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I used to work as a temp for a small temporary help agency.
One day, they informed me that they needed some help compiling surveys they'd
gathered for a soft drink company. Would I like to handle the assignment?
I promptly agreed (work was work, and I had tuition to pay for). On
the first day of this new assignment, they showed me and another girl a
sample of the survey. They had been filled out by managers of restaurants,
motels, and stores, and they indicated which soft drinks those places sold.
I was told that we'd have to count up all the results and come up with a report
that would indicate which soft drinks were most popular in our city. Fair
enough. I asked if they had any particular method in mind. My
supervisor looked vague.
"We had two girls do this last year, and I don't know
what they did. I just remember that at one point they had the surveys
spread all over the floor." Um, okay. That was no help at all.
These days, the work would probably be aided immeasurably by a computer and a
spreadsheet program, but in those days all we had were pencils, paper, and
calculators. It turned out that there were hundreds and hundreds of those
surveys, and we were expected to have them all compiled by the end of the
week. Halfway through the week, it became obvious to me and the
other girl that the work was going far too slowly. I asked the supervisor
for help. She frowned, and then she brightened, saying once again that the
other girls from last year had the surveys spread all over the floor - which
still wasn't helpful! She then added that, if we got the work done in
time, we'd receive a fat bonus. With that incentive, we knuckled down and
started working twice as hard, skipping breaks and working past normal office
hours. We finally finished the report by working until 9:00 p.m.
that Friday with no meal breaks. We never did "spread the surveys all
over the floor"; nor did we get the fat bonus we'd been promised.
The temp agency went out of business shortly afterwards.
BadBosses0102-06
I had been working in a restaurant for a couple of months when
we got a new boss/chef. She was just out of culinary school, only 20 years old.
I was about 29 years old at the time, and felt that while she was a good chef,
she was a little green at the job of managing people. She was snobby and aloof
at times, and talked snidely about her employees to other employees. Being
older, I felt like I was launched back into high school, and New Boss was the
"mean girl," calling the shots.
One very hot summer afternoon, we had to set up an outdoor
food tent for a special event. We dragged around a BBQ grill and all the
supplies to make hamburgers and hot dogs to sell along with chips and bottled
drinks. Not something any of us wanted to be doing, especially New Boss (she
resented that she, a chef, had to do such lowly work) but it hadto be done. It
should have been a fairly simple endeavor. In my experience with
these outdoor events, we should have started out with cooking a decent
supply of burgers and dogs ahead of time (and have them in buns
and in those metallic "envelopes," keeping warm in a heatbox), then as
those were being sold, we could keep on cooking and packaging, so the food
would be always relatively fresh. That way the customers could order, pay,
and have their food handed to them with no wait time. I told my boss
this plan, but she disagreed. New boss figured we could just start cooking the
food on the grill last minute and we'd be fine.
I was working with two teenage boys getting the burgers and dogs cooked, put on
buns, and packaged, while New Boss was taking orders and calling them out to
us.
We're under a small, open-sided tent, all of us
visible to the customers. Surprise surprise, the line of
customers was huge within minutes, and you just cannot speed up the rate at
which a hotdog or hamburger cooks on a grill. We were backed up. Customers were
ordering food and having to stand aside for a few minutes to receive their food.
New Boss had no system to keep track of who ordered what, and nowhere for
people to really stand and wait for their food. New Boss just kept taking
orders, while we were left with the task of trying to figure out who, among the
waiting customers, ordered first and who ordered what (among trying to keep up
with making and packaging the food). The customers were complaining to us that
their food was taking too long. The customers in line were mad that they had to
wait in line so long. They were mad if we gave out a hotdog to the person
who ordered after them (understandably). And it was very hot. We were outside in
the heat by the grill sweating like pigs. We were moving as fast as humanly
possible to get this food to the people. I've worked in other high pressure food
service situations, and this was the worst because we knew the problems could
have been avoided if my boss had agreed to get some food prepared ahead of
time.
So here's the kicker. New Boss, frustrated at the way
things were going, turned around and yelled at the three of us, "YOU GUYS
ARE TOTAL RETARDS!" I looked up from my oh-so-dignified job of putting
hotdog after hotdog into hotdog buns. And I looked at her, and around at
all the customers who heard her. I froze. I was so very angry. But everybody was
staring, so I just smiled and laughed it off and said something sarcastic so
that the customers might think we were just joking around. I didn't speak to her
for the rest of the day, until we were cleaning up and she sheepishly asked me
if my co-worker was having a bad day because he seemed to be in a bad mood. I
said "well, we could have avoided the problems if we'd made
the food ahead of time. And it was miserable and hot out there, and
then you called us 'retards,' in front of all the customers. I think we're
all in a bad mood." She got defensive and said she was just
kidding about the name-calling, and then she left. We never talked about it
again, and she quit a couple months later. Good riddance!
BadBosses0107-06
As a paralegal with 20 years of experience, I spent four
months looking for a new position and had received two job offers.
Unfortunately, I chose the wrong position. I worked as a paralegal
for a Plaintiff's personal injury law firm. My duties were drastically
altered within a 1 week period of time. During the next seven
months, I was handling 80% of the paralegal functions in the office while the
other five paralegals sat around either playing on the internet or talking on
the telephone all day long. After being coerced into putting in
numerous hours of unpaid overtime, I was called into an office and spoke with
two of the partners and told I was going to be receiving a $5,000 raise and a
$2,500 bonus.
Two weeks later, I spoke to the managing partner, who I had
previously stayed away from due to the fact that the man seemed to be constantly
sabotaging my work and did not know a thing about law (everything he did seemed
to smack of malpractice). He attempted to force me to believe that a
bonus had never been promised. I refused to lie to the man and told
him if he wanted to go back on his word, that was his choice, and I went back to
work. The man followed me back into my office, started screaming
like a demented lunatic and got my boss (the owner) on the phone.
All of a sudden, the managing partner slaps my hand and the phone goes flying
and he fires me - and gropes in all the wrong places as I leave the
office. Due to this situation, 3/4's of their cases have been
irrevocably screwed up due to the fact that I did not leave readable notes
regarding outstanding work I was drafting and this firm will loose hundreds of
thousands of dollars. I researched the firm to discover the reason
for the ridiculous behavior and found out that 1 of the people had been
disbarred in 2 separate states regarding conducting a major automobile insurance
scam and a 3rd state had set up a fund to assist clients who had been screwed
due to this person's malpractice. So now, after placing a request
with the State Department of Labor to assist me in getting my unpaid money back,
I am back to looking for a job and wonder if there are any good and ethical
lawyers in the state of New York to work for??
BadBosses0129-06
As a newly separated, divorcing single parent I was elated
when after interviewing with the owner of a very successful real estate company
I was offered the job of admin. assistant at $14/hr. The company was a
husband/wife team that boasted several million dollars in property sales
annually. They lived in a lavish home and drove expensive cars. I quit the
cashier job I had and began the new job at the posh real estate office. I worked
mostly with the wife (we'll call her Cruella) who praised my work and commented
several times how relieved she was to have someone in the office who she could
trust to "leave things to". She had me do things I thought were a
little odd (but what the heck she's paying me decent money) like take her car to
the car wash and clean out the 2 feet deep fast food garbage from the
floor-boards (did I mention Cruella was obese?). Things seemed to be going well
until two weeks later when payday (a Monday) came ... and went. I asked about
getting paid and was told I would be paid at the end of the week. Hmmm. Now mind
you this couple was turning in receipts for dinners that totaled more than my
rent AND Cruella knows that I'm newly divorced with small children to support
and not receiving child support yet.
On Wednesday Cruella suddenly announces that I will be
expected to "keep the office running" as they will be leaving on
Thursday to go to Hawaii for a long (impromptu) weekend. I can handle a couple
of days in the office on my own - no problem. Before leaving for lunch I ask
Cruella if I can expect my paycheck before they leave for the weekend (since I'm
completely broke at that point and don't even have milk in the fridge). She
becomes incensed and snaps that she'll take care of it. Upon my return from
lunch I find an "employment agreement" on my desk that is back-dated
to my date of hire and a post-it note stating that when I sign the agreement I
will receive my paycheck. The agreement states that my wage is $8/hr (fifty
cents an hour LESS than I was making at my other job). I panic and dig out the
paperwork from the state employment service with the job posting on it. It
clearly states the pay is $14 per hour. I took the job posting and the
employment agreement into Cruella's office and confronted her about the
discrepancy. She became livid and told me that since I was a single mother I
qualified for WELFARE so I didn't need to make $14 per hour since I could get
food stamps, etc. and I should be happy to even have a job. (That *thunking*
sound was the echo still reverberating around the earth from when my jaw hit the
floor).
I stood my ground and explained that I had accepted the job
for the rate advertised and expected to be paid $14/hr for the hours I had
worked up to that point. Cruella threw a full-scale, snot-flinging, hissy-fit screeching
that I was dipping into her "vacation money", called me filthy names
and then threw a real estate guide book at me. I called the state employment
office and asked what I should do. I was told Cruella had to pay me the $14/hr
for the days I had already worked but could change my wage as she desired as of
that day forward. I went back and told Cruella that if I had contacted the state
and if didn't have a check for the full amount before she left that day I would
resign immediately and contact an attorney. The screaming and slamming continued
for another half hour or so until Cruella's husband (let's call him ... oh.... I
dunno ... simpering weenie boy - SWB for short) arrived at the office.
SWB spoke in hushed tones with Cruella for a few minutes (He
was hushed - she continued to screech) then came into my office to tell me that
I wasn't working out. Cruella didn't think I was performing at the full capacity
that the $14 pay rate was for (interesting since I was performing well enough
that she was going to leave me in charge of her business and her clients for two
days completely unsupervised). I would need to look for another job *but* my
termination wasn't effective until after they got back from Hawaii. Oh,
Pa-leeze! Bwaaa-haa-haa-haa-ha!!! Yeah right. I told him to give me the check
for the full amount (pleading poverty and no gas to get to the office unless I
was paid) and I would work while they were gone then we would discuss the change
in pay when they returned or I would resign. He gave me the check (sucker) ... I
went into Cruella's office and called her a psycho B**** (not my finest moment)
then walked out of the office without another word to either of them and went
straight to THEIR bank and cashed the check. I did not go back - ever. Shortly
after that I got a great job with a wonderful boss making (and actually getting
paid) $14/hr plus benefits.
I finalized my divorce from the toad, met a prince a few years
later and am living happily ever after. Cruella and SWB, however, fell into a
fiery Hawaiian volcano on their impromptu vacation ... no they didn't really but
wasn't that fun? :oP
BadBosses0204-06
First I love the site! Thank you for all the time and effort
you put into it! As far as the bosses from hell go.. Do I have a story for all
of you. I moved to a new city to be with my now husband. I left a VERY! upscale
department store that one might find on 5th Ave, and went to work for a mortgage
law firm. I have worked in law firms before and found the experience little
stuffy but very professional. My first clue should have been, when I interviewed
I was told that they did not hire people for a specific position, but that we
would be trained in all positions and the one that "fit" us best would
become permanent. So the first day I started with about 5 other people. I had
previous experience with multi-line phone systems so I started out being the
receptionist. There was girl who was my trainer, lets call her Jill, was
somewhat uneducated and did not have a very professional manner on the phone. I
had worked for a professional phone answering service so I stay very
professional while working. Jill and I didn't ever have a verbal conflict but I
suppose there was some tension between us as I didn't feel that she handled
situations very professionally.
Within a week the immediate supervisor for our area, lets call
her Sue, calls me into an empty office to talk. I was informed by Sue that I was
too uppity for herself and Jill and that if I wanted to keep my job I needed to
find a way to make Jill my friend. Additionally, my manner of dress and make up
were making other people in the office uncomfortable, "everyone" felt
like I was showing off. I had just left a job where I was required to dress not
only with flair but in clothing that was on the same scale as what was available
in the store, so my wardrobe was somewhat, for lack of a better term, upscale,
and I actually did not have the funds to go out and buy a whole new less
expensive one! I took all this in stride as I needed to keep my job. I stopped
wearing make up at all and tried to keep everything I wore as simple as
possible. That seemed to solve that problem for awhile.
So the owner of the firm, who by the way was not a lawyer and
had not even graduated from college, hired and fired an executive assistant
while I was there. I had been waiting to be trained in one of the other 3 areas
that it was possible to work in but had thus far stayed a receptionist. It was
decided at some point by someone that I would be the new executive assistant.
With this new fancy title and work load came exactly no raise. Jill thought that
she would become the executive assistant and was quite upset at being passed
over, which made Sue upset that her pet was unhappy. I, luckily, was out of both
of their reach professionally. To some extent I now had some control over them.
For a staffing update, of the 5 people that started with me now only I remained,
of the 22 people that worked there when I started about 14 where left. The
atmosphere was somewhat oppressive and high tension. Until this point I had not
had a lot of contact with the owner. He worked in the same office with all of us
but he was somewhat aloof and I had never had the occasion to speak with
him.
My first "task" was to create a spreadsheet that
tracked the times a file entered the firm until we sent out the documents
transferring ownership of the property to it's new owners. We were marketing a
very speedy turn around time, something like 24 hours as opposed to the week it
would take normally. So I did this one project the entire rest of my employment
with this company. I was never allowed to take on the tasks of my executive
assistant position as my boss was something of a control freak. I would be shown
how to do the tasks, but they would require installing a program on my computer
or to have additional access granted to the network, or SOMETHING and those
items where never done. So I started to have some very strange assignments. I
was supposed to drive to the same fast food restaurant everyday to buy my boss
the same lunch everyday. I was given the privilege of returning his movie
rentals. I was directed to return his, and his wife's unwanted clothing
purchases to the stores where purchase. I was not given a way to be reimbursed
for gas/mileage, and if these tasks went beyond the assigned work time then that
was my problem, I guess I should have driven faster!
Then I was planning the family trip to Mexico. The boss's wife
was technically the vice-president of the company, so when she came in the
office with their three children in tow she like to make her presence known,
despite the fact that she never actually worked there for even a single hour. In
front of the entire office staff she told one employee that she could "fire
his A$$". Lovely considering her children where there. On one occasion she
came in the office with only the 2 oldest, I was just getting around to
wondering where the infant was, when I was told to go sit in the parked car
where the infant had been left strapped in her car seat for the last 20 mins. I
went and sat in the parked car with the infant for over an hour!
Next we had the company Christmas Party, now through having
been in the room while he went over various accounting tasks that I was
supposedly going to be handling, I knew that the company had well over a million
dollars in cash in the bank. The boss was supposed to plan a fancy party at a
nice restaurant where of course the company would pay. Well he didn't make plans
in time, or at all I believe now. We ended up having the company party at one of
the employee's homes, as a pot luck. Now because both he and his wife were
extraordinarily pretentious even this turned into a major faux pas all on its
own. I had the opportunity to visit my employer's home on one of my strange
little errands and it was nice, enough cluttered, 3 bedroom home, not anything
fancy or even very big, maybe 2000 sq ft. The employee who hosted the event had
a huge 5 bedroom, 3 living, 2 dining home that was almost 4000 sq ft. I was
witness to the boss's wife calling this woman who generously offered her home
and asking her if she was sure that she could pull off an elegant sit down
dinner. If not she would be happy to come over to make sure everything would be
in order. The poor hostess was horrified. I, by the way, was dispatched to said
home to help with preparations.
Later in the evening everything is going well and the dinner,
home, serving, everything was elegant and well thought out. The boss apparently
had a few too many drinks. There was a young man employed with the firm who had
been in a terrible car accident about a year and a half prior. He had the whole
upper bone of his leg replaced with titanium. The boss knew this as he knew the
family of this young man quite well, and also knew that he was in need of an
operation to take out some of the screws in his thigh because they were quite
painful. So, when this person goes to sit down, the boss pulls the chair out
from underneath him causing him to fall on the floor which is hard wood. Of
course this was excruciating for the young man. Later the boss kept saying it
was a joke, which of course no one found funny.
So a few weeks later and its off to Mexico again. This time
things got really weird. First after planning the trip I am call into his
office. He shows me an envelope he has put together. It has signed blank checks
for all of the bank accounts both company and private, has copies of all his
credit cards front and back with his driver's license and notes authorizing me
to use them, and he gives me the spare keys to his house, both SUVS, and an
extra work truck he keeps at his home. This man has never so much as trusted me
to do MINOR bookkeeping tasks he would be supervising, now I have access to
everything he owns. In addition he admonished me repeatedly not to tell the two
supervisors that I had any of this available to me. Both of these supervisors he
had knows for many years, and considered personal friends. I took the envelope,
secured it and never looked at it again until he asked for it upon his
return.
Then I was directed to go to his house because he had some
more paperwork he needed to give me. So I drove out to his house yet again. When
I arrived he didn't actually have anything to give me, but I could go ahead an
help out by feeding and changing the baby while his wife finished packing. So
all three of the children are sitting around the table. They are 5, 7, and the
infant. I feed the baby, and take her into the living room to put her into her
travel outfit. While I am in the living room the mother comes down and is
telling the children to hurry so they can leave. The 7 year old is proudly
saying how much of her breakfast she ate, when apparently her mother sees food
on the floor. She then directs the 7 year old to eat the food dropped on the
floor. I have to say I was frozen in place, I didn't know what to do! Meanwhile
the 7 year old is crying telling her mother she's not a dog, it was horrible!
Finally they are gone! I have been directed to stay at the house until the maid
gets there, wait while she cleans, then lock up the house.
At this point I'm completely drained. Once the maid comes and
goes, I went back to the office and got upbraided for being gone so long from
the office, clearly they needed me to help out there! At this point I start
seriously searching for another job. There are about 8 employees left and I
didn't think I could take another scene like the one in the kitchen again.
Pretty soon the family is off on another trip. I have been
directed by my boss to find someone to hang deer screen in his garden. I tell
him that I know a friend of mine that could use the extra cash and that if it's
ok with him I'll ask my friend to do it. It's fine, he doesn't care who does the
work. So the day comes I drive my friend out to the home, show him were
everything is, give him the keys to the truck where equipment is stored and so
on. He calls me when the work is done and I go pick him up, make sure everything
is in order, tools are put away, and the house is locked up. When the boss gets
back he wants to know why I have clocked hours on that Saturday. He didn't think
it was necessary for me to go to his house with my friend. I should have just
handed my friend the keys and let him go. There was no end to why I didn't think
that was appropriate, not the least of which is that the boss didn't even want
his 2 close friends and work associates to have access to his property but I'm
supposed to assume he wants someone he doesn't even know to have the run of his
house, vehicle, and any number of expensive work tools!
About two weeks after that incident I was told by one of the
supervisors, the only one left as Sue had already resigned, not to be alarmed
that they were going to start interviewing for my position! Thank goodness
within a week I had a job offer I could live with and left. When I gave my
resignation, the boss took it then told me they would not need me anymore after
that day, I was welcome to leave immediately. In the state where I live this is
illegal, if a person gives a two week notice management must either let them
work the two weeks OR compensate them for that two weeks. I knew this but let it
drop. When I left there were 4 employees left. I ran into one of the people that
was still there a while later and was told after I left the boss told everyone I
was a traitor and walked out on the company.
This is a BRIEF account of what happened there, there was
incidents with Christmas decorations, $10,000 of art work and an interior
designer, other OFFICE employees being dispatched to his home to work in the
garden, a highly trained computer programer being used as a receptionist, and
many of the employees that left where fired for no or little reason. The only
thing I still feel badly about is the 7 year old. Unfortunately I know the laws
in my state regarding what constitutes child abuse/endangerment. This kind of
thing would be considered verbal abuse and not have any consequences for the
parents if reported. I still worry about those kids though. I, happily, have
moved on the a state agency where if nothing else I'm not babysitting!
BadBosses0217-06
My sister, Anne, got engaged a couple of weeks ago. She came
in to my room to tell me all the details the morning after it happened, but
asked me not to tell anyone in our large immediate family because she wanted to
wait and surprise everyone over dinner. So my mom planned a dinner in honour of
Anne and James. I scurried around, bought a cake and flowers and made sure the
house was clean. On the day of the party (3 days after her engagement) the whole
family was over for what they thought was a regular family dinner.
Anne and James arrive fashionably late, and I can tell they
are obviously excited and just dying to tell everyone the news. Before they can
say or do anything, the phone rings. Anne answers it and then leaves the room.
She and her fiance do not come back in to the room with everyone else for about
45 minutes. Strange behavour for a couple about to announce their engagement at
a party thrown for them.
When they finally return, Anne is not her usual, bubbly self.
Anne and James make no grand announcement, but simply wait until someone notices
the ring on Anne's finger. Throughout the rest of the evening, Anne is strangely
quiet and withdrawn.
Here's why:
The person who phoned her was her boss. Boss opened by saying
"Hi, how's the Engagement Party going?" Anne, thinking that Boss was
calling to send her good wishes, responded that we were just about to sit down
to dinner and that they hadn't announced anything yet. Boss: "Well, you
need to come in to work immediately." Anne, thinking she was joking, just
laughed. Then realized that Boss was serious. Anne works at a coffee shop. She
had asked another girl to cover her shift. There are many other part-timers on
staff who would have been very happy to pick up another shift... *especially*
since they all knew it was Anne's once-in-a-lifetime engagement party. It was
also a Sunday night and the coffee shop was not busy. Boss-from-Hell did not
care and *demanded* that my sister come in, but eventually conceded that my
sister was *allowed* to eat dinner first, if she was quick about it and got to
work within 20 minutes (including 10 minute driving time)
The reason Anne was out of the room for 45 minutes is because
she was bawling in her bedroom. This is how she will remember her engagement
party for the rest of her life.
Anne quit the next day, hurt and saddened because up until
then she thought that Boss actually cared about her as a person. Boss told her
that she was being "unreasonable". As if a 4 hour shift, easily
covered by other staff, on a quiet night, for minimum wage was more important
than a once-in-a-lifetime event as guest of honour.
I sentence Boss to the fires of etiquette hell for being such
a heartless, uncaring woman.
BadBosses0324-06
My story won't be too long. My boss annoyed the hell out of
me. I used to do a programming job for him. He was owner of that small IT
company. Sometimes he would sit behind my back watch me program and give me
advices. I just could not focus, but little he cared. The guy thought he was the
perfection itself. The other flash point was his instructions. He would tell me
what to do and how he wanted it done. I would take notes and read them back to
him just to make sure we are on the same page. Then I would go ahead and code.
After a while he would come, look what I did and scream bloody murder that
everything is wrong, he had meant just opposite, that I should stick my useless
notes to my butt because I am asshole and I have huge ego. So no matter how hard
I worked, how many hours I spent there I was wrong-wrong-wrong, I was an idiot
and how he was always right, and how he predicted my downfall in this project
and how... you f@%$*ng name it. He was like psycho self-starter - the more he
screamed, the more he wanted to scream.
Since then I really hate sayings "devil is in
details", "it's all in putting". Don't get me wrong I was not
right all the time. But I was not wrong all the time either as he wanted this to
look like. And I don't think I did something so outrages for him to call me
names. I quit when my blood pressure started going out of control and I started
having nosebleeds and going temporary blind every week. Just couldn't take it
anymore.
BadBosses0624-06
I'd like to share a Boss story with you. This happened over a
decade ago, when I was very young (20), very new to the working world, and too
foolish to realize that, no matter what, one should *never* make friends with
one's boss. Never. Ever!
"Lissa" was a transplant to my state, newly
separated from a man who still adored her; and I was new to town, so neither of
us had many friends. Lissa was obviously lonely and so my co-workers and I, who
reported to her, were her only "girlfriends" that she had to chat
with. The workload was pretty light sometimes, so we all spent a lot of work
time in her office giggling over the sorts of things girlfriends talk about:
guys, sex, diets, the usual stuff. We'd go out together for lunches or in the
evening, sometimes with the other girls from the office or with my roommate or
sometimes just the two of us; and in fact I was with her when she met
"Dave," the man who would become her second husband.
The first clue that there was a problem should have been the
fact that, if we were out together at a club and someone asked Lissa to dance,
she'd "order" me to dance with him if he didn't appeal to her. I
always treated it like a joke, and for all I know it was, but in retrospect it's
pretty horrifyingly inappropriate.
Well, time rolled on, and Lissa's new relationship with Dave
was really heating up. They decided they were going to get married. They planned
a wedding for the fall, shortly after her divorce would be final (it takes six
months in my state) and so for several months the lengthy afternoon
"meetings" in Lissa's office were really wedding-planning
sessions--looking over books of invitations, discussing flowers and food and
dresses, etc., etc. I was happy and excited for her, as I was planning my own
wedding for the following June. Giddy with excitement, we promised to be
bridesmaids for one another.
Second clue: Lissa and I go clothes shopping. I'm a BBW, so I
can't shop in the same stores as Lissa. I traipse around after her for hours as
she tries on outfit after outfit; and finally when she's done, we duck quickly
into the only store at that mall that I can buy clothes in. I quickly pick out a
couple of dresses off the rack, try the first one on and go to find Lissa to
show her. Lissa is sitting on the floor, obviously bored, and says, "It
looks awful on you. I'm tired; can we go home now?" Sheesh.
Third clue: If your boss, no matter how close you are, ever
asks you to "score some pot" for her, get yourself a tape recorder and
ask her to please repeat that. I wish I had.
Well, Lissa's wedding comes and goes. Plans change several
times; I'm 'uninvited' as a bridesmaid; it ends up being a cheap affair with
bargain pizza and not much else; but she's radiant, and we're all happy for her.
She departs on her two-and-a-half-week whirlwind honeymoon, and we all work hard
filling in in her absence.
The first day back, Lissa calls a staff meeting. Because of
"insufficient coverage," a new policy has been laid down: No one can
be out of the office longer than five consecutive business days. Surely that
doesn't mean me, I ask; after all, I put in for my wedding and had it approved
almost a year ago, and I've been saving vacation ever since! Nope, that includes
me as well. Never mind that I'm planning a wedding in my own hometown, 400 miles
away--difficult to do even with a week or so on location. Never mind the fact
that there is no logical reason for this new policy, as there's a light workload
and we're all familiar with one another's files. There it is; suck it up.
About a month after the honeymoon, Lissa announces her
pregnancy; and everyone is thrilled for her. Unfortunately she's having some
health problems; so she becomes extremely absorbed in her medications and such
things. Understandable, of course--it's a scary time for her.
Shortly thereafter, unbeknownst to me at the time, a new
company reorganization is planned. As I said, there wasn't a heavy workload in
our department; but the company has a "reputation" for never firing or
laying off anyone. (Translation: They "encourage" you to quit, by any
means necessary.) Shortly before this, there had been two new hires in the
department, because another girl had been "gotten rid of" by this
method and our co-worker had resigned in protest. So currently I'm the highest
paid admin with the most seniority in the department--which meant it would be my
head on the chopping block. I wish I'd known that at the time; it would have
saved me months of grief.
Lissa suddenly begins treating me like I have leprosy; and
soon the entire department is following suit. I'm confused and depressed,
blaming my psycho "friend's" change of attitude on her illness; and
I'm so stressed out I'm having health problems myself--I actually need to have
surgery to have a (thankfully benign) tumor removed; plus I'm having migraines
and regularly vomiting from all the stress. Not only am I now forced to keep a
log of everything I do all day every day in 15-minute increments because I'm
"wasting time" (remember those hours-long marathon sessions planning
her wedding on company time?) but Lissa has assigned an employee full time to do
nothing but check my work and report to her if there are any problems. (No one
else is placed under this scrutiny; just me.) I'm written up several times for,
really, nothing at all (it's hard not to have a "negative attitude"
when the entire department is verbally assaulting you daily). I'm even called on
the carpet for taking too many bathroom breaks--to vomit from all the stress! By
this time my wedding is only a month away, and I have no choice but to quit and
go get married--starting my future without a job or any hope of a good reference
from this psycho or the company I'd spent three years at. Sadly, we skipped the
honeymoon; I've still never had one.
Needless to say, I reneged on my promise to make this
two-faced harridan a bridesmaid. Instead, I invited the ex-coworker who'd been
"gotten rid of" and some of our mutual office mate friends; and we had
a great time! Shortly after I left, by the way, the reorganization was
announced; and I was never replaced. Big surprise--not!
Ironically, years later I ended up working for the same
company as the psycho ex-boss's first husband. What a sweetheart of a guy! We
ended up becoming really good friends... primarily because he was NOT my
boss!
BadBosses0129-06
I have a great candidate for e-hell, specifically for your
bosses section. My ex-boss, Howdy Doody (so deemed for his looks).
I'll call him HD for short. HD was a poor manager and extremely rude,
often leaving the floor and leaving one employee to basically manage the
fast-food store where I worked at the time. If he returned and things were
behind, he would scream at the employees. He was fond of epithets and used
terms like "stupid b*tches" or "dirty wh*res"-right in front
of customers.
One day he disappeared, leaving me to run the drive-thru, the
front counter and do all the cooking by myself. When he returned and I was
all backed up, he screamed at me for so long that a customer actually walked up
to him and told him she wouldn't work for him for a million dollars! He
also liked to talk dirty and was always making innuendos to our mostly female
staff. One time he even pulled his pants pockets out
and asked me if I ever kissed a rabbit between the ears! I snapped back:
"No, but I've kicked them in the nose!" He would come in the
back room when one of us was climbing the shelves to get something and comment
on "the view", etc...very icky and perverted. HD was also taking
money from the till, and we all knew it. Our corporate office had noticed
it and was monitoring the situation, but wasn't aware at the time that it was
him.
Well, the kicker came when I went to work for a competitor.
I was just tired of taking his abuse. After I quit, he had one of my
friends/coworkers call me and tell me that if I came back in the store he would
have me arrested! I was dumbfounded and I asked her why. She said
that he told her that I was a "f*cking thief". Well, that did
it. It takes a lot to get me mad, but no one calls me a thief. I got
in my car and drove over there and confronted him.
He refused to speak to me at first. When it was clear that I wasn't going
away, he said that I shouldn't come back because my presence was a
"distraction to his employees". I told him that I heard that he
called me a "f*cking thief". He snickered and said "well,
maybe I said that too." Well, throw me into e-hell, because my temper
snapped. I had put up with his crap for 2 years and after begging me not
to quit, he's going to treat me this way? Not bloody likely! I left
the store, telling him he's a "f*cking b*st*rd" and he's going to be
"f*cking sorry". Did I mention that there was a line of
customers so long that it actually went outside onto the sidewalk? You
should have seen his face when the meek and mild-mannered little girl gave him
what-for. The real come-uppance came though when I called our corporate office.
Everything would have been fine if he had left me alone when I quit, but he
had to mess with me at home. They referred me to the labor
board, who were at the store within 48 hours to investigate. They
suspended him on the spot, and took statements from all the employees, who
corroborated my story, and supplied their own. He was fired in less than a
week! Karma is a b*tch!
BadBosses0602-06
At my last job, caring for infants in a childcare center, I
had a boss from hell. I also had an ulcer, but I didn't know it yet. One day I
left my classroom to speak to my boss, who was in the hallway. I asked to speak
to her in private, but she told me to go ahead in front of those she was with. I
told her that my stomach was hurting to the point that I couldn't stand up
straight, and I thought I had ought to go home and try to call my doctor. She
said, in front of those who were also in the hallway, "Are you sure you
aren't just having a panic attack because the babies are crying?"
Wha...???
In the course of time I learned that I had a
"pre-ulcerous condition" and needed a prescription antacid, not
anti-anxiety medicine. My boss's response? "You're too young for
that."
I'm sure you can understand why I am no longer employed at
that center.
BadBosses0116-06
I had been working for a certain lobbying group for two years
when they hired a new executive director. At first, we got along
perfectly. Then, things started getting a bit out of hand… Her
business etiquette went to hell.
A lot of incidents come to mind, but this one stood out the
most for me, as it was hurtful and completely inappropriate. I had
recently joined a gym, and was losing a lot of weight rather quickly; so
quickly, in fact, that my budget couldn’t keep up with it. I needed to
buy new clothes in smaller and smaller sizes faster than I can afford to.
I had bought a pair of pants, which I found to be very
professional, and flattering. The line was crossed the very first time I
wore them to work. My boss came up to me and started berating me on how
they were ugly, unflattering, and I really should be wearing a skirt instead,
since I was losing so much weight, and pants don’t suit me. I’d JUST
bought these! She knew my salary, since she signed my paycheck, and she
knows how expensive business attire can be. I was meeting the company
dress code. Her comments were uncalled for.
BadBosses0920-06
About 3 years ago, I worked for a casual restaurant that is
quite popular in my area as an assistant manager. I had worked for this
company for about 4 years, in 4 different locations. I had always been
praised for the fact that I was a team player and for the way I handled myself,
as I was rather young to be an assistant. The last 2 locations required me
to drive from my home city to adjoining towns about 30-45 minutes from my home
with no mileage compensation. This story takes place in the last location.
It had been about 2 months since I had been moved to this
store, and it was early Christmas Eve morning, just a little bit after 2 am
(this restaurant was also a local bar, and even if there were no customers,
we were required to stay open till 2) and the last server and I were walking out
to our cars. Just then, a man in a ski mask steps out of the shadows with
a gun and proceeds to rob us, thinking we were carrying the deposit (we were
not). We were also subjected to the humiliation of stripping to prove that
we did not have the money and were made to lay on the ground face down till he
ran away, although at the time, both of us were expecting to be shot.
Naturally, I was extremely traumatized by this, but when my
district manager called me the next morning, he said he expected me to be at
work my next scheduled shift (the day after Christmas). At no time was any
offer of counseling made, and I stressed that until appropriate security
measures were taken I would not be able to work any closing shifts, which I was
told would be accommodated.
A mere 3 weeks later, I am pulled aside by my general manager
and told that I would be needed to go to a full time closing schedule.
When I asked what security measures would be implemented, I was told that I
would have to "get over" what had happened and that business would go
on as usual. I informed him then that I would like to be transferred to my
home city as I was not comfortable closing in this location without simple
security precautions that were available in many other restaurants in the chain,
and if that was not possible, to just let me know and I would seek other
employment.
A few days later, I show up at my regular time, and work for
about 3 hours getting the store ready to open, when I see my district manager
come to the door. When I let him in, he sits me down and informs me that
my "failure to close" showed a lack of maturity, and as such I was
fired and needed to give him my keys immediately. I do so, and then tell
him that I need to get my purse out of the locked office. He lets me in
and proceeds to stand over me to make sure I didn't "tamper" with the
computer or safe. I am also told that I need not come back for my last
check and that it will be mailed to me, as I am not wanted on the
premises.
Of course, the week of payday, no check comes. When I
call to inquire, I am told that the DM had not informed my general manager of
mailing the check and that I would have to drive the 30 miles to pick it up if I
wanted my money. Of course, at this point, DH (who is waaaay beyond angry)
yells "Tell the SOB that I will be there shortly to speak with him, and
that he BETTER have that check ready to go!"
45 minutes later, DH calls from his cell and laughingly tells
me that the GM gave the check to the other assistant and had locked
himself in the office until the staff told him DH was gone. DH of course,
had lingered, talking to the staff that inquired about me and expressed how
awful they felt for what had happened. As a side note, I
sought counseling and was diagnosed with PTSD shortly after this and to this day
I am still nervous in parking lots after dark. I also heard that the DM
was later fired, although I never found out for what exactly. I can only
hope that he one day has a boss as unfeeling and cold as he was to me.
BadBosses1205-06
Page Last Updated July 30, 2007
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