It is estimated that in 2022, over 158 million Americans were in some form of employment and that roughly 10% of them (15.4 million) were laid off in that year.
Reddit user Strykazoid got interested in why this happens, so they made a post on the platform, asking everyone to share the dumbest reason they've been fired.
From refusing to date the boss' daughter to asking how much you're going to be making, here are the most memorable stories from that thread.
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I was 16 and accused of following a coworker home on a regular basis. I explained that it's going to keep happening because they kept scheduling us on the same shift, and she lived up the street from me, but that wasn't good enough for them.
Covid-19 forced everyone to work from home on hastily setup computers and infrastructure. Then they fired the IT staff because we were deemed ‘nonessential’. Bit them in the a*s hard enough to remove chunks.
For surfing the internet.
Punchline: part of my job was to surf the internet and find content for their social media platforms. I wish I was making that up. I am not.
BK . Manager said a customer complained that he could hear me cussin in the back. I was off the day they said it happened
I got fired from a supervisor job at an amusement park because I was “too friendly with the staff”. The staff member in question was my girlfriend, and had been my girlfriend the day we both came in and applied for jobs at the same time with the same person who fired me. We just didn’t like each other, which was fine. In hindsight I think he had a thing for my gf.
Joke was on him though - the woman who ran the cash office had used me as a temp fill-in several times counting money and manning the window that supervisors came to for change. I ran into her while I was turning in my radio and she offered me a full time job on the spot.
So I went from walking around outside in 90 degree weather with high humidity dealing with crowds of dipshits to sitting in an air conditioned office all day, and unlike the previous job I could now coordinate breaks so my gf and I could eat meals and hang out even more.
Technically not fired as I resigned but they were going to not renew my contract.
As a teacher, we had 12 days you could take off. My mother had extreme stages of cancer at the time and ended up falling unconscious for two weeks and then dying. The principal calls me as I’m in the ICU with my dying mother to tell me I was out of days. She died two days later and I took 2 extra days off unpaid. They didn’t renew my contract because I wasn’t reliable. No lies.
I filed for unemployment even though teachers usually can’t get it when non-renewed but f**k them. We were in hospital for our first born child later that year in October when DOL/unemployment called to verify my case. I told the person on the phone what happened and he didn’t say anything for a good 20 seconds and finally goes, “what…the…hell.” I said, “yuuuuuuup….” He goes, I’m gonna get this written up asap so I can turn it in for you. They call back a week later and are like, “no question you got approved. They tried contesting it but the unemployment office shut them down with a quickness. We’re so sorry to hear about your circumstances and can’t imagine someone let alone a principal/school district acting in that manner.”
I guess your principal was afraid you'd take time off in the future if your mother died again.
Performance was bad. one of the reasons given was
"Reading newspapers in the lunch room".
Which was during my scheduled break.
I wasn't fired for it, but at one job I worked, due to the timing of the last bus for the day, I would arrive an hour early to each shift. I would just get in, read a book in the break room until my time, and get started. My manager took me aside one day to tell me the evening shift said I was "creeping them out" whenever they saw me on the security camera just...sitting there, silently. The manager was less than amused when I said I was creeped out to learn they chose to watch me on the cameras, and maybe if they stopped doing that their issue with me would go away
I was 16 and refused to date the owner’s niece
I was 17. My Grandpa died unexpectedly from a heart attack. My Mother called my work’s office to let me know. I was called to the office to talk on the office phone to my mother, and staff (who were told what was going on) left the area so my mother could privately break the news to me.
I was obliterated of course, and walked outside for about 15 minutes to clear my head. I then went back to work.
The woman who was in charge of the entire operation fired me for leaving the building. Human Resources stepped in and stopped the situation before I could be notified that I had been fired.
I only found out that this had happened after my grandpas funeral days later. I quit immediately.
I hope she gets punched in the f*****g throat!
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I'm fully convinced that all HR people are on the boards of their HOAs.
For complaining about harassment. Boss’ way of determining if people were harassing me was to ask each person if they were harassing me. They all said no, so I got fired.
I worked too fast. Local government job.
I was too tall.
The owner was shorter than me by a big margin - about a foot - and he didn’t like looking up at me.
I refused to endorse a paper, because it was missing key data and method. I guess the department head wanted it rubber stamping for funding, and I have my integrity.
I worked one day at a gym, i got fired because the bosses wife said she didnt like how friendly i was LOL
They didn't know I could touch-type.
In undergrad, I got a temp job doing data entry for some extra money. The temp agency didn't tell them that I could touch type. Long story short, because I can type relatively fast without looking at they keyboard I was able to plow through all of the data they had for me in a little over two days. That there was no access to the outside world and I had headphones with me meant that I was able to just get it knocked out.
Basically, they escorted me out and called the temp agency to tell them that I'd spent the last three days dicking around without even checking. The temp agency asked me to come to their office and explain myself, so I did. I asked them if they told the client that I could read the documents they wanted typed in and type on a keyboard at the same time, demonstrated what touch typing was, and asked them to ask the client for an apology because that was really shitty of them.
Nothing is more severely punished than competence. It's the one unforgivable offense.
Took a day off for my Grandpa's funeral which was out of town. Fired me when I came back the next day
Claimed I stole a 2 dollar check. That they later found behind the managers desk. Manager later got fired for sexual harassment
I (software engineer), together with 5 other engineers, was deemed unnecessary and they hired a bunch more managers instead.
Now they had 1 manager for every 2 engineers.
Soon after, they had 1 manager for every 0,5 engineers.
Then the company died. They never understood why or how.
Like any other position, the more incompetent managers you have the more managers you need.
I worked at Walmart while I was in high school and one of the managers kept scheduling me to open or for me to be there at 2. I told them, many times, that I was in high school and those shifts wouldn't work. I guess they didn't get that memo; the store manager fired me for missing work and being late.
Worked fast food years ago. Most of us were high school students. One night someone called in sick. The manager was trying to find someone to stay and cover the shift. One girl said she couldn't, she had to study for a test the next day. Manager actually said "What's more important, your job or school?". Girl looked at him for a moment, said "School' and punched out. She never did come back. Good choice on her part. That manager didn't last long.
I was working as a personal trainer for a fairly large/swanky gym… the general manager was “interested” in one of my clients ~ she and I quietly started dating & about three weeks later I was out of work based on completely peripheral and fully erroneous “complaints” from other members.
Worked out for me ~ she became my wife & we have an amazing (now 21yr old) son together.
I gave Highway directions to a customer. They fired me for talking to my friends at work.
I had an alcoholic handy man who was promoted to manager. He "fired" me several times a week for not bumming him a cigarette or not wanting to work the second dining room when we had 5 reservations or taking my approved unpaid time off. But he was a drunk who started with scotch and moved into amaretto so never remembered. I'd just come back the next day.
TL;DR - arbitrarily fired from video game job because of someone else’s mistake.
I wrote a video game script for a small developer. They “forgot*” to tell me when they started voice work—part of my job required me to help with voice acting sessions. I finally was invited to a session with a big name actor, especially known in video games. The director asked me why I hadn’t been present for the past two weeks’ worth of recording. Apparently, telling the truth, that no one had told me recording had begun, was the wrong move. The developers fired me the next day despite my work already being done, which essentially meant I’d have no part in DLC or sequel(s).
*They didn’t forget to invite me. They just wanted me out of the way while they brought in their yes man.
Not "fired" but let go with severance. CFO told me to make up historical reports because they weren't done in the past, but now required, and wanted to show how so much better metrics are now than in the past.
What they were asking for was literally not possible to do since the data was not tracked to what they were asking and wanted to tweak the past numbers into a full-on made-up breakdown. I told the controller I wasn't comfortable doing this. Next week got paid out
A month later I found out the CFO was canned.
Worked at a Footlocker way back. Manager says to me, "hey if you have some free time this weekend, another store could use some help. Let me know if you are able to help out." I turned that down as I had other plans on the weekend. Show up on Monday and he asks why I didn't show up to help out the other store over the weekend? I reminded him I said no and that I had other plans on the weekend.
"Man, you should've told me that before. They were expecting you to show up and help out. Since you didn't show, I'm going to have to write you up for that and let HQ know."
Got fired after that shift ended. Stole some shoes and clothes, walked out and never went back there again.
It's crazy reading these posts. Do people not realize that they have recourse for wrongful termination? This is where you contact corporate and explain the situation. Let them know you've retained counsel & know your rights. Most employers count on you being either unaware or too afraid to exercise your rights. I don't like generalization, but I swear, (most) people in the US have no idea that stuff like this is illegal as hell. Employers try to throw that "at will" BS at you to make you feel like they have no obligations but they do, and you should be aware. 99% of the post I'm reading, if true, violate employment rights. Edit to say: I am just assuming this is US, so apologies if it's not, but it seems like something that would happen here (I'm currently living in the US)
As a consultant, a company ended my contract early. (Not fired, but let go?)
I was hired by the "Company" to help them save money. I did indeed fact help them cut costs in areas that were not needed. Help restructure some areas and help consolidate key parts of the business. Without having to fire anyone or let anyone else go. (Some people did move to full-time status to part time.).
The "Company" did not like this. They thought they were just going to "let people go" and continue as normal. No. They ended the contract early. Jokes on them, I still get paid and billed the same if I was there for a day or for the full time alloted of 3 months. I worked 1 month and got paid for 3. So put that down your pipe and smoke it.
My manager told me to go home, I left, and the next day they fired me for leaving my shift in a bad spot because they got busy.
Manager: Do thing! OP: Ok. (Does thing) Manager: *inhaling goose meme* HOW DARE YOU-
Best friend and co-worker died in an accident after work on Friday, Monday was the funeral, I could not give 2 weeks notice for a day off, went anyway and got fired
It's so unprofessional for accidents not to give two weeks notice.
Hired as a busboy in a bar/club. I showed up, asked the owner/boss what I would be making. He cursed me up and down and had me thrown out. Total time working there: 5 minutes
putting in my 2 week notice
Gave 2 weeks notice and 2 hours later was told they didn't want me for 2 weeks. Cool for me as I had 3 weeks before my new job started. They only hurt themselves. 2 other employees quit that same night.
I had to take a week off when my mom had an aneurysm, was put on life support, and then died a few days later. But I was still in their “probation period.”
Because I asked for time off to go to a family reunion, they denied it, and I went anyway.
I was a 17 year old summer employee and told them it was going to happen when I started at the beginning of the summer--I literally didn't have a choice about going or not, don't hire 17 year olds and then try to fight their parents through the 17 year old!
I was a service shop apprentice as part of my vocational school internship program. I was required to complete some months of work in order to get my diploma, but so did everybody else, so trade school internships are unpaid. So I worked at a dealership for 6 straight months with no pay. Near the end of the internship the rest of my coworkers begged the manager to hire me and keep me there but he thought he could just keep on getting free labor from the endless stream of kids coming out of trade schools needing to complete their mandatory work hours. So I was let go, and in the following year they went through multiple free apprentices who in their words simply didn't cut it. For one reason or another they just couldn't provide the same level of work as I did, and they didn't gel with the rest of the employees in there like I did. Most of them didn't even get to complete their mandatory 6 month period and were cut short. Productivity tanked as for close to a year the experienced mechanics had to routinely stop what they were doing and do assistant tasks instead which are simple but essential to the smooth operation of a workshop.
This was just one of the manager's bright ideas to save on operating costs and try to appear good to upper management. However in practice in his attempt to cut corners for a few hundred bucks here and there, the store's productivity and overall revenue tanked and they saw a lot of loyal customers abandon them. The manager was fired around a year after I was. I still visit my old coworkers from time to time because we actually had great chemistry and a pleasant work environment. They have asked me to come back but my current job pays better and they're not willing to match that.
I don't think it was all those apprentices that couldn't cut it. It was the manager.
I worked for a jewellers about 10 years ago.
The place got robbed while I was in the back, oblivious to it happening, fixing a battery into a watch. After the robbery ended and the police arrived, I was informed that I was fired because the company always fires everyone if there's a robbery. It's in case there was an insider helping the robbers.
So basically I lost my job because I went to work and did my job correctly.
Refusing to work.overtime.. I gave you my 40, I'm not obligated to give you more time
I used to work as a waiter at steak’n’shake back in highschool. I put in our books like 3-4 months in advance that I would be out of town for one particular weekend. When that week came up, the manager that did the scheduling put me on a shift for that weekend. I told her “hey I can’t work this shift, I put in the books I wouldn’t be available a long time ago”. She said, “oh don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.”
Got a call that weekend while I was out of town. It was that manager, she was firing me for being a no-show.
lol f*****g a*****e.
in the days after 9/11 my employer (multinational bank) instantly fired the last 2 people hired in every department where there was redundancy, hedging against a financial collapse whenever the markets reopened. I just happened to be the last guy hired in my dept.
I (M) wouldn't sleep with my boss (M)
He used other reasons but that's the bottom line
Technically it wasn't being fired. But I worked at a cell phone store that was the most successful of the franchises in the city. West Edmonton Malls location was mismanaged and failing. They swapped the entire staff of both locations thinking that would fix it.
We told the district manager we didn't want to work there. His response was you are dogs when I say jump, you jumpm
20 years of cellular sales experience including the manager quit within 3 weeks.
I worked in a French language restaurant, and spoke French with a broad UK midlands accent. I was good at waiting tables, just absolutely ruining the immersion. The owners completely hated me speaking my somewhat capable brummie (For Americans, Birmingam UK Accent) frunch. They kept demoting me further from the customers, until they just fired me from being a completely silent potwash.
They were nice about it, but I was utterly terrible at accents. It was fair really.
Way back in the day, our boss came in & fired all three employees for no reason. (He had other store locations, so he brought in someone from another store.) If I had to guess, it was because we'd all started around the same time, & we were all soon eligible for our week of vacation time.
It all worked out, though, because we were able to draw unemployment, & due to the economy at the time, they extended it for a good while! I also reported him to the Labor Board for a few various reasons, & he had to go through an investigation & pay fines. A few months later, I heard from a former co-worker that he was in rehab for drugs...
I clocked out, stepped off the property onto the street. Two drunk guys started to pick a fight with me. A coworker came to my rescue and helped me defend myself( a fight ensued). The story came out the following business day and a manager started an investigation on me and my coworkers. They saw us fighting on their shipping/receiving area camera that had view to the public street. We both got fired for defending ourselves, after clocking out and being off our job’s property.
I needed to study for finals, so I got somebody to cover my shift
Was working at Casey's. Fools in Missouri love Casey's pizza. Anyway I was working a night shift a new kid working the kitchen. It was his first job. That night we got mobbed and we had like 3 hours wait times on our pizza. I had worked at a pizza place before so I'm running from register to kitchen, trying to make pizza and checkout customers. By the end of the shift I was covered in flower and a million complaints had come through. Show up the next morning and my boss says " there was money missing from your drawer". I said" I didn't take anything, watch the camera" he said " I did, and I know you didn't, but you're still fired". I lit the m**********r up and let him know what a worthless piece of s**t is and that, in fact, none of these young female employees want anything to do with your fat, dip filled tooth missing mouth. Left and had a seizure. F**K CASEY'S
Edit;"watch the camera"
As a past manager of a Casey's store I can say the manager should have been the one fired. First of all, the employees should have been instructed to call the manager when the kitchen got that busy so that a helper (even if it was the manager himself) could have come in. Corporate hates wait times like that on pizzas and the managers know it. Secondly, even though the cashier did not take the money out of the register, the register is supposed to be locked whenever the cashier leaves it's sight. Whether or not this employee was trained properly I cannot say, but it doesn't sound like it. Also the area supervisor bears responsibility for allowing the manager to get away with not doing their job.
About 6 months after Sobeys bought out a grocery store chain I had been working at for over 3 years as a teenager through high school, there were issues being discussed over how much profit was being lost. Rather than thinking it’s because they booted up prices like crazy so less customers chose to shop there, they decided it must be employees stealing. So they set up cameras secretly in all the stores. I personally was fired for eating one of the free cookies in the bakery department I worked in, and about 5 others were fired for drinking the coffee that was to be dumped once new batches were to be brewed. F**k you Sobeys :)
For apparently stealing there customers and selling them to my brother..... I don't have a brother
I left pool noodles outside on accident. I had only been at Dollar Tree for a month and was used to closing to another manager who always brought them in. I forgot once
Im on the company's side here. Pool noods are dangerous and expensive prodcuts. You could have accidently flooded the streets with free pool noods. Just imagine the chaos if some foam tubes got into the hands of the wrong people. all the bopping, floating, edge protecting thing that might have occured. It may have cost Dollar Tree a whopping $5 had a few dozen been stolen. with the profit margins they get, you might have bankrupted the company. /s
I was told I “b***h too much”. For context, I told the manager that I was upset with him for completely changing my schedule around and giving all my hours to the new girl WITHOUT TELLING ME, and expecting me to be okay with it after I had expressed UPON BEING EMPLOYED that my hours were non-negotiable. My original hours were Monday-Friday 10-5 and I was put on Wed-Sun 5-11. Completely upended my s**t so yeah I was pissed.
Called in a third time in 6 months. Had already covered someone else several more times than that.
Just depends on who you are. Some get away with it, others are the dogs.
Not sure if it's dumb or unreasonable, but I lost my job for being off sick twice in 3 weeks due to what turned out to be pregnancy. Only had been there a month mind.
And that's why you were fired. Happened to me too. Even had a doctor's note stating I was sick/anemic from early pregnancy. Got called in to a meeting for missing too many shifts and not being able to stand for long periods of time without feeling dizzy/passing out. They wanted me gone before they'd have to cover maternity leave/pay :(
My (19m) girlfriend (21f - divorced mother of three) called on her way to the hospital - her appendix almost ruptured. I was cleaning the dining room at the restaurant I worked at. Told my manager I had to leave to take care of the kids and go to the hospital. He said if I left, I was fired. "Well, I guess I don't work here anymore." Handed him the broom and my apron. I was up for 48 straight hours between the hospital and the kids. She was fine after the appendectomy. The owner of the restaurant hired me back as his assistant and eventually I made management. My girlfriend and I eventually got married and our 24th anniversary is in two weeks.
As a European, I simply cannot comprehend how little job protection Americans have.
It's the land of the free, where you are actually free from any annoying Employee rights!
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I once worked for a big name defense contractor, on a project for the US Army. One day my boss told me that "the customer" (ie the Army) didn't want me on the project anymore. No explanations, no nothing..just don't come in tomorrow. Not technically fired since I worked for the contracting company, not the Army, and they found me a new position on another project within a week. Never did get an explanation, the best we could figure is that I had somehow pissed off the Army officer who oversaw the project.
right to work needs to be repealed. Also Unions need to clean up their acts a bit more as well. Plenty of employers are above board and follow the laws but plenty of others know how to play the game. This happens everywhere. not just the USA.
Right to work laws just mean you can't be required to join a union or pay dues to get or hold a job. They have nothing to do with "at will" employment laws.
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Hey BP mgrs: you've double posted this question. Anybody doing post check in the office today?? 🤨
My father got harassed and eventually fired for taking time off for his young son's funeral arrangements. But his cold-hearted boss wasn't satisfied with that, he blacklisted my father as well, trying to ruin his career. Fortunately, my father had some connections and he managed to talk to someone who had dirt on this boss, and told my father he would take care of it. The blacklisting stopped. But I still can't understand how someone could be so cruel. And, yes, this happened in the US, where labor protections are not good, and it was probably even worse in the 1960's, when this happened.
10+ years ago got let go from a new (6 week) job the day before a huge training I organized all the materials before after being repeatedly screamed at, micromanaged, who fired or had resign EVERY other person who worked with her in the span of 6 mo. Previous position got "non renewed" after I tried supervisor/boss's past potentially life-threatening behaviors to a client (with much consultation and kindness), while being repeatedly screamed at, told I was trying to steal boss' job. Apparently was addicted to painkillers, paranoid, and unable to stay awake at work, wouldn't take himself to rehab and had the boy's club protect him. Actually in a healthy, fulfilling career with functional folks & now supervise others with kindness & concern - they couldn't break me!
our jobs got furloughed during the pandemic. i was pregnant at the time which my boss knew. had my baby. she and i had complications (we are fine now but she was in NICU for a while and i was on dr ordered bed rest) 2 days after she was born they called and said everyone was coming back and i had to be in office by that monday to keep my job. i explained that i had complications and could not leave bed under doctors orders, much less leave the hospital. i wasnt even supposed to be driving after birth. they said if i wasnt there on monday they would not hold my job. that monday they called and fired me despite calls and letters from my doctor. they then tried to tell the unemployment office i quit instead of being fired so they didnt have to pay out unemployment benefits. they lost and i got my benefits. what really sucks is they worked with veterans and i shudder to think how poorly they might be treating them and mishandling their care
My (19m) girlfriend (21f - divorced mother of three) called on her way to the hospital - her appendix almost ruptured. I was cleaning the dining room at the restaurant I worked at. Told my manager I had to leave to take care of the kids and go to the hospital. He said if I left, I was fired. "Well, I guess I don't work here anymore." Handed him the broom and my apron. I was up for 48 straight hours between the hospital and the kids. She was fine after the appendectomy. The owner of the restaurant hired me back as his assistant and eventually I made management. My girlfriend and I eventually got married and our 24th anniversary is in two weeks.
As a European, I simply cannot comprehend how little job protection Americans have.
It's the land of the free, where you are actually free from any annoying Employee rights!
Load More Replies... I once worked for a big name defense contractor, on a project for the US Army. One day my boss told me that "the customer" (ie the Army) didn't want me on the project anymore. No explanations, no nothing..just don't come in tomorrow. Not technically fired since I worked for the contracting company, not the Army, and they found me a new position on another project within a week. Never did get an explanation, the best we could figure is that I had somehow pissed off the Army officer who oversaw the project.
right to work needs to be repealed. Also Unions need to clean up their acts a bit more as well. Plenty of employers are above board and follow the laws but plenty of others know how to play the game. This happens everywhere. not just the USA.
Right to work laws just mean you can't be required to join a union or pay dues to get or hold a job. They have nothing to do with "at will" employment laws.
Load More Replies... Hey BP mgrs: you've double posted this question. Anybody doing post check in the office today?? 🤨
My father got harassed and eventually fired for taking time off for his young son's funeral arrangements. But his cold-hearted boss wasn't satisfied with that, he blacklisted my father as well, trying to ruin his career. Fortunately, my father had some connections and he managed to talk to someone who had dirt on this boss, and told my father he would take care of it. The blacklisting stopped. But I still can't understand how someone could be so cruel. And, yes, this happened in the US, where labor protections are not good, and it was probably even worse in the 1960's, when this happened.
10+ years ago got let go from a new (6 week) job the day before a huge training I organized all the materials before after being repeatedly screamed at, micromanaged, who fired or had resign EVERY other person who worked with her in the span of 6 mo. Previous position got "non renewed" after I tried supervisor/boss's past potentially life-threatening behaviors to a client (with much consultation and kindness), while being repeatedly screamed at, told I was trying to steal boss' job. Apparently was addicted to painkillers, paranoid, and unable to stay awake at work, wouldn't take himself to rehab and had the boy's club protect him. Actually in a healthy, fulfilling career with functional folks & now supervise others with kindness & concern - they couldn't break me!
our jobs got furloughed during the pandemic. i was pregnant at the time which my boss knew. had my baby. she and i had complications (we are fine now but she was in NICU for a while and i was on dr ordered bed rest) 2 days after she was born they called and said everyone was coming back and i had to be in office by that monday to keep my job. i explained that i had complications and could not leave bed under doctors orders, much less leave the hospital. i wasnt even supposed to be driving after birth. they said if i wasnt there on monday they would not hold my job. that monday they called and fired me despite calls and letters from my doctor. they then tried to tell the unemployment office i quit instead of being fired so they didnt have to pay out unemployment benefits. they lost and i got my benefits. what really sucks is they worked with veterans and i shudder to think how poorly they might be treating them and mishandling their care
