Some years ago, I worked with someone for just three whole days. He was fired at the end of the third day because he was late all three days. The first day, they accepted his excuse. The second day, he received a warning. And the third day, it sounds like it was just bad luck.
Another time, I worked with someone who also got fired for similar reasons... but who threw a fit and had to be kicked out by security, so that was fun.
These aren't necessarily the wildest reason why people got fired but you know what, I've tuned a lot of my time working retail out. There are much worse stories out there.
People shared their stories with us after Redditor FlonkyMud asked the online community:
"What's the worst reason that someone got fired from your job?"
"A husband and wife both worked in the same building. The security guys notice some shenanigans going on in their car in the parking lot of the course of several days."
"HR gets a call, reviews the tape, and sure enough, they're having sexy time in the parking lot after lunch."
"HR calls them in and basically says, "Hey, you guys, this is no big deal, but could you guys not have sex in the parking lot? Somebody might see, and that would be bad."
"The husband acts bewildered, and claims he doesn't know what HR is talking about, so they go to the tape. Sure enough, it's the wife and her supervisor going to town in the couple's car."
"The husband goes nuts, and demands that heads roll. Wife and her supervisor are fired that day."
EarhornJones
This is exactly the juicy gossip the workplace was made for. Awkward.
"We were all surprised..."
"Guy was fired for stealing from the register. We were all surprised since he was well liked, and a hard worker. Few months later I was helping the manager clean behind the cash wrap."
"When we got to the register that employee used most often and popped out the cash drawer we found a handful of 20s behind it. Turned out that bills were getting caught and dragged behind the till.""
pezziepie85
An apology probably didn't happen, huh? The company has nothing to gain for it, and he might sue for wrongful termination.
"Building a fort..."
"Building a fort out of boxes and sleeping in it during the night shift (instead of stocking shelves). Dude actually tried to pass it off as an accident, like "Oh man, I must have just fallen asleep"...dude, you BUILT A FORT."
FearlessLingonberry
Aww, you see, I loved building forts as a kid. The key words here are "as a kid."
At work? Not a great idea.
"Worker did heroin..."
"Worker did heroin in the bathroom and went unconscious. She was still allowed to work there…until she did it again."
NurseSmith93
Hopefully this woman is in recovery now!
"She couldn't count."
"She couldn't count. She was a cashier."
NotGAF
This... kinda defeats the purpose of being a cashier. In this case, the firing was absolutely warranted. But... how did the person who hired her not figure this out?
"I used to work..."
"I used to work with a super nice old man who had been at that company for 30 years, and he was getting to retire at the end of 2016. He was 5 minutes late one day because he tripped and hurt his shin. He got fired."
"The story had a happy ending though. He sued the pants off the company, won a ton of money and got a lot of the corrupt upper management fired, including the CFO."
[deleted]
Probably just didn't want to pay his retirement, and need the simplest reason to fire.
"He was drawing up..."
"Paramedic. He was drawing up benzodiazepines and keeping them for himself instead of administering them to seizure patients."
masterofcreases
Yeah... that would do it. If you're in the medical field, don't ever, ever do this.
"Dude got drunk..."
"Many years ago, when I was working at a Wall Street bar, a dude got drunk at the office Christmas party, and knocked one of his female coworkers out cold. He had no memory of this."
"Monday AM he calls security because his badge doesn't work. They come down with a box containing his personal items, and hand it to him with a letter from legal stating that he'll be arrested if he ever shows up on their premises again."
JohnRandolph
We're guessing the victim didn't press charges, otherwise he'd have been arrested right then and there.
"Scammers called..."
"Scammers called and asked for $2,000 and she pulled it out of the safe and handed it to them, no questions asked."
gods_undoing
Ouch. That must have been mortifying for her.
"I had a boss..."
"I had a boss that got fired because he was arrested for prostitution."
QuirkySalt214
If he was a boss and didn't need the money, maybe he just loved the thrill.
You never know who you're working next to, do you? Of course you don't. Every job has a story or two just like these.
Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
@jmrphy/X
@CatholicCharm/X
@SWENGDAD/X
@nhoodpublicist/X
@jmrphy/X
@0xPuff/X