30 Workers Who Outsmarted Their Toxic Bosses By Following The Rules Too Well

When Circuit City was still in business I worked in the warehouse. For whatever reason, they had a strict dress policy of khaki pants, this awful collar shirt that also had to be tucked in. This went for everyone, even warehouse. Like Kazin420, I discovered through an old warehouse employee guide (Shoved in a draw years ago and forgotten about) That as long as Warehouse employees had khaki colored shorts, with no cargo pockets, and a t shirt with a Circuit City logo there would be no problem.

Circuit City stopped making Circuit City t shirts long before I started, but thanks to a local Salvation Army, I was able to pick up, two Circuit City T shirts, and a quick trip to Target for some shorts, and my new uniform was set. My mangers were not happy about my appearance, claiming I looked sloppy and unkempt.

Even better, when the giant black dude (who hated his job, and just slept in the back, and talked on his cell phone all day) from the warehouse found out about this, he too had some old Circuit City t shirts, and joined in. Management hated us working together. I miss Circuit City.

My father was working in a post office in the early 80's. It was an unusually hot day with ~85°F inside. There were no fans available so it was crazy. Men weren't allowed to wear shorts, but dad came to work wearing shorts which covered his knees and a part of his shin, figuring he was fine. He wasn't, and his boss sent him home to change. He returned in his grandfather's bonjour from the late 19th century. Top hat and all. The boss kept asking if it wasn't a little hot in that suit but he said he was fine.

Again, more proof that there are millions of managers and supervisors in this country who have no business being in charge of anything.

In the McDonalds I used to work at in PA it was the norm to for the managers to not clock out for their lunch breaks which meant if you had this huge rush you HAD to get up and help. Well, according to da rules of da state we were entitled to a lunch break off the clock undisturbed. Well one day I had enough and clocked out sat down and had some noms. The owner walked in and wanted to know why I wasn't helping cause they were backed up so I put him on notice. And everyone left me alone after that and actually started doing it themselves lol.

My boss was the same way. I worked in the deli of a Hannaford and every day my boss would check to make sure my shirt was tucked. I found a loophole where if I wore one of the box-cut shirts (read: women's shirts) I didn't have to tuck it in. Got my three of those bad boys (girls?) and never looked back.

Not a job, but a school.

I went to a Catholic college and they didn't allow members of the opposite gender to spend the night in a dorm room. I made a huge case that they were discriminating against heterosexuals, and that rule miraculously disappeared the next year.

Similar to OP, but with a military swag to it.

In the Navy you must always have a white t-shirt under your uniform. I had a Senior Chief who constantly checked if your t-shirt was not visible and required that it bee seen. I checked the uniform regs and found that while in a working uniform you can wear a V-neck tee. Started wearing them and he took notice as soon as he saw me. I told him that the regs allowed it. He scowled and his only comment was, "One for the blue shirts" and walked away. Then he hammered me for every reg violation he could find. Smart people never win. At least not in today's Navy.

Yah my boss tried to do the whole "tuck in your shirt" bit at my work (I work at a call center too) however no where in the dress code policy it has anything about the shirt being tucked in. I asked my boss to show me where it is, and it was a no go. congrats.

LOL w*f people. It's not your job, why do you care what he does?? Upvote for OP. Also at one retail store, we had to wear employee issued short sleeve shirts at work, even in winter. The clothing code stated we could wear something underneath the shirt but not over. I picked the brightest and most patterned long sleeve shirts I could find. Managers could say nothing.

At a former job, I had one particular boss who was a SoB. He asked me to join a particularly bad group (known for having to do a lot of thankless, low priority, and difficult work).

I used that company's unique productivity/career-development t**l, in conjunction with HR during a review to show him why I could not participate. HR agreed. He turned red.