People Shared 30 Of Their Unexpected Termination Stories

I used to work at a certain fast food restaurant with a kingly mascot.

My family used to do a big vacation to the beach every year during the same week. So I put my request in, well in advance, and was told it would be fine.

A few days before I leave, I see the schedule posted and it has me working 4 days of the week I had requested off. I brought it up to the manager, she looked into the book where they kept all the time off requests and sure enough, there was my request.

She updated the schedule, taking me off that week and I went on my merry way to the beach.

8:05am, my first day at the beach I get a call asking where I am from a different manager. I told him I was on vacation. He said I needed to come in anyway. I told him that was impossible, and I already cleared this with the other manager, and I had put in for this months ago. He doesn't care. tells me to be there in 15 minutes or I was fired.

Folks I was 8 hours away at the time. Even if I wanted to cancel my vacation and come in, I couldn't have made it before my shift was over.

So I told him fine. I'll be there soon.

9:00 he calls back. Seething. Asking where the hell am I. Sorry boss. I'm almost there. Just a few more minutes.

This continued every 10-15 minutes for the next 2 hours. I figured if I was fired anyway. Might as well f**k with the a*shole that fired me.

About 3 years ago I used to work as a videographer doing social media content for a 7 figure company. I was paid roughly just better than minimum wage and was cranking out (at one point) 50 videos a day. I was freelancing and was on a loose contract. I was desperate for the money.

It was an insane amount of work and however I managed to do it for 6 months is beyond me, especially for how s****y I was paid.

The office was an incredibly bitter and snide place and it was clear that management would purpolsely stir s**t to watch staff fight as a form of entertainment. I kept well away from it but it was incredibly stressful on top of video work.

After about six months I pitch to the higher ups that my videos are making an insanely positive difference to their sales (I showed them graphs of interactions and direct links to sales on the website via my content) and asked for a pay rise. I compared my ideal salary to others in the industry and made a big deal about how it would still be less than I should be paid however I still wanted to continue working for them. I was fired hours later for, and I s**t you not, not "pulling my weight" as well as not having the desired effect they wanted on social media.

I was fuming and now unemployed. I struggled for months to find any other job.

Today (years later) whilst browsing a very old Google drive account, I found that said company was still using a folder I created and owned. They were mostly active in the files containing templates, adjustment layers, presets, and even video that I all created. Over 18 people were actively using it daily to continue with their social media campaigns. This was a cloud service that I was paying monthly for as I wanted extra space for my work.

This is my drive and my work. I own it. So I copied the file as a local version for myself and then deleted the online version. Tomorrow they will wake up with none of their video assets (including things they were working on).

I was fired last week after reaching my limit with my boss. He’s sexist, bigoted, racist and a narcissist. I’ve heard countless words of abuse over the years but have stayed with company for the sake of our health insurance and stability while trying to find something else… Last week he (mid 40sM) asked me to decorate the office for the holidays on unpaid time. I (29F) reminded him it’s not in my job description but I will do so while on business hours. He said I should enjoy doing this. I asked how so. He replied women usually do unless their frigid. After months of these side comments I saw red, and said “then send my regards to your wife because clearly you don’t know how women work”. He left my office without a word but I knew I just canceled my employment. I took action immediately and deleted every password and saved contact I had. I worked as the office manager for 8 years and paid all the companies bills, worked with our accountant, advertising team , HR firm and payroll portal.

Oh and I was the only one in the company who knew the process for all these things. I have a very well written “how to” manual I sent to him last year with all the information to take care of this via email that he never responded to. I BCC’d myself because I had a feeling this would happen. And I’m glad I did.

He fired me 2 hours later and I have had the utter delight to send him straight to voicemail 3 times now. F**k him and merry Christmas.

I worked for a supermarket chain here in the US for the past three years. I busted my butt there for minimum wage so that I can pay for school. I always took extra shifts and did everything my manager asked me to do. I was a good employee and I never even had so much as a write up.

Yesterday a woman came in to the store. She came up to the customer service desk while I was helping another customer. She started to snap her fingers at me and demand my attention. Stating she was in a rush and needed help finding something immediately.

I told her that I had to finish with the current customer first and than I would be right there to assist her. She was not too happy about it but waited until I finished.

When it was her turn, I asked her what she was looking for. The woman asked me where the “chicky figs” are.

I was confused and didn’t understand what she meant so I asked her to repeat herself but she said it the exact same way the second time. I honestly had no idea at the time what she was referring to. My mind just went blank as I have never heard someone use that terminology before.

I asked her what that was as I was not familiar with it. That’s when she suddenly became violent. Screaming at me that I was an idiot and worthless. I tried to defuse the situation but this women just would not calm down. She was causing a huge scene that was drawing the attention of other customers. I felt that it was necessary to call for the manager and security.

My manager got there first. He has always been the “customer is always right” type. He came down and immediately asked me what I had done wrong. He apologized to her for my behavior and asked her what she wanted. He was able to figure out that she was looking for frozen chicken fingers. He gave her a free box of chicken fingers and she continued to verbally insult me.

Later my manager said I was in the wrong. That I was being rude and condescending to the customer and I should have understood what she was asking for. I tried to defend myself and explain my side of the story but he would not listen. He said there are many college students he can hire to do my job and that I was a dime a dozen girl. I was fired and told to get off the property.

I feel stupid now for not realizing she was asking for chicken fingers but I honestly did not understand her. I don’t understand why she couldn’t have just said it properly. I don’t understand how it is my fault that she caused a scene and scared other customers.

Now I’m unemployed and trying to figure out what to do next. I don’t understand how the customer is always right even at the expense of a hard working employee. It just doesn’t make sense to me.

Got laid off from Google today…
No notice.

Just remote shut off my laptop and locked me out of the building. I had to tell my own boss.

My wife is pregnant.

This is life in America.

I dislocated my shoulder. Two doctors told me it'd take 4 weeks to heal.

I told my boss my progress every week and he kept wishing my healing well. Come the 3rd week, I let him know I'm ready to come back next week and he let me know he'd already replaced me....

I feel so much anger for the work industry. I give them so much: a commited schedule, a good personality, good customer service, conscientiousness, promptness, attention to detail, good and careful driving, good communication, etc.

I get injured and no loyalty. F**king replaced me while pretending I still had the job and only let me know when I'm ready to come back.

Ducking bastards

I cant believe I'm sitting outside writing this. I don't actually feel like this is reality at all. Walmart can fire you for any reason by law so I guess this is on me.

I had a miscarriage at work. I started hemorrhaging to the point where HR had to get me a change of clothes and called emergency for me.

I ended finding out at the ER I miscarried. I bring my medical records to work, and tell my supervisor why I have taken days off and she said ok. never even informed Me of sedgwick the online system where you have to call out and reuqest sick time. A week later my supervisor tells me I'm fired and that it's from my missing days. I tell her why, she says to take it up with the store manager.

I have a meeting with him and he brings in the same HR lady who witnessed everything. I remind her what happened and this is the first time the store manager even finds out. She stood quiet the entire time he told me he needed people who were going to be consistent and keep up with the fast paced environment.

So, my fiancé worked at a bridal shop. She had an appointment set up at the end of the day and the person ended up not showing up. She jokingly said “I said I doubt she shows up so I must’ve manifested this”

Her co-worker ran off to tell the boss, boss pulled her aside and said “you can go home” called her later and fired her with the reasoning being “You’re manifesting my businesses failure and I can’t have that, I need to let you go”

I am absolutely dumbfounded at this reasoning. She was a s**t boss, best for my fiancé in the end.

Yesterday at work my wife's new coworkers asked her how much she made and when she told them they found out she made more than them. Fast forward to today when my wife gets to work she finds out that one of the new coworkers quit over the wages and they fired my wife on the spot for discussing wages. What do we do? We live in Illinois

Had the craziest thing happen to me. I was headhunted for a role. I did multiple interview rounds and formally accepted an offer. I did my first day and in the first hour I talked to the CEO and we went over some stuff...then I was fired. He said because I yawned once during the meeting my energy wasn't right. If anyone has a rec for a good lawyer in CA let me know.

My employer has informed me I will no longer have a job in a couple of months. This is a high turnover place that I've been with for 14 years. They aren't laying everyone off. It appears all of my other coworkers with the most seniority are being laid off as well. I can only imagine it's because we make significantly more than newer hires.

Employers do not care if you've worked for them more than a decade. They do not care if you do your job well, while 80% of the people they hire are fired or quit within the 1st year. They do not care if you have a family to support.

Use your PTO. Take your vacation days. Use your sick days. Don't do more than is required of you. Your employer does not care about you.

So on Friday 12/17, I received a phone call that morning confirming my start date for a new job that pays a few bucks more and cuts down my commute from an 1 hour each way, down to 15 minutes. Naturally, I was ecstatic and immediately typed up my resignation letter. (Side note this place pays bi weekly with physical checks, no direct deposit.) At the end of our shift after he hands me my check, I give him my resignation letter. After a few minutes of silence, he states "I fell like you're stabbing me in the back right now." I found this bit completely hypocritical, two weeks before when I was on sick leave due to having covid symptoms (thankfully I tested negative) I noticed he was interviewing people for my position through the shared email that is on my work phone. This isn't the first time he's done this so I let it go. He asked where I was going and I told him "it's none of your business, just know I'm only leaving because I received a better offer and this place offers actual benefits unlike here" He became visibly upset with that reply and said "I don't need your two week notice, you're fired. Turn in your work phone and keys. Pack up your s**t." What really grinds my gears is while I was trying to resign in a professional manner and leave on a positive note, this man child decides to react immaturely and now I'm out of work for the remainder of the year. I guess the moral of the story is that not every employer deserves your two week notice. Don't let anyone make you feel guilty for accepting a better job offer. You have the right to do what's best for you, not someone else's business

I worked at a small hospital in a rural area... worked my way up from entry level to upper management over the past 26+ years. I read the posts here, but I thought my situation was different. I thought I was different. I was running multiple projects and supervised several clinical departments effectively (at least that's what I thought).

We had a new CEO come in about a year ago and I was the only member of the admin team that he didn't pick himself, yet I still thought my situation was different and I was safe. Today, in a mere 45 seconds, he told me I wasn't working out and he was making a change to the leadership team. After 26 years, my career ended in 45 seconds.

So I sit here tonight admitting that I was stupid and naïve. I never thought it would happen to me, but it did. If you think it won't happen to you, don't be too sure.

Guy in mid-50's looking for a job... It happened a couple hours ago and I feel completely numb. I have chills. Not sure what to do or where to turn. Sorry to be a downer but I'm alone and needed to vent to someone. Thanks for listening. I'm going to bed.

So my 18y daughter was working at a juice store that rhymes with Oyster Moose here in Canada, she gave her 2 weeks notice to go back to school and instead of keeping her on and training someone else up, they fired her. In this economy.

Sadly she loved this job. She'd come home and would tell me about drawing cats on little kids cups to make them smile.

I remember back in the 90s when I gave notice at my gas station job to go to uni, they congratulated me and asked questions about what I was taking and if I'd like to work over my breaks .

How short sighted are store owners these days when they can't find staff and then treat them like dirt?

Well I guess they're teaching their staff to not give any courtesy notice, the idiots.

My dad has been a truck driver for my entire life. He's only worked for two companies during that time, with the current one being for at least 30 years. I just found out that he got into an accident in his semi 2 weeks ago while swerving to miss a wreck less driver.

His boss fired him and is withholding his last 2 paychecks to "cover damages". I said OH F**K NAH to that. Made sure to let him know how illegal this s**t is and he better get that money.

Aside from how s***ty of a thing it is for a boss to steal your pay, how the f**k can you do this to a man who has loyally worked for your company for 30 f**king years? It just goes to show that we are nothing more than pawns for these piece of s**t business owners to use until we dry up and die.

It's the middle of the workday, I haven't even gone on lunch break. I'm working on my tasks and getting my work submitted. Then all of the sudden I'm kicked off my work chat server. I assume it's a mistake until I see my boss call me. She said my work wasn't satisfactory and I was being fired.

Job over. Just like that.

F**k two weeks notice, they don't give us that courtesy but expect it in return. There was no warning, no discussion, no effort to talk to me to see if something was affecting my performance. My supervisor praised my work often and told me I was doing a good job. I never saw this coming. I'm so tired of this bulls**t.

Noticed on my last paycheck that my clocked hours had been altered/ reduced and I was missing pay. When I asked my boss why he said he didn't like the time my shifts start (too early) so he removed half an hour from each shift and that he thinks I work too slowly so he took another half an hour off of each shift (the shifts were 7 hours with no break). So he's retroactively removing an hour's worth of pay from already worked shifts and is only paying me for 6 hour shifts. When I asked to get paid appropriately for my time he fired me?? Lol.

My wife was fired yesterday. So this is what happend. Yesterday she messaged the owner and asked if they could have the staff chair back at the counter. for her and the rest of employees to use, So they did not have to stand all shift. He replied to her come in at 5pm so we can talk. Then called her at 4pm to tell her she was terminated. Did not give no reason. Then another employee video recorded the owner and asked him why he fired my wife and he said because she asked if staff could have the chair back. Thinking about getting a lawyer for wrongful Termination.

Started a new job 2 months ago. I do field plumbing service work so to speak. It hasn't been going well and I decided Friday to put in my 2-weeks well giving notice I guess was a bad idea because things on the employer's side got real unprofessional real quick.

My direct boss had a meltdown when I told him calmly and professional that I was quitting. Told me to f**k off and hung up on me hah. I took that as being fired.

Their problem was I had their f-350 work truck. They demanded I bring their truck back to main HQ 3 hours away without a ride home.

Yesterday I emailed them and told them to come get their s**t. I had the police come over and declare the vehicle abandoned. They would tow it in 24 hours.

The big boss and the boss that told me to f**k off had to come all the way out here on a Sunday to get their truck before it got towed off my property.

i mentioned to a coworker in confidence recently that I act my wage at this job. She snitched to the boss and he called me into his office today. He said she told him what I said, and that was lazy and dishonest and showed a lack of work ethic and fired me LOL. Good riddance to him but I'm just shocked my coworker is a rat like that. Lesson learned. I'm never going to complain to coworkers like that again, even if they outwardly spout the same beliefs.

edit: To all the non-Americans insisting "they can't fire you for just that!" yes they can lol. most states in this country are at-will states, and even if they fired you for an illegal reason the burden of proof is on you.

edit 2: damn not some of y'all agreeing with my boss about my work ethic 💀 this is the anti work sub are you lost? i was a wagecuck at an arts and crafts store. i was good at my job too- I know a lot about sewing, crocheting, embroidery, and such. but i just wasn't going to go above and beyond. My coworker would talk to me about this kind of stuff on the clock and seemed to have the same attitude about work but she's actually just a rat. I hope she enjoys those extra responsibilities now that I'm gone!