The job market right now is...trash, and raging bosses are at an all-time high. So we asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the most ridiculous things they've gotten in trouble for at work, and WHEW, y'all did not disappoint. Here are some of the wildest stories:
1. "I got fired for telling HR that they couldn't put anything related to my race in my annual review. 'Surprisingly articulate for a Black woman' is unsurprisingly racist."
2. "I got in trouble for pointing out that the executive director used a word incorrectly in a letter. The word he used was the exact opposite of what he was trying to say, but when I told him about it, I was coldly informed that I was a secretary and it was not my job to review his letters, just to mail them. OK, you want to look like an idiot? Go ahead."
3. "Having tonsillitis and a doctor’s note excusing me from work for a few days. I couldn’t sit upright without getting extremely dizzy and lightheaded, and my throat hurt really bad. Yet my boss still wanted me to come in, but I refused. My mom told her I was never coming back and I quit."
4. "I was reprimanded for how I write the number 7 – European style with a dash through the middle. Turns out the company owner doesn't like that style of 7, and if I did it again, the reprimand would be made formally."
5. "Got fired for 'not being committed' because I started putting my phone on silent at night instead of responding to nonemergency emails that came in between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m."
6. "I got in trouble for not coming into work with pink eye, which is extremely contagious. I also had a 102-degree fever and a doctor’s note. I taught preschool."
7. "I didn't show 'appropriate excitement' when being told my daily workload was increasing because the work was going to be 'fun.'"
8. "I worked in a department store when I was in college, and one year, I was printing out price signs for the upcoming Black Friday sale for my department. My store manager told me to stop printing signs and focus on getting the floor and merchandise ready for the sale, so I did as instructed."
9. "A few weeks ago I got demoted, my pay was docked, and I was written up because I called in sick. I had gotten food poisoning, was throwing up for 36 hours straight, and got in trouble for not coming in. They literally told me I needed to come in and that throwing up wasn’t an excuse to miss work."
—egg
10. "I got in trouble for not coming in within 15 minutes of being called in when I lived 30 minutes away."
11. "I have a double last name, and the system the company used had a character limit on the line that shows who printed/requested/did an action, and it would cut me off after the first letter of the second half of my last name. Apparently this was confusing, even though it left letters off of others' last names and that was fine. But I was told I would be written up every time it confused someone until I changed my name."
12. "I was reprimanded for voiding too much at the register. You see, when a customer sees a price and changes their mind, it’s apparently my fault for voiding the item."
13. "I used to be a security guard at a college that had an agriculture program. I got in trouble for catching loose cows and putting them back in their pens, even though our protocols clearly stated that I should do that. My director and assistant director were just tired of me submitting loose livestock reports, even though it was protocol to submit a report every time an animal escaped, and told me to call the barn manager every time I found a loose cow instead."
14. "I got in trouble for not making my sales quota when I was in the back for my entire shift, working on the incredibly complicated Christmas window display."
15. "I got fired because I told a customer that we didn't have a particular T-shirt she was looking for, which was true, and which I had never seen in the three months I had been working at that store."
16. "The other day, my boss told me off because I 'gave the patient too many appointment time options and it makes us look desperate.' Ughhhhh."
17. "I was yelled at for wanting to go to a family member's funeral. My boss said, 'It doesn't matter, we need you to work on Saturday,' and I raged out at him."
Now I'm curious. What is the most ridiculous reason you were fired from a job? Let us know in the comments.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.