Getting sacked is certainly no laughing matter…unless you have a weird and wonderful story to go with it!
This week, I've put together what I believe to be 21 of the most unbelievable sacking stories I've ever come across (these will make you cringe even more than our previous blog - 15 of the most hilarious employee fails ever).
Some of the 'culprits' may have deserved their fate, others may just have been in the wrong place (wearing the wrong clothes) at the wrong time!
Unsurprisingly, most have opted for anonymity!
1. "Queen of Sky" loses her wings!
Culprit: Ellen Simonetti
Crime: Writing an online blog
Verdict: Surprisingly, Ellen did not get sacked for committing that common and misguided error of badmouthing her employers online. Instead she posted this (questionably) suggestive photo of herself in uniform...prudish or professional?
2. “Betrayed by my own snores.”
Culprit: Anonymous
Crime: Falling asleep on the toilet
Verdict: We’ve all probably heard of people falling asleep at work and in fact I’ve witnessed it myself, but taking a two hour break and nodding off to the sound of toilets flushing is a bit extreme.
3. You win some...you lose some!
Culprit: Coach Micah Grimes
Crime: The school’s basketball team won a game 100-0
Verdict: Most schools would be chuffed to bits with this fantastic performance, but the triumph was condemned as not being “Christ-like.” Whoever’s in the wrong or right, Coach Grimes found himself in a pretty win-lose situation!
4. Who knew KFC had an onsite spa?
Culprits: 3 anonymous KFC employees
Crime: Taking a bath in the restaurant sink
Verdict: The (pretty strange) trio, decided it would be a fabulous idea, after a long day at work, to strip down and take a bath together in the sinks. Just bizarre.
5. A "crime" of passion.
Culprit: Melissa Nelson
Crime: Being too sexy
Verdict: Experienced dental assistant Melissa was literally sacked by her boss (spurred on by his wife) for being too sexy. This is wrong on every level and how he actually got away with it is beyond me!
6. Dying over spilled milk?
Culprit: Anonymous
Crime: Swapping his milk for white paint to catch out an office thief.
Verdict: I’m not denying that it’s annoying when someone at work starts nicking your food from the fridge (they even make it into our top 10 most annoying work colleague traits), but attempting to poison them with white paint, might be a bit of an overreaction. (Thankfully, no one was actually harmed).
7. Oppan Lifeguard Style!
Culprits: 14 lifeguards from California
Crime: Filming a mocking video of Gangnam Style; "Lifeguard Style."
Verdict: It does seem a little unnecessary to sack 14 great (and obviously fun loving) employees for the sake of a video! Clearly a snap decision, the team were unsurprisingly rehired shortly afterwards.
8. Like sacking superman!
Culprit: Juan Canales
Crime: Saving a woman from a carjacking at knife-point
Verdict: We all know the saying: there’s no such thing as bad publicity…but what about good publicity? Juan's employers were less than impressed by his attention grabbing, heroic actions and sacked him shortly after he saved the lady's car (and quite possibly life).
9. A controversial colour clash.
Culprit: Employees at a legal firm in Florida
Crime: Wearing the colour orange
Verdict: This story reveals the depths of paranoia. Loyal employees were sacked when they all wore orange on payday, a tradition that had started years previous. However, the new executive team allegedly saw the colour coordination as an act of defiance against them!
10. Under pressure.
Culprit: Anonymous
Crime: Not smoking with colleagues
Verdict: Have you seen that episode of friends where Rachel starts smoking so she can fit in at work? This happened in real life to this poor anonymous employee. Sacked for ‘not fitting in with the team.'
11. THEY’VE GOT A POINT…
Culprit: Vicki Walker
Crime: Typing up emails in capital letters and red font.
Verdict: I’m not going to lie. I think that would get a LITTLE BIT ANNOYING!
12. Facebook fury.
Culprit: Anonymous
Crime: Calling their boss a ‘serial masturbator’ on a Facebook status
Verdict: Will people ever learn? Posting on social media in a fit of rage will always come back to haunt you! This South African administrator got exactly what he deserved.
13. That’s just taking the p#ss!
Culprit: Michael Hicks
Crime: Repeatedly urinating in a lift
Verdict: You might be wondering why on earth this cheeky IRS employee felt the need to empty his bladder in the lift of all places..? Pretty unsatisfactorily, Michael stated that he’d done the deeds, because ‘he could get away with it.’ Wow that explains everything!
14. Not the punchline he was expecting…
Culprit: John Preston
Crime: Repeating a Seinfeld (US sitcom) quote one too many times.
Verdict: Most of us will at some point have taken a joke a little too far, so this sacking does appear a little unwarranted. Of course, that’s before you hear the quote “you’re so good looking” and discover that the frustrated 'victim' was one of John's female colleagues.
15. Never say BOO to a boss!
Culprit: Anonymous
Crime: Jumping out of a wardrobe and scaring the company’s business partners
Verdict: This is one of the most hilarious stories I’ve ever heard and with pretty much no context. Deliberately scaring your boss has got to be pretty high up on the list of the worst (and most hilarious) reasons for getting sacked!
16. The past will come back to haunt you!
Culprit: Richard Eggers
Crime: Using a cardboard cut out to work a washing machine in a laundry shop, in 1963.
Verdict: This ‘crime’ was committed over fifty years ago and it seems a little harsh to punish Richard for it now. Unfortunately, he was working for a bank and got caught up with new banking regulations, forbidding the employment of convicted criminals.
17. More social media mayhem!
Culprit: Kimberley Swann
Crime: Posting a Facebook status that said: ‘is bored at work.’
Verdict: Many businesses now allow employees to access Facebook on their computers (during breaks), but committing the cardinal sin and complaining about your work…unforgivable (and pretty silly).
Recruiter Top Tip If it really gets so bad that you're unconsciously sabotaging your job by hitting social media and having a major rant, it's definitely time to leave! Leaving in style is far better than being pushed out with a mark on your history forever!
18. A crime against pizza.
Culprits: Michael Seltzer and Kristy Hammonds
Crime: Violating takeaway food before sending it out to customers
Verdict: Despite anything else, the dynamic duo seemed so appalling pleased with their antics (they posted a video on YouTube) that it truly is difficult to feel sorry for them. It seems like this particular crime could have made it into our blog – surely they knew they’d be sacked?
19. Butt of the joke!
Culprits: 2 nurses
Crime: Posting x-rays of a man’s rectum + lodged sex toy on Facebook
Verdict: The punishment definitely fits the crime. Everyone deserves privacy and dignity and to be honest, if you post anything confidential on a social media site, you’re just asking for trouble (they’re just lucky they didn’t face a lawsuit!)
20. Would you like the sack with that?
Culprit: Anonymous McDonald’s waitress
Crime: Adding a freebie slice of cheese to a colleague’s hamburger
Verdict: This sacking was definitely far too over the top! The poor waitress’s colleague asked for a slice of cheese on their hamburger which she forgot to charge for…luckily the courts ruled in her favour and Maccy Ds had to pay her 4,200euros! Nice!
21. Absolute star employee...
Culprit: This anonymous chap!
Verdict: Sounds about right.
Summary
So there we have it, 21 of the most unbelievable, awkward and embarrassing sacking stories from across the globe...
Some of the above patterns of self-sabotage do raise questions about how many of the dismissed actually enjoyed their jobs in the first place.
Defiling a pizza?
Bathing in the kitchen sink?
This is certainly not typical behaviour from happy staff!
Of course, most people wouldn't dream of sinking as low as some of the above examples, but - if you do ever get to the point when you know your heart's not in it anymore - try to leave on as good terms as possible.
You never know when you're going to need that glowing reference...
