A job is not forever. Whether due to changing career goals, personal mistakes, or lousy management, virtually everyone has to say goodbye to their employer sooner or later. So when Reddit user Sometimes_Cleaver posted the question "Why did you get fired?" on the platform, they received a range of funny and infuriating stories that illustrate the chaotic reality of the modern workforce. One thing’s clear, though: don't underestimate how quickly "I'm just trying to be honest" can turn into "please pack your things."
#1
The new shop manager was openly racist and the HR manager fired me because she was tired of being informed every time I got called cracker or honkey.
The opening arguments for my suit will be laid out in August- wish me luck.
Image credits: Exact_Week
#2
I got fired because I got cancer, and after the chemo I wasn't as sharp.
America, the land of the free, baby.
Image credits: Killbot6
While many of these stories belong to the more extreme end of the spectrum, the phenomenon itself isn't rare. In fact, according to a report by Intoo and the Harris Poll, 40% of Americans have been laid off or terminated from a job at least once in their lives.
So, perhaps not surprisingly, nearly half of employed Americans (48%) suffer from layoff anxiety. One-third of them say it's because they fear a pending recession (34%), while slightly smaller shares cite rumors around the office (32%) or a recent round of layoffs at their workplace (30%).
#3
I was tasked with washing something that would have 100% electrocuted me. I refused. They fired me. Then asked another employee to do it. They were electrocuted. Sued into oblivion and the place is gone now. Missed my chance for a big payout but eh... didnt nearly die.
Image credits: skith843
#4
Wouldn't sleep with 2 of the 3 managers. I was 16. They were grown men.
Image credits: SurlyWenchAZ
#5
Came in to do some mechanic work on my day off. I fixed small engines on go karts, taught by my friends dad. My main job was running the go karts but on my off days I’d come in for OT and to keep up on the maintenance of the cars.
The manager that day saw me working on go carts and told me to take over for whomever was running the carts that day. I told her I was there to fix some karts and do some regular maintenance as it was my off day. She told me she didn’t have the people to watch karts today and she needed me to do it. I had to explain that wasn’t my problem as I was there on my off day. She escalated and told me to go run the karts or I could leave and not come back. I finished the kart I was working on and left.
The general manager called me the next day and invited me in for a meeting where I got my job back, got an apology from the manager who fired me, and I got to watch the manager who fired me get fired after apologizing to me. It was wonderful.
I worked there 2 more years in the highlight of my teen years.
Image credits: dins3r
Career coach Sho Dewan says that after getting fired, it's healthy to take some time and let all your emotions out.
But then we need to put our energy into bouncing back. "It won’t happen overnight but take little steps towards accepting the situation and understanding that the past is the past," he writes.
"This predicament is only temporary and you’ll more than likely be able to find a new job (that may even pay better) soon. The key thing is to learn from the experience, and use that lesson to improve upon your skills."
#6
My dad was dying and the company didn’t want me spending so much time helping him. I offer to have my dad die at a more conducive time for them but they didn’t take that well so I changed my number in the company directive to a local pizza shop and got things in order.
Image credits: MySonHas2BrokenArms
#7
District manager emailed the whole store giving us a (large) list of tasks to complete before Black Friday. Jokingly, I simply typed "No." and showed my co-worker, just to get a cheap laugh. I was obviously not going to send that.
Before I could react, my co-worker reached over and hit "send". My heart dropped and I got a phone call later that evening saying I wasn't a team player, I was refusing a "direct order from a superior". I tried to explain it was a joke and that I accidentally hit send, then I got berated for "not taking the job seriously".
Looking back it was a blessing in disguise. It was the last Thanksgiving with my brother before he passed.
Image credits: Vexwill
#8
Not me, but my favorite nursing assistant was fired because she couldn't figure out how to apply for FMLA so that she could get off work and receive chemo. She was just old and computer stuff really confused her, but she was a phenomenal Aide. They let her work her full shift then fired her. She had just applied to nursing school using our program to pay for it. I quit a month later. The fact that they didn't have someone from HR sit down with her and show her how before it got to that point disgusted me.
Image credits: greeneggsnyams
#9
Got fired because my company hired replacements while I was recovering from Cervical Disc Replacement under workers comp, from an injury that happened while on the job, at that company.
Image credits: riv965
#10
Changed my status to "available for work" inadvertently while job searching on linkedin. Was connected to HR at the firm and they saw it. I realized my mistake a couple hours too late but they saw it and let me go.
Honestly was the best thing ever. I started my own business after it happened a year ago and am thriving. Thanks, a******s!
Image credits: Red_Stripe1229
#11
Worked at a gun store for a minute in my 20s. Boss was in his late 50s, and his wife was about 5 years older than I was. As I was bending over to close the floor gun safe, the bosses wife complimented my butt. The bosses office door was open.
Fired the next morning, and he attempted to deny my unemployment claim. "Fired for cause!" "What cause?". "Because!".
Image credits: Titania42
#12
I was 16 and working at an Ace Hardware as an after-school/weekend job. One of my responsibilities was taking out the trash at the end of the night. One evening, I was closing with another guy who was a long-time employee. He said he would get the trash and that I could go home.
Come in the next day to boss waiting for me. Says, "WonManBand, how come trash wasn't taken out last night?"
I respond that other employee said he'd do it and told me go home. Boss says that's not what other employee is saying, says I was supposed to do it and just left. I disagree, get fired.
Over 20 years later, still salty. Didn't even like that job but f**k you, John.
Edit: John is the co-worker, for clarity.
Image credits: WonManBand
#13
The owner was from India. His son wanted Valentine’s Day off to go to a seven day wedding, but I already requested and had it approved. He crossed my name off the calendar and put his and told me if I wasn’t there I’d be fired. Expected me to pick up all his missing shifts the whole week. I picked up all his shifts, but I wasn’t there on Valentine’s Day. I was fired.
Image credits: Takeabreath_andgo
#14
Back in highschool, I didn’t invite my 30 something year old manager to my underage drinking party. Fired the next shift at work during a rush.
Image credits: bluehotcheeto
#15
Because I wouldn't let my boss at a new job put my name on a nasty email. I called her out and said I don't speak to people that way. She was awful. I was happy to see that pink slip in her hand a week later.
Image credits: NewTimeTraveler1
#16
I put too many olives on a sandwich and got fired from Subway. On my first day.
Image credits: fred_fred_burgerr
#17
I worked at a shelter for homeless teens. Admin staff were some of the most incompetent humans I've ever worked for. So incompetent one of our teens got r*ped.
I started raising hell because there was no accountability for the administration. They kept f*****g up and doing nothing when s**t like this would go down.
They scheduled a meeting to talk to me about "my concerns" while I was on vacation and then fired me for not showing up
Still makes my blood boil to think about it.
#18
I told them in March I’m taking a week off in May. May comes and they tell me they can’t approve it because we’re short staffed. I remind them that we were short staffed when everyone else took their vacations this year and didn’t complain, so come May 15th I’m outta here.
They acted weird for a week after I got back before dropping the news. Wasn’t even mad, I was part time consistently pulling 32-38 hours. Thinking of reporting them to the department of labor.
Image credits: Icy-Bodybuilder-9077
#19
They hired me, didn't give me any work to do, then fired me for not doing any work despite me asking for things to do.
Addendum: I was a junior PR associate then. Since I had nothing to do, I spent the time monitoring the social media pages of our brands to get insight (this was under my then-superior's advice).
One of the reasons why they fired me was "you spend too much time on social media while at work".
Image credits: RuinedSilence
#20
Reporting sexual assault to authorities when I was an exotic dancer and wouldn’t take the bribe offered to keep my mouth shut.
#21
Because I wouldn't lie to people. Worked for a cell service affiliate in college. Had the worst coverage, price, and customer service of any of the 4 major carriers in my area. Only feather in the cap was cool devices (for the time). Sales expectations were high, only way to get there was lie through your teeth. I refused. Spent most my shifts unfucking accounts other employees had f****d in order to get commission. Was actually relieved to get canned. Was destroying my mental health.
Image credits: hilltopper06
#22
Worked at Rite Aid, some scammers came with stolen gift cards that were actually accepted by the system and they made a huge purchase, obviously I was suspicious and the manager approved the transactions. A month later, I was let go citing stating I wasn’t vigilant enough!
Image credits: Keny_Mwas254
#23
Called a customer a witch. And that was being polite. I could have and should have been a lot worse.
Image credits: carolinemathildes
#24
After my training and onboarding, I was only getting 2 shifts a week consistently for over a month. Asked for more, was given the "we are unionized, we have to follow seniority, you've only been here 3 months" schpeel.
So I went and got a second job and started telling the first one which of the 2 or 3 days a week I'd be available to work for them. Got let go for not being available for shifts 7 days a week.
Image credits: ieatbigmacsdaily
#25
I pushed 10 carts at a time at target when the maximum is supposed to be 7. They were the last 10 carts in the lot and I didn’t feel like making 2 trips was necessary. Got fired the next day.
Image credits: Expensive_Attitude51
#26
I was working at Taco Bell as a teen and forgot to turn off the headset and went on a full insult tirade to my nemesis.
Image credits: Realistic-Silver7010
#27
Alcoholic Chef here, self explanatory. 1 year sober!
#28
Boss apparently didn't know I had a lazy eye(but able to control it consciously)
I was at this job for 3 years without an incident.(Transporting materials)
Calls me in and asks me about my vision.
Tell him I'm legally blind in right eye, but have been driving since I was 10.
Said we can no longer continue with you being employed here.
Was so out of my mind, I didn't even think to lawyer up.
But FU them, their new driver " accidentally" pierced 4 vehicles with the long forks... Within 1 week.
#29
It was my third day in a small warehouse that supplied ingredients to local pizza places. I was instructed to get a box that had a bag full of crushed red pepper and fill some shakers. The bottom of the box came apart and the bag fell, hitting the ground and scattering the pepper flakes everywhere and filling the air with dust. My eyes, throat, nose and lungs were almost immediately on fire. A coworker escorted me to the bathroom where I started having a coughing fit and throwing up. I couldn't see, I could barely breathe, and then the bathroom door bursts open and the owner is SCREAMING at me about the pepper flakes and how much money I had just cost him. F**k that guy. His business went under a year later.
#30
I refused to uproot my entire life and move to New Jersey after 17 years of working on the other side of the country (the last two of which were done fully remote rather than in a satellite office).
Image credits: towalkaroadofruin
#31
Got fired for quitting.
See, phones weren't allowed on jobsites. But, we were expected to call into dispatch before 5pm to get our next daily assignment. Buuuuuuut, we worked from 7a to 7p almost every day, so we couldn't call into dispatch. After being reprimanded for not calling in on time, I said "Ya know, this job isn't going to work out and I quit." Dispatcher said "You have no idea how stressful *you people* make things for me. You're fired, and no longer allowed to work for this agency!".
Image credits: DannyDeVitaLoca
#32
I worked as the setup staff for my colleges sporting events. Sounded cool at first, but it was horrible in reality. Insane micromanaging yet at the same time operationally it was a cluster f**k. I didn’t have an actual set supervisor, and nobody seemed to ever know what the f**k was going on.
So the minute I got a new job I went to put in my two week notice. I go to the HR office after class one day, and it was open but no one was in there. I go the next day, and same thing. So I left my written notice on the front desk, and made sure to email them too. I didn’t get scheduled for any games during those two weeks and just figured my time there was done.
I got an email 8 months later saying “you have been terminated for unexcused absences and are no longer eligible to work for (insert higher education system) again in any capacity.” I reach out and they’re like “we recently discovered you haven’t shown up for a game in months.” I told them I submitted my resignation months ago and they insisted I never did.
What’s funny is now I work at a different school in the same state system in a professional job, and when I was getting screened for my interview I’m not going to lie, I was a little worried it would f**k everything lol. Luckily it didn’t.
Image credits: Mirraco323
#33
I stopped doing my managers job and the job I wasn’t getting paid for.
#34
I was a wastewater/drinking water operator in charge of the facilities at a local college. I was fired so that they could give my job to a person to be able to get them a visa to stay in the country. This was around the time of Covid, and they were having issues finding jobs for people they wanted to retain. While this guy had an impressive education, he was not certified to the job(there are several state licenses required). They initially offered for me to stay on as a crew member at less pay(and use my licenses). To the HR rep's shock, I declined and told them I either kept my job or left. They chose to let me go. I called the state governing body on my way home and informed them that I was no longer in charge of that facility. To the university's shock, they discovered it took a fair amount of time, educational courses, and work hours to get the licenses. I think they thought they would just stick their guy in an office for a few years until they could place him somewhere else.
#35
I worked in a supermarket. Boss doesn’t want us to work overtime. I finish at 4PM and so I pack up at 15:55 as I need to get clear of the shelves. Boss see me in the reserve at 15:58 and ask me “why you're packing up? You have 2 minutes left.” My contract get terminated the next fortnight.
Image credits: Spart_2078
#36
Only time I ever got officially fired from a job was from the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I worked coat check, and was specifically told that on rainy days strollers needed to be folded by the parents before they could be checked in. I told a parent this, and this parent became a Karen (this took place way before the term Karen became a thing). After a pretty long time of complaining about why she shouldn’t have to fold her stroller, I simply told her that in the amount of time she spent complaining, she could’ve folded her stroller, been checked in, and been in the Museum. She complained straight to the top, and I got fired because of it.
#37
Because I smelled bad.
They weren't wrong. I had just recently moved out on my own for the first time, nobody was really encouraging me to take care of myself, I was struggling with depression and just.. didn't bother.
It was pretty f****n embarrassing.
Image credits: lonely_nipple
#38
Using my vacation days as sick days.
Chronic illness is a b***h. Didnt know my autoimmune disorder was the cause at the time but some days my body just didn't work.
#39
Because the boss's son was a lazy liar.
When I was in high school, I worked Friday and Saturday nights from midnight to 6am at a 7-11. The worst part of it was dealing with people that wanted to buy beer after 2am on Sunday, but almost as onerous was having to put together the Sunday NY Times. It was delivered in about a dozen sections, each on neatly strapped into a pile. I had to take each section and put them all inside the main section. It was dull and repetitive and took half the night to put together hundreds of them.
One night, the NY Times was not delivered. I advised my relief (the boss's son) of this when he arrived in the morning and went on my way. Come next Friday I went in to work as usual and found the boss there, which was strange in and of itself. He told me that I was fired for not putting the Times together the previous week. I told him that they were never delivered, and that I told his son about this.
My brother, who worked the same shift I did, was standing right there, and backed up my account. The guy fired me anyway. At which point my brother quit. Which meant that the boss and his son had to work our shifts until they hired some more people.
#40
I was a girl.
Tech company. We were split into teams of 15+ people that reported to one supervisor. The company was primarily male, so some teams didn't have any girls. Those that did only had 1-3. My team had 2 girls on it, me (overweight and ugly)and another girl (who was a conventionally pretty young Asian girl). I was consistently average as a worker. She would take naps in the hallway while on the clock and couldn't tell you anything about the products we were supporting.
He would give the other girl random excuses or benefits, like not reporting her using incorrect time clock stamps that showed her data into the positive. He'd feed her easy tickets that would buffer her numbers. (He wasn't supposed to hand us tickets to begin with). Whenever she made mistakes, he would say it was because she was new, but she started just a month after me and at this point it had been around a year since we started.
For me, he'd find everything wrong that he could find. If I fixed an issue he brought up, he'd magically forget he asked me to fix it and just complain about the next thing that came up. He never told me how to fix weak spots. One he literally told me "you are the worst stats on the team, but at least there are 7 people worse than you at our company!" Didn't tell me how to fix it. Never told me anything positive. He'd send me tickets saying "You can handle this one, it looks easy!" And I'd be stuck with them for weeks because they would end up being super complex problems with unresponsive clients. He'd then chastise me for not solving "an easy problem. "
All the boys had very different experiences. He'd help them (but was bad at it), and they got just average treatment from him. Some of those who had been there longer than i had been had terrible stats but didn't get as much backlash over it. They eventually noticed that my personality was changing (depression) and started noticing the way he treated me. They started trying to help me themselves, and saw first hand some of the tickets he would give me. Not at all easy, which was obvious before he even sent them over to me. They helped significantly, but he kept undoing everything they did (saying I was doing things wrong, saying I was talking to my coworkers too much, etc). As one of my coworkers put it, everytime I got back on my feet he would shove me back into the ground. Upper management ignored us, even though we found out he had a history of teasing other girls this way. Pretty girls got special treatment, others got pushed away until they were off his team. (Either fired or transferred). It got to the point where I would seriously consider calling in such on days I knew I was supposed to meet with him, because I'd leave our meetings in tears.
Covid came and we went WFH. By this point, I was depressed, stressed, and shutting down. The lenient work from home policies we had because of the sudden shift meant I could get away with slacking off. I went from being a hard worker to barely scraping by. I couldn't even remember how to fix simple problems (like password changes) because he had dragged me so much through the mud that I was questioning every little thing I did. I lost all of the little confidence I had. I'd take tickets and then watch tv for an hour or two while pretending to work, or play games on my phone. I did the bare minimum, and my stats got worse. It didn't help that it was much harder to ask my coworkers for help, because instead of them being next to me they were miles away only reachable by chat.
At one point, I realized how bad things had gotten and tried to pull myself back up. At this point I was on an improvement plan (your last chance before firing) and I tried to get it together enough to keep my job. I bothered the hell out of my coworkers, started researching weak spots in my freetime, got better about reaching out to customers and closing tickets for my getting answers. My stats improved and I had my first somewhat positive meeting with my supervisor. He still found everything wing, but said if I kept improving then the next week I'd be off the improvement plan.
I got fired the week after. I got some really nasty tickets that tanked my stats, despite utilizing every resource I could. They were very weird issues that got pushed up to our engineering team, and I had several all at once. It was just your run of the mill bad week, we all have them and you can't avoid them. While it messed up my stats, they were still better than they had been for a while. But I got fired for it. During my meeting with him that week, he had an hr guy with him and they told me I was fired. At this point I had gotten enough confidence back to say that I didn't understand how I could go from "improving enough that I might get off the improvement plan" to getting fired in one week, without ANY warning or instruction during that week that this was a possibility. As far as I was aware, I was still improving and had no indication that this wasn't the case. The hr guy asked if I felt like I had received sufficient support, I said no.
My supervisor was fired the next week.
I'm now in a different field where I am very happy, and my confidence is the highest its ever been. I'm constantly receiving praise for how hard of a worker I am, how quick to learn I am and how coachable I am. My current supervisors are always saying I'm super easy to work with because I look for and respond to criticism and ways to improve. The issue with my past job was never me, and I can guarantee you it was because I was a girl.
#41
It's literally just for being a man. I worked at a local bookstore. Me and this other dude got hired to help with the Christmas season rush and because they needed people that could lift more the 50lbs. After 5 weeks me and the only other dude got called in to the owners office and basically got told that we were being let go for performance issues, which was a bunch a bull. Also, the other reason was cause the other employees, which were all women, didn't feel too comfortable around 2 dudes and that we didn't fit into the work culture. From me and that dudes perspective, we worked hard, we're respectful and positive. Honestly, I'm glad they fired me because I got an even better job.
#42
Was working at fedex just part time and i couldn’t come in multiple days in a row because i had such bad back pain that i could barely walk let alone stand up. i explained this to my manager and he told me he agreed with my decision 2 days later all of my shifts were taken off my schedule without any call or text to let me know why. i call my manager to ask why. he said i was fired for not coming into work. these were the only days i ever missed there. but the fact I had to call them for them to tell me i was fired really pissed me off.
#43
I was working two jobs at the time. A manager at my part-time job didn't like me. So he changed my schedule so I'd have to work the same days as my main job. He did this after my shifts were over for the week, so I'd not see the change. I came to work on Monday and was informed I " no showed" 3 days in a row and was fired. Honestly, I was relieved. Working 76 hours a week was too much.
#44
I put 12 chickens in a chicken coop overnight instead of 6. I was just told the chickens had to be in a coop.
#45
I left a 17 hour shift 10 minutes early.
#46
I was trying to report my bosses boss to HR for harassing and bullying me. He was taunting me on a phone call with a client, making childish voices and rude statements about me while pressuring me to work faster than I had been in the moment. He would ask me if something was done while I was working on things throughout the call, demanding updates every 15 seconds or so. I left the call and told my boss I was reporting this guy to HR, and I was told I was fired instead.
I ended up getting a call from HR the following week, and they hadn't yet been informed I had been fired. They opened a case on my behalf to look into these issues. Unsurprisingly, they investigated themselves, and found themselves guilty of no wrongdoing. They did tell me I had been terminated due to issues with my professionalism. That was painful, hearing he'd completely uno reversed me. I hadn't at any point been unprofessional, as I take great pride in these types of things for some stupid reason. Call me old fashioned, I suppose.
This was so unexpected that it caused me a great deal of financial issues and completely tanked my credit in the process. Due to the time of year when it happened, it took nearly 4 months to start a new role and begin earning money again. I have so much debt now because of this guy bullying me directly, openly, and then immediately firing me for being "unprofessional".
Pro tip: if you're going to HR to report your bosses boss, do NOT tell your direct boss first. Corporate America will destroy you if you're a good person at heart.
#47
I worked for a European swine genetics company.
One of our selection and multiplication nuclei was outsourced to a neighboring country.
When animals of high genetic value had to be shipped to a customer, I would go to the farm and spend the day grading, sorting and marking the animals to be loaded on the truck.
Once, a client rightly complained about the poor quality of the animals we had sent them. I went to see them, and their identification numbers did not match the ones I had registered in my notebook. The farm had replaced them with others and, in turn, had sold the ones I had selected on their own.
After a meeting between my company and the managers of the multiplication farm, it was decided that we would continue to work together and that I would be the "scapegoat" for the customer.
I was fired.
#48
I asked too many questions but also did too much on my own without asking for clarification. Then I pointed out that those two things in my review conflicted, and they really didn’t care for that.
#49
I openly mocked my supervisors spelling errors and didn't show up to a shift they scheduled me for after I specifically told them I couldn't work that time.
Image credits: anon
#50
Quality standards kept changing unpredictably while time limits kept crunching tighter and tighter. Eventually my quality slips one too many times and boom, that's all folks.
The entire program shut down about a year after I fell off. The company had lost their contract. I sure didn't have to wonder why.
#51
A long time ago I was fired from a massive retailer that's known for the color blue for "time theft."
Their own asset protection investigation showed I was actually owed hours above what I had clocked.
A fair number of other heads rolled for that one but they still refused to hire me back.
#52
I accidentally snitched on myself lol. Used to work at radio shack and I tried selling a personal cell phone to a friend (not realizing that the phone wasn’t working properly) so I switched it with a brand new phone from our store. Months later a radio shack internal affairs guy came in and said I can fess up to what I did or basically get in trouble with the police. I told him about the phone thing, welllll as it turns out he was there because the company suspected me of credit card fraud which I did not do so they fired me for the phone incident and made me pay back the full price of the phone. This was back in 2005.
Image credits: No-Promises99
#53
First time was from Walmart. I wouldn't kiss the manager's a*s at all because he was a useless f**k stick and he made up reasons to fire me including doctoring the time clock and cameras. A few months after I left he got busted doing it again by the GM and fired.
Second time was doing door to door frozen food sales and some lady claimed I hit her stupid expensive road bike. She claimed it was sitting across the road behind branches of a downed tree after a storm. When I said so why was a several thousand dollar road bike just left next to the road 300 yards from someone's house? She couldn't answer that but I got blamed anyway.
#54
Work biotech, was fired from my first job
I was originally in charge of package receipt at a smaller company where RAs (and even Sci's) were handling a lot of the logistics. We eventually purposefully hired a guy to handle alot of these roles because they effectively were getting in the way of us doing sciencey stuff. Showed the guy the general ropes of where we receive shipments, how to distribute and logging receipts, etc.
Well three weeks later, I was pulled into the boss' office and was told I was being fired. I wasn't necessarily mad but more so confused so I asked what made them come to that decision. Apparently that douchenozzle just blatantly forgot to check packages one day and voila... a multi-thousand dollar (and several months to manufacture) specimen was left to thaw and die at the receiving area. I was fired so I just protested that wasn't it this guy's job to do all of that. Was told I was still expected to check in on him to make sure he did his job.
Then just hit em with "The f**k am I supposed to know if he did his job or not if we hired him in the first place for all of this." Got up and went to pack my shiz at my desk and walked out.
I know its not the most exciting story but that's my only story of being fired. I have been laid off once though.
#55
The first time - I was a 21 year old hostess at a new restaurant. I was in a sorority and you have to take like 2 whole weeks every summer for recruitment - one week for training and practice and another for the actual recruitment. It's incredibly exhausting. Most girls get really sick. I got so terribly horribly sick, I had to skip our bid day activity and it still breaks my heart. I slept for several days. I told the restaurant I was very sick and couldn't come back yet and they said not to worry and to take the rest of the week off. The schedule for the next week comes out and I show up as scheduled. Then about an hour into my shift, I got pulled into the back and fired for not telling them I was coming back. You gave me the week, I took the week, then showed up as scheduled. Wtf. He also told me that they purposely hired too many people anyway.
#56
I caught my boss falsifying an employee's d**g test, so I asked HR what should I do? She said to talk to his boss, so then went to his boss...who called me a liar and told me I must be mistaken. so I went back to HR...where it was never mentioned again. Until the end of that year, in which I could nothing right apparently...and the "undermining" was one the things brought up during my termination meeting. Also, my bosses didn't like me asking too many questions or my disciplining my employees when safety policies were broken.
#57
Owner's granddaughter graduated from college with a degree in accounting. I knew they were going to fire me and bring her in.
Also, I asked the owner for a private meeting at her house, we needed money. She gave it to me. Said she couldn’t tell anything to her kids (president and vice president) but pretty sure she did.
I was glad actually, the president (owner's son) liked to splurge on equipment he had no business buying.
They were so far in the red, and the owner (woman in her 70’s) floated that company for several years.
#58
A mutual distaste between my boss any myself. My firing was the nicest thing he ever did for me. It got me out of a dead-end and freed me up to discover a job I spent the next twenty years at.
#59
In high school I had a job at a place called Mr. Fix-It. Just as you would imagine - a one-room mess of a place where he would do everything from simple electrical work on an appliance to welding.
I was fired for mixing epoxy on a newspaper.
Clearly there was more going on. But I was 16. F**k ‘em!
#60
Worked second shift for a beverage company as a shuttle driver. For 5 weeks I couldn't get a fuel card and used 2 of the other drivers' fuel card. One day they weren't there and had enough fuel to do 1 run instead of the usual 3-4. I called my supervisor who was at home and told me to figure it out so I packed my bag full of free soda and went home. The next morning he called me and asked why I didn't make the runs I told him to get f'd and hung up.
#61
I left a USB stick with sensitive files plugged into a computer that was turned off, inside a locked office, which was inside a secure area.
#62
I drained my FMLA because of migraines, and I had thought I had sent in all the necessary paperwork as I had been in communication with HR. I was sleeping off a migraine when I got a missed call that I had to come into the office that day or I would be fired by the afternoon. I naturally did not answer and it was too late when I got the message.
It sucked how they kind of sprung a termination on me, but at the same time I understand they need people who can actually work to be there. I eventually got approved for disability after a two year fight for it with no pay and almost losing our home.
#63
I was in pharmacy school and working as an intern at Walmart. To be a pharmacy intern you have to register with the state and stay in pharmacy school. I had already had to repeat a semester and was on academic probation. Then I absolutely bombed one of my exams the following semester. I had 3 weeks before the final and needed a really high grade to not fail and get kicked out of pharmacy school. So I called my boss and told them I couldn't come into work because I needed to study. They said they understood and let me off.
A couple days later I got a call from my boss saying his boss told him that I would not be retained in the intern program that Walmart has. Didn't really matter as I ended up not getting the grade I needed and was kicked out of pharmacy school so I would have been let go anyway.
I did eventually get back in and was able to graduate but I decided not to seek regular employment so I could focus on school.
#64
I just got fired from the job I had been at for over 10 years last Monday. I am 33 years old, so I basically spent my entire adult working life there. I watched as the upper management slowly made the place miserable. It was an office type, state job. I hadn't gotten a raise in 4 years, no one was ever replaced ... the work just fell on the rest of us. I just stopped putting in any effort to meet their constantly changing expectations. Took 4 years, but they finally let me go. I had seen the writing on the wall though and had already lined up something else to start in a few weeks. This has been the best vacation ever.
#65
I failed to successfully interpret: "I need you to stay a little later than your shift officially ends to help close.", "We can't pay you.
#66
Worked at a start up. And these were their words verbatim:
"You're too soft on the team"
"We need someone that can come in everyday at 7AM"
First off, upper management (business bros) goes over my head and drives my team to the bone. We're talking 10 hour sporadic shifts trying to sell and demo their product to investors every month of so. My team appreciated my efforts to protect them from the b******t.
Second, no one is in the office until 9.
Basically I wasn't a yes man and cracking the whip.
Edit: Also f**k the product management guy. He was trying to get me fired and it worked just because I challenged his ideas on how to do my job. He was good friends with one of the founders.
#67
My boss told HR I was behind on all my projects, which was true, I was behind because all designs were waiting on my boss's approval.
#68
I threw a fit cause i was stuck washing dishes alone when everyone else went out back to drink beers and smoke pot on the clock. Then they came back inside and complained that they couldn't leave until the dishes were done and that I was taking too long.
#69
On my second day at Subway, my boss told me I didn't have "it".
16 years later I still don't know what that means.
#70
I started working at a rough time of my life and had to force myself to cope with personal issues while trying to work. I took a few too many sickies along the way.
#71
Was a supervisor for one department and was sleeping with a supervisor from another department. we would hook up in the car on breaks. Plant manager 1 week before I was fired, did my evaluation, which was the highest in my plant and top 10 for the entire company, received a 6% pay increase. Termination was for not fulfilling my job duties.
#72
Losing my s**t one day and just trying to get back at the company lol. I was a TL for Target and it's a very stressful job for the s**t pay. Each year Target ASKS their employees to donate money to one of several charities at any amount but really try to push you to do something like $5 but to agree to have it pull from your check once per month for 12 months so $60 or some amount like that. Really saying stuff like "it's only a cup of coffee per month!" They don't hide it or be sneaky about it they're all up front about how it works BUT they make it seem like the employee can write this off during tax season because they give you a receipt to show your donation. But surprise surprise Target claims the donation and takes the tax break so you can't.
So I decided f**k that and would inform my teams about this and tell them if they want to donate go do it on their own directly. They don't need to donate through Target and give them another tax break just to fire us all later to hit their bottome line.
Well obviously my prissy sit in office all day SD and HR lead didn't like this so they decided to pull a skeleton out of my closet they kept for a rainy day when I asked a coworker out but they weren't interested and nothing ever went past that. We even had a great work relationship together for almost a year without it ever coming up again. But I guess she told a friend who told a friend that landed on HR's ear and they kept that information for until they needed it and said they "conducted and investigation" into my work ethic and fired me for it saying it counts as harassment.
I just laughed and said "okay wtf ever helps y'all sleep. Where's my check?"
Ended up doing me a huge favor doing that because being young at the time I was stupid and was trying to move up in Target but f**k that s**t. I now have a career in a feild I'm actually interested in at a great company making even more money with 20x less stress! Thanks for being a s****y company Target!
#73
Supervisor yelled at me, I tossed him off the loading dock. He did get fired for yelling first, but obviously I also got fired.
#74
I missed a “busy day” and couldn’t “find someone to cover my shift” because my girlfriend was sick and kept passing out. They told me “can’t she take care of herself?” Yeah they can lick my nuts.
#75
I was making a lot of money working banquets and the restaurant as a busboy way back in 2006-2008. Someone got jealous and made up rumors, and I got fired. I didn't know about my rights back then.
#76
Pandemic, and most recently the interest rate environment as I pivoted into the mortgage space after getting through COVID.
I’m really starting to doubt my ability to work, as it’s been 4 years of this really grueling time finding gainful employment. All this, in “the land of opportunity”. I really wish I could find a stable well paying job, where I enjoy the work and people I work with. It’s been my dream since getting to college 13 years ago and I’m writing this as a way to manifest it.
#77
We used the water slide after hours as a beer bong.
#78
I don't speak Spanish and didn't understand what a coworker was telling me.
#79
Because I wasn't very good at the job.
I was originally declined for a promotion because I *didn't have the experience and knowledge* to do it. A few months later, the senior management team reached out to me. They indicated the position was still vacant as nobody else wanted it. They offered it to me. Only thinking about the $$, I took it.
I did the best i could, but wasnt effective at getting the desired results. 6 months in, I got called to a meeting with my supervisor. He candidly asked if, given more time, did I think I could get better at the job. I candidly answered him, "NO!" The next day, I was terminated.
