Crappy ways to get FIRED...

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

This thread was inspired by a story from a buddy of mine and how he lost his job.

Story:

My buddy, M, worked at Company X as a computer technician and was very good at his job. He was with them over 4 years and built a loyal customer following. Some would even travel 50 miles just so they could deal with him.

He was generally well liked by his co-workers too. Around 4 years after he started working for this company, new management was brought in. They changed the policies of the shop around to be more "Sales oriented". In other words, they wanted M to sell as much as he could whenever he could. M became a tech for a reason: He didn't like doing sales. However he figured he could score a few add-on sales here and there and keep the top dogs happy.

The entire time M was the only full time tech on the staff. Management decided they wanted to hire a new part timer (The previous one had left several weeks ago) and told M to train the newcomer as best he could. M was told the part timer would work all day on M's off days and work part time other days so the tech desk would be kept staffed for longer.

M spent a month training the part timer and things seemed to be running smoothly...until the first week of the next month.

M came in one day to see the part timer there. This was odd since the part timer was not originally scheduled in that day. M went to log in and start work but before he could he was called into the Managers office, told his sales numbers were too low and fired.

He had NEVER been spoken to on his sales numbers before and was not alerted in any way his job was at risk. He was also told the CW he'd been training had been brought in from the beginning to be his replacement. He was told his methods were not in line with company policy and he had not made enough effort to sell more things (remember he was a TECH!). M tried to plead his case, but got nowhere. When he asked why he wasn't told earlier he may be let go, the response was: "We felt it would be easier this way".

After M left, a number of other employees who had been at the store under the previous owner left and apparently the business brought in by the techs took a significant dip after M left (This info from a buddy of his that still works there).

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Just on a clarifying note: This thread is meant to discuss the methods businesses use to terminate employees

[smileyeagle1021]

only slightly OT, but the same thing happened there as at the call center I was at... when I was fired 2 other people turned in their notice the next week... they're attitude was "hey, we only came in because it was fun to work with smiley, there are better jobs out there, let's go" (granted, they had early in the week gone out to job interviews etc. so it wasn't just blindly leaving, but still has the same effect on the call center now having to replace them).

[iradney]

When I was doing support for *Major Mobile Manufacturer*, we had a crappy firing experience. See, MMM had outsourced the call centre support to *Mobile Entertainment Company*. Myself and 4 others were hired to do work for MMM, but I ended up being trained on MEC stuff as well, as the supervisors liked my work ethic and personality. They were even saying that when I was made permanent, I was a shoe-in for supervisor.

As with all jobs, the 5 newbies were on probationary contracts, which were 3 months. One week before we would find out if we were to made permanent, all 5 of us were called into some BigWig's office, and mass fired. Yes. We were ALL told, in the SAME ROOM, that they're not renewing our contracts and they're giving us our one week notice.

Why the firing? MEC had lost the MMM contract because they couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

[Imogene]

I'm pretty sure I've told this story before, but it fits.
So, I get a temp job working at the company my dad & brother work at, different departments, all. My group gets a newbie in to replace the coworker who was moved to replace our coordinator. It's late in the day, and looking like crap outside, and, during a lull, I notice newbie looking at me as I stand up to stretch.
"What's up?"
"Nothing."
"K." (I have no idea what prompted me to say this...) "You're lucky I'm not over there." (no idea where it came from, but my voice never got higher, louder, nothing, it was my everyday, jestful, 'I'm too gods damn cheery' voice)

Next morning, I get a call at home as I'm getting ready for work. "Hey, you no longer work for company, you got in a fight yesterday."
"I did? This is news to me."
"Yeah, you said, 'You're lucky I'm not over there'?"
"Yeah... but not in a threatening way."
"Oh well, too bad. You no longer work here."

Even weirder, my Dad did some digging from the boss of my department, and my file had been marked as rehireable through that temp agency. So, it couldn't have been that bad.

There's also the job I worked at a total of one day.
Yeah, fast food, didn't really have a car at that point. Got hired on, worked MLK day, which was dead slow, cause it had snowed overnight, too. Had to ask for my break, got sent home early, got called the next morning, "Yeah, we don't really need you, I'd planned to use you to go out and help other stores, and since you don't have a car... Come in, turn in the clothes I gave you, and I'll pay you for the six hours you worked yesterday."
I got a grand total of $25 from that job, I think. It wasn't hardly worth bothering to return the shirt and hat.

[Kiwi]

my boss wasnt fired, but her boss was and then she was pulled in to HR and told that as she was his assistant it was up to the NEW boss that was hired to decide if she would keep her job

they kept her hanging for OVER three months, every week she didnt know if she would keep her job or not as they had a harder time than expected replacing her boss

the new guy started 2 months ago and they still havent signed her new contract so every day she goes in and wonders if today is the day she will mess up and be fired, its horrible to leave her hanging like this. Shes so close to retirement that there is no way another employeer would take her on so if shes fired thats it pretty much

although I have left the company, she was a wonderful boss and I think its horrible what they have done/are doing to her

[protege]

I know a guy who got fired from scout camp. How? Well, he left camp without permission with some people on the kitchen staff. (Kitchen staff was hired by an outside company. Because of that, they pretty much did whatever.) Anyway, this tool left camp, and when he returned...promptly got fired. What really sucked, is that there were only 2 more days left to work!
=========

Then there's the time I got fired from Hechinger's. At the time, I was going away for college, and was turning in my 2-week notice. Imagine my surprise when I tell my boss (a real bitch, BTW) I was leaving, and she said "well, tonight's your last night." So, you can imagine what happened--I took my good time doing things, or not doing them at all. What were they going to do, fire me?

I still got the last laugh though. When I got fired, it was at the very beginning of the spring...right when people start messing around with their yards and home improvement projects. Anyone want to guess who called...*begging* me to return? Yep, Hechinger's got told what they could *do* with their job

Of course the karmic payback didn't stop there--about 3 years after that, the entire chain went bankrupt, meaning the bitch lost her job...that she'd had since the store opened in '85

[tropicsgoddess]

The worst one was when I was working through an agency and they had me on this temp-perm assignment as a CSR for a health insurance call center. I rarely called out and came late to work, I came back on time from my breaks and made sure my AUX time was minimal. To top that I treated every call as if I was being monitored, no matter what. Despite all that, I got a call from the agency after work and since it was after hours on a Friday, I had to wait until Monday to callback and see what was going on. Turns out I got canned for some bogus shit about placing customers on hold to converse with co-workers and that I made loud and "colorful" outbursts. The only time I had a customer on hold was to research stuff or to ask a supervisor a question pertaining to the customer/call at hand and my co-workers could vouch for that! At least the person who spouted that bogus shit about me to management got what was coming to her.

[wagegoth]

January 2003: I was close to five years (anniversary in February) with the same law firm, a firm I thought I could retire from. One evening, the office manager came by to drop off my five-year anniversary gift. Jokingly, I asked if I got the gift over two weeks early because there were problems. She gave me a funny look, then left.

Two weeks later, it's announced the firm is closing, on Thursday. I immediately start calling agencies and packing my desk. I took a pile of stuff home that night. Tuesday, I am called into Admin and told that it was my last day, here's a check, bye.

5 1/2 years later, and I'm still waiting for money from the bankruptcy of the firm. (Creditors forced the firm into Chapter 11.)

Not fired, but no notice. Bastards.

[Emrld]

I was in training for a call center job. I was sitting where I was assigned by the instructor to sit . . .on my right was a male student on my left no seat and no other person.
A male of a different race was talking about some of his friends to a female in class (same race as him) using a highly debated word.
Another female of same race as those two complained about conversation and as I was sitting next to him I must have been in on conversation and not of that race and didn't have the right to be around with that word . . .and I got fired. All 3 others kept their jobs.
(Yes, I went to a lawyer and they got me one months pay with just one letter - no court time)

[Dreamstalker]

Shortly after the holidays at the Game Store, I was asked to give the other manager a rundown of the online sales procedures. I do so, figuring he just wanted a second person to know what to do in the event I was unable to work.

One day afterwards I went down to start my shift, the owner ran into me on the way and said "hey, I'll see you when you clock in." No reason whatsoever to think anything was amiss.

I walk in, he starts with "we need to talk". Bwuh? The ten minutes following was basically being talked at about how "online sales weren't working and have not been for a while" [If you had concerns, they could have been aired when you saw them, I can guarantee whatever you thought I was doing wrong was done for a reason] and general "mistakes were made" [again, the time to come to me with concerns was when you saw an issue, not months later].

The main "mistake" with the online merch was his...you can't sell old Warhammer sets for $50 when one can get the same thing from an individual seller for $5

[powerboy]

I was from Rent To Own. I had put in at a temp agency the day before. Well later in the evening I got called to work. They made it sound as if I had the job permanently. I was busting my ass putting things together and even talked someone into buying something. I figured that I was hired full time. After work, I told the boss, that I will see him the next day. He asked what I was talking about. He then mentioned that I was not needed as I was only brought on because someone called out sick.

[nomorecarts]

I know someone who used to work for a local furniture store that falsely claimed complaints were made against him and fired him for it. He had documentation signed by the customer contradicting most of what these "complaints" were

I still work for my first and only employer, so no first hand stories

[PCGameGuy]

Mine was a little private owned PC repair shop. It was back in the early 90's and we did PC repair, upgrades, and sold some older units we built from parts as well as some consignment. Basically, anything that might help pay the rent.

So, I was hired and told that the guy I replaced had just up and left one day, no notice or anything. He had been gone a month by that time, and the owner needed someone to help clear the backlog and work the floor. So I hired on, and did all sorts of fun things like explaining why the GIANT brick of an HD really _was_ smaller than the one I just put in.

About two months in, I come to work and there is a new guy there. I talk with him, and it turns out the prodigal employee had returned. Well, the boss decides to just split the hours between us, so now my pay is down and he is way lower than he was orignally. Not fun, but hey it was easy work.

Of course, that isn't the end or it would be in a 'boring old fart stories' thread.

About a week later, I get called back by the owner. Seems 'someone' saw me harrassing a major client! Since the client and her husband were very important to his business, he had to let me go over this unacceptable behavior.

I remember the lady in question, I was helping her set up Office and being friendly with her. She was a bit flirty, but I just did my job and stayed professional. But, of course, my word versus 'prodigal employee'? Yeah.

Guess who was out of business 3 months later, and divorced because his wife was no fan of his predilection for younger men?

[blas]

Part of this I can agree with, because this guy did call in sick too much for how short of a time he worked here, and he was a temp, which means they can be fired for no reason, really.

Anyway, this kid is in a tough situation and has to be in jail for x amount of time. Is allowed to be on Huber....so he can still go to work.

After he called in a little too much, the cherry on the cake was the night he wasn't allowed to leave the jail until 5 minutes before shift start. He got fired the next day.

The only reason I think it's unfair is because there are lots of people who randomly NCNS (but since it isn't 3 in a row, they all get dismissed and they get a fresh start!), that one lady who calls in every 2 or 3 Tuesday nights (it's exact!), Whiney Little Brat does nothing all night and whines and whines, other people spend all night asleep..........so it's been proven that the boss WILL fire people....just certain ones, eh?