People Shared Stories About When a Mistake Cost Them a Job

Doh!

Sorry about that…

Well, sometimes saying sorry isn’t always good enough…

And sometimes a HUGE fail will cost you your job.

Check out these stories from on AskReddit about mistakes that cost them jobs.

“Called the HR lady the “Angel of D**th” to a coworker on chat.

HR was in a different state, so any time they came to town we all knew it was most likely to lay off people.

The Angel of D**th came to get me shortly after.”

“I was the assistant director at a summer camp. One of the very last nights was a sleepover night where all of the campers were there, but not all of the regular day staff.

Two of the counsellors were caught drinking beer, and in an attempt to weasel his way out, one of them told the head of the camp that I gave him permission to do so (I most definitely had not).

While I didn’t get fired on the spot or have my year end bonus withheld like the other two, I was told I wouldn’t be asked back again for next year where there had already been talks of me being a full director in the future.”

“I worked in a fast food spot that didn’t have any air conditioning, and theres a workers law where I live that states once it gets to a certain temp in the building they legally can’t stay open.

I brought a thermometer to work…”

“Built a castle out of Christmas chocolate biscuit boxes in the warehouse of a major retailer on a night shift and proceeded to fall asleep in it for a few hours.”

“I sent a scathing email about my boss directly to my boss.

It wasn’t meant for him. To this day I still have no idea what possessed me to put his name in the address bar.

I noticed his name the exact moment I hit send. You have never felt that much panic.”

“I was a part time intern making $9 an hour and my boss asked if I had any plans for the weekend. I had said I was going to buy a new car (very much old and used as that’s what I could afford) and he asked if I was buying a brand new car.

My response was that my budget isn’t big enough for a new car and a couple weeks later during my 1 year review my manager said they didn’t have the work for me and that I was disrespectful for telling the boss I didn’t make enough money.

At the time I was living comfortably as a college student just needed different transportation. I tried not to be disrespectful but apparently I was.”

“Had a workplace accident – fall from height.

Didn’t get fired but broke enough bones that I’ll never work in that industry again.”

“I was opening my packages in the mailroom, using a pocket knife to slice open the package tape. Secretary came in and chatted. We’re both Italian so we gesture a lot while talking.

Sometime after the conversation, the Ops manager came down from his office and escorted me out of the building. Had forgotten the knife in my hand while talking with the the secretary and she made an accusation that I had threatened her with it during our conversation.

Was fired three days later.

I had worked with this woman for almost a decade. Helped her children with their homework etc.

Years later I learned corporate wanted to take down my boss, and started the process by going after his biggest supporters. I was the 3rd domino to fall. After I was railroaded, almost 40% of the branch’s staff left the company. I guess the secretary was in on it, and leapt at any excuse to take me out.

Shame. Really loved that job. And got fired when my first child was due in only four weeks. Was very demoralizing for quite a while.”

“Went on a first date with a girl who turned out to be a horrible person.

20 mins in, I did what I could to get out of it because she was telling stories about crazy things she’d done and was proud of. I didn’t pull anything to get out of it, just dodged land mines and asked a ton of questions about her so I could get out of it sooner.

Then said I wasn’t feeling the connection and I wanted to be honest so we didn’t waste each others time.

Found out a week later that she contacted my previous employers, because she found my LinkedIn, told them all stories about how I talked a ton of s**t about them all. And now I can’t get a reference from my previous 3 jobs… and people I was on good terms with.

All because I went on a date with a psychopath.”

“I took a half day off for a doctor’s appointment.

It ran longer than i thought. I texted my boss that I’d be a bit later than expected.

I got home one hour past the allotted time for a half day and missed a meeting. I was fired the next day. “An hour isn’t ‘a bit.’”

I’d been at the company for 6 years. It took me 6 months to find a new job in a different field, but I’m much happier with the work I’m doing now.”

Be careful out there, fam!