16 Absurd Reasons Why People Got Fired

Quitting a job is usually a stressful experience that a person gets into for a reason. And the reasons for resignation can be very different, both from the employee’s and the employer’s side. But sometimes the resignation is preceded by such events that you don’t even know whether to cry or to laugh.

• I bring lunch from home, but someone always eats half of it. I decided to find out who was stealing my food, and I put a lot of chili into the patties.
  The whole office was in shock when the director’s son came out of the kitchen red as a tomato. He’s a 20-year-old dunce who has also become “a boss” recently. It turned out that the guy was sure that taking other people’s food from the fridge was normal because it’s a normal thing to do at home, and we are almost a family here. I was surprised about this gullible belief.
  And the director, having found out that I made spicy patties on purpose, insistently asked me to resign, because I had poisoned his son. He paid me 3 months’ severance pay and we parted amicably. No regrets.
• I once worked in a company with “infrequent business trips” — that’s what I was told at the beginning of my work. When I was asked 6 months later why I was quitting, I confessed, “The waiter in the restaurant car asked, ’Will you have your usual?’” © Monulo / Pikabu
• One lady was sacked because of the smell. There was nothing wrong about the smell itself — it was some kind of French perfume — but there was a lot of it. A lot. It just lingered and wafted.
  The wearer of it — a 30-year-old lady from the accounting department — left behind such a trail of odor that all the male coworkers were ensured to have family problems at home after they passed through it. This smell couldn’t be interrupted by any other perfume, nor by the aroma of fried fish coming from the neighboring construction site.
  Talking to her had no effect. She didn’t see the problem and only took offense at those who dared to talk to her about it, from other female employees of the accounting department who didn’t want to smell like her, to ordinary male coworkers who were accused of non-existent office romances at home.
  The problem was solved by the new general manager, who by a separate order forbade everyone to use strong-smelling products at work, including “Ocean Breeze” in the toilet, then gave the lady a warning, and a couple of days later fired her. © boss1w / Pikabu

• I was fired for a very stupid reason in a second. Many people from other branches would then call me and ask, “Really, because of that?”
  And the thing was this: I worked as an order manager for a courier company. The most important boss loved to create a bunch of working chat rooms. They’d beep without end, and you can’t mute them. So he opens a new chat room.
  First, he writes that everyone who deals with accounts receivable should join. This means me as well. So, I joined. Then I see one of his first messages, “The accounting department and managers of legal entities should stay in the chat room. The rest can leave.” So I did!
  Next thing I know, I see the round eyes of my partner. She shows me a message saying I’m fired. For leaving the chat room! I started calling everyone in the hierarchy.
  Everyone was in shock. But the director refused to budge, and I was actually fired. I cried at home for 2 days.
  I got another job, with a bigger salary, and 2 months later I got a call from that company who offered me to come back. Oh, I felt so important! But, of course, I won’t go there again. © user9154773 / Pikabu
• They hired me for this catering job! So I show up to the job, where it’s all fenced and no one to let me in. After 30 minutes of trying to get in, I finally get let in! First thing the boss says to me, “We don’t like people being late,” as if it was my fault. In fact, I showed up 15 minutes early so I could show them I’m here to work!
  Well, after 1 hour into the job, they put me on this job with a lady who was cutting sandwiches. After 10 minutes, she tells me I’m her slave for the next 30 days. Maybe she thought that was okay to say because I’m a friendly guy, but I don’t know why anyone would say something like that after only 10 minutes.
  After that, I ask them when’s break, and she tells me that break is when she says it is. And that I’ll only get a 15-minute. Then turns around and also says I have to work overtime on Saturday, which I can’t do for other reasons. Also, they told me that I was only able to use the restroom before my shift, during break, and after I’m off. And that I should drink during those times as well.
  Then I call the temp service to tell them I’m not going back because of the following paragraphs above. And they tell me they can no longer work with me. What happened to this world where stuff like that is okay, and I’m made out to be the bad guy here? © Zero_Sacrifice / Reddit

• The guy kept leaving his gym clothes in his desk. First time we smelt a horrible musty mildew odor, tracked it to his desk. When he came in later that day, we made him double bag it and promise not to leave dirty clothes in his desk.
  Fast-forward 2 months, 4 more conversations about the same problem. I had no choice but to write him up. 3 weeks later, he goes on vacation and yet again leaves the nasty smelling clothing in his desk.
  We had facilities remove them and throw them away, went to HR with the documentation, and they said we had the right to terminate him. Thank goodness I’ve never had that problem again. © MadLintElf / Reddit
• A friend has a restaurant with a lot of staff. He knows, of course, that people take some food out, especially the chef, but he tries to control it. But this morning, one of the workers overdid it: she loaded so much that she had to ask the security guard to carry the bag to the taxi, because it was too heavy.
  The stunned guard called the boss and silently pointed to the bag. Further investigation revealed that the woman was raising 2 children alone, had bought them winter clothes and shoes, and had no money left for food.
  Plus it’s her birthday, and of course she has no money for it either, so she took “some” food, “It’s nothing. The boss has a Porsche, and I have nothing to eat!” He fired her immediately. © shiftalt / Pikabu
• A girl was fired as a delivery driver (bike only) on her very first day because she’d never ridden a bike before. Like ever. At all. We gave her an honest chance.
  Tried to explain how it worked and gave her a full hour to practice (even though she was supposed to start right away). Of course, she failed miserably and didn’t even make it down the street. © InterestingBlue / Reddit

• I worked as a hostess in a café for 3 years. The boss was a bit of an arrogant bastard, but we got on well with each other and had no complaints. And then his eldest daughter graduated from university and came to manage us.
  And a week later, she initiated my dismissal with the words, “You are a Cancer by horoscope, born in the year of the Rat, which means that you will pull the team back and act in your own interests. We won’t work together.”
  The boss shrugged, saying, “My daughter studied management for 5 years, she knows better.” I left. The café closed down 6 months later. Effective management didn’t help.
• At my last job, we had a lady in her fifties — a blonde, the hair pulled into a high ponytail, eyeliner wings to the temples, pink clothes and lipstick, a child’s funny voice. We called her a retired Barbie.
  So, this lady liked to throw tantrums and write a letter of resignation. Naturally, after a couple of hours, she would cool down and take the letter back. She pissed everyone off, but the management tolerated it.
  And one day our Barbie freaked out again, wrote a letter, tossed it to the secretary and left for lunch. The director came out of the office, signed the letter and dismissed the lady, as well as blocked her access to the computer. Everything was executed very quickly.
  The lady came back from lunch and was stunned! Then she cried and yelled, but they never hired her back. © ksuncha / Pikabu
• We had a great property manager who always knew where and what he had in the multi-million business. There was just one problem, it was impossible to get through to him. He is always on the territory, always busy, and his phone is always on charge, on silent, forgotten in the car or in the office — check the necessary option. Always.
  In 2 years, the general manager has been able to reach him only 5 times. Alternative ways of communication didn’t solve the problem, because communication via messengers and so on was even worse, and sending a courier every time was costly and time-consuming.
  Talking to the guy didn’t help at all: he nodded, but the next day it was impossible to get through to him again. In the end, he was simply fired. © boss1w / Pikabu

• I got a job in a store. The girls immediately told me that their boss was an arrogant jerk, but they promised me a good salary, so I did my best.
  On holidays, they arranged a crazy schedule for us. One girl was outraged. The boss called her into the office and start shouting at her! Then she grabbed a sprayer with which we water flowers, and began to spray this girl, like, freshen up, honey, clear your brain!
  I stood there in shock, we were all speechless. That girl quit the same day. © Admin / y-story
• I thought that the story that happened to me, could only happen in a stupid sitcom. I got a job. One coworker in her fifties pestered me with questions like, “Do you know how to make cakes? Do you have any problems with your period?”
  And then began to match me with her son, who, according to her, was smart and “doesn’t chase women.” I refused to go out with him, and the next day I was fired.
  The reason was, “Your coworkers didn’t like you very much, and they don’t want to work with you.” On the one hand, it’s bad that I got fired. But on the other hand, I’d rather be out of work for a while! © Admin / y-story
• I got a temporary job. The first month’s salary was paid on time. From the second month, delays started, they said they didn’t have money.
  “How come? I see a continuous financial flow!” I wondered. And I was told that “it’s not that simple.” I realized I had to get out.
  And then a very lucrative job with a flexible schedule came up. I tried it. I liked it. For a fortnight, I maneuvered between 2 jobs and realized that I had to quit the first company quickly, even if with a scandal.
  I came to the personnel department, the ladies there were drinking tea and told me, “Write a letter of resignation, and then you’ll have to work for 2 weeks.” So I wrote, “I want to resign today due to a sharp deterioration of health: I lost memory and can’t remember what money looks like.” They fired me in 15 minutes without a notice period. © 7882 / Pikabu

• I came to an interview. I was met by a girl about my age, who asked me about the reasons of my dismissal from my previous job. I answered honestly that I was fired because I didn’t believe in superstitions: I put the broom in the wrong place, dusted in the wrong direction, put empty dishes on the table, and so on.
  I thought we’d laugh together, but she didn’t even smile. In the end, I was not hired, and they didn’t tell me the reason of the rejection. Probably, I’ll have to visit my grandmother, so she could tell me more about empty buckets and black cats — I feel it will come in handy. © Overheard / VK
• A coworker of mine got fired at a yoga studio where she worked at the reception. After work, while cleaning, she decided she’d stretch a little and actually wound up falling asleep. At 3 in the morning, the owner comes in to do some late night paperwork and my friend wakes up and hides in the mat closet, a little Harry Potter type of space.
  The owner walks into the studio and spots the yoga mat not put away, so she rolls it up and opens the closet — and my friend scared the crap out of her and got fired on the spot. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall. © MTFMuffins / Reddit

Any job can be difficult, and even more so if it involves communicating with clients. And our article on this topic is direct proof of that.