“To err is human to forgive is divine” gets floated around a lot and generally is a good mindset to have, but in a professional setting, there are some errors grievous enough that one can and will lose any potential second chances.
So one netizen wanted to know what outrageous, career-ending mistakes people had made and the internet delivered in spades. From downright malicious bosses to dangerous slip-ups, all sorts of things can ultimately get a person unemployed. Be sure to upvote your favorites and comment your own stories below.
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Showing up to work noticeably drunk (I broke my typical vodka-for-breakfast routine) and it ended everything in my life as I knew it…
But in the best way possible. I worked a corporate insurance job and was already on notice for poor performance/attendance. I went to work, and was in a black out, which wasn’t unusual, but because I drank more and added a different liquor than usual I wasn’t really functioning. My boss had a coworker Take me home. HR called and told me basically that I could take some time off and take care of my “health issues”… strongly suggested FMLA… saw my therapist that weekend— I’d been lying to him about how much I drank and desperately trying to get him to help me manage my drinking better.
Turns out I’m an alcoholic!! I checked myself in rehab and haven’t had a drink in eight years.
At that particular job, I went from being on the brink of being fired to being promoted to assistant vice president, and being sought after by competitors in my industry.
I ended my career as a drinker. And I shifted the trajectory of my life.
Quitting, drinking and reflecting on the reasons why I was drinking and learning that I can’t control jack s**t aside from my reactions and responses changed my life. I’ve been through some of the most difficult adult situations in these past eight years and I would still say that my life has only gotten better and better over time.
If you think you have a drinking problem, I say it’s worth a look at yourself. quitting drugs and alcohol is not easy, but my God it’s so worth it.
Good for you, OP. It takes a strong person to do what you've done, and even more to talk openly about it
I was opening my packages in the mailroom, using a pocket knife to slice open the package tape. Secretary came in and chatted. We’re both Italian so we gesture a lot while talking.
Sometime after the conversation, the Ops manager came down from his office and escorted me out of the building. Had forgotten the knife in my hand while talking with the the secretary and she made an accusation that I had threatened her with it during our conversation.
Was fired three days later.
I had worked with this woman for almost a decade. Helped her children with their homework etc.
Years later I learned corporate wanted to take down my boss, and started the process by going after his biggest supporters. I was the 3rd domino to fall. After I was railroaded, almost 40% of the branch’s staff left the company. I guess the secretary was in on it, and leapt at any excuse to take me out.
Shame. Really loved that job. And got fired when my first child was due in only four weeks. Was very demoralizing for quite a while.
A workplace that is so underhanded that they are ok with employees losing their income and being collateral damage to a larger more underhanded scheme? You dodged a bullet there, mate.
Led and recruited a sales team. One of the female sellers admitted that our CEO was sexually harassing her. Got her to confess to our Sales Manager. Found out that more of our female staff had similar experiences so i rallied them as i needed evidence before proceeding. CEO got an ear full from HR. Proceeds to pressure all his female victims until one of them drops my name. I get fired.
Time to get the police involved, I think. And any employment rights authorities you have in your area
Most errors and mistakes end up remaining internal, nothing but an unhappy memory for all involved. But add in a live broadcast and a microphone and we can still “enjoy” some particularly public mistakes to this day. Football (the one where you actually kick the ball) presenters Richard Keys and Andy Gray unknowingly broadcasted their opinion that a female referee wouldn’t understand offside rules. Both lost their jobs.
Networks are pretty quick to dump workers who make such mistakes, but politicians tend to have a bit more staying power. In 1997 Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien joked around with some other Prime Ministers that U.S. politicians would all be in jail for selling votes in nearly any other country.
Went on a first date with a girl who turned out to be a horrible person 20mins in, I did what I could to get out of it because she was telling stories about crazy things she’d done and was proud of. I didn’t pull anything to get out of it, just dodged land mines and asked a ton of questions about her so I could get out of it sooner. Then said I wasn’t feeling the connection and I wanted to be honest so we didn’t waste each others time.
Found out a week later that she contacted my previous employers, because she found my LinkedIn, told them all stories about how I talked a ton of s**t about them all. And now I can’t get a reference from my previous 3 jobs… and people I was on good terms with.
All because I went on a date with a psychopath.
FFS. And I, as a woman, feel this is exactly why we as a society need to recognise that men can be victims of spousal abuse too. She's also why authorities don't always believe women who actually have been abused.
One of the Directors wasn't happy with some work I'd done, started poking me hard with his finger to punctuate his comments. I punctuated back considerably more forcefully.
A guy I knew got fired for sleeping with the boss's daughter
Nothing dodgy, entirely above board - he didn't even know they were related and had never met her before
They met on a night out, he went back to her (parents') place and they had sex. No problems, no drama etc.
The next morning they got dressed and she was showing him to the door when her dad... his boss... walked out of the kitchen
IMO that's pretty f****d up - they were consenting adults, he had no idea it was his boss's daughter. No significant age difference, she wasn't wasted or anything, she'd never worked at (or AFAIK even visited) the company when my friend was there or even met him
Another way to end up with a particularly well-known mistake is if there is enough money involved. In the world of financial markets, these are called “fat finger errors,” where someone hits the wrong keys (easy to do with fat fingers) and sends out a trade with wildly incorrect amounts. In 2006 a trader at Mizuho Securities in Japan short-sold a stock and ended up making the company spend around ¥40 billion to fix it. This would be about 288,084,775.00 United States Dollars in 2023.
Not exactly a “career” but i worked in a fast food spot that didn’t have any air conditioning, and theres a workers law where i live that states once it gets to a certain temp in the building they legally can’t stay open. I brought a thermometer to work
We don't have the same law in the UK (other than in schools), but I worked in a disaster office that would reach 35°C+ in summer (95°F). Our bosses complained to the directors but got nowhere. When I brought in a thermometer to make a point, they celebrated by dragging one of the directors in. His eyes widened when he walked into our oven (sorry, office), and when he saw the temperature he got the air con fixed, and we were allowed to open our windows until it did. I have since found out that while there is no specific max temperature, employers have a duty of care to provide a safe working environment, and cannot penalise workers who leave because the environment isn't safe to be in. Wish I'd known that at the time - a full department walk-out might have made our point nicely.
Didn't happen to me. But I remember a coworker of mine getting fired because he put laxatives in his own lunch bag. Some d******d kept stealing parts of our lunches. Turned out, it was our supervisor.
Edit: Jesus Christ...that's a lot of upvotes
Edit 2: I'm not to keen on the specifics since that coworker and I weren't exactly friends or anything. Just kind of had simple conversations during lunch and whatnot. Apparently it is illegal to poison food with malicious intent. And some of my friends who worked there said he got into some legal trouble because of it. Nothing came of it from what I heard. But that's about all I know.
Tried to get better pay for my workers. Corporate did not like that.
How dare you try to eat into their profit margins and multi-figure bonuses /s
Similarly, Deutsche Bank on accident sent $6 billion to a hedge fund in 2015. This was a result of a junior employee putting in the wrong number while their boss was on vacation. The error was later rectified, but it does make one wonder why these mistakes never end with a bank depositing $6 billion in my bank account.
Called the HR lady the “angel of death” to a coworker on chat. (HR was in a different state, so any time they came to town we all knew it was most likely to lay off people ). Angel of death came to get me shortly after 😂😂
Kind of the opposite.
I worked at a second hand electronics store, a dude came in with a PS2 to sell. I noticed the serial number was scratched off and thought that was a concern, but processed it anyway.
It went through testing, came back greenlit and I assumed that meant that it was ok.
Assumed wrong, management sacked my a*s an hour later.
Went home, re-evaluated my life choices, and that year went back to college. Got my A-levels, then my degree, and now Ive been a software engineer for almost 10 years.
The scratched-out serial number should have prompted you to call a manager and make it their decision what to do.
I was a part time intern making $9 an hour (USD) and my boss asked if I had any plans for the weekend. I had said I was going to buy a new car (very much old and used as that's what I could afford) and he asked if I was buying a brand new car. My response was that my budget isn't big enough for a new car and a couple weeks later during my 1 year review my manager said they didn't have the work for me and that I was disrespectful for telling the boss I didn't make enough money. At the time I was living comfortably as a college student just needed different transportation. I tried not to be disrespectful but apparently I was.
While not career-breaking, actors messing up lines in front of a camera is a pretty common bit of entertainment for all of us to enjoy later. Many contemporary films will post gag or blooper reels later, but these exist for a variety of media. Leonard Nimoy, most famous as the emotionless and logical Spock famously cracked up when he misdelivered the line "The plants act as a repository" and instead said, "The plants act as a suppository."
Getting promoted to supervisor started the dominoes falling.
I worked at a prison. I had been there for about 7 years and I knew I was most qualified, so I applied for the open sergeants position. I got it, which is where this story starts.
As a sergeant, it was my job to do investigations and document the findings whenever an inmate alleged his life was in danger. I would do the investigation and do a report on my findings, and it would get sent to the warden for them to interpret the evidence and make a final decision.
So, one day, an inmate gets beat up on a building I was in charge of. This inmate had never spoken to me, and had never told anyone he was having friction with his cell mate. Well, when questioned about it, the inmate said he had told me he needed to be moved and I told him I would. Initially, my supervisors believed him, but after I pulled up the surveillance camera that showed i had never even gotten down to that area that night due to being on a mission from another one of my supervisors all night, they admitted I hadn't talked to him. However, the higher ups needed someone to blame and because it was my area, I got the blame, and got fired.
As a side note, I was salty about getting fired because I cared about my job but I wouldn't go back if they begged me. I have a much better job now and the prison is so short staffed because of how they treat their people, the officers are stuck doing 16 hour days, 6 days a week. No thank you.
Edit: f**k it, what are they gonna do? This was the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.
i took a half day off for a doctor's appointment. it ran longer than i thought. i texted my boss that i'd be a bit later than expected.
i got home 1 hour past the allotted time for a half day and missed a meeting. i was fired the next day. "an hour isn't 'a bit.'" i'd been at the company for 6 years. it took me 6 months to find a new job in a different field. but i'm much happier with the work i'm doing now.
If I was late, usually due to public transport delays, I'd text my manager that I'd be at least 3x longer delayed, so a 30min delay would be "I'll be about 1:30 late" so they were pleasantly surprised I got in much earlier than expected
Derailed it a bit, took some years to recover.
Got security responsibilities added to my duties as sysadmin at a small university. Was asked by my boss' boss, the IT director, to do a security audit. He asked me to report on the audit at a department meeting.
I asked if I could present my results to him privately instead and have him present to the meeting, but he insisted I could take care of it.
My report showed major security holes, demonstrations of tests of said holes and recommendations for patching said holes. Many of the patches were at the level of "change the administrator password from 'password' to something less obvious".
As my political acumen was near zero at the time I didn't realize how the report on major security problems made the IT Director look completely incompetent in front of the entire department - he had built and configured the campus computer system pretty much on his own, at least in his mind, and was quite proud of his accomplishment.
He suspended me on the spot, demoted me and tried to convince the university to fire me and try to bring me up on criminal charges for hacking into the university's computer systems.
Ah the joys of showing up the boss by just being competent in your work.
These can be so popular that certain animated films will include them, most famously Pixar, which animates scenes of the characters messing up their lines. This creates an interesting parallel universe where, for example, Woody is just a character played by a toy. And if it wasn’t already clear, Pixar films are animated, so there can’t be bloopers, at least not in the sense that we think of them, so this was all just extra content for the viewer to enjoy.
Built a castle out of Christmas chocolate biscuit boxes in the warehouse of a major retailer on a night shift and proceeded to fall asleep in it for a few hours.
Sent an email to someone I thought was helping me, threw me under the bus
Details of ny story: hired for contract job. Make " friends" with co-worker. Coffe breaks, lunches, etc. I got sick, in hospital for days. Work reassigned to others. Come back, was told" take it easy". Complained to "friend" i had no work. She encouraged ne to just coast. Then she started asking me if i was " feeling better".Once I said yes, i was notified days kater that i was no longer needed. Shoukd have known not to trust her when my cat ( always very chill ) hissed at her.
I sent a scathing email about my boss directly to my boss. It wasn't meant for him. To this day I still have no idea what possessed me to put his name in the address bar. I noticed his name the exact moment I hit send. You have never felt that much panic.
Talked about comp to another employe. They told the manager about it. Got fired. The good part is it’s illegal and the idiot created a paper trail around it. They settled out of court for way more than they would have saved by people not talking about comp.
"Comp" as in compensation, not comp time? In many countries including the US it's perfectly legal to talk about compensation. Comp time, on the other hand, is often "under the table" and I can imagine someone getting in trouble for that.
Call centre taking a manager call, put the chap on hold and comforted the teammember "he is a bit of an arsehole isn't he"... Forgot to also put the call on mute and he requested a call recording... Whoops!
Then while on suspension, I broke my leg, and went to my hearing after far too little sleep and too much tramadol. When they asked me what the impact of my actions was, I said it was "crippling". Far too pleased with that pun to give a f**k about the outcome.
Spent the next few months coasting through bills selling bits and bats; eventually got into marketing, a win in the long run!
I worked in public relations agencies for quite a long time, and mostly hated every minute of it. I didn't really understand what I was doing, but felt trapped in the business because I couldn't think of anything else I'd be able to do.
I got into it because around 2005-2010 social media was just becoming a big thing and old-school PR agencies would hire anybody who knew anything about Twitter, Facebook and all these exciting new channels. Pretty much all I had to do was show up to meetings and enthusiastically explain what social media was to confused old business dinosaurs.
So even though I knew nothing about PR and didn't really understand how agencies work, I quickly got over-promoted and for the first time in my life found I was in high demand, so I was getting paid more money than ever before. However, eventually social wasn't seen as such a big deal any more, so I found myself just trying to do whatever work they threw at me, hoping I could keep hold of that sweet salary for a little longer.
But because I wasn't into the job at all, I was always procrastinating, and I'd pull late nights to get work done at the last minute.
One day my boss asked to see my progress on a big client presentation that wasn't due for another week. I literally hadn't done a single thing on it, and I tried to bluster my way out of it, but the s**t hit the fan and I got fired.
Overnight I found I could no longer get interviews at agencies that used to be desperate for "social media experts" to work for them, and really started to worry about how I'd find another job.
In the end it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, because out of desperation I took a temporary 3-month contract to do some basic marketing stuff at a small tech company and before my contract expired the company got bought by a bigger company.
They decided they needed a marketing director for my region, and because I was sitting in the right chair at the time, I got promoted and given a permanent contract. I was given plenty of time and space to figure out how to do the job as the company grew, so I felt much more comfortable in the role, not like I was constantly making it up as I went along.
Been there 7 years, love the job and the people, and earn more money than I ever thought I would.
I got written up and pushed out of the company for farting in the wrong place.
To be fair, I was working in our microbiology QA group at a big pharmaceutical manufacturing company that made contact solution and other stuff. It was Thursday because that was taco soup day and this particular day it was extra spicy.
To get into the fill room, you have to spend like 45 minutes getting dressed in sterile room garb without touching the outside of your suits. It's quite the dance. So I'm in there sampling 100+ points of contact around the fill needle and my stomach starts grumbling. It's the end of the day, I don't want to leave and get dressed again. I look around and there are a few ladies working upstream on the conveyor belt looking for jams or whatever, and immediately after the fill needle, it goes out a little cutout in the window to be immediately packaged. The fill room itself has these cascading air pressures blowing away from the fill needle and is super loud.
So, that's my spot, I start to sample in that area, and let out a little 'pffffrrrrrrrrrrt!'. I feel better and go about my business. But then I start to hear this MOOOP MOOOP sound. Now, we have alarms, it's a stack of lights every few feet and a high pitched red light is a jam in the tracks somewhere, a blue alarm is something else, but this time a yellow alarm is going off. I look around unconcerned and see the ladies upstream are laughing their asses off. I look out to the packaging area and everyone is staring in the window at me. The line boss bangs on the window and demands that I see him outside.
There are hydrogen sulfide sensors around the sensitive areas of the line. That's because farts cause pink eye and I had just contaminated product. Thousands of bottles were thrown away and the line had to be purged for minutes before and after the 'incident'.
It took 15 minutes to properly disrobe, the whole time the rest of my QA department came to stare and laugh at me through the windows (you don't get naked l and they have to supervise you changing to make sure you do it right). When I got out, I had to sign several forms that claimed that I, Fr0thbeard, farted in the fill room. I got written up for it, but in my defence, so did the guy who trained me since he didn't mention the yellow alarms apparently. My boss let me go home early and I was forced out soon after.
If this was a company cafeteria he ate at, serving spicy taco soup seems like you're just asking for trouble...
Way late to this, so it will probably get buried, but oh well.
I used to be an arborist. I specialised in awkward tree removals, preferably big trees with structural issues and loads breakable, non movable objects (e.g. buildings, etc) around that needed to not be damaged.
My career was to the point where other local companies would call the company a worked for and ask if they could hire me out for a job that they were worried about. This isn't meant to be braggy, I'm definitely not proud of who I was at this time in my life.
I took pride in the fact that I would climb almost anything. I used to love working, turning up every day and being pointed towards a sketchy tree and having a big adventure taking it down. Looking back, though, it was the most egotistical I've ever been in my life. I was a show off, I was extremely competitive towards anyone who i thought had similar or, god forbid, superior abilities to me, and I *needed* to be seen as fearless and a cut above the rest (no pun intended). I even got to the point where I would be incredibly rude to the ground crews if I thought they weren't working hard enough and were going to cause me to complete the job at a less impressive speed.
Anyway in all my hubris I agreed to climb a tree that never should have been climbed, and only by sheer luck avoided being squashed like a bug between the trunk and the roof of an outbuilding when the tree decided to fall over as I was half way up getting ready to cut the second branch of the day off.
I was mostly uninjured, but the mental toll was quite large. I totally lost my edge and started getting jittery and even backing out of perfectly stable trees. Ended up having to take a pay cut, nobody was requesting me anymore, that's for sure. I also developed vertigo, and any time i was up a tree it felt as if the tree was falling and the ground was rushing up at me. I couldn't sleep any night when I knew I had work the next day (which is most nights when you think about it). And I started having crazy anxious moments where my heart would beat really fast. I carried on like it for 2 years with minimal improvement because I had financial responsibilities and no skills for anything else.
Luckily, I was eventually able to get work as a consultant in the same industry, which is a mixture of office based work and site visits that involve looking at trees instead of climbing them. But my career as a climber is definitely over.
A guy I worked with was caught stealing 2 cigarettes from a colleagues bag. Was on a six-figure salary. Not any more!
I was the assistant director at a summer camp. One of the very last nights was a sleepover night where all of the campers were there, but not all of the regular day staff.
Two of the counsellors were caught drinking beer, and in an attempt to weasel his way out, one of them told the head of the camp that I gave him permission to do so (I most definitely had not).
While I didn’t get fired on the spot or have my year end bonus withheld like the other two, I was told I wouldn’t be asked back again for next year where there had already been talks of me being a full director in the future.
Didn't get any sleep the night before (answering calls from a store in need) and did not take the next day off when I needed it. Ended up speaking my mind in front of a corporate liason...
No me- my fiancee before she met me. She reported a board member of a bank to HR for repeatedly sexually harassing her and groping her. Her fifteen year very successful career as a VP at that bank was over a week later. They said take your buyout / settlement offer or we will drag you through the courts for years. Never got another job in banking again. To this day she says she should have kept her mouth shut.
Working at a builders’ merchants.
Customer calls to place order over the phone (not unusual) and wants to give me the card details there and then (red flag). I initially refused but another member of staff vouched for them as they were regulars. Put the order through, knowing that whoever came to collect would need to come into the office for their paperwork before loading so we would have them on CCTV if it did turn out to be suspect…..only the yard crew didn’t follow process. When a van turned up for the goods, they loaded it all up and sent them away without asking for any kind of ID or manifest.
The payment card was later reported as stolen and the staff member who vouched for the customer denied even being in that day, which was a f*****g lie as she never took time off. I got fired and everyone else got to keep their jobs.
i saw a video once of a nurse explaining why she lost her job and nursing license - she took a photo of her entire emergency department track board with all the patients names, birthdays, and complaints and accidentally posted it on her public snapchat story. It was meant for her friend but everyone saw it and someone notified the hospital.
edit: forgot to add that this whole fiasco was because she wanted to show her friend how the doctor misspelled something
This one is absolutely justified. Even sending that to a friend is a massive breach of confidentiality.
Apparently not sucking up to management can sometimes be career limiting 🙄…simply being friendly and doing a good job isn’t always enough it seems…you have to really boost the already inflated ego of some senior colleagues to get ahead at times…
Most definitely. The last company I worked with was rather "culty" about their CEO who, to me, didn't seem all that great. Very glad I'm no longer there.
I fell down a flight of concrete steps and broke my back. I was a very successful dog trainer and my clients were supposed to deice their stairs in the winter and they didn't. I ended up lying in the snow for over 45 minutes before crawling to my car. I had to have my tail bone removed (coccydectomy) and I'm now handicapped from the waist down, although I can still walk (I have a cane for bad days and I stay in bed on flareup days). I was making $60-$100 an hour and now I get $850 off of disability for the month. And no, I didn't get a penny out of a lawsuit or a settlement or anything like that because I was too afraid to even tell my boss what happened because it was a very small business and I just couldn't afford to lose my job. Instead I lost my life.
Putting my faith in the person 'training' me...
This led to me being fired after only 3 months. I usually stay at jobs for a couple of years and I've never been fired before or since.
Thankfully, it didn't fully end my career, but I've struggled to get new jobs in the same sector ever since. Luckily I can do the same job, but in different (less lucrative) sectors.
It all happened because I thought someone was helping me, when actually she was actually a back-stabbing B*.
She was helping train me and explaining some VERY complicated inner workings of our company. She essentially explained how *"Internally we talk about some products/services as 'B2C' and other products/services as 'B2B'. We don't talk like this to customers though, only internally."* (Sorry I have to be a bit vague here, otherwise explaining everything would take a whole Reddit post).
What she said made perfect sense and it helped me understand some nuances in our services.
A week or so later I was in a big meeting with lots of team leads trying to sort out a problem with a product that we were launching. And I asked the guy leading the meeting: *"So just to be clear, is this to do with the ''B2B' products? I'm a little unclear."*
He looked at me like I was going crazy. *"B2B? I don't understand. What are you talking about?"*
Me: *"You know, how 'X' products are B2C. But 'Y' products are B2B and that helps us categorise them internally for projects like this."*
The guy just stared at me like I was weird. I turned to the girl who 'helped' train me. I kind of mumbled *"How did you explain it the other day?"*
She looked me dead in the eye balls, piercing the window of my soul, and said with a perfectly straight face: *"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."*
So she made me look like a total idiot in front of all the team leads, which ruined my credibility.
When I had my monthly 360 performance review, I had really negative feedback from the team leads and she (as my trainer) had given me really bad feedback about "not listening during training". Which was total BS.
That incident didn't get me fired immediately. But she systematically worked out ways to make it look like I wasn't doing my job properly. So after 3 months, my probation period was coming to an end and HR saw my performance reviews and the reports that I "wasn't doing the work" (even though I was) and they said *"We have to part ways."*
To this day, I still have no idea why she did this.
We were doing similar jobs, but different enough that I wasn't stepping on her toes. We were also at the same seniority and pay grade. And I generally get along with everyone, I definitely didn't say anything rude or mean to her to make her dislike me.
So I can't see a good reason for her to want me fired, other than she didn't like my face or something.
She acted so nice to me during training and around the office. I didn't know about all the negative stuff until it was too late.
F-you, Sarah!
B2B and B2C are terms that make total sense. I'd be more worried about the rest of the staff, honestly
Reported sexual assault and couldn’t prove it. That f****r is still working in the same restaurant seven years later and I had to go into IT and abandon my dream to be a head chef. Hate it but I make more now, so I cook at home and call it a day
Old guy in my department f****d up.
Big.
Had been there a million years, was getting close to retirement, and was literally crying. I tried talking him down but he was beside himself with worry, so I told him - I'll take the fall. It's not that bad.
I took the fall, he proceeded to go full "I tried to warn him, he wouldn't listen, I couldn't stop him." to the bosses on review. I had already admitted to "my" mistake, and was told that my contract would not be renewed after that quarter.
So I walked that day.
Lost the house (no job market), had to move across the state, lived in a spare bedroom at my f*****g MOTHER'S house with my wife and kids for a year.
I'm better for it. Better job, better pay, regarded as one of the best in my field and have climbed the ranks to bossman. New house, nice car, everyone is better off for it...
...but I STILL occasionally have nightmares about getting fired for "my" f**k up.
Work colleagues are (usually) not friends. That's an important lesson most people learn sooner or later.
I wrote my first film script too young. This was before any prior writing courses.
Was denied from every producer sitting behind the table.
Killed my writing motivation for 12 years. But this month, I’m trying again. Gotta keep fighting for it.
Keep trying. C.S Lewis received over 800 rejections. (No, not a script writer, I know)
Just an advice, stay away from personal issues of other employees.
The temptation will be there.
The savior syndrome will kick in.
But resist it.
People will trap you into conversations as simple as "hike not enough" which will turn into "XYZ sleeping with the boss"
And before you know it, you will be the one blamed for every rumour that exists.
Even in team outings, speak only the bare minimum required.
An ex-colleague was WFH, the W did not stand for Work unfortunately. Was asked to send something to his boss, took a screenshot which included all his open p**n tabs on the Windows bar, and sent it to about 10 people. He was sacked the same day, this was a year ago and he is still out of work.
I worked full time to a company contracted to do onsite IT for a school district. A teacher asked me about a cart of MacBooks we were working on for her. My mistake may* have been talking to her in a noisy classroom, because for some reason, "They should be done in a week," turned into, "I'll do them when I get to them, probably next summer."
The superintendent sent an email, I refuted it and stated my intentions well, that this school was my number one priority and that I'd never be so rude (I can honestly say both of those were true). My boss was pissed, told me it didn't look good, and after trying to argue my case, I was fired a few days later.
Wouldn't be career ending if I didn't find out they blacklisted me from half my surrounding area. Not through any official means, but since word spread fast all of the people I never worked with would s**t talk me to their clients. I know of at least two companies where that was the direct reason I wasn't considered. I had to start using short term contracting companies for jobs. They didn't work out well either. Followed that up with a mental breakdown, physical illness, dad died, and several more things. I will likely die before I see the other side of this.
I really liked that school.
Worked retail pharmacy for 10(ish) years.
One day in the drive thru we had a belligerent patient. Guy's doc sent his script to our other chain about 1.5 miles down the road. We were on the same street, addresses get mixed up all the time. No biggie, give me 10 minutes and I'll have it ready...
Dude just starts laying into me for no reason. Calls me an idiot. Calls me incompetent. Says he knows where his doctor sent it and I'm a lazy, lying piece of s**t. Etc, etc. After a few MINUTES going back and forth, with this guy yelling loud enough in my drive thru that other staff inside the store can hear him, I tell him he needs to leave and find a new pharmacy.
Guy lays into me again. Refuses to leave. I tell him "F**k off or I'm calling the police."
Apparently that was over the line for my company. No interview with HR. No discipline. No suspension. Just straight up fired my a*s about 3 weeks later after "internal investigation".
Stood up for a colleague who was being unfairly targetted in a team meeting. Promised I'd hear out his project idea and see if there was any validity to his bold claims.
Turns out everything was a lie and I sided with someone the organisation was trying to get rid of. Didn't go well with my superiors but I'd say it was a career ending move.
France, almost 20 years ago. Big company, 180+ employees. A computer server crashed because the air conditioning was broken, because one of the bosses was no longer paying for maintenance. The IT manager couldn't restart the server because the backup was corrupted too. He was dismissed, and his assistant too: "because he was friends with him". Ok for the IT manager, even if it's not directly his fault. But the assistant was not concerned and I found that deeply unfair. I wrote down my testimony about it and gave it to the assistant's lawyer. Some time later, I was also fired for asking where the finances were to replace my obsolete computer.… At the "prudhommes" trial, my testimony came out and the director of the company was furious. I was happy for the assistant. (the company lost the case)
Not one mistake, per se, but a variety of incidents that made it clear that (at the time) I was clearly unsuited to work in a retail store directly with customers. After getting fired from my third store in eight years, I got the message and went back to school for IT.
That decision was the start of a 35-year career in state service, working with mainframe computers in various capacities. And...making way more than I ever would have selling TVs.
Know your strengths and weaknesses... Dealing with customers on a daily basis isn't easy, and definitely not for everyone.
Standing up for the quality of our project's software over minority under-representation. Had a team member who was untouchable because of their URM status. But this person managed to be on the project for 15 months without contributing a single line of code. There was always an excuse why they couldn't finish a task, attend a meeting, or seek help from someone else on the team to finish their work. My negative feedback to management was constant, and ignored, and I was asked to work through it. When I finally broke, I was the one who was asked to leave.
And this is why people should never be employed solely to tick a box. I'm not saying that companies shouldn't employ minorities (I'm female, queer, and disabled - hello minority), just that those people should also actually be willing and able to do their job. This person was clearly milking their untouchable status
Mistake? Idk. The company clearly wanted people to come back to the office. I thought they valued me and would work with me in my desire to work from home as it was the best situation for me to do my best work. I got a 4mo severeness and a new job for the same pay working from home 🤷 I collected two paychecks for two months and am still getting stock awards. 😎
I told the truth about a work place accident. They told me if I lied I would still have a job. Basically they wanted to be lied to and not hear the truth or have it brought up. So you would rather employ some one who lies then someone who is honest?
Graduated from police academy, took local town tests and went through the interview process. When it came to the background check I was asked “Other than your current employment, do you have any additional earned income (real estate, stock investments, etc). I answer no.
When it came time to take the polygraph I was asked if there was anything I didn’t mention in the background packet that I thought they needed to know about. I told them I was receiving disability compensation with the VA for my time in service, but didn’t think that met the definition of earned income. The guy administering the test said no big deal. I took the poly 3 times and passed all 3.
A week goes by I get a call to come in to meet with the detectives. I think I’m being offered the job. 23 years-old making a great salary doing what I always wanted to do. Instead, they told me I was disqualified for lying on my background packet. That I intentionally withheld information about my income.
I went on several interviews after in other towns and the only thing the departments were interested in was why I didn’t get hired in that first town, and I had to explain. I never got hired anywhere and had to get a new career altogether.
What one mistake ended my career? Opening my mouth and being honest when I shouldn’t have.
Tried to charge an obscene amount for API access to my social media platform. Killing off 3rd party apps in the process.
It was a big oopsie.
Didn't end my career, but set me back a couple of years.
Senior IT leader was making a horrible decision. I told him behind closed doors it was a bad decision. Said he was going forward and I asked him for his plan. He had none. I did not work for this IT leader, but worked as a project manager that had tech heavy projects.
He sends an email to company staff on change and stated that I would be working the project to assist them.
Mind you I have no idea on the project, plan, details, nothing. And it was not under my job description.
This was right after our earlier conversaion on that he had no plan.
So I reply all and state, I was not aware I was working this project and asked for some guidance on what his plan for implementation. This was a red flag to staff that something was not right.
As this was going on, I was up for a promotion and the IT leader complained to CEO and he decided to stop my promotion because of the email.
The CEO ended up quitting 1 year later and the new CEO promoted me. But I found that the CEO and IT leader had bad mouthed me to other org leaders and it took years to shake the gossip.
Lifting wrong. 14 years of arboriculture coming to an end now. Not sure of the next job.
I asked why we are paying people massive salaries who aren't working at us anymore, while most of us haven't seen any increases or bonuses for 5+ years.
Accepted to lead a team of freelancers in a high stakes project while being a middleweight contributor, because my boss was in an awards festival. Someone from the global office put a boss from another company of the same holding to keep tabs on us halfway through the project. The guy turned the project upside down, would ask us to have things done by 9AM only to show up at 4PM and ask to redo everything for the next day. After three weeks doing that (amounting to 230h of work) and getting nowhere, I arrived home hearing my heart beat very loudly and decided to never work in that industry again.
Even in a different industry, I still have PTSD and can’t bother to work a minute past official clock-off.
i brought my kid to work with me so i didn’t have to call out—i needed the money. it was an afterschool program at a school. i worked off site so i thought i was good—my coworker ratted me out. i lost my job two weeks ago. i’m not sure what’s next.
Wow! They fired you for bringing your own kid to an after school program, that's for after school kids. Talk about irony! Hope things work out.
Had a workplace accident - fall from height.
Didn't get fired but broke enough bones that I'll never work in that industry again
Not me but my best friend. He found a stash of p**n on a network computer that belonged to the boss, then showed it to everyone. Ended up working in a supermarket after that, and said half the people there had criminal records.
When he showed the boss's porn to everyone, what was he expecting? A medal from the League of Decency?
I was involved with the secretary. We thought we were both discrete, but everyone knew.
EDIT: To clarify, we had a policy that said coworkers cannot engage in relationships. We broke the rules. I hated the place and took all the blame yo keep her from getting canned too. It wasn't a full blown relationship yet, we were just starting out. Also, that's all people did was gossip about stuff that was none of their business.
Bad English + autocorrect = chaos theory
I tried to get our boss to speak with my colleagues who were harassed by a middle manager. He first scheduled a meeting with them, then canceled it and asked me to talk to the middle manager. After that I was accused by him of being a toxic employee in the workplace even though I wasn't actually part in any of the drama surrounding my colleagues or the middle manager.
I just tried to help out because they though it was no use to talk to the boss. They were right.
Made the mistake of trusting my boss to be a good person (and not a corporate slave worried about his own standing in the company) and telling him about an opportunity that came my way and genuinely asked for his advice.
I told him I could stay on for up to 2-3 months as he needed to help ease any new team members into the role.
Two days later I was called in by the HR and told me that my last working day was 2 weeks from that meeting.
Lost my other opportunity also (I don’t know if my boss had anything to do with it or not)
Needed to move out of the country as I was on a visa that didn’t allow me to stay on. Essentially ending what was possibly a very promising career.
Had a psychotic break.
I was in college Track and Field as a Thrower. I would practice for three hours, lift weights for two hours. One night I practiced more than usual, must’ve exhausted my body, and I tore three ligaments in one knee during a throw. My coach and I were both bummed, but I had to quit the sport. The thought of not being able to be mobile when I’m just growing into adulthood, and the thought of maybe not being able to play with my kids in the future? I couldn’t bear the thought of it. I was very excited about the prospect of going to the Olympics, and although it would have been arduous road I was showing promise. Despite that, I’ll never be the guy who says out loud “Yeaahhh I woulda gone pro but, *clicks tongue* ol knee went out on meh”
I trusted the owner to be a man of his word.
Turns out, as I was warned, he’s a c**t.
Get it in writing always. Cover your a$$. Best advice I ever got.
Harassment by an HR manager. I had to quit. F**k her.
I needed to hand in a form. I found an old form in my folder. It was already filled out properly but it had the wrong date on it. So I put white out on it and changed the date. When I handed it in my boss saw the white out and asked about it. I told her. She said I couldn't do that and she would have to inform corporate. About 3 weeks later they fired me for it
Had poor time management, both getting to work and at work.
I quit before I could get fired in 2021: the owner of the bar I was managing had made it a habit of being a díck to me at any chance. Well, he knew I never worked Tuesdays cuz I have a weekly appointment with my therapist; he decided to call me after my appointment and attempt to berate me about my bar not having french fries (despite it having been HIS scheduled weekly chore to make sure the right food was at the right bar). I lost my shít on him. He's a garbage person and I should have listened to my instincts and never taken the job in the first place.
Refused to hire my boss' pet director's personal friend over more qualified candidates. State government job - super, SUPER illegal. Reported it to HR, got told by my boss that I was being biased and unfair. Left shortly afterward after making sure that the unqualified nepo-buddy wouldn't be hired.
I worked for a 496 unit apartment community. Did have a few disciplinary issues over the 11 years there. The last time was because the assistant manager was off and I had extra maintenance duties added she didn't know about. When she came back got mad because I had to work overtime on Sunday to catch up. Corporate manager got involved and decided I was in the wrong for fighting with her over this issue. Instead of firing me, I was offered to resign so it would look better on future job applications. Realized years later it was so they didn't have to pay their part of unemployment benefits. Have owned my own company 21 years now and made a lot more money than I'd ever have made there.
I was 19 or 20 and was a cleaner and dishwasher in a restaurant I worked at since 15. My gf (recently divorced with three young kids) called me and said that she had to go to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Since her ex was a deadbeat, she asked me to take care of the kids until her mom could help. I told my friend (who was recently made kitchen manager) and he said I couldn't leave - the owner had told him he couldn't play favorites if he got the promotion and he misunderstood the assignment. I said it was an emergency and he said if I left I was fired. I handed him the broom and my apron, said "I guess I don't work here anymore", and left. Between taking care of the kids and going to the hospital, I didn't sleep for over 48 hours.
Plot twist. The owner hired me back to clean front of house a few days later. My buddy (we were still friends) came up to me and asked if I could help them out as the night dishwasher called in sick. Before I could say yes, the owner said "No, you fired him. He works for me." Eventually, I became his assistant and was put in charge of the kitchen... over the manager...
Load More Replies...
To me it shows how f****d up the labour laws in the US are. In so many examples here you could've sued the company in my country
Not me, but saw it happen. Arrogant middle manager in very large consumer goods organization blocked a fire exit with a piece of equipment and the proceeded to viciously berate a subordinate for moving it. Went so far as to threaten the subordinate with their job for doing so. Subordinate is still there while middle manager was escorted out and wound up stocking shelves for the local cola distribution center. Threw away a lifer job in a huge company just because he wanted to pick a fight with someone under him. Good job Kurt!
I used to work as a PSO (Phone s#x Operator) and I made pretty good money and I was employed there between 2001-2003. The way it was set up was that I had to go into the building like an office. I worked 6 days a week for 6 hours and was paid weekly. I would bring home about 700 after tax. I met this girl there and we clicked and became friends. We both smoked weed and hung out a lot. She even told me that she did not have a lot of friends and didn't know why no one liked her lol. Well, one day she tells me she cant smoke pot anymore because she is pregnant and I was like, I feel ya on that but I am not about to stop because you got knocked up. Things go well for a minute and one night I needed to buy a couple of dime bags. A guy, who also worked as a PSO for the men's line, had some to sell. We go outside but still on the premise, to make the deal. She looks at me and says, "You are so lucky that I was here because if it was anyone else, I would have been fired." She told, I was fired
Wait, what? Why did she say that SHE would have been fired?
Load More Replies... ADHD, oh I totally agree with you. I have wanted to do it quite a few times at work, but I never had.
Thanks, Tabitha. It really sucks, but sometimes the @ssholes win. Nothing to do but keep going.
I was about 24 working at a pharmacy as a cashier. One day, I wasn't feeling well and barfed in the parking lot so I couldn't come in. Few days later found out why my stomach was bothering me in the worst way possible: I bled through my underwear, and I didn't notice because the uniform called for black pants, so I had to leave early. The next day I went in, and they fired me for bodily functions.
I quit before I could get fired in 2021: the owner of the bar I was managing had made it a habit of being a díck to me at any chance. Well, he knew I never worked Tuesdays cuz I have a weekly appointment with my therapist; he decided to call me after my appointment and attempt to berate me about my bar not having french fries (despite it having been HIS scheduled weekly chore to make sure the right food was at the right bar). I lost my shít on him. He's a garbage person and I should have listened to my instincts and never taken the job in the first place.
Refused to hire my boss' pet director's personal friend over more qualified candidates. State government job - super, SUPER illegal. Reported it to HR, got told by my boss that I was being biased and unfair. Left shortly afterward after making sure that the unqualified nepo-buddy wouldn't be hired.
I worked for a 496 unit apartment community. Did have a few disciplinary issues over the 11 years there. The last time was because the assistant manager was off and I had extra maintenance duties added she didn't know about. When she came back got mad because I had to work overtime on Sunday to catch up. Corporate manager got involved and decided I was in the wrong for fighting with her over this issue. Instead of firing me, I was offered to resign so it would look better on future job applications. Realized years later it was so they didn't have to pay their part of unemployment benefits. Have owned my own company 21 years now and made a lot more money than I'd ever have made there.
I was 19 or 20 and was a cleaner and dishwasher in a restaurant I worked at since 15. My gf (recently divorced with three young kids) called me and said that she had to go to the hospital for an emergency appendectomy. Since her ex was a deadbeat, she asked me to take care of the kids until her mom could help. I told my friend (who was recently made kitchen manager) and he said I couldn't leave - the owner had told him he couldn't play favorites if he got the promotion and he misunderstood the assignment. I said it was an emergency and he said if I left I was fired. I handed him the broom and my apron, said "I guess I don't work here anymore", and left. Between taking care of the kids and going to the hospital, I didn't sleep for over 48 hours.
Plot twist. The owner hired me back to clean front of house a few days later. My buddy (we were still friends) came up to me and asked if I could help them out as the night dishwasher called in sick. Before I could say yes, the owner said "No, you fired him. He works for me." Eventually, I became his assistant and was put in charge of the kitchen... over the manager...
Load More Replies... To me it shows how f****d up the labour laws in the US are. In so many examples here you could've sued the company in my country
Not me, but saw it happen. Arrogant middle manager in very large consumer goods organization blocked a fire exit with a piece of equipment and the proceeded to viciously berate a subordinate for moving it. Went so far as to threaten the subordinate with their job for doing so. Subordinate is still there while middle manager was escorted out and wound up stocking shelves for the local cola distribution center. Threw away a lifer job in a huge company just because he wanted to pick a fight with someone under him. Good job Kurt!
I used to work as a PSO (Phone s#x Operator) and I made pretty good money and I was employed there between 2001-2003. The way it was set up was that I had to go into the building like an office. I worked 6 days a week for 6 hours and was paid weekly. I would bring home about 700 after tax. I met this girl there and we clicked and became friends. We both smoked weed and hung out a lot. She even told me that she did not have a lot of friends and didn't know why no one liked her lol. Well, one day she tells me she cant smoke pot anymore because she is pregnant and I was like, I feel ya on that but I am not about to stop because you got knocked up. Things go well for a minute and one night I needed to buy a couple of dime bags. A guy, who also worked as a PSO for the men's line, had some to sell. We go outside but still on the premise, to make the deal. She looks at me and says, "You are so lucky that I was here because if it was anyone else, I would have been fired." She told, I was fired
Wait, what? Why did she say that SHE would have been fired?
Load More Replies... ADHD, oh I totally agree with you. I have wanted to do it quite a few times at work, but I never had.
Thanks, Tabitha. It really sucks, but sometimes the @ssholes win. Nothing to do but keep going.
I was about 24 working at a pharmacy as a cashier. One day, I wasn't feeling well and barfed in the parking lot so I couldn't come in. Few days later found out why my stomach was bothering me in the worst way possible: I bled through my underwear, and I didn't notice because the uniform called for black pants, so I had to leave early. The next day I went in, and they fired me for bodily functions.
