Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

The Craziest Ways People Have Ever Seen A Coworker Get Fired

Man walking away with a briefcase
Marten Bjork/Unsplash

One must really hate their job in order for them to get fired.

Depending on the actual job, it's not that difficult to follow established rules and work protocols. Deviating from them just to get terminated can take more effort.

That is, of course, the employees are completely inept or severely disgruntled and have no problem going on a self-sabotaging mission to be let go.

Why can't they just quit, you ask? Well, that'll be less dramatic.


Strangers online shared what they've witnessed at the workplace when Redditor ImaginaryBank9587 asked:

"How did that one coworker get fired?"

These former employees would do anything for a meal deal.

Egg Thief

"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."

– Yossarian147

Costly Stand-Off

"Similar thing happened at my work, Fortune 500 company, VP of some department, company cafeteria but it was a salad. Would order a salad in line, the kind that they charge by weight and would loiter around until the cashier line got busy and then slip out the exit."

"Cafe worker noticed, told her boss …her boss told corporate security, they start watching for him and due to the guy’s position they watch for a few weeks. 2-3x’s a week he does this for close to a month. Finally they decide ok now it’s ironclad and we can fire him so they walk him out."

"Turns out he thought charging for salad was a ripoff and decided he wasn’t playing the game with the cafe. Well over 300k a year and lost it over a 5.00 salad."

– Due-Pineapple6831

The camera sees all.

Clumsy Ninja

"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."

– pirateteaparty

He May Have Fooled The GPS Tracker

"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."

– Dylsnick

Keep an eye on your baby wherever you go.

Free Baby

"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...."

– miss_demean0r

Up For Grabs

"My girlfriend had a coworker who did something similar, customer came in with a baby and she just grabbed the baby out of mum's arms and starts rocking it as this was a normal thing in her culture and her fellow co-workers freaked out about it but the mum was actually totally fine with it for some reason. She did not get fired though, they actually gave her a full time contract soon after which was a rare thing where she worked."

– Bubblez4

The Cart Pusher

"We had a cart pusher at target who did the same thing. He def have some mental disabilities, but I wasn’t privy to that info. I just know there were very few tasks he could do and he wasn’t very verbal."

"He was instructed to return carts, so he picked the child up from the child seat in the cart and held it out for the mom to grab after she finished loading the trunk. Mom was mortified, came in to raise hell at guest services. He wasn’t fired, but he also wasn’t allowed to push carts anymore."

– thisisntmyOGaccount

Alcohol and work don't mix.

Workplace Blackout

"Showed up drunk on the job, passed out on a chair in the lobby, then pissed his pants."

– SheZowRaisedByWolves

Sad Story

"At a prior company, we had a programmer who was brilliant. He actually built their computer systems from scratch and was able to update and maintain them. Only problem was, he was a total alcoholic. He was married and his wife did a damn good job getting him to work each day and keeping him reasonably coherent during business hours, probably because he was earning over $300K/year and it was worth her effort."

"Well, I guess she finally had enough of conducting his life and divorced him. He went OFF THE RAILS, like the company sent cops to his house for a wellness check. He was fine, just really drunk. The company paid for him to go to go rehab about three times, they were that invested in him. Each time, he'd stay sober for a bit, but then would be back to his old tricks in a couple of months."

"Eventually, the company hit its breaking point. I think the final straw was when he was in the parking lot, drunk, passed out in his car."

"He was fired and ended up passing from a massive heart attack about six months later, no doubt due to his addiction."

"Very sad story all around as he actually was great guy and an incredible programmer."

– Bleuet73

When I was a young performer in shows at a certain theme park, me and my coworkers got away with a lot of harmless but unprofessional behavior backstage that involved roughhousing and stupid antics out of view of visiting guests.

But when it came to showtime, we were always professional and helped create magical memories for our audiences.

The only time someone was fired was when a coworker tried to sneak a prop–in this case, a wig of a very popular princess–out of the park. Whenever we would "clock out" the security gate, they would always check our belongings for this very reason.

I guess my friend forgot about that part.

The next day, he didn't show up to work and none of us had a clue as to why. The company is so secretive when it comes to stuff like this.

We all eventually found out, and none of this played out dramatically. But one thing was made very clear.

You don't steal a mermaid's wig from this company and think you can get away with it.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Lady Gaga
Arturo Holmes/Getty Images

Lady Gaga Reveals She Battled 'Psychosis' Five Years Ago In Candid New Interview

Singer, songwriter, and performer Lady Gaga opened up this week about an experience that may not have been guessed by looking at her: her years-long struggle with psychosis.

During an interview with the New York Times' podcast The Interview, the singer confided:

Keep ReadingShow less
Bill Burr; Elon Musk
Taylor Hill/FilmMagic/GettyImages, SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Bill Burr Just Destroyed 'Idiot' Elon Musk While Explaining Why People Shouldn't Fear Him

Stand-up comedian Bill Burr quashed fears about tech billionaire Elon Musk being any sort of a threat to Americans in a no-holds-barred rant on NPR’s Fresh Air podcast.

The Tesla CEO wasn't the only target of Burr's ire.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sarah McBride
Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

GOP Rep. Abruptly Adjourns Hearing After Being Called Out For Misgendering Trans Rep.

Texas Republican Representative Keith Self was put in his place after misgendering Delaware Democratic Representative Sarah McBride—the first openly transgender member of Congress—when McBride fired back with a taste of his own medicine.

At a hearing hosted by the Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Europe, Chairman Self recognized McBride to speak by saying:

Keep ReadingShow less
Meteorologist's Reaction Goes Viral After Tornado Hits Station During Live Weather Report

Meteorologist's Reaction Goes Viral After Tornado Hits Station During Live Weather Report

There's predicting the weather, then there's being in it.

Meteorologists are often seen either right in the middle of a weather event, soaking wet in a raincoat or huddled under a parka, or inside the climate-controlled studio in front of moving maps on the screen.

Keep ReadingShow less
Jay Graber; Mark Zuckerberg
Samantha Burkardt/SXSW Conference & Festivals via Getty Images; Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Bluesky CEO Takes Iconic Jab At Mark Zuckerberg With Message On Her T-Shirt

If you're not a fan of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, you're not alone—the CEO of Bluesky is right there with you.

Jay Graber, the CEO of the social media app created by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, recently took aim at her Facebook-founding rival during a panel at the South by Southwest festival in Texas.

Keep ReadingShow less