusing to perform assigned duties."
As for the company in question; Wayne Farms in Ga. I won't give more information than that; but if you live in Ga, there's a good chance any chicken you've ate from Zaxbys, Burger King, Bojangles, Popeyes, or Chik-Fil-A has passed through one of their plants.
Image credits: anon
#28
I was fresh out of College at an IT contract-to-hire job. I came in on a Tuesday, sat down at my desk, the boss/owner came up behind me and told me I was fired. I sat there, mouth open, and then asked, "Why?" He said that I was not a good fit for the company and that I had to leave. So I gathered my things and he stood there watching me (probably making sure I did not steal anything) and escorted me out of the office. I found out later that because of the size of the company, at the time, they were looking for a tier III worker, but I was a tier I; I told them this in the interview, but apparently they did not have the resources to train me. Well jokes on them, I went through a month of unemployment and I found an even better IT job where I make a lot of money and work only half as hard as that job.
Image credits: xeskind30
#29
Almost a decade ago, I was in my apprenticeship to become an electrical planner. I'm swiss, over here your first apprenticeship is very important, and it's hard to get any job at all if you don't have at least one apprenticeship done.
As a result, there was big pressure in my last year of school to get a place. Initially, I wanted to do Computer Technician. But I just could not land a hit, so I had to start looking into other jobs. Eventually, I landed a job as an aforementioned planner.
Let's not mince words, not only did I hate the actual work right away, I also hated my boss, and most of my coworkers. Initially I just thought I would soldier my way through. Finishing your first apprenticeship is important. I managed a little more than a year, before I started to get depressed, to the point that my parents were starting to notice and my mother got on my case.
I started missing work, I had a doctor that was very liberal in handing out a sick-notice for 1-2 weeks straight. So I would work for a month or so, miss like 10 days of work, and then work for another month or so. My grades started to drop, and I actually started to give my boss and coworkers lip for being so s****y to me.
For context, I was a glorified maid. Every morning I had to do take a 20 minute trip to the local bakery and get everybody their foodstuffs for the break. I frequently got abuse if the stuff they wanted was already sold out. "Why didn't you leave earlier?", because I'm already leaving almost an hour before the break actually starts, and then other people start complaining the stuff isn't warm anymore.
Then twice a day I had to make coffee for everybody. They would frequently change their mind on the order, and then berate me for screwing stuff up. Often they would complain even if I did exactly as they asked. "You put too much sugar in." No, you just can't properly decide on how much you want. You asked for 3, I put in 3.
And properly the most offensive, I just couldn't do anything right. I was an apprentice. I earned maybe 1/10 of what the others made. And part of that deal is that you're allowed to screw up, and then taught how to do it properly. No such luck. I was basically required to learn everything by myself or google it. And then I would get 60 minute sessions of beratement for "not doing the work properly".
The final straw was on a Friday. I had to leave around 4pm at the latest, so I could catch my train home. So I started cleaning everything around 3pm. 5 minutes before I plan to leave, I just finished cleaning the office-floor, whereafter one of the workers walks in wearing muddy/snowy shoes (It was February I think), ruining the entire floor again. I packed my stuff. Boss comes in, demands I stay to clean up. I don't remember my exact words, but it was said very loudly, and would probably get me banned from most places Online if I put it to the screen.
When I came back on Monday, Boss told me to get out immediately. I remember laughing the whole way home. I was free, probably one of the best days of my teenage-life. Jokes on him anyway, I still had a bunch of stuff I was supposed to bring to the Post-Office in my backpack. Held onto it for a few weeks in case they would ask for it, and then ritually burnt it in the hopes of some Elder God smiting the Office. Did not happen, but it was satisfying nonetheless.
(Forgive my Engrish, I don't often type this much).
Image credits: Delachruz
#30
This just happened - was working for a small start-up with an absolute c**t of a boss. He would yell, demand 110% from his employees while he could barely afford to pay us (paychecks were NEVER on time) and would constantly demean me. He was an all around misogynist.
I talked back one time - (He asked me, "how often are you on time to work?"
I responded, "How often do we get paid on time?") And the next day he texted me to bring my keycard and keys to work and fired me.
Good riddance, I've never felt better. It seriously felt like I was released from prison.
#31
Ironically, I was having a really positive day at work. I had been there about 9 months and was starting to really hit my stride. I had made some really positive improvements with production process and work flow, the company was better for my time there. My work actually resulted in them being able to eliminate an entire position, saving the company 20-30k/year.
Around 3pm I'm called into our small conference room and told that I'm being fired for saying that I "hate this f**king job" and that I wasn't willing to go back into the warehouse and help out in the mornings. I was so completely caught off guard and the fact that this was coming from the owner I knew there was nothing I could say. But still I defended myself by saying there was no way I would say that I hated my job. But still I was guided to my desk where I packed up my stuff in shock and headed out.
I remained in contact with one of my coworkers and about a year later it came out that the same thing was tried on her. Turns out the Operations Manager was just a nut and having the ear of the owners she would straight up lie to them and got people fired. Why? I still don't know. But they knew this second coworker much longer and better than myself. So when OM told them what coworker supposedly was doing they talked to her directly and determined that the OM was lying. She got canned this time instead.
There are days I still wish they would have the balls to reach out to me and apologize. It's been 5 years now though, so that won't be happening.
That experience really shook me and I can still see the effects to this day. That was my first real job out of college and I had decorated my little office with personal items, some drawings my daughter had done, etc. Now I refuse to decorate with anything personal and I keep the bare minimum of personal articles in my office. Getting canned and having to stand there and be watched while I had to collect up all of these personal artifacts was embarrassing and humiliating. I don't plan on being fired again, but if need be I can grab 1-2 things tops and walk to my car.
#32
Not me, but my brothers. He was valeting at a fancy beach club over the summer, and they hired a new kid from the area.
The first car this new hire gets into, he backs into another car. My brother takes him to the side, tells him to calm down, the beach has insurance for this very reason, it's no big deal.
Second car, he runs right into a parked car, which causes that car to smash into the one parked in front of it.
My brother gives him 50$ cash for the "day" of work, and tells him not to come back.
Image credits: BumblingBlunderbuss
#33
Not me, but I witnessed it.
Guy not only fired, but they had cops on site to escort him out. He was let go for a multitude of reasons.
1. Clocked in via phone, proceeds to show up 1 hour after his shift starts. Then leaves hour early and clocks out via phone.
2. Knew access codes to vending machines so he was stealing change out of them. Not all of it, but enough for discrepancies to be noticed.
3. Put paper towels on lightbulbs in the bathroom. Stuffed paper towels down sink in breakroom. So he could be the hero who noticed this stuff prior to it causing a disaster.
4. General disrespect of fellow employees.
5. Taking advantage of lax OT policies and not actually working the OT.
Image credits: InuGhost
#34
I worked in a medical office (trying to be vague about specialty) and the doctor was doing horrifically illegal things that were putting patients at risk for damages and disease. Things like having unlicensed employees performing duties that they shouldn't and not practicing proper handwashing/ instrument sterilization ect. Not to mention the doctor was rude and would frequently yell at staff.
During my employment I brought attention to things that were being done and confronted the doctor in front of the rest of the staff. She fired me on the spot. I had been keeping record of infractions as they were revealed, a lot of the more awful things were hush-hush and turned the office in to the attorney general in my state.
Just a few weeks ago I found out that the doctor has been telling people that i was fired for trying to recruit people into a cult... I'm an atheist.
#35
Everyone was fired in one fell swoop. They decided to stop having our work from home department.
It explained why I'd spent the last 2 weeks training people who they'd originally said were not eligible to work my job.
Image credits: meow_witch
#36
I got fired from Borders because the person that was covering for me while I was on vacation got fired.
What's even more messed up, I didn't even find out directly from them, Jose's girlfriend (she also worked there) texted me saying, "Hey Jose got fired and you should probably call them because they have been expecting you." I called and store manager was like, "Yes, you're terminated. You can come and pick up your last check." I didn't even bother arguing because I was gonna give my two weeks notice when I got back anyway because I was sick of their b******t.
Image credits: -eDgAR-
#37
I was 16 and it was my first job as a lifeguard in a neighborhood by my house. It was a very relaxed pool and we were never completely packed, and the kids that did frequent the pool seemed to like me.
As a lifeguard I was often audited, the pool company’s owners son would come around and test our lifeguard skills and I passed twice that summer. Towards the beginning of August he came around while our pool was shutdown because of thunder and rain, and I kid you not they audited me while it was storming. Me young and stupid not wanting to lose my job said okay, and in comes the owners sons friend who probably weighed over 300 pounds (I’m 115). He jumped into the deep end and sank to the bottom and I was suppose to save him. I tried and I couldn’t do it, he was dead weighting me and pretty sure he was pushing himself to the bottom, and rain was getting in my eyes and I was panicking because lightning. Came back up and I was fired on the spot.
Got a call back later saying we’d love to have you if you took the training class again. (Class was 10 hours Friday-Sunday=30hours) and I said no and hung up.
#38
I hated my last job. My coworkers were alright but the guy over my department was an a*****e.
Well, the time finally comes after many years. I get an offer and of course I say yes. I had been plotting this moment. From my backpack, I pull a sympathy card that I'd been holding onto for a while. On the front, "In memories, we find comfort... in time, we find peace." On the inside, "So sorry for your loss." Sign my name, add a date for $now + 14 days. Hand it to the bossman.
Now I know for a fact that bossman would find it hilarious if this had happened to literally any other bossperson in the company. But he had several sticks in his a*s so he fired me, told me "hands off the computer," yelled a bit, insulted me several times, then walked me out the door.
The company lawyer called in short order. "We've accepted your two weeks notice. We don't require you to serve those two weeks but you will get paid for it." Guess the whole "you need to learn that your actions have consequences" b******t that bossman tried to pull when I submitted my notice kind of backfired on him.
Bossman in question has a habit of yelling at people in exit interviews. I like to think they didn't schedule one for me because he knew I wouldn't put up with it.
#39
One year I was working at a summer camp it was my first year but a bunch of people had been going for years. This year it was a brand new director and she was useless. Regularly telling us she was to busy to do her job. Often told us that if she did the hiring she would have gotten good employees.
Told people that we can't get mad at kids and needed to use positive reinforcement then when they got in trouble just took them away and did nothing. Completely useless woman.
There was an incident the day before this where one kid got three fingers like claws and scratched another while transitioning to the afternoon care (when the day staff were supposed to go to the office and plan activities for the next day) we were all inside when this happens and so was the director who was actually supposed to be helping outside.
Our director and regional manager come out the next day and give written warnings to a bunch of people for being inside during out planning time. One of the four guys working at our camp (37 employees 4 were male including me) stands up and says it's c**p that we get written warnings for doing what we were told during training but they didn't care they wanted a scape goat. He got angry and fired in the spot for speaking up against our director who was fired 3 weeks later for sucking at her job.
#40
I was already quiting. Put in my 30 days when working for an IT Consulting firm, while I was allocated to work in a financial institution. I hated it there (had been there for 3 months, but I had been working for the consulting firm for 1y and a half) and got a much better offer to move up to Project Management, which was an amazing step for me. The financial institution was notified that I had put in my 30 days during my lunch hour by the consulting firm. I was told I could leave when I came back from lunch. The consulting firm let me go as well since they wouldn't need me for anything else just for those 30 days.
Which was cool, I called my new boss and he told me I could start sooner if I wanted to. Took a 1 week vacation betweens jobs and then started!
#41
I was working in a USPS Priority Shipping Center during Christmas Break from College back in 02'. It's fairly brutal work, tossing packages non-stop for the entire 8 hour shift from 10pm to 6am. I know, I know, it's not a gulag or anything but to a spoiled 20 year old at the time, I recall hating it.
So there's this massive conveyor belt structure that basically runs the entire length of this titanic warehouse. It's huge, kid. And they would store a tone of carts and other misc. junk under there for storage. So, naturally, I took to hiding out underneath it whenever the opportunity arrived. Pretty s****y thing to do but alas, was young and foolish. This went on for a good week when I decided to get bold and took to laying down inside a pushcart and covered myself up for what I had hoped would be a brief nap. It's loud and a little cold, so I thought I'd be good. But nope. Slept for a good 4 hours only to awaken to a search party send out to see if I had died under the belt.
The Boss applauded my bold action but showed me the door all the same.
#42
As a backpacker in Australia around 2005/06 got a job working for a motivational speaker/life coach/predatory fraudster.
Basically people would come to his free session on a Saturday and then, if they were interested, would leave their number for people like me to call them back and try to sell the paid weekend to them.
Our script included things like how to advice people who said they couldn't afford it on how they could use their social welfare payments to pay for it. Really scummy.
Anyway, on one call a guy straight up asked me if this fella was a fraud. I said "Between you and me, I think he is", just as the supervisor walked past. She tapped me on the shoulder and whispered "Make that your last call". Hung up and left.
Really wish I could remember his name. Michael something...
Scumbag.
Weirdest thing about the whole experience was that the 'workshop' was held in a massive arena and we were in the main dressing room all week, but had to leave on the weekend because Alice Cooper was playing and needed the dressing room. We were moved to a hospitality suite near the stage so were trying to sell this b******t course with Alice Cooper blasting out in the background.
#43
Didn't push the s****y store credit cards enough. Was pulled off the til by a manager and he asked why I didn't try to sign the customer up for a card (he was watching us). I told them the customers don't want them or should we push them, if they want them they will ask. I was pulled into the office and fired or "laid off because they did not need extra staff" and I was a "problem child" as he worded it. Cause screw actual customer service and making sure the store doesn't look like a war zone. LOOK WHO'S LAUGHING NOW SEARS!!!
EDIT: Fired 7 years ago, 6 months was too long to work at a s**t hole like that. They destroyed themselves. I'm glad so many others have the same opinion. They preyed on people who didn't understand credit terms, who had bad credit, or were new to the country. How can you sign someone up so quickly for a crazy high interest credit card and have a conscious? Daily we had people coming to the register with bills not knowing what they were getting billed for, or totally confused by the card and pissed off by the high interest and card fees. I was told by management when I was fired that in 6 months I only signed up/did applications 3 people, when it should have been closer to 1300. YES 1300. Even though so many of my shifts were before store hours doing price changes or cleaning. The store could look like a bomb went off and they would rather us push s****y cards. I got in trouble because I spent too much time helping customers and cleaning up the clothing. YES....for things most stores require.
#44
Not on the spot but like 2 hours later because they had to adjust everything and plan on it first.
Short story, I told the venue manager to f**k off.
Long story, I was head chef at a venue (fairly new to the company, recently promoted) and my store had some staff issues I inherited. I did a week training at a different store, (his sous chef babysat for me) worked with the head chef and then he came to my store the next week. So I get in on day 1 with him and he proceeds to RIP me a new one about, about how my line isn't topped up. Removed half the ingredients because he didn't approve of the quality. This turned into him just being a complete d**k and bullying me for 2 hours.
My VM walks in at 12, I say good morning, act like I'm fine (I'm a 27 year old white girl working in a multicultural company. My kitchen (and the other one I worked at) is built up of mainly Indian and Afghani males who prefer to speak their languages. These 2 dudes are great mates, both from India, went to high school together or some s**t.) I dont want to start anything so I sorta keep to myself right now. I'm angry and upset but I'm here to "learn" so let's get to it!
I'm making a dip. Starts with a roux. Add your things, make a dip. I weigh everything in the first step out in the pot, set in on the stove go grab my cheese. He he starts yelling at me to start it again because the butter wasn't melted in the pot first!
I'm like "f**k this guy" hes not gonna f*****g beat me I'll play along. Quickly chop some jalapenos, chop some butter, weigh the flour and start again.
My VM walks in and asks me "why did you use a green knife to cut butter?" (In my haste I did indeed do that) I turned around and told him to f**k off and ran out crying. I had enough, I got fired... They labeled it gross misconduct. I had a new role 4 days later. F**k them.
#45
It was my first job, I think I was 16 or 17 at the time. I worked at a local grocery store a couple days a week as a cashier.
One morning my dad had just dropped me off at work and it was a slow Sunday morning. A couple hours into my shift a girl comes in and buys a pack of cigarettes. I forgot to ID her and turns out she was underage and it was one of those sting things. (which when I worked there I did not know that was even a thing that happened.) Well a guy comes in with the same girl and talks to the manager. Tells him what happened. After the two leave he pulls me to the side and tells me that I am fired. I was devastated because I was a really good kid and followed by the rules and hated getting in trouble.
I then go outside call my dad and the minute he answered I burst into tears. I tell him that I need him to pick me up because I was fired. He comes picks me up I tell him what happened and he calms me down. Then my mom comes home from church and tell her what happened. She was fuming. My mom was saying that I should have been selling cigarettes or alcohol in the first place because it is illegal for a minor to do so. Then my mom and I go back to the store and my mom is talking to the manager how it is wrong. That I was not supposed to be selling them in the first place and etc. After all that the manager says that I can have my job back I just cannot be a cashier anymore, but my mom refused to let me work there anymore.
#46
I've never been fired for anything (laid off since they were closing a department though), but I got someone fired on the spot. As a kid I went to the library on my bike and it got stolen. Months later I see it in the back of a Friendly's near the employee parking. I called the police since I had already filed a report with them, easy to identify since it had some pretty unique features like a custom valve cap I found once and the handbrake on the left side didn't work. Police asked the manager if he knew who came in on the bike and he said it was one of his cooks. They informed him it was stolen from me so the manager called him over and berated him pretty badly while they put cuffs on him and promised to call all the other local restaurants so they don't hire him. Pretty sure he said "I knew you were a f*****g loser but stealing a kids bike?? really?? You're like 25 you prick". I think he ended up getting community service.
#47
I was a waiter at a nice restaurant when I overdosed on adderall because it was finals week and I had been studying night and day.
I got light headed and couldn't think straight and started f*****g up people's orders.
The boss told me that I was a liability and fired me.
I told my parents that I was taking a break to study for school...
Image credits: michaelsdino
#48
I worked in a warehouse on a forklift finding products stacked so high I couldn't see them. I missed one order and stupidly put the paperwork back in as 'not there' instead of just burying it and bang, sacked with the words 'pure f*****g laziness' As an agency worker that was it. F**k those people.
#49
I was 3 months in my job and I was getting harassed by my manager constantly for several weeks. Every day they’d follow me to the bathroom and make comments the whole time I needed to be in there.
I felt uncomfortable with this and reported it to HR, the next day the president of the company came to the office, and summoned me and the HR rep.
He brought up my concerns, and asked me what I wanted. I said I just wanted him to be professional and not follow me to the bathroom every time I have to go.
After I finished, he said, “Okay... well. Here’s the thing. I’ve read the reports, and it just doesn’t look like you’re a good fit here. It’s within 90 days, so we’re just going to terminate your employment immediately. You’ll be escorted out.”
And that was it. I hated myself for opening that can of worms, but at the same time f**k that guy.
#50
Operations manager here, on the day of the chrismas dinner for the company, i texted one of the new employees who didn't show up at the restaurant we were having dinner at. This new employee was with us for 2 months and was hired even after having bad reviews from previous employees, but still thought I will give him a chance because we were in a pinch. His previous employer said he has issues getting to work or getting to work on time. He had no driver license, so i asked one of the other employees with company vehicle to pick him up in the morning, and sometime he literally had to wake him up.
Coming back to the day of the chrismas dinner, he replied back saying that he will need roughly 38% percent raise from his current salary, otherwise he is quitting, because this other company offered him a job. I thanked him for his time with us and enjoyed rest of my evening. Couple of months later he called begging for his job back, and you all know what my answer was.
#51
Sears used to pay their electronics folks commission on top of base pay for big items. It was a pretty nice rate for commission. Anyways, we would "price match" compared to Frys or Best Buy (this was '05). Sometimes we made up Best Buy prices and would just say it was a promo weekend there.
I wasn't a great salesman and would incentivize customers to buy out of desperation. I'd take off like $400 sometimes.
One time a customer and I really hit it off. Super nice folks, came in around the holidays. I got on first name basis with em by the end. Anyways, lost prevention called me in and showed me on camera making the sale, I slipped up and said oh that's "Ed and his family." They thought I knew them on a real friend or family basis and gave them a $2900 tv for $2400. Fired on the spot.
Pay your workers more than $7/hour base and you won't see s**t like that. People will sort out a way to cheat the system on you if you pay pennies. I got away with price matching probably 20 times before I got called on it.
That Sears is dead and gone now, I say good riddance.
#52
This teacher was up-skirting girls and he would intentionally knock off pencils then bend down to pick them up and look up a girls skirt and obviously he had tons of complaints so one time the headteacher stood outside the room and looked through the window until he saw the teacher look up girls skirts and when he looked up my friends skit the head teacher burst shouting that he was fired
Edit: I say up-skirting but that’s taking a picture of a girls underwear without consent, what I actually meant was he looked underneath their skirts but it’s basically the same thing so whatever.
#53
Perfect.
This just happened to me in September.
I was a marketing manager at a fairly large digital advertising agency.
I showed up to work on Wednesday at the same time I always did. Nothing out of the ordinary. My direct manager from the office up North was in for a strategy meeting.
He and I sat down with my team and did some Q2 number reviews, goal setting, strategy for the remainder of 2018 - talked about the pros and cons and how hopeful and optimistic he was. Then it was back to work as usual.
About 2 hours later, he calls me into the conference room. I bring my laptop to take notes and figure we are going to go over more numbers or something.
I look to my right at the end of the long conference room table and the SVP of operations is sitting there (albeit with an uncomfortable, scared look on his face).
They tell me to close the door.
My Manager:
“We decided today is your last day”.
Didn’t really give me any good reason why - but I found out it was a few days before earnings call and they had missed their projected quarter numbers and I was the most expensive employee on the team.
F.
#54
I was once working for this company out of my dad's office (I worked for a different company he was just letting me use his extra office). I would get assignments over email. A lot of the time I would finish an assignment and then ask what my next would be and not hear from anyone, sometimes for multiple days and I would email multiple people each day. At one point my boss refused to pay me because he felt I wasn't doing a good enough job, so I reported him to the division of labor. I immediately recieved an email saying I was fired because I reported him.
#55
I was in high school in NJ looking for a summer job. Got a job selling knives, one of these MLM deals I realized later on. The Italian Guido in the shiny suit was telling a group of us what the job entailed. Don't know why but I poked fun at him in a well timed moment - he asked me to the front of the classroom and fired me. Glad I didn't have to sell knives to all my family members!
#56
One of my first jobs was working for this bucket telesales operation. We were selling long distance plans, they would change the fee structure and resell the same plan under a diffrent name to the same customers. I went one week top of the sales chart weekly bonus, next week I was at the bottom. #'s. This was the second or third week out of the "training" program as well. Ranking came out they pulled me into the office and canned me for poor performance. I always thought it was cause I walked in on them pulling names and numbers from diffrent state phone books. They didn't have my final check ready that day. Next Monday when I called in to make sure they had it, someone I didn't recognize answered but told me to come down for my check, turns out they got raided for that whole scammy plan bit. I had a brief interview with an FBI agent, they handed me my final check and that place got closed down. Apparently I missed out on a who crazy entry scene when the came in the front and the back to grab the management team.
#57
After graduating from grad school, I was having trouble finding jobs in my chosen career. I ended up applying to retail jobs just to get an income. I got hired at Old Navy. Went through training, and even had 1 to 2 shifts. Then I got hired in my chosen career. Great! I went and told one of my managers, who was totally cool with it, understood, and even said I might be able to stay on part time and help out during the holidays. Cool. Next shift, I have to tell the other manager that I got a new job. I *just* clocked in to start work, told this manager, and she tells me I can leave. I clock back out. Wasn't even allowed to work that shift. I barely knew her, but just from the short interactions I had with her, she seemed like a b***h.
#58
Not me but a person who worked with me.
My job had people come and go like it was a drive-thru. We had one guy who was down that same path. He came in and started cutting the pizza's. I'm helping him and and he's a nice guy. Skip a couple of weeks and this guy is a master. Even during rush he still has time to pick up orders.
Manager comes in. Ask him how he's liking his job. He says that he's glad that he works here.
Manger fires him on the spot.
Next guy comes and it's continues in the cycle.
#59
I was 16, it was my first job. I had landed a nice IT Help Desk job, answering phones, logging jobs, fixing internet, s**t like that. 6 weeks of unpaid training, and 6 months of working hard landed me with my own office and a weird medley of every job there was to have (Only the CEO and I had our own offices). I wasn't paid more, I wasn't given any more recognition and they actually had the balls to ask if I could work tue-fri on a lower pay (I got mondays off from school). They wanted me to work monday to friday, 8-8 on a $8/hr pay so I said no and was fired instantly in front of 12 other coworkers.
Awkward.
#60
Worked for GNC in college. At the end of every month, we were required to throw away expired items. Well, I figured I'd just keep the tub of protein that expired the week before, since I had to throw it away anyways.
As I was closing up and walking out, the general manager stopped by and fired me on the spot. So yeah, I got fired for keeping something that I was supposed to put in the trash.
Image credits: Cajun_B
#61
I saw someone get fired on the spot because he said he wanted to “rage f*ck” a coworker of ours...he was an idiot.
#62
I started a new job 3 weeks ago. When I received my first pay, I noticed that I was missing 10 hours pay over a 2 week period. I Asked to speak with the boss and he said "Who pays me when I have to wait for you to finish your run." I said that I thought that he was taking advantage of me. He replied "you think i'm cheating you! Don't come back on Monday.
#63
I was driving a plow truck borrowed from the company owners friend and crashed it 3 hours into plowing I was told to leave the keys in it and go home. Never plowed snow again.
#64
I worked at a grocery store and brought a newspaper to the break room for lunch. My break was so short that waiting in line to buy the paper would have taken up my whole lunch. They interpreted this as me stealing the newspaper and fired me. Apparently one of the managers had been following me around during my whole shift waiting to see if I did something wrong.
