Finding a job is rarely a simple or quick task. Crafting an impressive résumé, sending it to potential employers, getting an interview, and reaching an agreement often take months. On the other hand, losing it can take just a few seconds. All it takes is one pivotal mistake, and you’re out the door.
Recently, redditor TeddyBabyyy was wondering about a similar thing, which led them to ask an online community the question, “Managers of Reddit, what's the worst thing an employee has done to get themselves fired?” And, well, people had a lot to say, from causing clothes to catch on fire to shoveling money out of the cash register.
Scroll down to find more stories of workers who got sacked for the strangest reasons and a conversation with the person who started this discussion in the first place.
#1
Not a manager, but have been in the restaurant biz for 30 years. Worst I saw was a 40+ chef hitting on and basically attempting to molest our 16 year old hostess. I caught him myself. He had her cornered in the dish room with nobody around. Even though he was a full chef and me just a sous, and 10 years my senior, I basically kinda fired him. Told him if he didn't leave now of his own free will and never come back, he would be leaving on a stretcher, possibly in a bag. Poor girl was in tears. It's been somewhere around 15 years, and it still infuriates me to think about.
She pressed charges, it was all on camera, and he was arrested. Got off light though on a plea, which also infuriates me. Got a couple months in jail (not even prison), years of probation, and didn't even have to register on the sex offenders list. Which also infuriates me until this day. He was never a chef anywhere around here ever again though. We blackballed the f**k out of him.
ARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!!!
Sorry. Had to get that out.
EDIT: I'm not a hero guys. I'm just what every adult should be. Zero tolerance to bullies and people that ignore consent.
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191points
#2
Cart associate at Walmart was playing on his phone while using the cart mule to push a large line of carts. He ran over an elderly woman breaking her leg and hip. Was immediately fired. Not sure what all happened to him legally, but he was out of our store.
108points
#3
Guy xerox copied multiple pics of his d@#k, put them in envelopes, and placed them under the windshield wipers of the female employees. Total creep.
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97points
Bored Panda reached out to redditor nicknamed TeddyBabyyy, who started this discussion in the first place and was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
Naturally, we were curious to know what inspired them to take such a matter online. They told us, "I recently had to train a new employee. We work at a seafood restaurant. He lasted a week after he was caught defecating in customer food."
Trying to see the light in such situations, our interviewee believes that losing your job isn't always bad. "Sometimes losing a job lights a necessary fire under you to straighten up. Although the trainee had to have been on drugs."
#4
Removing the high limit switch on a dryer causing the clothes to catch on fire.
Twice.
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95points
#5
Literally just shoveled money out of the cash register into his pockets with 3 separate cameras looking at him. He took several thousand dollars.
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92points
#6
Not a manager but HR here... had a male employee who would heavily flirt with a female coworker (to the point of causing disruptions in training classes and meetings) stop his work vehicle next to this employee at a worksite where she was sitting due to not feeling well. He offered to drive her to the sector office, which she accepted, then offered her an "asprin" and water, which, unfortunately, she also accepted. Yeah... he roofied her on the job, in a work vehicle, at a worksite. Thank goodness she demanded to be let out of the truck once she realized she was feeling really strange, and he actually complied with her request to let her out.
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90points
Indeed, there is a big chance that something much better is waiting for you out there, and losing a job doesn't mean the end of the world. Most likely, the fear of losing your position is much worse than the loss itself.
Researchers at the University of Michigan have found that those who feared being dismissed from their role reported poorer health and more symptoms of depression than those who had actually been laid off.
#7
Mechanic of 32 years got fired for disabling the RF entry card readers on the back side of the warehouse, so he could throw parties in it after warehouse hours, nobody batted an eye until they mistakenly invited the plant manager to it.
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87points
#8
Not a manager but a carpenter with several employees but I had a worker doing a window replacement I'm a person's home. The room he was working in had a fully stocked bar. Employee drank a 400$ bottle of liquor and homeowner found him passed out in their guest room.
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81points
#9
Supposed to drive a car from one city to another on a Friday. Probably 2 hour trip? Took it to Mexico and partied for a weekend and delivered the car on Monday. This was not even a border state.
80points
#10
Someone got fired because he went in the bathroom on his break and huffed the bottle of canned air and passed out.
He was a good employee too, what a waste.
79points
#11
Dumbest, maybe not the worse: A mechanic in my chemical plant wrapped expensive copper tubing around his chest and put his coat over it. It was a really cold day and it started drawing up to where he couldn't breathe - just as he got to the guard gate. The guards had a good laugh unwinding the soon-to-be-unemployed mechanic.
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78points
#12
Guy was just hired, he asked to go home on his second day because he [pooped] his pants. Alright, s**t happens, a little tmi but what can you do? He must be an honest soul. Went home for the afternoon, came in on the third day [pooped] his pants again and asked to go home. There was no fourth day.
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71points
#13
Had a guy who was late one day…who then called and tried to get coworkers to bail him out of jail on the drunk driving charges he got…on the way to work that morning.
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70points
#14
Manager of a store (mid 30s) stole around $1,000 of our store bank and used it to pay for his trip to meet up with his 14 year old girlfriend multiple states away.
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68points
#15
I had one dude writing creepy fantasy stories about females AT WORK.....on the WORK COMPUTER 🤦♂️.
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63points
#16
Maybe not the worst, but drinking beer during a Zoom call while on camera. At 9am. After asking for accommodations related to your problems with alcohol.
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62points
#17
One employee was constantly stealing food from the refrigerator, that other employees placed in there for lunch and late work-night dinners. Eventually, after weeks of complaints the IT department set up a hidden camera and caught the woman taking two yogurts, a weight watchers TV dinner and a can of coke in one swoop.
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61points
#18
I was a newly hired manager at McDonald's. The guy before me was working the cash register. This store was very highly trafficked, it was right off of the interstate right on the border of city and middle of nowhere. It was the first place to stop and get some food for travelers coming in, and the last place to stop and get some food for travelers leaving out.
It was not uncommon to have over 1,000$ in under an hour in the cash register and policy was to "drop" money in the safe at least once every hour. So this new guy comes in, works for a few hours, but the manager never did the drops. After about 4 hours, the employee goes to the bathroom and disappears.
Turns out he left with over 4,000$ from the cash register. Police were called because obviously they have the guys ID, address, and information on file. Only to find out that everything was false. He stole someones ID and social that looked similar to him and used a fake address. I don't think the police ever found him or figured out who he was.
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59points
#19
I worked with someone that, after a couple months on the job, started leaving early every day. Sometimes a half hour early, sometimes up to half the day. Finally my manager goes to fire him on a Friday afternoon, except no one could find him, he had already left! .
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59points
#20
Just a few weeks ago:
Salesman tells HQ that his very large national customer wants us to use a specific vendor for a multimillion dollar contract.
We set it up but have procurement run backgrounds on the vendor to make sure they are reliable, no slave or child labor, etc.
After digging down many layers, the founding documents for the vendor come back.
It's owned by the salesperson and his sister.
It was done quietly to save face with the customer, but the salesperson no longer works here.
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56points