Every time I start a new job I make a solemn pact with myself that I will not get mixed up in an unnecessary drama. I will promise to avoid all scandals. And I refuse to bear witness to or participate in any and all salacious nonsenses. Cut to me and two to three weeks later... the main character or important supporting player in a storyline too hot even for Melrose Place.
Redditor u/lanyeweisst wanted people to dish on some salacious nonsenses they came across by asking....What's your workplace scandal?
"I need an Amen."
I've seen it all... thieveing, lying, fornicating in every possible corner of space. And sometimes I was all of the above. I'm just an expert at not getting caught. For some reason though, so many other people feel the need to include me in the drama as a confidant or a witness. "I need an Amen." Many of the people here know of which I speak.
Call HR
braxton family values traci GIF by WE tvGiphyWalking past my colleagues door, middle of the afternoon and looked in his office door window.
Saw him absolutely shagging with an intern. At the same time another colleague also stopped, saw the same thing. He called our boss, who came and a small group watched them have to leave the office and go down to HR.
"Warpath"
A divorced couple worked at my company in separate departments. The ex-husband went to the ex-wife's house to pick up their kids one night and got into an argument with the ex-wife's boyfriend, who was a cop. The cop shot him. The ex-husband died. The ex-wife was not exactly contrite about it.
For weeks or even months after that, the ex-husband's coworkers were on a warpath against the ex-wife and her supportive coworkers. This is in HQ for a big company and there were regular outbursts if those people saw each other in the lobby, elevators, cafeteria, etc. It was wild.
"That" Room
I used to work for a large insurance company in Colorado Springs, CO - When I worked there they had nap rooms which were used for other nefarious means. My favorite workplace scandal is when one coworker stopped cheating on his wife with another coworker because he found a new workplace hookup. Work hookup #1 anonymously called the man's wife to rat him out AND security to bust in on him and his new hookup.
Jabs
Years ago I worked at a company that hired a sales guy who was pretty hard-working and definitely put out a, 'I am trying to come back from a dark time in my life' kind of vibe. We all really liked him as a first impression, but we didn't get a chance to know him very well. One day he went out to his car at lunch, drank himself to a point of insensibility, then came back into the office like nothing was wrong. When his boss called him on it, he took a swing at him and missed by a mile, spinning himself around and almost falling over.
He was immediately fired —I don't even think there was paperwork involved. He was only a few weeks into the job— and escorted out of the building. By unspoken rule, no one talked about the incident. Enough time has passed now, I don't even remember the guy's name or really any more about it than I've said.
"Bad Combos"
Now why is it people feel the need to get X-Rated at the office. There seems to be an over abundance of that. That's the usual scandals though, isn't it? Sex and money. That combination will often lead you down the wrong path. Of course just when you think you've heard it all...
The Pooper
poop GIFGiphyA lady pooped in the men's urinal and tried to frame a guy who turned down her advances at the Christmas party.
She informed a manager that she saw the guy go in to the bathroom around the time the poop was laid. However CCTV showed otherwise. She wasn't fired or faced any serious repercussions.
Bonnie & Clyde
From my first workplace as a college intern: The Director of Engineering was working on a special project and required the PM's admin to assist, every day in his office from noon to 1pm. One Thursday they forgot to close the door completely and as it turned out their special project was shagging each other stupid. They were sent home and told not to come back until the following Monday, by which time management would know how to address the incident.
Monday rolls around and they don't show up. After calling both of their spouses, it turns out that each came home Thursday, made up an excuse to their families, packed a bag and left. Within a few weeks it turns out that their special project also included embezzling $870,000 in company funds and absconding to the Caribbean.
Staffing Concerns
When I was in high school, I got a job in a local chain drug store. After I was there about a month, I showed up for work and was greeted by corporate security. Apparently, the entire management staff, as well as the bulk of the store's employees, were fired and arrested as part of a mass theft ring. Apparently they were issuing fake merchandise refunds to their credit cards, as well as voiding cash transactions and pocketing the cash.
They managed to re-staff the store temporarily with employees from other locations, but I went from being the new kid to the senior associate pretty quickly lol. I ended up being there for 4-5 years, and it was great because most of the new part time employees were kids my age. We had a lot of fun.
Tragedy...
A few years back I was working for a national non-profit, one of the ones that's trying to cure a disease.
We all got called into a mandatory meeting first thing one morning, and that meant folks calling in from all over the country, probably 2,000 of us total. We were told that our CEO's wife had been murdered and set on fire. It was tragic.
Couple hours later, they called a second meeting to tell us it was one of our coworkers that did it. That was a mind screw of a meeting.
Turns out the dude was stealing from the charity in a big way, got caught, and the CEO gave him a chance to turn himself in. Instead, he drove to the CEO's house, killed his wife, set her on fire and sped away, crashing into a tree and killing himself.
It was never quite the same at work, CEO left and never set foot in the office or his house again.
A Royal Schemer
Woman in the finance department fell for a Nigerian prince scheme disguised as our CEO and corporate lawyers. Transferred 2 million Euros to the scammers. Police found nothing. Holding that has the most shares of our company was not amused and almost sacked our CEO who is a great guy in general. Investments in new tech was denied and everyone lost their bonus for that year.
Responsible person for the transfer was not fired but lost procurement responsibility. Many in our company said that she was into the scheme.
And these are the Days of Our Lives...
Days Of Our Lives GIFGiphyI used to work at a place where two employees who were both married had an affair then divorced their spouses and married each other. Two years later the guy has an affair with a client then he divorces and marries client. Everyone is somehow shocked.
Of course thanks to Covid work scandals seem down a bit. A ZOOM scandal just doesn't seem as appetizing. Heaven knows the amount of homebound craziness we'll all have to share about in 2022! Should be interesting.
Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again.
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
@elektrotimmy/X
@RpsAgainstTrump/X
@madameshawshank/X