Even if you love your job, working under a horrible boss can make your life a living hell. Good workplace leaders are rare. Bad ones, however, are a dime a dozen. According to one survey, 87% of professionals have worked for at least one toxic boss.
Bad bosses feel like they can do anything to anyone, no matter the consequences. That is, until someone stands their ground and pushes back. Today, we’re featuring workers’ stories about how they got revenge against their most toxic workplace leaders, and it is beyond inspiring.
#1
I was a government employee for 28 years and worked overtime whenever she asked me. I also took no sick leave and cut my vacation time when there was an overload of work. An opening for a promotion came up and I passed the tests with flying colors. However, my supervisor wanted a woman in the position and called in favors to have a female employee from another department transferred to her section. I then went to HR and asked when I could take early retirement with the best employee pension possible given my number of years as an employee. I bided my time and when the time came, I gave exactly 2 weeks notice. How did it hurt her? I had accumulated 2 years and six weeks of vacation, sick leave, and overtime, so for that time, I was paid full salary on early retirement. The best part, she could not have another employee fill my position because I was officially still occupying that position.
49points
The sad reality is that toxic bosses are a far too common sight in companies everywhere.
According to a survey conducted by FlexJobs, just 13% of respondents said that they have never worked for a toxic boss or manager. Meanwhile, 57% of employees revealed that they have worked with one toxic boss during their career, while 30% have worked with more than one.
Everyone has their personal list of things that they value the most in good leaders and detest in bad ones. But broadly speaking, there’s some overlap between various employees.
For example, toxic managers tend to be poor communicators, act dismissively, micromanage their workers, and are passive-aggressive. 43%, 41%, 40%, and 40% of the survey’s respondents named these the top qualities of a toxic boss, respectively.
#2
I once caught my boss tampering with all the employees timecards. I told him if he did so again, I would report him to the State Labor board. so he fired me on the spot. He was stupid enough to write that right on my last paycheck! Long story short, I sued him and won 24 grand! At the time he fired me I told him it was a mistake to mess with me, because I fight back! He laughed, but he wasn’t laughing when we left court!!
47points
#3
This happened to my husband when we were first married. He was working (salary) 60–70 hrs a week. He worked for a company that was a family business, except my husband and the skilled field employees. The familly office staff didn’t do as much as my husband, so he asked a raise, since he was doing a higher level position than he was working. He also asked for an assistant, because he was doing that much work. My husband knew they would probably not honor his requests, so he went prepared. He had gotten a license to form his own company, and and went in with a resignation letter. When he asked for the raise and an assistant, his boss literally laughed in his face. My husband gave his notice and walked out. He had a couple of jobs lined up from other contractors whom he know from his connections other than his job, so he didn’t skip a beat in getting work.
A week went by, and his boss called him begging him to come back. My husband rightfully declined. They had to hire 3 people to fill his position there, and within 2 years, they went out of business. I’m proud that my husband did all of this with class, dignity and integrity!
45points
Furthermore, toxic workplace ‘leaders’ often fail to foster their employees’ growth (34%), are prone to using rude or offensive behavior (33%), set unreasonable expectations (30%), and don’t give praise or credit appropriately (26%).
Other toxic traits include a tendency to gossip (22%), a lack of boundaries (21%), using threats or intimidation (20%), gaslighting their staff (also 20%), and comments and actions that are discriminatory or inappropriate (18%).
Meanwhile, FlexJobs notes that, as per the survey’s findings, nearly half (43%) of respondents who worked for a toxic boss said that they quit or left their jobs because of their behavior.
Others gave feedback to their boss (28%) or to HR (21%), which, unfortunately, was ignored in both cases. 12% of workers who worked under toxic ‘leaders’ said they embrace ‘quiet quitting.’ A mere 11% said they gave feedback to their boss and 8% to HR, and that it was actually applied.
#4
I used a copier. She was the type who enjoyed micromanaging and exercising her power on those beneath her. Life happened and it came down through the grapevine that she was taking mental health leave. Fair enough. Less than a week later I was looking through a paper someone had left on the unit and saw where she was working at a nail salon and offering discounts for new customers. While being paid for leave by the Commonealth of Virginia. Oh hell no. I made copies of that ad and slid them under the doors of every member of management in my building. She made the 'decision' to resign within a week.
39points
#5
This was not me. It was a lady I worked with who generated a report for their team. Michelle did all the work to generate a report in Excel. She handed the report off to another lady. The other lady starting claiming the report was all her work.
Michelle was annoyed with not getting any credit so she introduced intentional errors into the report so the numbers would not total correctly in an obvious way.
The lady who was taking credit for the reports is mad and ask Michelle what was wrong with the report. Michelle replies “If you are going to take credit for a report than you better be willing to check the work for errors.” Michelle was very good with Excel and this was not a small spreadsheet. It was a weekly report so she could introduce new errors in new ways, every week. The lady hogging the credit was not as proficient.
The lady started acknowledge Michelle as the author and all the errors were mysterious resolved.
It was a great subtle power play.
32points
#6
I worked at one of those Fast Oil Change shops and the bosses were so mean to the employees that one week before I quit I started giving everything away for free like air filters, wipers, synthetic oil, and car washes. When I went to pick up my last check they said they couldn't find it and kept delaying me until I just left.
A week later I called up the payroll office who was also the wife of the owner and told her what happened and she got livid and told me she would handle it.
Two days later she called back and said she had my check and she also told me how she got it.
It was the Managers pay day and she withheld his paycheck and he called her wanting to know where it was and she said it's on my desk. He asked why and she said you aren't going to get paid until Patrick gets paid. A big silence was on the phone and he said he would drive over to her office. She then said to him make sure you clock out before you come over. Revenge I wasn't even planning on. Poetic justice.
A week later I called up the payroll office who was also the wife of the owner and told her what happened and she got livid and told me she would handle it.
Two days later she called back and said she had my check and she also told me how she got it.
It was the Managers pay day and she withheld his paycheck and he called her wanting to know where it was and she said it's on my desk. He asked why and she said you aren't going to get paid until Patrick gets paid. A big silence was on the phone and he said he would drive over to her office. She then said to him make sure you clock out before you come over. Revenge I wasn't even planning on. Poetic justice.
31points
At the end of the day, everyone is responsible for communicating, enforcing, and protecting their boundaries at work. Only you know your financial situation and whether switching jobs is feasible at the moment. If you see illegal or unethical behavior at work, it is your duty to report it. In the meantime, if your mental and emotional health suffers under toxic managers, you should do your best to professionally and calmly address any issues with your supervisor, their boss, their boss’s boss, HR, and whoever else makes sense.
Who is the very worst person you’ve worked under, and why were they such a terrible boss? How do you deal with bad managers and executives at work? What do you value the most in genuinely good workplace leaders? You can take part in the discussion in the comments with all of your fellow readers.
#7
I worked in a unit with a supervisor who treated the women like trash. He was always cordial to the senior guy and disrespectful of our senior woman who was studying to become an attorney. He picked on another woman in our unit who was quiet but she was a good worker. Our supervisor was Bob, his real name. So ..one morning I left an anonymous letter accusing him of treating women badly and favoring men in the unit. Needless to say it created a furor and embarrassed Bob a lot. The claims manager went on the hunt for the letter writer but never found me. I'm not sorry I did it because it put a big spotlight on Bob's behavior, which was my intent. Being in the spotlight made good old Bob tone it down a LOT. He was a jerk.
27points
#8
After imploring me to take a foremans position, with a new pay plan based on shop performance, they suddenly scrapped the plan and left me making $150 less per week. Offered me a $.50 raise. It was a poorly run, kind of shady, Euro specialty shop, with a wide range of techs, a lot of infighting, jealousy, etc.
Anyway, I gave notice, declined their generous offer, and when I came in Saturday morning to move my tools, I accessed the shop management computer, which they stupidly not password protected, and printed out all hourly rates and production numbers for all the techs, and left a copy on or in everyone's tool box.
25points
#9
Aw, mine’s not fun. Just satisfying. After seventeen years, my boss screwed me over one last time and I quit without notice. During my exit interview, I explained that I was tired of being a doormat and that he wasn’t going to take advantage of me anymore. After seventeen years, I had become the administrative linchpin of the company, doing my job and covering for everyone else’s incompetence and/or laziness. After seventeen years, my boss had no idea how I spent my forty hours a week. Without me, no one was writing coherent sales proposals that I had always rewritten and corrected math for, no one knew how to read an active file to determine that all merchandise was shipped and needed invoiced, no one knew how to write an invoice or enter it into the accounting program, no one knew when to archive paperwork or maintain inventory or place purchase orders or receive freight. Hell, without me, no one even knew where the key for the vending machine was or was willing to take the time to count and roll $80 worth of quarters and deposit them at the bank. Four months after I quit, he spent two weeks phoning me at home repeatedly asking what he needed to do to rehire me. I didn’t bother to return his calls. Ten months after I quit, he had bankrupted and closed the business. When your secretary is running your company for you, you show some gratitude, say thank you and pay her an office manager’s salary. Especially after seventeen years.
25points
#10
There was one when I first got out of college. He was as misogynistic, spoiled and thick as they come. He made fun of my college, where I lived, etc. I only stayed for a few months, but his thing was telling us that this was the best job we would ever get. When I left, I got such a better job with twice the pay, in a high rise, prestigious company, etc. I had a chat with my new boss about this one, so what he did was take the yearly company department photo we did, and sent it to him with a note that I was now there and being promoted to manager only being there a year. I thought that was the coolest thing ever, and I know it ticked that guy off to no end.
24points
#11
I was laid off, specifically because of age. They admitted it. However, the two people that took over my job both quit. I had a year’s pay, not for severance, but to agree not to sue based on age discrimination. In five months I was back at work, collecting a pension, retaining the payout, and earning about forty percent more. I stayed for a total of eight years more, which were the best years at the company. At least for me. The boss that could not stand me was livid I was doing so well, and SO HAPPY! The best vengeance is living well.
23points
#12
My friend worked in a pharmacy department in a hospital where the pharmacy manager would routinely mistreat and bully the night pharmacists by dumping extra work on them (when they were already busy and short staffed), telling them that they did nothing but sleep on the job (which isn’t true at all), and would even call them or text them during the daytime (when they were sleeping). This manager would also call night shift people in for mandatory meetings in the middle of the afternoon (so it’s like telling a day shift person to come in for a mandatory meeting at 3 AM). The night shift pharmacists got fed up with her bullying and decided to all quit at the same time. This manager tried to stop them from leaving, but since they were at-will employees, there was nothing she could do to stop this mass exodus, so now she had to not only do her manager job, but cover the shifts of 4 night pharmacists as well until they could hire and train more pharmacists (which could take several months). This was a great example of a bully boss who got what they deserved for their bullying behavior.
23points
#13
It wasn’t me this happened to, but it was something I was involved in. I was a travel agent for Federal Govt. employees and one day I got a call from a secretary that was OMG mad at her boss, it went like this.
Secretary-I want the worse seat and the longest lay over on a flight to XXX that you can find.
Me-Are you serious?
Secretary- Yes
I found a flight with a six hour lay over and a seat in front of the bathroom by a window, (her boss liked aisle seats and the seats by the bathroom don’t recline.)
Secretary- I’ll take it.
Me- How are you going to justify this to him?
Secretary- I’ll tell him it was the only seat and flight left.
Allrighty then.! :) I didn’t ask why she was so mad. So you bosses out there, if you make your secretary mad, you do so at your own peril.
22points
#14
I see it as professional diligence, but it may have felt like revenge to be on the receiving end. Twice I had bosses guilty of malfeasance. Both fired me when I called them on it. In one case, I then spoke to the company president. In the other, I contacted every member of the board of directors.
In both cases the boss and his boss were both fired.
18points
#15
when I was an apprentice, I had a horrible boss. He still had that old mentality towards apprentices when he had to make their life as hard as possible. He would constantly belittle me, make me feel useless and work me until I couldn’t even lift me arms up over my head. He would yell and scream for you to go to him to pick up his hammer off the floor ( he’d be on the 3rd floor whilst I would be on the ground).
There was plenty of times where I wanted to give up but my father would always encourage me to hang in there, keep my mouth shut and learn as much as I could.
After a few years I became good at what I did and had confidence in my work. The Boss would always try and compete with me until one day I became better than him. So when that day finally came, I left the company and went out on my own. A lot of his clientele also came with me…
fast forward a few years, I saw my old boss at the hardware store. I shook his hand out of respect for teaching me a trade and chatted to him for a while. He told me that after I left, his business really suffered and eventually went under. He left the building trade after his wife left him for another man. It might not be revenge so much but he sure got a visit from the karma bus…
There was plenty of times where I wanted to give up but my father would always encourage me to hang in there, keep my mouth shut and learn as much as I could.
After a few years I became good at what I did and had confidence in my work. The Boss would always try and compete with me until one day I became better than him. So when that day finally came, I left the company and went out on my own. A lot of his clientele also came with me…
fast forward a few years, I saw my old boss at the hardware store. I shook his hand out of respect for teaching me a trade and chatted to him for a while. He told me that after I left, his business really suffered and eventually went under. He left the building trade after his wife left him for another man. It might not be revenge so much but he sure got a visit from the karma bus…
17points
#16
I once had a boss who was a complete raging tyrant. She’d scream at me almost daily and once even slapped me. Finally I had enough and no longer cared if I got fired or not. She asked me to call someone to say she couldn’t make their meeting, and said “I just can’t stand seeing him today.” She did this frequently, because she wasted time at the speed of sound and couldn’t remember meetings, even though it wasn’t my job to keep track of her appointments. So great, perfect timing. I picked up the phone, called the guy she was supposed to meet with, and said “Magda (not her real name) can’t meet with you. She said she just can’t stand seeing you today.” I got fired. The guy who she was supposed to meet with was her boss. He called me that afternoon and asked me what happened. He took me out to lunch the next day and asked what it was like working for “Magda”. I was the fourth person in my position in a year, and out of an office of six employees, ten people had been hired in a year. Story ended with Magda getting fired and me getting her job. My pay doubled. I had to move on after a while but I’m still with the organization. And since I’m not certifiable I was able to do her job, my old job, clear a huge backlog, and still find time for a nap most afternoons. I learned not to quietly mess with a jerk boss. Do it openly and directly. You have the power to make changes.
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17points
#17
Certainly. We were drinking together one night ( this was during our friends phase) and he described in detail a tax scheme that he had engaged in that was very illegal. I just nodded and laughed as it didn’t bother me at the time and we were (again) friends at that point.
Fast forward to six months later - The guy revealed himself to be a true jerk and I decided to leave the company. I work in a relatively small industry and I heard that he was badmouthing me to other people and trying to get me “blackballed.” While my first inclination was to drive over to his favorite bar and beat him in front of his friends, I decided that me getting arrested for battery would probably not be beneficial.
So I waited about six months and tipped a few of the “right” people to my former pal’s scam. This included his ex-wife’s divorce attorney, his probation officer (Full disclosure: He was on probation at the time for another offense; however, he couldn’t be involved in any criminal activity during that time, including conspiracies) and several agencies whose primary job is to investigate tax malfeasance.
As it turns out, I really only needed to tip his ex’s attorney and she did all the rest of the legwork for me. In the end (and yes I did sort of keep track of what happen) he was rearrested, his probation was revoked, his wife got a larger settlement and he spent the remainder of his deferred sentence portion in jail. When he got out, he left the area and I have neither seen nor heard from him since.
Fast forward to six months later - The guy revealed himself to be a true jerk and I decided to leave the company. I work in a relatively small industry and I heard that he was badmouthing me to other people and trying to get me “blackballed.” While my first inclination was to drive over to his favorite bar and beat him in front of his friends, I decided that me getting arrested for battery would probably not be beneficial.
So I waited about six months and tipped a few of the “right” people to my former pal’s scam. This included his ex-wife’s divorce attorney, his probation officer (Full disclosure: He was on probation at the time for another offense; however, he couldn’t be involved in any criminal activity during that time, including conspiracies) and several agencies whose primary job is to investigate tax malfeasance.
As it turns out, I really only needed to tip his ex’s attorney and she did all the rest of the legwork for me. In the end (and yes I did sort of keep track of what happen) he was rearrested, his probation was revoked, his wife got a larger settlement and he spent the remainder of his deferred sentence portion in jail. When he got out, he left the area and I have neither seen nor heard from him since.
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16points
#18
Worked for an insurance agent/broker & I enjoyed it. I'd actually know him since I was a little girl & he become my stepfather a few years before I started working for him.
Down fall was he tried to be a little “touchy feely” always saying he wanted to take me traveling. It was a very small office & people liked the personal help. After about 4yrs boss told me he was thinking about retiring, told me he would pay for me to get my agent's licence & sell me the business. I jumped at the chance & we came up with a deal that was fair for both of us.
In the meantime I had met someone & gotten engaged. Fiance came to see me & meet my boss/stepfather after which boss started treating me different. About a month later I was told he sold the business to some company across the bay, I was to get the office ready to transfer everything & I had 2 months to do it which included sending letters to all the clients letting them know about him retiring, the new company etc.
Part of deal with the new company was he'd get a percentage of the income from the clients that would stay with them. I started making phone calls to some of the other agent's in the area I was friends with, asked if they were interested in some new business & started sending out a second letter to several people telling them to contact these other agent's. MANY people didn't go to the new company.
Boss said he was going to sell me the business, instead screwed me over but I gave it right back
Down fall was he tried to be a little “touchy feely” always saying he wanted to take me traveling. It was a very small office & people liked the personal help. After about 4yrs boss told me he was thinking about retiring, told me he would pay for me to get my agent's licence & sell me the business. I jumped at the chance & we came up with a deal that was fair for both of us.
In the meantime I had met someone & gotten engaged. Fiance came to see me & meet my boss/stepfather after which boss started treating me different. About a month later I was told he sold the business to some company across the bay, I was to get the office ready to transfer everything & I had 2 months to do it which included sending letters to all the clients letting them know about him retiring, the new company etc.
Part of deal with the new company was he'd get a percentage of the income from the clients that would stay with them. I started making phone calls to some of the other agent's in the area I was friends with, asked if they were interested in some new business & started sending out a second letter to several people telling them to contact these other agent's. MANY people didn't go to the new company.
Boss said he was going to sell me the business, instead screwed me over but I gave it right back
15points
#19
I was once ignored for a project for which I was the best equipped. It was partly because of my boss’ lack of understanding of my skills, and partly his “I know best” attitude.
I was very young then, and I was quite hurt. So I just focused on the work that I was given and kept myself busy learning and doing new things. Fortunately, I found ways to move on and not brood about the unfair treatment.
As the project progressed, it got quite complex, and the methods they had chose to use were falling apart. It soon led to panic and finger-pointing.
I just quietly fixed the issues that I had expected them to see in my spare time, and in a big meeting, offered the solution. That pretty much resolved the crisis.
It became obvious to everyone that the best guy hadn’t been picked for the project.
15points
#20
Only once and I honestly am still conflicted about it 15 years later.
I was fired from a small company that used a lot of pirated software (Microsoft products everywhere). The firing wasn’t because of my performance, but because the owner wanted to make room for his stepson to come into the job I held. It was during the holidays and he wouldn’t even let me stay until after Christmas (two weeks away). I was called into the office, told I was being let go, and told to get my things and leave by the end of the day.
I went back to my office and, from there, filed a report with the Business Software Alliance to report all of the pirated software they used. I then packed my stuff, told my friends goodbye, and left the office.
Later, I heard that the BSA came in and hit them hard. They had over $350,000 worth of unlicensed software for which they had to pay and, I believe they might have gotten hit with a fine on top of that. Since this was a very small company (12 employees), it hurt them pretty bad and they had to lay off two people.
In the beginning of this answer, I said I feel conflicted about doing this and here’s why: I worked at the company for a little over 2 years and knew they used pirated software the entire time. I even used pirated software to do my job with the full understanding that it wasn’t licensed. It never bothered me enough to report it until I was fired. I have to accept that, while I told myself it did at the time, this had nothing to do with morals or ethics on my part but was purely revenge.
I’m a little ashamed of that.
15points