Being fired is never easy, and it can sometimes be stressful, embarrassing, and frustrating. However, there are times when people are fired or quit their jobs in spectacularly over the top ways that are never forgotten. This article is dedicated to anyone who ever wishes they could’ve made a scene when they were let go. However, after reading these stories, you may be glad you didn’t.
1. They Can’t Fire You If They Can’t Find You
Word reached a Vice President at our firm that she was about to be sacked. A tip from her secretary let her know the top brass were en route to do the deed. The VP announced she was stepping out to the restroom. That turned out to be a total lie.
Half an hour passed and with no sign of her, someone was asked to check the restroom. But she was not there. Instead of facing her potential firing, she had slipped out and headed home.
2. Proving The Boss Right
I worked at a major electronics retailer, where I went to a company-wide gathering with around 60 other staffers.
Just before this meeting, the management sacked a man, which appeared like a misjudged move to me. The guy, prior to exiting, rose up amidst us all and announced, "Going to truly miss you folks. These knuckleheads dismissed me under the suspicion of theft. I'm just telling you, I didn't steal anything!" His timing, though, was hilariously bad.
Right in that moment, an iPod touch box fell out from his hoodie pocket and landed on the floor. It was fully packaged and still held the shop's inventory and theft-protection labels.
3. Leaving A Lasting Impression
One day, a colleague of ours from the IT decided to take a dump in a bowl, stick it in the microwave, and cook it for an insane 99 minutes before vanishing. Needless to say, nobody wanted to use that microwave after that and the stink was so bad it lingered, resulting in us being given the rest of the day off.
So what did we do next? We hunted him down and, instead of reprimanding him, we all grabbed some drinks and celebrated the extra time off together that night.
4. A Battle For The Ages
Roughly a decade ago, I switched jobs from delivering pizzas to installing cables for higher pay. The pizza place I worked at had this quirky routine; they'd "tar and feather" employees who were quitting but well-liked using a combo of garlic sauce and cornmeal. The entire team, including the store manager, would join in on the fun.
On my last day, as the team geared up to chase me with their garlic sauce bucket, I had a little surprise for them. I dashed out the back door and once they emerged, I signaled what was to come next.
Out from the woods came three of my pals, dressed head-to-toe in black tactical gear. They started peppering the team with shots from their paintball guns.
We'd spent several 3 am mornings planning this operation exactly and stashing our gear under a store dumpster the day before.
Geared up myself, I went after the store manager and pelted him with a few well-aimed paintballs. In response, he tackled me into a headlock and held me in place while my own friends let loose their ammo on me.
Fast forward to a year later, I ordered pizza from my old workplace and sent my greetings to the manager. To my surprise, the girl taking my order recognized me from my infamous final act that apparently made quite the impression. She asked, "Are you the same guy from the notorious paintball prank?" I've never felt so proud. The story of that day is still a favorite among the crew.
Reflecting back after a decade, I realize the prank could have taken a wrong turn and someone might have gotten hurt. Fortunately, that didn't happen. The only remnants of that day were laughter, memorable stories, and a few tender welts.
5. He Beat Them To It
Back in my assistant manager days at McDonald's, a drive-thru customer stormed in, livid. Instead of finding a Filet-O-Fish in her box, she found a grimy, used grill towel.
Just as fortune would have it, the store manager was there that day. She quickly asked the grill team, "Who's responsible?" To our surprise, one guy arrogantly owned up to it. I did NOT see that coming.
As the manager was about to fire him, he boisterously yelled, "I quit," then strolled out, grinning from ear to ear.
6. A Sad Situation That Changed Policies
In my HR career, I've witnessed some unforgettable job departures, but one really impacts me - letting go a woman who was clearly experiencing domestic violence - a truly dreadful circumstance.
Her work was affected by regular absences and lateness, and at times, she was unable to perform her duties, physically or mentally. Her spouse was a disruptive force, constantly calling and dropping by the office.
Despite her team's deep compassion and protective nature, trying actively to help her escape the abuse, things escalated when her spouse started threatening staff, flaunted his firearm collection, and stalked the office so much that law enforcement had to be called multiple times. Eventually, the issue was escalated to our HR office.
The company's leadership was furious that this situation wasn't reported earlier to HR. Due to the increased risk to all employees, it was sadly too late to provide help she needed.
Despite these challenges, the company did try to help her relocate to a safe shelter, but she declined. In response to this difficult situation, within 45 days, we enhanced our Employee Assistance Program, and reviewed our security escalation procedures to ensure better safety for our staff.
7. Public Humiliation
I used to be an attendant at a casino, where I ran into people who'd pocket the tips meant to be shared among us all. In my five years, three people from my team got nailed, and there were whispers about some others too.
These miscreants would slyly tuck away a $10 or $20 bill, and each time, they'd get caught by the watchful eyes of the surveillance team. This would trigger an alert for gaming regulators, who in our state were highway patrol officers entrusted with overseeing gaming activities. They'd then hit record on the person throughout their shift.
Interestingly, the surveillance team and gaming officers would lay back, letting the thief continue in their wrongdoing until the totality of their stolen tips crossed the $500 mark - the threshold of a state felony. That’s when they'd swoop in.
The regulator would dial the duty manager and security, who'd casually let the employee start their shift. As the person would be deep in work, they'd be arrested publicly in front of their colleagues and customers, and paraded out of the casino in cuffs.
Though aimed at serving as a warning for us, the public humiliation was unimaginable. The glares of contempt that these fallen individuals received were simply unbearable.
Frame Stock Footage, Shutterstock
8. A Packaged Quitting
This fella I used to work with had been at the same job for nearly a decade. When he chose to toss in the towel, he took a large cardboard box, stuffed it full of packing popcorn. Tucked way down under all those peanuts was a note with just two words on it: "I quit".
9. A Sneaky, Compassionless Firing
One of my colleagues sadly lost her mom. When she got the distressing news at work, her boss told her to take as much time off as she needed, and they'd handle things. But instead, they fired her for taking that leave.
OSTILL is Franck Camhi, Shutterstock
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10. Rumblings And Leakings
When I first ventured into my full-time developer career, it was with a relatively unknown start-up. Originally, the team consisted of only one web developer. The final team, however, comprised myself and few others, totaling to four.
Our main project was centered around a Learning Management System (LMS).
There was one woman whose presence was inconsistent in the office, often behind closed doors. Generally pleasant during brief encounters, she was precise about her needs. This behaviour finally made sense when the shocking truth surfaced - she had been leaking confidential company data and proprietary information to a major competitor. This discovery led to her immediate dismissal.
Our CEO, a well-networked individual who still maintains numerous contacts, got wind of the situation via industry whispers as far as I recall. As time has passed, we only retained the diluted narrative of what happened and stern directives to not disclose any information if she ever reached out to us.
In the present, my work continues to revolve around educational resources, although the development process has significantly expedited since then.
11. Don’t Use Your Real Name When You Frame Someone
A few years back, my husband was employed by a security firm and looked after a remote equipment yard for a gas and electric company, typically doing 12-hour solo night shifts. Odd things started to occur, notable among them, the disappearance of large, costly generators.
One evening, on a rare day off, as the two of us were immersed in a movie, his boss phoned. The story he told was truly bizarre. Surprisingly, a woman pretending to be my husband's girlfriend had just rung his boss using my husband's contact. She had an earful to say. However, his phone had been untouched on our table throughout.
We also discovered that a colleague of my husband had been feeding his boss falsified accounts about my husband's behavior. The high point came when the boss, now suspicious of the co-worker, decided to check Craigslist for the missing generators.
Wouldn't you know, they were there, up for sale; the listed contact was the very co-worker! The next day, at the job site, the police greeted him.
Turns out, all year long, this colleague had been trying to bamboozle the boss and lay blame on my husband to cover his own tracks, aiming to present my husband as the equipment thief.
12. A Firing That Led To A Threatened Quitting
This dude totally lost it when he heard about his looming dismissal. I always knew he was a bit off, but what he did exceeded all expectations. He actually defecated on the bathroom floor and started spreading it around - on the walls, toilets, pretty much everywhere except the sink.
Unless he happened to have gloves handy, I suspect he must've left the building with some very unclean hands. The cleaning crew was so disgusted, they threatened to quit right then and there instead of tackling his disgusting mess.
13. When You Feel Like You Live At The Office
During my college years, I was a summer security officer in a dorm where an ex-senior Resident Advisor also worked. He took advantage of a vacant, easy-to-access closet and covertly made it his summertime home. Most of us knew about his little secret, but kept it from our supervisor.
But he didn't stop there. He also nabbed a cafeteria meal card, which was meant for camp-attending children. He, along with a few other staffers, used it regularly. However, they were eventually discovered and got kicked out of the building. Interestingly, this incident led to an increased number of work hours for the remaining staff.
14. Going To Extreme Lengths To Leave Early
At the call center I work at, we typically hire those who may not be top-tier candidates.
Let me share a particular incident with you: one of our representatives wanted to leave work early, but our supervisor didn't grant her the permission. Upset by this, she fished an adult novelty item out of her purse and went as far as hitting our supervisor over the head with it. As you can imagine, she was immediately fired.
This wasn't her first melodramatic episode. In the past, she'd thrown fits after being denied early leave. Once, she even staged a heart attack. However, when the EMTs arrived, a miraculous recovery occurred and she regained feeling in her arm.
15. I Mean, It’s Not His Fault The Guy Had Terrible Form
I once worked with a guy who was really into arm wrestling. He took part in competitions and nearly always won, no one really challenged him.
The cleaners, who came in after hours, were strangers to him.
One night, while my arm wrestler colleague was still around and I was alone on the sales floor, the cleaners came. The shop was silent until we all heard a horrifying POP from the back room. Moments later, a cleaner rushed onto the floor, tears streaming and cradling his broken arm.
Following closely behind him, my co-worker appeared and said, "I genuinely feel sorry for him, but his arm wrestling technique was poor."
After that incident, I never saw him again.
16. Won’t Somebody Think Of The Children
A while back, a man decided to take his little boy to work one day. Unfortunately, that was the same day he was let go. Pretty awkward, right?
17. These Firings Were Brewing For Some Time
Following my high school graduation, I spent a summer working at Walmart, unloading trucks. I had two colleagues, who I'll name as Paul and Henry, who couldn't stand each other and were always at each other's throats.
One day, Paul just blew up. He lost control and started throwing punches at Henry. It turned into quite the fight until the management managed to break them apart after a few minutes. The rest of us, including myself, informed the bosses it was Paul who instigated the fight, and he didn't deny it.
But in a surprising twist, thirty minutes after the incident, Henry was let go. The reason given was that he was too slow in his work.
Little Pig Studio, Shutterstock
18. Firings And Re-Hirings
I was part of a trio who kicked off operations at Dunkin' Donuts at the crack of dawn, 5am. This called for an even earlier 4:30am start for us to get everything ready. Let me give you a quick snapshot of my colleagues. Firstly, there was Jesse, a local weed dealer who also moonlighted as a chef at the nearby Applebee's.
Jesse was a laid-back guy, liked by customers notably for his choice of Frank Sinatra tunes that filled the air instead of the mind-numbing pop radio that played continuously. The other member was Jaime, a 30-year-old struggling with addiction and a hard, confrontational persona. They also had a two-year-old child and the baby's father was basically negligent.
Just to clarify the routine, only two of us would usually start the day's operations. Those mornings when it was Jesse and Jamie's turn, an inexplicable shortage of hash browns by 6am was a common phenomenon.
One particular day, I arrived for my mid-morning shift to find neither Jesse nor Jamie around. Turns out, the store hadn't opened on time and the manager had to be summoned. Unbelievably, she found Jesse and Jaime in deep slumber in the basement freezer. Behind the scenes, they would get in at 4:30am, cook up those hash browns, and then sneak into that camera-free freezer room to smoke up and do whatever else.
Believe it or not, they were back on the job a week later. Turns out, no one's exactly jumping at the chance to open Dunkin' Donuts at the break of dawn.
19. Basically A Two-Month Paid Vacation
I was let go from my job and spent two months receiving unemployment benefits. Then, my old boss rang me up, offering my position back. At this very moment, I'm chilling in the parking lot, about to go back in.
20. Literally Quiet Quitting
About four years back, I used to work as a receptionist at a healthcare center. One day, I reached the urgent care facility a tad early but found the on-call doctor missing which wasn't surprising since he was often late.
The waiting patients began to accumulate after an hour, making me anxious. I decided to peek into his office, thinking that he might be waiting for a summon. But to my surprise, his office was empty with no sign of him. So, I rushed back to the urgent care and began managing the growing queue at the reception.
Soon, I heard a clamor from down the hallway, just as another doctor arrived to tackle the overflowing patients.
What we didn't know was that we had been duped. The shocking truth unfolded - the on-call doctor, who was missing, had quit his job. He cleared his office and left behind a resignation letter slid under his office door.
21. The Firing Was Lost In The Mail
I once had a boss who dismissed a colleague through a certified letter while she was away. The issue was the letter was signed off at her apartment's office, and the office was closed when she got back on Sunday.
She walked into work on Monday, completely unaware of why everyone was acting so strangely around her. They had to fire her again that afternoon. The same boss pulled another surprising move - promoted a guy to management on Monday afternoon and then unexpectedly let him go the following morning.
22. He Took A Gamble
While I was juggling my studies and a full-time job at an electronics superstore, Bryan, our warehouse manager, certainly stood out. He was your everyday tough guy, a high school dropout who drove a pick-up and was known for his short fuse. Bryan often vented about his problematic home life and his wife's gambling habit.
One regular day, I was attending to the camera aisle near the entrance when an unexpected ruckus broke out. Bryan stormed out of the warehouse, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
He announced in a loud voice that he was "loaded", dashed into the general manager’s office, and cheekily tossed him an insult. As he stomped around, he showered both customers and employees with a barrage of his frustrations.
However, just six hours later, Bryan resurfaced at the store, still in his work shirt, and headed directly to the manager’s office. Half an hour passed, and then he departed.
Turns out, his wife had excitedly called him saying she'd won $100,000 gambling. Thinking he was swimming in money, Bryan went on a spree, abruptly quit his job, and lashed out at everyone. But when he got home, he discovered the win was actually 100,000 pennies, not dollars. With his tail between his legs, he returned hoping to reclaim his job – a request that was bluntly denied.
23. Revenge Quitting
I once had a stint at a private healthcare firm, handling certain admin tasks. Right off the bat, they didn't honor the agreed-upon wage. I spent half a year trying to negotiate with the head honcho, but when I saw he wasn't budging, I decided to hop to another job.
The timing couldn't have been any better. As several team members were off on holiday at the same time, I offered to put in 60+ hours for that week. But guess what? I never turned up on Monday since I'd commenced my new role.
The director called me out, labeling my actions "unprofessional". I hit back, explaining the financial pinch I was in due to his failure to stand by our original wage agreement. He was dumbstruck. He didn't say it, but I knew he realized I was spot on.
Man, that was incredibly satisfying.
24. The Longest Coffee Break Ever
My old boss shared a story about a dude who popped over to Tim Hortons for a coffee, just a stone's throw away, and mysteriously never returned.
25. Some Uninvolved Person Was Going To Have A Bad Night
In the late '90s, I worked as a mid-tier developer in a small group. We brought a guy into our team based on his impressive resume and a phone interview, but that turned out to be a terrible mistake. Right from the start, he behaved oddly.
A short while into his tenure, he asserted he'd discovered significant errors in my code. He even threatened to expose these faults to our managers once he'd thoroughly reviewed them. Unruffled, I encouraged him to do so. After all, if my code had issues, they needed fixing. Unsurprisingly, he dropped his accusations rather swiftly after that.
His strange behavior escalated when he began to exhibit extreme paranoia concerning his own work. He refused to let anyone view his projects, even going as far as removing the default administrative share of Windows that was common back then.
His story reached a breakthrough when he was eventually dismissed for not delivering on his job.
Yet, the crazier part of this story involves my car, a '91 Land Rover Discovery, which I parked at a nearby multi-story car lot. One evening as I was leaving work, I exited the elevator, and found a Discovery with its rear window smashed in by a rock. At first glance, I thought it was my car, but the license plate number didn't match. I had gotten off at the wrong floor. My car, parked one floor above, was unharmed.
The quirkiness of this developer went to even greater lengths - after being fired, he vented his anger by smashing what he thought was my car window. Turns out, he mistakenly broke into the wrong Land Rover.
26. 40 Years Of Incompetence
A couple of years back, a new sales manager was hired at my workplace. This guy left his previous job because of our promising offer. I made his acquaintance when he walked in at 8:30 am and kindly welcomed him.
However, things took a hasty turn when our managing director arrived at 9 am. Spotting the new hire, he hastily pulled in the sales director and instructed him to fire the newcomer. Apparently, our managing director had previously directed the sales director not to engage any fresh recruits due to the challenging market scenario. Regrettably, the sales director flouted this taking an independent decision. Honestly, he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed.
This premature exit left the new sales manager shattered. As I bid him goodbye, words failed me. He had a family to look after, and it was hard to imagine how he would break the news to them.
Fast forward a few months, the inept sales director called it a day on his career spanning four decades.
27. Everyone Has Their Limit
A colleague of mine once stood up to our boss, expressing that he just couldn't cope with him anymore. Indeed, that boss ranks as the worst I've ever had. The guy ended up quitting the job.
28. You Can’t Say The Guy Didn’t Get A Second Chance
This tale is about a colleague who lost his job, not for forgetting a company-issued MacBook Pro in a Starbucks restroom once, but because he did it twice!
29. I Guess The ID Badge Was Good At Its Job
A woman at my work did something crazy — she robbed a bank during her lunch break. After the heist, she parked her car in a hospital garage across the road, then sauntered back to her job like nothing had happened.
But the hilarious part? She forgot to remove her ID badge before the ordeal, leading to her arrest by day's end.
30. That Is Pretty Baller
Lee was absolutely legendary.
His first gig was at Red Lobster. I worked alongside him at his fourth, but his old workmates told me all about his early days.
The place was seriously understaffed one weekend, courtesy of scheduling snafus and subpar management. It was such a mess that at one point, one of the managers was spending more time haranguing Lee and micromanaging him than fixing the problem at hand.
When the manager threatened him with yet another official reprimand early that night, Lee decided he'd had enough. In a dramatic fashion, right in the middle of a busy rush, he dropped a pile of dishes, flashed the manager an unapologetic middle finger, announced his resignation, and brazenly walked out. Not before grabbing the waiting list, though, which currently had more than 40 parties waiting for a table for over two hours.
Epic move, right? But Lee had to go one step further. He rolled back through the door ten minutes before closing, this time leading a squad of 17 people to toast his newly liberated state. The management had to hand out so many complimentary vouchers to appease the waiting customers that essentially everyone only paid for their drinks that evening.
The manager was forced into serving Lee's posse, even two hours after official closing. Usually, this would irritate eeveryone, but Lee turned it into a celebration by inviting fellow coworkers to join him for after-work drinks, on his tab.
Like I said. Lee was absolutely legendary.
31. You Never Know What Your Co-Workers Are Going Through
One of my colleagues once decided we were all out to startle her. So, she dealt with it by attaching a mirror to her monitor. Not one, but several. Every time someone sauntered by her cubicle, she'd bellow out, "YOU SCARED ME." We mostly let her be; she was doing her work after all.
But her tipping point inevitably came. One disastrous day, she attacked a cafeteria staff, accusing them of spiking her soup. The commotion called for her to be escorted away by the authorities, and she disappeared from our lives.
32. Probably Wasn’t Worth It
While working as a contractor in Iraq, a major incident erupted. The deputy project manager, alongside several other supervisors, got the boot for having booze on-site. The guy had even driven off-base just to retrieve the alcohol from the press hotel.
It was full-blown mayhem. The party they'd thrown was costly - it ended up costing them their jobs. Ten managers, all included, got axed from their $230k annual gigs over their desperate desire to knock back a few drinks.
They were flown out of Baghdad the very next morning, without even a moment to gather their belongings. Everything was shipped to them later. Talk about a hangover - waking up to realize your irresponsible actions have cost you a lucrative job. Eleven folks abruptly unemployed due to poor choices involving alcohol. Not a fun realization.
33. He Called It
At our large manufacturing plant, we'd noticed loads of missing tools, like drills and saws, with no system to track them. It seemed we'd grown too fast for our processes.
One day, our supervisor took one of our apprentices aside, a hard-working but messy kid with dodgy habits. Seeing them exit together, we guessed he'd been caught stealing. His sudden dismissal confirmed our thoughts.
He returned briefly to collect personal items but left his tools behind, our bread and butter. When asked about it, all he said was, "Nope, don't need them”. Then he said something that sent a chill down my spine: “Watch for me in the news". We thought he was speaking out of anger, expecting him to get his tools once he cooled down.
We were wrong.
Turns out, this guy had been battling personal stuff and drug problems. Post-job loss, he assaulted his girlfriend, then carjacked a lady after his girlfriend fled in her vehicle. The lady managed to escape before he sped off.
Enter a highly chaotic four days. He kept committing random crimes. Once, a homeowner confronted him and was rewarded with a meat cleaver threat. His familiar face kept popping up on TV news. I guess he lived up to his earlier promise?
All ended when an undercover cop spotted him in another stolen car. The officer flashed his badge to halt him. In response, he rammed the police car onto a side road.
He attacked the cop with a baseball bat, finally subdued by a taser and backup. That was the last we heard from the former colleague, who's now serving a lengthy sentence.
34. A Revenge Order
At my previous job, the assistant meat manager seemed to have a knack for extending her holidays. Whenever it was time for her to return, something would unexpectedly prevent her, keeping her away for an extra five days. During calls, it was often apparent she was under the influence, mumbling about needing a few extra off days. She was sternly warned to stop this behavior or risk being fired.
What did she do in response? She raised a deli meat order of a whopping $20,000, overstocking every item with 30 cases, and resigned right after placing the order. Thankfully, we managed to intercept and rectify this costly situation just in time.
35. Never Underestimate The Power Of A Good Book
Alright, here's an uncomplicated tale for you. I had this colleague who had officially handed in his notice to quit - no big deal, right? But then, on his last working day, he ghosted us for a good few hours only to return after a book shopping spree.
Well, as fate would have it, he ended up getting fired instead of simply resigning.
36. The Firer Becomes The Firee
The tale of how I clocked out from my job for the last time still reverberates in the office, a decade later.
Here's a condensed version of the tale: I reached a boiling point, driven by a profoundly frustrating, passive-aggressive boss. This pent-up anger led to a grand display of me storming across the office, passionately declaring I could no longer work under her, but with a dash of foul language.
I unleashed a series bellowing screams that echoed throughout the office. Before being escorted out, I chucked my ID badge into the bin, punctuating my departure with a few more rounds of the same expletive. As it turned out, she was indeed as unbearable as I'd claimed - two weeks later, she was fired. Incredibly, I was asked to step into her role if I decided to return.
37. She Had To Draw The Line
So, I work as a line cook. The most hilarious thing I've heard? A woman decided to quit her morning shift simply because there was no bacon.
She was like, "No bacon. I'm gone".
38. A Collateral Firing
I used to work at a call center for Canadian Tire where I met a guy named Ben. He was new to the job, unlike me who'd been enjoying the work for months. However, things took an unexpected turn.
Ben quickly landed another job which led to his decision to quit in a dramatic way that left everyone in shock. Instead of tendering a usual resignation, Ben chose, on his final day, to voice his frustration about the company and our customers, a move that broke the law and ultimately cost me my job.
On that remarkable day, Ben reappeared post-lunch in a gorilla suit, hopping on desks and causing a scene by bellowing out "THIS JOB IS DRIVING ME BANANAS," before storming out of the office in full gorilla mode.
Everyone was absolutely petrified, labelling him a maniac since no one could identify who was inside the costume.
Knowing about Ben's dramatic exit plan, I thought of easing everyone's tension by revealing it was Ben in the gorilla suit. In retrospect, that was a mistake. The management didn't take it well, accusing me of posing a "security liability" since they believed I was aware of his plan, even though I wasn't.
So, that's how I got fired because of Ben.
It sure will make a wild tale for my grandkids someday!
39. They Basically Ended Up Firing Themselves
During high school, I got my first job at a soon-to-open Ryan's Steakhouse. Before the opening, we needed daily training for a couple hours. While management knew my school day ended at 3:15 pm, they insisted that I arrive by 3 pm for training. For a few days, I managed to comply, since there wasn't much happening at school.
However, on the day of their "soft opening," they still demanded a 3 pm start. I asserted, school came first and with a 15-minute drive from school, I could only arrive by 3:30 pm. Their ultimatum was to arrive at the commanded time or face docked pay.
I respected my commitment and arrived at 3:30 pm, turned in my uniform and name tag, and informed them I wouldn't jeopardize my education over a $7 hourly wage. The disbelief on the faces of my fellow servers and preppers was evident.
But boy, were they surprised. When I ran into some a week later, I found out that my stand had inspired about half of them to make a similar decision. A year later, the steakhouse succumbed to what I believe was their poor management.
40. Very Quiet Firing
One manager went off on holiday, returning after two weeks only to find his own office inhabited by a newcomer. His belongings were shuffled off to a cubicle. He didn't get terminated, but the hint was evidently clear and he handed in his resignation in just a month.
41. A Joyful Departure
When I left my finance job to pursue my current creative career, I decided to take the whole team ice skating. Seeing everyone from the office out on the ice was a great way to say goodbye.
42. I Guess The Message Is To Stop Doing Layoffs
I was once employed at a big bank, a household name for sure. During a downsizing round, someone, anonymously, left a rather distasteful surprise on their boss' desk. Yes, they actually defecated there.
When the next set of layoffs rolled around, the same thing happened again. Same mysterious perpetrator, same unfortunate manager's desk.
So in the manager's entire professional journey, he experienced this stinky disaster twice.
I have no clue who the daring prankster was on either occasion, but this is the wildest firing story I got up my sleeve.
43. You Gotta Look After The Accounts Before The Firing
When I worked IT, one of my colleagues was axed one day. Surprise - the managers let him march right back to his desk and guess what - his account was live and kicking with the same old password. You won't believe it, he shot an email out to everyone in our company, bad mouthing his boss and god knows what else he did!
Really, who in their right mind allows someone who just got the boot to freely access their workstation?
44. A Very Calm Rage Quit
I'm a team leader at an academic research call center. The job can be mundane with tasks that tend to be repetitive, leading to a high turnover rate among employees.
We once had a guy on our team for about four months. Pretty standard guy, spoke Spanish which earned him a bit more than others.
One particular day, he made five calls and suddenly walked out, just half an hour into his shift. He didn't say anything to anyone, nor did he turn off his computer. He simply exited like he was heading to the restroom and never came back.
We attempted to reach him multiple times over the following week, to no avail. He completely disappeared from our sight, even around the campus and the city. In my own little theory, I like to imagine that he's a secret agent who was called for duty. Realistically though, he probably just despised the job and decided to quit on the spot.
45. Twin Power
At my workplace, we recently hired a receptionist after interviewing several candidates. This new hire seemed to fit in quite nicely and she was doing a commendable job. However, several months later, we unearthed a surprising revelation. The receptionist we thought we had hired was, in fact, her identical twin sister!
Apparently, the person we interviewed was a highly sought-after candidate and received multiple job offers at the same time. Instead of declining our offer, she decided to pass the opportunity to her twin, who was jobless.
This switch only came to light when the actual person we had hired announced her new job — at a different company — on Facebook, all while using the name our receptionist was known by at work.
Ultimately, we had to let the impostor sister go, despite the commendable work she had done. Personally, I was in favor of keeping her. She was not only competent but also had a pleasant personality. I would have gladly offered her the job instead.
46. Now They Can Try To Do The Washing
I exited my job, but not on the best note. Just five seconds after getting fired from dishwashing duties for poor performance, I ended up vomiting all over the sinks.
47. He Called The Owner’s Bluff
I worked at a bustling pizza joint. As one night progressed, it got chaotic, resulting in delayed takeout orders. The owner stormed in, fuming about the slow turn around time in handing out tickets, yelling at the employee who was responsible for dough preparation.
The confrontational situation amplified rapidly, with the employee reacting aggressively to the criticism. He yelled fiercely, defiantly telling the owner, "If you think I'm doing such a terrible job, then lay me off!"
The owner seemed taken aback, questioning, "Are you even serious right now?"
Unyielding, the employee reiterated, "Yes, sack me! I despise this job, I'm frustrated with my life, and I hate for this restaurant! Fire! Me!"
The owner later expressed regret and apologized for his behavior.
48. The Bonus Bait And Switch
I'm still wondering what was going through my mind then.
All the company owners turned up for a meeting, serving us a half-hour spiel about how they wanted to reward our dedication to the work. Suddenly, they started distributing checks. On seeing the $2,000 sum in mine, I was overjoyed; given my modest income and recent health problems, it was like a financial lifeline.
It was surprising for everyone, especially since our bosses were notorious for being thrifty and indifferent to their employees.
Then, I noticed the catch.
All the checks bore a date two years into the future. The owners explained, we could encase this amount only after two years of flawless work record and perfect attendance. At that moment, I couldn't contain my disappointment. I marched up to the front of the room, ripped my check to pieces, and declared, "This is absolute nonsense," throwing the torn remnants at the surprised owners.
Incredibly, I kept my job — possibly on account of being the top-performing employee, perhaps because the bosses realized their scheme was a terrible idea.
Who can say for sure?
49. I Think They Fired The Wrong Person
She lost her cool when I caught her faking reports for the government. She was so angry that she broke her keyboard in half right there on her desk and was genuinely nasty to a bunch of people.
I ended up losing my job over it.
50. I Really Thought This Story Was Going To End Differently
So, let's talk about a colleague of mine, we'll call him "T". Apart from working with us, T also had a restaurant with his wife that wasn't doing so well. Everyone at work was aware of his side business and were totally supportive.
However, things got rough after a point. The situation with T's restaurant started impacting his work, leading to a drop in his performance. The decision was made to fire T. Firing T was not an easy task considering he is a tall and heavily built man, about 6'4" and 300 lbs, whereas his supervisor was comparatively smaller, standing at 5'7" and weighing around 150 lbs.
Upon being told he was being let go, T, feeling he had nothing more to lose, reacted dramatically. He flipped his boss's desk with one hand and even went so far as to lift his boss and pin him against the wall! It took the rest of our colleagues to separate the two.
Surprisingly enough, T was given another shot at the job. He's still with us now.
51. Some People Can Really Get Away With Anything
I once worked at a company that specialized in extraction, handling volatile gases. If safety protocols aren't strictly adhered to, things can go south real quick, including potential explosions.
We had this worker whose list of outrageous behaviors always left us in awe. Here are the most egregious ones.
He'd often come to work incredibly late, reeking of booze from the previous night's escapades, during crucial times when we couldn't proceed without him. And he didn't bother to hide it either, he'd outright told us about it, including the bosses and the company owners! And it wasn't just alcohol; he once came to work after partying with drugs the prior night. He even tried justifying it one time saying it was Cinco De Mayo. Strangely enough, he never faced any formal reprimands for these situations.
On a different occasion, he was responsible for a delivery which should've taken only about 75 minutes. When a few hours passed with no word from him, we started to panic. We tried reaching him without success and even started checking accident reports. Finally, we called the dispensary he was supposed to have delivered to, and they confirmed he'd departed quite a while ago. At this point, we were on edge - he wasn't contactable, and he had about $14,000 cash and the company card on him. The guy needed to have a darn good reason for this, or hopefully, this would be the excuse management needed to let him go.
It took him another five hours to call our boss, casually mentioning that he had to sort out some personal issues and decided to take the day off. Even then, they only issued a write-up for him, choosing not to fire him because he dropped off the money and card by around 8 pm in their home mailbox.
I mean, seriously?!
In the end, he more or less "fired" himself by disappearing and never turning up again. He had mentioned he was seeking another job, but he didn't officially resign.
References: 1, 2, 3
