14 Work Stories So Wild They Could Be a Netflix Series

Some workplaces are full of unexpected challenges, but some take unpredictability to an extreme—so outrageous they feel like scenes from a scripted drama. Today, we’re sharing astonishing true stories of workplace events so unbelievable, you’ll have to see them to believe!

• On my 1st day, my supervisor, Emma, handed me a massive folder and said, “Sort this alphabetically by day’s end.” I worked frantically to impress.
  Hours later, the manager asked what I was doing. When I explained, his face went pale. He said, “Don’t you know that Emma works for another department? That woman is actually trying to take advantage of you!” He glanced at the folder, then pointed to the employee names. “Look—none of these people are on our team! Be more alert next time!”
  I was mortified. Then he introduced me to my actual supervisor, Samantha. I’ll never forget the humiliation of that first day, but I’m happy to say I’ve been here for eight years now, and things are going great. As for Emma, she didn’t last long—she was fired a few months later.

• At a previous job, we had an HR manager get fired right after returning from maternity leave. She was replaced by the guy she had trained to fill in for her while she was gone. She then sent a company-wide email with the pay rates of everyone, from the plant manager on down.
  It was complete chaos. A lot of pay rates were wildly different in management, supervision, and maintenance. There were talks of work stoppages, slowdowns, and even threats of unionizing.
  I believe this one act led to the eventual closure of the plant. It was a crazy time. © Buwaro / Reddit

• I work in a bakery in a grocery store that has black mold growing in the walls. My employer refuses to do anything about it, and I have pictures documenting the mold that date back over a year. We even called corporate about it, but they haven’t taken any action either. In the four years I’ve worked here, I’ve been sick constantly, and I’ve had a lingering cough for almost the entire year.
  I’m seriously considering calling OSHA and/or the local news. © ThatB**chIrene / Reddit

• My boss would make me lie to his wife and say he’d be working late because of a project deadline. I was fed up with my job, and one day, I told her, “Just so you know... your husband is never here after 6 pm.” To my surprise, she started laughing. Then she said, “Oh, so you don’t know about our little game yet?”
  Turns out my boss would go straight home to her after work, but he made me lie to test if I’d eventually snap and spill the truth. It was his bizarre way of checking how loyal I was. Realizing this made me even more frustrated with the whole situation, and I decided it was time to quit.
  Looking back now, I can’t help but find the whole thing a bit funny—but at the time, it was my last straw.

• Two individuals at work are having an affair. Both are married, and neither is as discreet as they think they are.
  Both of their partners are aware that something is going on. Some of this drama spilled out at the most recent company picnic, which ended with people yelling and screaming obscenities at each other.
  But that’s not even the wildest part. The latest news is that the woman wants to get pregnant, but the man does not. Apparently, she’s gone off the pill. Meanwhile, he’s starting to get cold feet about the whole situation and has begun flirting with the receptionist. © asdkasjdf / Reddit

• Somehow, I have managed to upset one of the directors here simply by doing my job. I hired a lady to fill a position that’s been vacant for almost two months (it’s been hard to fill). I hadn’t even filled the role for 24 hours when an employee asked me what was happening with that position.
  I told her, “Oh, we literally just filled it yesterday. She’s going to start next Monday for a few hours while she works out her notice at her old job.” I had literally just finished calling the new hire Monday night (around 4-4:30 p.m., end of the day), and this employee asked me first thing in the morning. I’d barely had time to tell anyone—just my boss and her boss.
  Well, the nosy employee went and told her director, and the director proceeded to ridicule me (without even talking to me), saying things like, “What a mess—they don’t even communicate what’s going on,” etc., etc.
  Like... Seriously, man. Makes me feel great to work here. I did my job. © n0remack / Reddit

• The owner of the plaza hired people to come in and help fix the business without the store owner’s blessing.
  It turns out that these people are con men, and they pushed my previous employers out. Now everyone is quitting. © K**LSWlTCH / Reddit

• My boss bought our CEO a sandwich because he’d missed lunch. The CEO threw the sandwich at my boss because it was on the wrong bread. © st1f1 / Reddit

• I work for a very prominent doctor in my city who runs a solo practice. His wife is the practice manager. They hired a cute blonde RN in her early 30s (married) to work part-time. I work next to her, and she tells me everything.
  The doctor started hitting on her in person, through intraoffice instant messaging, and via text. The latter two methods caught the attention of his wife. Instead of apologizing for the extreme discomfort this caused the nurse, the wife progressively and passive-aggressively pushed her out of the practice by gradually reducing her hours, making her track everything she did minute by minute, and generally creating a hostile work environment.
  She’s gone now. It worked. © SynapseForest / Reddit

• A teacher at our school was constantly being reported by her assistant for grossly and absurdly exaggerated offenses because the assistant doesn’t like the teacher she’s been assigned to this year. The teacher is new to our school.
  The assistant is related to a high-ranking administrator and has already been moved several times. Administration kept writing up the teacher, despite her protests that the complaints were absurd, and she repeatedly requested that this assistant be reassigned.
  The teacher finally had enough and quit. Administration then spread a rumor that the teacher had to leave her job for “mental health reasons.” © thecountessofdevon / Reddit

• Two weeks ago, the CFO just up and quit. We’re decently friendly, so I texted her to ask why. Her response was, “I just need to spend more time with my family.” Uhhh, okay.
  Payday was last Wednesday, but nobody has been paid yet, and there’s no sign of it happening anytime soon. This ship is going down big time. I’ll be surprised if this place still exists in 60 days.
  Luckily, I have an interview for another job in a couple of days. © Metalmorphosis / Reddit

• One co-worker had a bunch of cash stolen from her purse. Everyone knows who did it. Not only was the alleged thief the only one not in attendance at a meeting when the money went missing, but she also suddenly started avoiding my co-worker, even though they had been friends before. Additionally, she would have had to know exactly where the purse was stored in order to sneak in and back out without being noticed.
  Now, no one in the office is talking to the alleged thief. That’s our version of office justice, since management can’t fire her without more proof. © IrianJaya / Reddit

• At my last workplace, the VP of HR started having an affair with the (married) Manager of HR. She got a divorce, and a few months later, she ended up leaving the company when the VP of HR started cheating with another employee. This was a big company, by the way, with over 10,000 employees. © Pizzacrusher / Reddit

• At the landscape maintenance company where I work, the boss’s daughter came back after a hiatus to help on one of the crews. One guy totally fell in love with her, asked her out at one point, and she turned him down but didn’t tell anyone about it. The guy is a super hard worker and was in line for a promotion to supervisor, which would mean the current supervisor would be slightly demoted (he’s not really suited for the position).
  Near the end of the season, the daughter had a change of heart and asked the guy out! They kept it a secret from her dad (who owns the business). During this time, the guy was still in line to get the promotion. Eventually, the daughter and the guy decided to tell her parents. The parents were thrilled because the guy is a great person.
  But now they’re unsure if they want to give him the promotion, as it might look too much like nepotism.
  Plot twist: I’m the daughter. © meowsungah / Reddit

We can spend years—even decades—with someone and still not truly know them. Here are some astonishing real-life stories of people who discovered shocking truths about their significant others.