10 Colleagues Whose Behavior Screamed “Fire Me”

Some coworkers have a way of making things either surprisingly fun or incredibly stressful, depending on the day. Whether it’s gossip, strange habits, or over-the-top personalities, these situations can really shake up the usual routine. And sometimes, they even turn into stories you'll be telling for years.

• I had a coworker who sat 3 feet away from me, and she would regularly brush her teeth at her desk and spit in the trashcan. The first time I was in shock, after that I would have to leave the room. She would also fight loudly with her husband on speakerphone daily. I was so happy when they let her go. © whatevskiesyo / Reddit

• My female coworker, Sarah, had been flirting with me for months. I gently told her I wasn’t interested. She smiled and said, “No worries!”
  But two days later, I got a call from my girlfriend. “Who’s Sarah? Why did she message me saying you’ve been leading her on?” My heart sank. I had no idea she even knew my girlfriend’s contact info.
  Sarah had found her through my social media and sent screenshots of totally innocent conversations, twisted to look romantic. It took a lot of explaining, but thankfully my girlfriend believed me after we went through everything together. Sarah was spoken to by HR and told to keep her distance.

• There are several contenders, but the top prize goes to the guy who spent the first half hour of every workday with his feet on the desk reading the newspaper. He did as little work as possible for the rest of the day, and was never called on it by the dept head, because the dept head was basically spineless. © not_falling_down / Reddit

• I brought my new girlfriend to our company’s annual party, not expecting it to be a big deal. One of my coworkers walked in, saw us, and made a beeline to our table.
  I nearly choked on my drink when she told her, "Be careful. After his last breakup, he cried in the break room for three days straight." My girlfriend tried to laugh it off, but let’s just say it killed the vibe.

• I am currently working with this guy who is BEYOND creepy. He spends all day stalking around women's desks and giving out creepy compliments. He told me I was "better than a Disney princess" and that I was his "soulmate". © carolvessey-stevens / Reddit

• My coworker only eats dry cereal for breakfast and lunch, and he sits at his desk to eat. So it sounds like a handful of gravel in an empty dryer. © TheShrinkingGiant / Reddit

• I once worked with someone who was confrontational about everything. He was very abrasive and would go toe-to-toe with anyone, regardless of the context or if the other person even wanted to. He also hated taking his share of responsibility for anything that went wrong, which often meant throwing the rest of us under the bus.
  Unfortunately, he was very smart and usually did great work, so management loved him. However, he definitely wasn't a favorite among the employees, and he lost all credibility and respect from me.
  Working with him was actually a good experience because it highlighted some of the qualities that I want to avoid in a future employer/coworker. Getting good work done is important, but having a cohesive work environment sans drama should be just as important for the sake of everyone else's productivity and job satisfaction. © razza221 / Reddit

• I had a boring summer office job working in newspaper archives. Some other college guy would brag about everything. The women he was dating, his money, his car, fights that he had been in. To make matters worse, he was an intentional pest.
  He'd hover around people just to make them feel uncomfortable. One day, I asked him to please go away. He ignored my request multiple times. I gave him a final warning, and he suddenly reached down, grabbed my food and started eating it in front of me.
  When I stood up, I could see he realized his mistake, but I was already gone at that point and something else took over. I grabbed him by the neck and slammed him face-first into the carpeted floor. As soon as I let him off the ground, he sprinted to get the boss.
  The boss walks over to me and says, "What did you just do to (his name)?" I seethed, "Not nearly enough!" At that point, we were both warned not to interact. Win-win solution. © AleredEgo / Reddit

• I worked with a guy whose only intent in life was to annoy people. He never did any work, usually claiming he was "new to the company" and someone with a better notion of the background should do it instead, even after 6 months. Any work he did had to be redone.
  He'd spend the whole day singing, whistling and/or tapping his foot. On the many occasions that I asked him to please stop, he'd intentionally do it louder, like a little kid. He wouldn't miss an opportunity to whine about how little money he made, even though we all made the same. And while most people had rent and even kids to feed, he lived rent-free in a place his rich in-laws owned.
  He eventually quit to spend a year abroad doing nothing but travel. Yes, the guy who kept complaining about money took a year off work. © msstark / Reddit

• Her name was Angie. At least once a week, she would take the majority of the day off for the cable guy to fix the internet, or to take one of her dogs to the vet. The remainder of the week, she would leave probably 3–4 hours early. © Rabid_Mongoose / Reddit

When coworkers cross the line, their behavior doesn’t always stay within the walls of the office. A woman opened up about feeling uncomfortable with how close her husband’s coworker was getting. What started as casual interactions slowly began to blur the line between friendly and inappropriate, leaving her feeling uneasy.