Having a coworker get laid off or fired can be difficult. You wonder how to act and what to say, and you worry about your own job security. If it was a close friend, you may even feel lonely afterwards.
In some cases, however, a coworker getting fired comes as no surprise. You may have suspected it would happen sooner or later, or maybe even inevitably saw it coming due to various reasons. So when someone posed a question “How did that one coworker get fired?”, the stories started rolling in one by one, each better and funnier than the previous one. Below we wrapped up the most interesting ones!
We also reached out to Dr. Gleb Tsipursky, the CEO of Disaster Avoidance Experts and best-selling author of seven books, including a global bestseller Never Go With Your Gut: How Pioneering Leaders Make the Best Decisions and Avoid Business Disasters. He was happy to share some insights into how getting fired affects employees long term and how to see the positive side of it. Scroll down for the full interview!
#1
Apparently he had been getting into those pickup artist classes and books b******t and how to be a real man wankery. Some female colleague disrespected his manliness by asking him to clarify a work issue or something that offended him so during a conference meeting he just got up, walked around the desk, and slapped her so hard that her head bounced of the table knocking her out and fracturing her jaw. His ring also gashed her cheek and damaged her eye. He then sat back down and tried to casually continue on with the meeting. He didn't understand why we called the police as well as the ambulance and why we wouldn't let him leave the room. He is in gaol now hopefully being sodomised like the little wankstain b***h he is.
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248points
#2
He had this job for several years. Nobody really liked him. Maybe because he told them he had the highest IQ of any of them. (he also worked the lowest labor grade job). I never talked to him much, but around the pandemic, I mentioned about the shortages. He started telling me he was ready for everything to crash with a bunch of silver coins and some gold. I was okay with our conversation until he started with white supremacy s**t. A few days later, a new guy he was training asked the boss to put him with someone else. He was Hispanic and the dude had started telling my that white people were superior because they were more intelligent. He got called in to speak with HR and he told the (black) HR manager the same thing. That's how he got fired.
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162points
#3
Planned an armed robbery with her boyfriend on the phone. On the work phone. While on the clock. What about the boyfriend, I heard nobody ask? In jail at the time. On a monitored phone call.
Shop S-Mart, folks
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154points
Dr. Gleb explained that losing a job can leave you feeling like a ship lost at sea, with waves of psychological effects washing over you. “Some common reactions include feelings of shock, disbelief, anger, and even shame. It's crucial to recognize and address these emotions, lest they fester and become a hindrance to your personal and professional growth.”
To navigate this emotional maelstrom, Dr. Gleb’s advice is to consider seeking support from friends, family, or even a professional counselor. “Remember, even the most accomplished professionals have weathered setbacks and emerged stronger.” So, he argues, it’s best to embrace the resilience within and set sail towards new horizons with confidence and determination.
#4
US military. Guy in my squadron was getting a general discharge for bad behavior like missing appointments, mouthing off, refusing to adhere to uniform standards, that sort of thing. (For anyone not military, anything other than an honorable discharge means you don't qualify for veteran's benefits and there's a little mark on your background check.) Still, a general discharge isn't the end of the world and was the best possible option for this guy. So all his paperwork was signed, bags were packed, and our first sergeant was escorting him to the airport to fly home. You know what he did at the airport? Punched the first sergeant in the face. So instead of flying home with a slap on the wrist, guess who got shipped off to military prison to await a court martial. Moron.
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146points
#5
She picked up a customer's baby without permission and walked off with her, the customer was beside herself thinking she'd been kidnapped. Co-worker didn't think she had done anything wrong because she's also a mother....
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142points
#6
We had an employee cafeteria at a Fortune 500 company. You'd get your food at a counter and bring it, in one of those white foam clamshell containers, to the register where you'd just tell the cashier what you got. This one fellow regularly ordered 3-egg scrambles and told the cashier he had just one egg. He got caught once and told never to do it again. He did it again, and lost a $100k+ job for stealing eggs.
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138points
Many people wonder how a person’s further career can be affected by being fired. Dr. Gleb said that embarking on the job hunt after being fired can feel like trying to sell ice cream in Antarctica.
“Nevertheless, there's a right way to broach the subject with prospective employers. Be honest, but focus on the lessons learned and the growth you've experienced as a result. Position the termination as an opportunity for self-improvement and highlight how it has made you a stronger candidate for the new role,” he said.
Dr. Gleb urges people to remember that life is full of setbacks, but it's how we bounce back from them that truly defines our character. “Treat your termination as a trampoline, not an anchor.”
#7
Got fired for "updating his resume using company property".
It was me. The job sucked a*s and I don't regret it.
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125points
#8
My boss hired a new guy to help out on the closing shift (2p-11p) at a convenience store.
He started pissing people off right away; wouldn't stock any of the booze in the cooler because "his religion" forbade so much as touching it. Played fundie-a*s music in the store even after being told not to. Intimidated the manager.
He wasn't there a full week. One afternoon, the assistant manager was at the counter and Dale was in the office. A Sheriff's Deputy came in, looked around, asked of Dale [so & so] was working that day. Ken nodded and pointed toward the office door. "He's back there."
Deputy thanks him and goes back out. Comes back with a second deputy and they head for that door. Didn't take long. They came back out with Dale in cuffs.
Turns out our squeaky-clean preacher boy had warrants out for cocaine possession and for beating the living c**p out of his wife.
A few days after the arrest, the results of the company's background check finally came in and he was fired.
Here endeth the lesson.
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117points
#9
I had a manager at Walmart who used to make snide remarks about my disability and gave me grief anytime I was trying to get an Acommodation.
She got arrested for stealing about $40,000 in merchandise.
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116points
We also wondered what it takes for an employee to get fired on the spot from their job. Dr. Gleb explained that in the business world, there are indeed certain indisputable reasons that warrant firing an employee on the spot.
“One such reason is the display of gross misconduct. This includes, but is not limited to, acts of theft, physical violence, harassment, or severe breach of company policies. When an employee's actions jeopardize the safety and well-being of colleagues, clients, or the organization as a whole, there's no room for hesitation,” he said.
“Just as a pilot can't afford to ignore a fire in the cockpit, a manager must take swift and decisive action to maintain a healthy work environment,” Dr. Gleb concluded.
#10
Dude would drive to the site, park his work van, then have his GF pick him up and take off for 8 hours, come back and pick up the van, thereby cleverly fooling the GPS tracker in the vehicle...
But not the camera pointing directly at the spot where he parked, got picked up, and dropped off. Cost the company a substantial contract. And himself a job.
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110points
#11
A temp office worker arrived around 10am.
She was found rifling thru someone’s wallet at noon.
Arrested and taken away by 12:30.
She was found rifling thru someone’s wallet at noon.
Arrested and taken away by 12:30.
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104points
#12
Caught on camera stealing tablets and laptops multiple times.
Caught on camera getting physically violent with a girl.
Threatened violence against two girls half his size when no one else was there. Didn’t deny it when HR got involved. Acted like they were wasting his time by holding a meeting and trying to resolve the situation.
Different people at the same job.
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89points
#13
He got drunk at the Christmas party, started hitting people's food and drinks out of their hands, kicked a wet floor sign at the CFO, fell and rolled down a flight of stairs on his way out, then ripped license plates of cars in the car parks and threw them like Frisbees as he left. Never saw him again.
88points
#14
Our company was in the process of being sold. This guy who was like the assistant manager had been told by the original company that he would get the manager job when the other guy was promoted to regional manager (I'm simplifying it but that's the gist).
Anyway, the manager was kind of a d**k, and we didn't care for him, but this guy was a total douche. If he'd been promoted, it would have been a disaster.
When the time came for us to sign our contracts with the new employer, he went to each and every person in the department and asked us to refuse to sign unless the manager was fired and he was promoted.
He tried to stage a coup.
Nobody agreed with his plan, and one person reported him to the higher-ups. He took the next day off - because it was his birthday - and when he returned to the office HR was waiting for him.
Then he sued for wrongful termination. He lost.
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87points
#15
He was an arsonist…. I work for a fire department…..
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86points
#16
She tried to sell drugs to the owner of the company’s young teenage daughter.
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85points
#17
She was responsible in handling a shipment of flu vaccines in which sat outside of a refrigerator for five days and cost the company +$30,000.
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82points
#18
Happened a few years after I left, but a reporter at the TV station I worked for committed a hit and run on her way in to work. Drove right to the station and went to work editing her news package. Police show up, and go back to her edit bay. They say, "Do you know why we're here?" She says yes, and they took her away.
I should have clarified. It was a hit and run of a pedestrian.
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78points
#19
He was stealing Klondie Bars from the company freezer.
One of the managers brought in a hidden camera to catch the thief. We all knew the camera was there so he crawled over to the freezer all ninja style to stay under the camera's field of vision.
It would have worked, except, when he stood back up he tried to do it all fancy, and fell backward back into the camera's view.
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77points
#20
Carried a bag for his own product line, complementary more than competitive to ours. In sales calls (that we sent him on) would make a pitch for both. Apparently had been doing this for over a year. Was caught when a customer called us for a quote on his product. Gone like sh*t through a goose.
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72points