Bad/Silly/Stupid Bosses Story

[bears]

Any ridiculous boss stories to share? I have a lot, but this is one of my favorites:

I started out as a technician in my first job post-grad school. My boss, the head of the lab, wanted me to run some statistics. He sat down with me in my cube to show me where to find the data and share how the files were set up. He was absolutely AMAZED at my computer skills. My skills?  Use of Ctrl C and Ctrl V. This was 2007 for reference.

This seemed to be indicative of a larger problem and said boss was gone in less than a month. 

[Patsy Baloney]

My last boss screamed at me because I told her I wanted our working relationship to be professional and positive.

[chilerellanos]

I’m currently looking for a new job because of my bad boss.

She is a nurse manager on a floor she has no experience in, and I’m very experienced.

She’s jealous and insecure that I know more than she does and that I have a good relationship with the doctors, and they trust me.

She pulls me into the office every few weeks/months to go on a tirade about things that aren’t accurate or taken out of context and doesn’t let me say anything. Ans she hopes for an emotional reaction (I cried once).

I’ve stayed mostly because I’ve been there a long time and I work alongside one of my best friends who is a provider, and I’m on day shift and I’d have to work nights somewhere else, plus’s a commute, etc.

But I’m done. This last time she said a bunch of things that weren’t valid, and then when I just sat there she said “what? You’re not going to cry for me today?”

And I told her this meeting is over and got up and walked out.

[shortstax]

20 years ago I had a boss who thought the best motivator for his team was to give a trophy of a donkey’s ass to the team member who “did the worst” that month (sales.)

Spoiler: it was not a strong motivator.

[sparkythelawyer]

This one lady I worked for chastised me because she had me attending a daily meeting for a project she should have been working on. I would attend, type up the notes and send them to her. Her comment:

I mean, these notes clearly took ten minutes to prepare and you should have only spent five.

Her second best comment:

So, I know I told you that this should be done by the end of the day, but by the end of the day, I really meant about 2pm, not 515pm.

[bears]

OMG chilerellanos, I feel so hard for you. I had a terrible, no-good human being of a boss YEARS ago who one time was so mean to me I cried and then later on told my coworker that she did it on purpose, so that I would learn my lesson. The lesson I needed to learn was writing better.

This woman was the grammar police and spent all of her time reviewing perfectly fine documents and tearing them up in red ink, leading to a ton of delays. People would hide their activities from her so she didn't cause trouble or discord in her reviews. One time she took a contract in Spanish, put it through Google translate, corrected the grammar in English, and sent it to the lawyers complaining about the terrible grammar.

All that to say, I hope you get away from that monster soon.

[shauni27]

in high school I worked for a woman at a candy store. She had various health issues and would regularly need to wear depends due to not having the ability to hold her bowels. It would smell awful and people would come into the candy store and comment about how bad it would smell. She would then tell the customers that she didn't know what the smell was and then would run off to change her depends. It was terrible.

[lavenderblue]

When I was 19, so nearly 30 years ago at this point, I was working at a Diner as a waitress. I was pregnant and suffering from really bad morning/all day sickness. I went in to work one night and was in the worst section in the restaurant which also happened to be in the smoking area (this was back in the 90's) and I asked her if she could either put me in a better smoking section so I could actually make money, or be moved to the worst section in non-smoking so that I didn't spend the whole night throwing up. She told me that I needed to make a choice - either be pregnant or work there. I promptly walked out and never went back.

[sproctopus]

I told on my boss last week to his boss.

He refuses to work in-state...as a scientist. Idk what kind of magic school bus situation he thinks we have going but it isn't.

Also, the tenure system is broken.

[jinkies]

On my first day of work, my old boss brought me into her office to learn about the organization. She proceeded to talk for 3 hours about the history and structure and programs of the organization.

Less than 10 minutes in, she took my pen and paper and told me that she would write my notes for me because it would just be easier that way.

In retrospect it was a huge red flag for the extreme micromanaging that was to come and I should have walked out that day and not looked back.

[lilafowler]

I was told in July I would be laid off the following January. My manager at the time had only been there a year and a half and was in transition to another position-but prior to that my manger who was her boss/our director (and at one time coworker) of YEARS sat in on the layoff call with HR and my manager and didn’t say anything. I heard nothing from him for the next 5.5 months. 2 days before my last day he sent an invite just titled “Connect”. I declined 😂

He then sent a cranky text saying I declined his invite and I hadn’t been logged into Skype (because I was being laid off and who was trying to talk to me at that point?) and had I arranged to return my equipment-I texted back and said I’d signed the paperwork with HR and made an appointment to drop off my equipment. Then I signed it “Best wishes”.

FUCK YOU

[jinkies]

On a funnier note, I once was supposed to meet my boss and coworker (driving together) in Bethlehem PA for an off-site meeting with a vendor.

That morning they sent me regular updates about their progress and ETA. Right around the time they were supposed to arrive, I got a panicked message that they would be at least an hour late and to please work things out with the vendor.

Somehow they had accidentally put Bethel PA in the GPS and blindly followed it.

Bethel and Bethlehem are 50+ miles apart.

How two grown adults could drive 50 miles in the wrong direction without noticing is beyond me.

[Deleted]

An ex boss commented on how I always came in with wet hair... in front of a vp. I have curl hair and when I blow dry it, I let it sit in the cast , and then after I drive to work and walk to my office (seeing only the boss and the admin asst), I would break the cast and it would look less wet. It was never wet but the cast makes it look wet.

She told an area manager that I took off every Friday in Nov to Dec so I could finish my homework and I couldn't complete it in time (I was getting reimbursement for college classes). Um. I had a use it or lose it situation because she wouldn't let me take a chunk of leave because it was just too busy that time of year. I made a comment to our admin assistant when she asked if I had anything fun planned and I said "nope. probably just finishing my paper" and I guess my boss took that as I had to take leave just to keep up. Ma'am... I had been in college and working full time for a year at that point with a 4.0.

I was late to work 5-10 a few times in a row. I can't recall why. Instead of talking to me, she texts me at home asking if I am burned out and to be careful for it not to affect my work. She also called me the day after I had major surgery (I was out for three weeks) for something. Really illegal.

She used to try and find an error in everything I did. But usually just one or two things. So I started leaving a grammatical error in the beginning and as long as she had that minor thing to point out, she left the rest alone. It was like playing a dang game with her.

[mae0111]

I had been working for a great boss for 14 years, and he was pushed out of his position when a new CEO took over and wanted to put his people in place.

I walked into my first meeting with the new boss with my hand extended to shake his and introduce myself. He WAIVED ME OFF, would not shake my hand, and said, "Yeah, whatever, listen, here's all the stuff you did wrong last year. You should have done X, Y, Z, 1, 2, 3..." I cut him off and explained that his plan would have cost 7 figures, and I had a budget of $175K, so I used it to hire contractor bodies to keep the lights on.

Later, he reorganized my department and pulled my right-hand out of my group. The guy was amazing and I was so sad to lose him. He happened to be on a deployment at the time, like actually seeing combat. A couple weeks after the reorg, Sucky New Boss pulled me into a meeting and told me that I needed to tell Awesome Former Colleague that he was being demoted. His reasoning? "You can't be a manager and be in the military. What if he gets deployed again? Not to mention his reserve time."

*Blink*

I said, "Gee, you better demote all of the women too... I mean, what if someone gets pregnant???"

He didn't appreciate that comment.

I decided to resign about a month later, after over 15 years at the company. I was reporting to Sucky New Boss and one other guy, and I had been trying to set a 15 min meeting so that I could resign to both at the same time. Sucky New Boss had been ignoring the meeting request. So when he stopped at my office and demanded I attend a meeting, I said, "Sure, as long as you attend mine at 10:45 today," while laughing, trying to make light of it. He said, "Why? What are you going to do, resign?" I reiterated that I'd prefer to wait until the meeting. He rolled his eyes and said, "Ugh, I don't have time for this." When we got into the meeting, he monopolized 10 of the 15 minutes with the other boss to complain about how busy he was. Other boss finally cut him off and said, "We're not here to discuss this. Mae - what are we here to discuss?"

I said, "My resignation." Other boss' jaw fell, Sucky New Boss rolled his eyes again.

Could not get out of there fast enough.

[mrsukyankee]

In my early 20s I got a job as a temp and they loved my work so much that they promoted me to working as a personal assistant to a VP of the company. I wrote something up for the VP after a week or so of working for him. He turned it back with a red line through it and the word 'no' written on it. I went up to him and told him how innappopriate it was to do that as I hadn't been given much in terms of direction for this project and his response of 'no' didn't tell me anything futher. (The President's personal assistant than yelled at me for talking to the VP 'in that tone'. I told her that I would give respect to those who gave me respect). I didn't last there for long and went to grad school shortly after (and funnily enough, they BEGGED me to continue working there because I actually understood the computer system and most people didn't - it was 1995).

[cville]

I had a truly evil maniac of a boss and, gleefully, was the 11th person to resign in 6 weeks when I put in my exactly two weeks' notice.

I could go on and on about her various insanities, but here are some short ones:

-she got mad I didn't buy her a coffee or offer to share mine when we were both at a conference. 1. Buy your own drink? I'm not your personal assistant? 2. There was free coffee provided. Cutting remarks to me in front of several people followed by passive aggressive comments the rest of the conference.

-she regularly walked around the office barefoot.

-she eavesdropped on all conversations because "all of you work for me so everything that goes on here is my business."

-she tried to get me to buy some shoes from her "only worn once" when she eavesdropped on me and overheard me saying I was looking for new blue shoes. They were the wrong size and she wanted me to pay retail, $600ish.

-she started a rumor two of my colleagues were having an affair because she saw them get off the elevator on our floor at the same time in the morning more than once.

-she told the whole office she was taking us out to dinner and that it was mandatory. She then at the end of the meal told everyone that "all of senior staff" was picking up the check. She had told 0 of us on senior staff this in advance.

-she waited until my last day and then called me into her office and offered me a raise to stay.

[mrsukyankee]

@lemonlover, I feel ya on that - I do the same with my curls.

[underwaterrhymes]

Years ago, I worked for a very large, well known, and largely beloved corporation.

I had a boss that I really liked and underneath her were three men I indirectly supported. One of them I particularly liked because he was funny and treated all of the team well.

One day I commented that before we rekeyed an office, I would check with the staff member who worked upstairs because she had “a really great rack” (of keys).

He told me, “you’re one to talk.” I laughed because I thought it was inadvertent, but then he peeked around the corner of my cubicle and grinned at me.

This began several month of him sexually harassing me and repeatedly talking about how great my boobs were. I had no idea what to do. I had really liked him previously, but I was so uncomfortable and I was young and there was obviously a power difference between us. I largely ignored the commentary, but it really started to bother me.

Then one day he sat on my desk after I sent out a request for agenda items and said, “I have a REALLY BIG AGENDA item,” and held his hands apart. Then he strongly suggested I find out just how big in person.

I told him I’d put it on the agenda and it would be interesting to see what the rest of the team thought.

That ended the sexual harassment, but then he was incredibly rude to me and I wound up leaving the department and ultimately the organization a few months later.

And - here is the kicker - we worked in a subdivision of HR. He still works for the company in a different HR subdivision.

This is why I will never question people who don’t report harassment when it happens. He was such a well-liked employee, things would not have gone my way.

[meanie]

My last boss wasn't bad per se, but she didn't have a whole lot going on personally and I think was just looking for friendship. She sat directly behind me and I could FEEL her eyes on me when she wanted to chat, which was often. Her favorite subject was the parking lot drama at her condo and a pothole that was growing in their lot. I had so much work to do and would slowly try to turn back to my computer.

I had an indirect manager who would get upset with the cleaning crew because he was convinced that their vacuuming interfered with his internet connection.

I reported to someone at my very first grown up job who was just awful. Looking back she was severely lacking in managerial skills and I was given zero training. She told me she talked to her mom about me and mimicked my voice to show me how timid I was, told me that I should just let the old men partners kiss me on the cheek, drove me home from an event drunk, and went on vacation right before our biggest event and swooped in at the event and took all the praise. I really hated her and dreaded going into work and cried in my car a lot.

ETA: Forgot one! I had a boss I worked for for YEARS who I really respected, he was an awesome manager and really cared about our team - super motivating, blah blah blah. Near the end of my time on his team I started wearing my hair curly out of laziness and he made a comment that he loved women with long curly hair, and that his wife has curly hair. I don't *think* he meant to be creepy, but yeah...I was super creeped out and honestly just disappointed in him. I never wore my hair curly again after that.

[acr]

I worked in a non-developer tech role at a small software company for a decade. Towards the end of my time there, I was responsible (along with my boss, the co-founder) for deploying software updates. The tech was outdated and it was a surprisingly manual process that we had to do after hours. More than once I'd be hanging out at my boss's place (he was roommates with my now husband) late at night and we'd do the deployments from there. He would be so high and drunk he'd just forget what he was doing and the updates would fail or error out for hours because he was just too drunk to figure it out. I really learned more about my boss in those hang outs than I ever expected (the drugs, the drinking, the aggressive fights with his boyfriend...it was a lot)

Ugh, it was sad. In the end, he was basically laid off and forced into rehab after going on a drunken soliloquy in a staff meeting.

[shauni27]

underwaterrhymes, my god, that is terrible! I am so sorry that happened to you.

[mysteriouswife]

I don’t have time to write out a story. I love my company. I hate the new boss. I’m looking for a new job. H and I have devised a plan for me to quit by summer if nothing works out

[litskispeciality]

I had one (male) boss who got the job because his unqualified boss above him recruited him from another college with struggling enrollments. Said male boss would write out a post-it with all of the information required to send a fax (this was pre-2010), then write another note asking the admin to fax it. All of this was purposely left on the chair when she was away so that she didn't complain.

Spoiler alert, neither the male boss nor the senior boss made it too long. Unfortunately I had to work with the senior boss again at another job, and that person was once again let go pretty hard.

My last boss that I complained about waaaay too much has way too many stories to share. I will say after reading a lot about narcissism here, and then online, I'm about 97% sure she was a narcissist as well, not just incompetent and not confident but projected to be. One nasty thing she did was make fun of our student workers from her office that didn't have full walls. That really got to me, you complain they need to be on the phone like a call center, then make fun of one of them who makes the most calls. So glad I have a new job.

[donutsmakemegonuts]

I worked retail in college and had one manager that did not like me for some reason. I never did anything to her, but she clearly did not like me. One morning we were scheduled together to open the store. I was pulling stock out of the backroom and she asked me to get something for her from a locked area of the stockroom, so she gave me her keys (I didn't have key privileges). Fine, got what she wanted and gave back her keys. Later that day after other employees had come in she went to look for her keys and she couldn't find them. She instantly blamed me and accused me of not giving them back to her in front of everyone. She made me tear the stockroom apart, checking in pockets of aprons (we wore aprons lol) everything. She was super angry and continued to blame me to the point that even I started to believe her that I didn't give them back. Finally, I made one last ditch effort to check the back room and went into the little managers area and there they were, sticking out of the lock on the file cabinet. Which is not a place I would have been working. I brought them out to her and told her where they were and she just took them from me and walked away. No sorry or thank you.

My last boss as a real adult (lol) was really really bad at managing. A position came opened that was a step up from my current position and I decided that I wanted to apply. I had worked there several years and thought it would be a good change for me. I met with her about applying and she was super supportive of me going for it. I would still be working under her, so I took that as a good sign. Two other people had applied as well, but I had the most experience/years of service so I thought I had a good change. Everyone else I worked with was convinced I would get it. Except I didn't. They gave it to a man that had worked there less time than me. And rather than meeting with me in person, she chose to tell me over the phone while I was at home that I didn't get the job. And she told me the reason was because I wear my heart on my sleeve too much. Not that I wasn't qualified or that I couldn't do the job or whatever. Something was wrong with the person I was, not the skills I had. It was so embarrassing going back to work and knowing that that's what other people thought of me. I stayed about 2 years after and then I got the job I'm at now and I couldn't be happier.

[maudefindlay]

shortstax was your boss Michael Scott? 🤣

[jennistarr1]

oh gosh so many stories!

I had asked a previous boss to sign my FMLA paperwork for just in case intermittent leave as my mom's cancer was worsening. He refused and screamed "I'm not signing that, isn't she better yet". She had pancreatic cancer, he knew that. HR told me just to right "refused" under manager signature and they processed it. They told me "don't worry, it happens all the time". Seriously WTF

Then how it all ended:
Another doc within our practice died. The very next day he furloughed all of us techs until they replaced him saying there wouldnt be enough work (like working 3 days, other 2 unpaid). I asked a few benefit questions and he told me to call HR, which I did. In that message to HR, I cut it short because I was starting to get emotional and I was talking way too long. He calls me into the office to tell me I'm not being furloughed but he's laying off another tech because "you had to go crying to HR". I tried saying that I didn't go crying, I was asking benefit questions as he directed me to. He hit play on his voicemail and sure enough, HR forwarded my voicemail directly to him. Meanwhile, HR never returned my call to answer my questions. When he let my coworker go he said "you can thank your friend Jenn for this". And she hated me which is baffling because it was so transparently not my fault. So I found a new job, resigned, and they rehired her.

So I hate when I complain about something about my job and people say "you should go to HR about that". I quickly learned, they are there to protect the organization, not you as individual. If you want to file a complaint, you need to be in the position to leave. Obviously this might not be the case everywhere...but I still think it's bad advice to give out.

[nuggetbrain]

I got a written warning because when I was taking the Christmas decorations down in her office after holiday break I forgot to take a Santa off the back of the door.

[Doggy Mommy]

One boss wrote on my evaluation that she didn't like it when I complained about the weather once. She was always late, and I was never late, but one day she managed to show up a few minutes before me. She texted me, "Are you even coming to work today??" She had super random pet peeves and couldn't understand the difference between her personal pet peeves and someone not being good at their job. When she retired, I declined to apply for her job because the only thing I had learned was how NOT to do it. The staff deserved a boss who knew what they were doing.

Another boss was just flat out crazy. One day she announced that we have to find a new location for a meeting in 2 days and "over her dead body" would we have the meeting in Room X where it was planned to be. We all went crazy calling around the entire county trying to find another meeting space. Someone finally figured something out, went to tell boss the next morning, and she said, "I don't know why we don't just have it in Room X!" Person replied, "Because you said over your dead body would we have it in Room X, and you are still very much alive."

[CurlyQ284]

PDQ
I was an executive assistant for 3 executives when I was 22-24 (which is CRAZY to consider now?!) COO, CFO and HR director of a company of about 300 employees. COO was in his 60s traveled almost constantly, he was also an alcoholic. During one of these trips, he was drunk, asked one of the other employees on the trip who was about my age to meet him at his room and then tried to sleep with her. She reported it to HR, they "fired" him but kept him on as a consultant until some future date where he was supposed to transition to an actual exit. The CFO didn't mean for me to find out, she asked me to make copies of something and it turned out to be all the files related to the employment suit that the employee filed. This was during the recession, layoffs started and I was in the 3rd round. I even processed my own COBRA paperwork. I moved back to my hometown and haven't kept in touch, but I always wondered what became of all that.

The job before that, I was an assistant to General Counsel and Asst GC for a budget chain of stores for like 2 months. The pay was garbage, and I got hired for almost double the salary at the other job. I mostly helped them with lawsuits filed in the stores, one was a shopper who poured water on the floor, laid down in it and then claimed she slipped and was suing but it was all on camera. Anyway, part of my job was checking on the old man GC and making sure he was awake because he would fall asleep at his desk. 😂

[tacokick]

I had a part time job in a market research company that was a little odd. The job was boring and didn’t pay particularly well. I quit it to freelance full time and my boss was flabbergasted I’d want to leave.

She apparently told everyone I left to care for my ill relatives in California. I found this out because the job was in the same suburb as the Target and supermarket I shop at and I’d run into old coworkers all the time and they’d ask if my family had died and I had moved back. Why lie?? I don’t even know anyone in California.