Moments When Employees Dared Their Bosses to Fire Them

Who hasn’t imagined standing up for themselves against a particularly mean boss? Or thought about walking out when the workload gets to be too much?

Most people wouldn’t actually do it, but these stories are from people who were brave enough to stand up for themselves, no matter the consequences, and their revenge is oh so sweet.

I’m Trying to Get Fired Here!

I worked 50+ hours a week, went out of my way to make sure they were set when I went on maternity leave doing a lot of my work in advance and training my replacement for two weeks.

I was the director’s assistant but essentially I did the entire position (he was often “in the field” and much of this consisted of “observing”).

I broke my back for this company often going in on days off or getting out long after my shift ended. I used my car and gas with no compensation.

I took company calls outside of work and off the clock. Well, I went into labor, went into work to wrap things up and finished out a 8 hour day before I went home to get ready for the hospital.

I was beyond a team player. A month to the date out on maternity leave, I was contacted by my employer asking me to return from maternity leave (I still had 2 months of leave left and the company doesn’t provide insurance for the time so this time was out of my pocket).

I stated I could not as I had complications and medical procedures coming up. I was told a few days later the amount of work that came up and my declining to return two month early left them no choice but to hire for my position.

I knew my rights so I wasn’t worried and took the remainder of my leave. When I returned they gave me only two four hour shifts a week, work was 15 miles outside city limits so I was essentially working for a babysitter and gas.

I complied because I was painfully aware they were trying to get me to quit so they could avoid a unemployment insurance payout. It was time to play check mate and at this point with my rights violated, I had the upper hand.

They were a small company and didn’t have a HR department, they often outsourced questions to the company lawyer in California. Because the laws were different by state and his speciality was not employment claims, the lawyer’s advising was very limited.

Well, they weren’t aware that by cutting my hours (by 46 hours a week), my employer just handed me the unemployment they were trying to avoid (In New Mexico, if your employer cuts you from full time to part time hours, they are responsible for providing an insurance payout to compensate the difference in wages temporarily).

I knew this wasn’t going to sit well with the arrogant director who thought him cutting my hours was going to be the shove I needed to exit the company.

I patiently waited for them to receive my paperwork for my claim. They did and boy did the director let me know he was angry, the state was considering my claim should there be no attesting by the company.

The director called me into his office requesting that we discuss my job duties, he emphasized how little work we had coming in and how financially inconvenient it had to be for me.

He was so sympathetic to my situation and the anguish as a single mother it must be causing me.

When I stated I didn’t mind, I was more than happy to be there (my conditions of unemployment is I had to comply to my employers work schedule and duties showing that I’m actively trying to be employed).

This didn’t sit well with him, his manipulation wasn’t working as he planned. He then turned serious as he casually mentioned my unemployment claim and proceeds to pull out my documents requesting a response.

He tries to convince me that if I proceed with my claim and receive payment, if at any point I am terminated for my performance I would lose all source of income (unemployment and the company).

He was trying to threaten me, I knew this not to be true and called his bluff by informing him I wish to proceed. He stated to me that if I resigned right then and there, he would provide me a reference in the future moving forward.

(If you’re terminated, you can’t use them as a reference depending on the circumstances of termination. But if he fired me, as long as I was complying, I would then receive the full amount of unemployment).

At this point he realized his tactics to intimidate me weren’t working and I wasn’t budging. He tried to level with me and ask what was needed to get me to leave the company and I simply stated, “fire me.” Shocked, he asked me if I’m sure that’s what I want, I reassured him.

I walked out that afternoon with all my belongings and a letter of termination from my employer. I started receiving unemployment insurance the following week as he didn’t contest my payouts.

I had a new baby I was able to stay home with a year on my employers tab.

Reddit user: DubbMcLuvin8885

Packing Up the Pallets

I used to work at a small, family owned grocery store for a few years. We got our load in on Mondays and Thursdays, and we got passed over one Monday and the distributer said we’d get the missing load in on Thursday.

So, what essentially happened was a double load that day and my two receiving partners were out sick. I was the only person in the warehouse/receiving at the time, and got to take on 15+ pallets of groceries that needed to hit the shelves immediately.

I was specifically told to not go up front, and to do what I could while the front end crew covered the aisles and cash registers.

Well, a lot of them were either lazy, untrained, or just putting in their hours so they could pay bills. I put in my earbud, just one, and get to work.

I’m halfway through checking in the pallets when I get called up front. So I ignore it and continue. Then I get called again.

So I head up there and get yelled at by a new hire with a bad attitude to “do your job and bag for me!” The customer was a regular and we got along very well, and she told me that she was fine and could bag her own groceries.

Between the customer and the fact that I wasn’t having it, I walked away. I had 3 years and 2 ranks on her, so I went back to my pallets.

Then I get the newest hotshot manager, who replaced the old hotshot manager, who replaced the beloved manager who trained basically the whole store, in my face about having an earbud in on the clock (which is allowed as long as you have on ear free) and said I could be sent home and not come back if I wanted to listen to music, so I gestured to the pallets and said “go for it, these all need to be checked in and broken down.

Have fun.”

I got to keep my earbud in. So I had that going for me, which was nice.

Reddit user: [deleted]

I’ll Say it a Bit Louder for You

Recently, I was working a concert. The management at this site was trash and never actually gave us any orders.

They just expected people who rarely worked there to inherently know when to stop letting people in, when to kick people out, who was allowed in and who wasn’t, etc etc.

Well, another guard and I let one girl in who said she was with her boyfriend who worked with the people who set up the concert.

Supervisor was there with a couple of other supervisors and they laughed and called us lemons. The other guard working with me didn’t know what it meant.

Before the supervisor could say anything, I said “A lemon is a car that doesn’t work. He’s saying that we’re bad at our jobs.

He’s saying that because blaming us for him being a bad leader is easier than admitting he didn’t do his job correctly and helping us be better.”

Oh, things got real quiet after that.

I’m 5’2 and the supervisor had at least four or five inches on me. He got really close to my face and said “I didn’t quite hear what you said.

Could you repeat it?” So, I craned my head up at him, and cleared my throat.

“I SAID,”A LEMON IS A CAR THAT DOESN’T WORK. HE’S SAYING THAT WE’RE BAD AT OUR JOBS. HE’S SAYING THAT BECAUSE BLAMING US FOR HIM BEING A BAD LEADER IS EASIER THAN ADMITTING HE DIDN’T DO HIS JOB CORRECTLY AND HELPING US BE BETTER”.”

He said he’d tell the home office that I was fired. I said “Yeah, ok, see you tomorrow”.

See, what he didn’t know is that home office loves me. I’m the single most reliable guy they have.

I show up hours early to a job, always willing to stay late if needed, and usually pick up last minute shifts.

On top of that, they’ve never had a single complaint about me. Until that night.

Don’t know if he ever did call the office, because no one ever said a thing to me about it. He scowled when he saw me the next day and didn’t say a word to me.

So I’m gonna assume that the office didn’t believe him when he called in.

Reddit user: [deleted]

Sweet Revenge

I had a big staff meeting to plan for the upcoming year about holidays and such so we could have the appropriately trained people on site to cover the guys that would be away.

In the meeting I say to the owner, “so do you want us to email you or the scheduler about this directly?” He says both, so I say ok I’ll email it in but I will be gone for 2 weeks, and I tell him the date.

He says that it’s approved but to email it In. So I email it to him, the scheduler, and my foreman at the time.

My holidays come and on the last day I send my foreman a message, the usual, where are we, how has it gone, where’s my company truck, who do I need to pick up tomorrow, the whole 9 yards.

He fires back with, you didn’t tell me you were taking days off, I’m gonna suspend you without pay for 2 weeks.

Well as you imagine that didn’t go well, I politely told him that I had the emails and he was in the room when we discussed the exact dates I would be gone, and that his lack of planning wasn’t my fault at all.

So I phoned the owner, who I had happened to work for for 7 years at this point, being the second-longest employed person there, and told him that the 3 of us would be having a meeting in the morning to sort it out.

So I write up my resignation and take it with me, along with my company phone, credit card and keys to the meeting where the owner proceeds to fire the foreman after about 5 miniutes, and gives me the job as foreman for the crews.

Thanked me for bring it to his attention as it had happened before and as being the most knowledgeable person about our product and equipment he gave me the job which I had for the next 5 years till I destroyed my back and had to move on.

Reddit user: Jethro_sanchez