70 People Got Fired For The Dumbest Reasons, Here Are Their Stories

"During my senior year in high school, I was working at McDonald's, it was right after Christmas and we were really busy. I'd been there 4 hours, had 2 to go, and was supposed to get a 30-minute break, since we'd slowed down I asked if I could have a break. The shift manager said no one was getting breaks. I said "thanks a lot", she told the assistant manager (pretty sure they were sleeping together) that I told her to f off. He fired me on the spot. Wouldn't even let me give my side of the story. A week later I was working at Jack in the Box. Was a shift manager in 6 months, did that through a couple of years of college, dropped out (never wanted to go anyway), and moved up to assistant manager and then a couple of years later, general manager. I remembered how badly I was treated at McDonald's and made sure I treated my employees well. Had the 3rd lowest turnover rate in a 95-restaurant region, had the second-highest average hourly pay... and was #2 in profit improvement. Take care of your people and they'll do the same for you."

"A customer called in and had a medical emergency (probably a heart attack, but I'm not sure) while I was on the phone with her. I used the phone in the empty cubicle next to me to call 911 and stayed on both lines to be sure that EMS got to her. I was fired because A) I took too long on calls already and this was exceptionally long, B) I made an unauthorized outgoing call, and C) I gave the customer's personal information (name and address) out to the 911 operator."

"Didn’t reply to a text for 20 minutes. During my time off. At my grandad’s funeral."

"I was driving cars for a shady dealer. (under the table while I was laid off from my real job) Got a call that my uncle had attempted suicide and was in a psychiatric ward in a local hospital and wouldn't talk to anybody else but me. Told boss I had to roll. He said something like; "Your job comes before family. If you leave, don't come back." I left. The next morning he called and asked me why I wasn't at work. I hung up on him."

"My wife got fired once for giving a high-level donor (she worked for an art gallery) a bottle of water at a big dinner and art auction. Her boss had insisted that there be no water at the event, but when the donor asked for water, my wife went and found some damn water. Boss found out and fired her the next day for insubordination."

"My first job ever was as a dishwasher. I was so proud. I was 18. Of course, my parents didn't believe me so my mom called them and asked them if it was true. They fired me that night because they felt I was unreliable. I have yet to let my folks live that one down..."

"I was fired for playing solitaire on my 15 min break when I was working as a receptionist. The doctor who owned the clinic was dumb enough to put that as the reason in my termination letter. I collected unemployment after he tried to appeal it. They explained in great detail how stupid of a reason this was for termination."

"I had pneumonia and I couldn't even talk (lost voice) so I asked my mom to call my boss to tell her I was severely sick and couldn't come to work. She called me the next day saying I shouldn't rely on my 'mommy' to call in for me when I'm sick and that I was fired for blowing a shift... I was a hostess at a restaurant and was in grade 10 lol..."

"I clocked in one minute late at Red Lobster. It was Easter and I had to fight my way through an army of pastel hat-wearing Karens to even get in the door... The manager told me they would, "Let me finish my shift", but that's it. I just walked out and considered myself fired. I may or may not have liberated a lobster from the tank on the way out and yelled, "He's coming with me!" when I left. ( I am now banned from ever working for Darden again)."

"A friend of mine was let go from his supermarket job for only showing up on Wednesdays and Fridays... He only worked on Wednesdays and Fridays."

"My old boss angrily slid an A4 piece of paper in my direction so I slid it back. He accused me of being aggressive towards him, I was out of the door 5 minutes later."

"Years ago I got fired from a certain 'smart' pet store because I had 2 uncles, an aunt & my grandpa pass away within a 3 month time period and I asked for time off to go to their funerals. The reason they gave me was I was taking too much time off & they didn't believe me even though I offered to bring paperwork showing they had really passed. Jokes in them though, they had to pay for my unemployment even after trying to fight it."

"I got fired from my first ever job as a CIT (counselor in training) at the summer day camp I went to every year as a kid. I was given the 6/7 year olds. One of them asked me if I had a girlfriend (in a girls are gross, why would you do that sort of way) and I said yes. He asked me if I ever kiss her and I said yes (in a fun, horror movie voice manner). He was like, “ewwww! Gross!”. We all had a laugh. I thought it was a fun exchange. Well, I guess the kid went home and told his mom that night and she freaked out. Demanded I be fired for teaching her child about sex and giving details of my sex life to her child. I was 13. All I said was that I kissed a girl. The camp fired me right there. I had no idea what I said was out of line."

"I was fired for accidentally showing up for a shift I was not scheduled for and then leaving when I found out I was not scheduled for a said shift."

"I got a middle-level position at the company where they boasted at how family-orientated they are. They are the kind of company that has a small arcade and putt-putt and ping-pong table and encouraged people to relax and play them... After a month of being there, I decided to play with some co-workers in ping pong since I'm pretty decent at it. The owner and his son end up walking through the doors and see me playing and challenging me. I play the son and absolutely demolish him. He got extremely upset and walked away after throwing the paddle at me. Later that week I was fired for not fitting the culture. Cool."

"This is a good time to remember that wage theft is the largest source of theft in the US. If you steal 100$ from your boss it is a criminal case, if they steal 100 from you it is a civil case."

"Knew a guy who changed his windows theme to make it easier on his eyes... Fired for insubordination."

"I once worked for a small private school. A new supervisor was hired, and she called an after-hours meeting the Wednesday night right before Thanksgiving. One teacher didn't attend and she was fired. When the new supervisor was finally let go, I heard from the owner that they had 4 lawsuits from employees being wrongfully fired."

"I got fired from a McDonald's for asking too many customers how their day was going. Not because it slowed anything down, mind you, I only did when it was slow, they put in complaints to corporate that I was being 'invasive'. The first time I thought my manager was making a joke."

"Got fired from a public library for taking TWO carts to collect books from the outside Dropbox instead of ONE. The past few times I emptied the dropbox on a Monday it required two trips, So I brought two carts instead. It turns out the matter of how many carts were used in emptying the dropbox was a matter of a library board vote and I was in violation of a town ordinance. Mind you, I wasn’t fired. I was placed on paid administrative leave pending a library board inquiry at which I was welcome to call witnesses. I couldn’t keep a straight face, so I resigned."