Managers hate having to fire people. Even when they deserve it, there is always the change the person will lose their minds. Only a few will completely go nuts, like the people in these stories.
(Content has been edited for clarity.)
Thieves And Their Fears
“I caught an employee stealing one day after a tip-off from a customer clued me in to watch the security footage. He opened up a brand new car stereo amp and receiver kit and removed a small plastic package of wire from inside. It was just a little bit of wire, but now I couldn’t sell the kit as new due to missing parts.
The boss wasn’t on site at the time, so it was up to me to fire him. He begged, pleaded, whined, and cried until finally, I got him to leave.
Later that night, he came back with his girlfriend to beg for his job. His girlfriend wigged out and started threatening to kill herself, and stormed out the door. I had to go after her while the boss handled the thief. Ultimately, for whatever the reason, the boss hired him back. Like, huh?.
One week later, I caught him -again- on the security cameras loading some subwoofers into a trash bag while cleaning the shop. He took the trash bag around back and gingerly put it in the dumpster for later recovery. When he came back in, I told him he was fired and that he needed to get out. Now.
His response? I had it in for him. That he didn’t do anything wrong and that the footage (recorded five minutes earlier) wasn’t him, and that I set him up. He started screaming and raising cain, flinging stuff off the shelves, and smashing things. He only stopped when two HUGE bodybuilder-type guys came in the shop. I guess he thought I had called them because he took off running like a bat out of you know what. I never saw him again.
The first guy asked me “what was his deal?” I told him I didn’t know. The guy then told me he was there to buy a new stereo for his boyfriend (the other guy) who then piped in with a ‘Haaaaaaaay y’all!'”
A Smashing Exit
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“I witnessed this crazy lady I worked with at veterinarian office get fired. It was one of those, ‘You can’t fire me because I quit!’ scenarios. Classic. She made a big scene screaming and yelling about how we were nothing without her, while everyone just stared at her with blank expressions. She finally made her way out to her car, just to reverse it a little bit and put it back in park. I saw her speed-walking back towards the building. At this time, I was a little nervous about what the heck she was doing. She walked in, not saying a word to anyone, grabbed two stools in one of the back rooms, brought them outside and smashed them into pieces right in front of the window. In her defense, I found out later that she bought those stools a while ago for the office. Everyone’s reaction to this was the best part, just watching, looking confused but calm. Then, when it was all over, we all just looked at each other, shrugged and then went back to work.”
Losing It After A Test
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“I once worked at a foundry where we poured iron. It wasn’t a glamorous job, but it paid decent enough. It was part of my job when someone got injured or had a near-miss, no matter how small to take them off site for a substance test. One evening someone wasn’t paying attention, and one of the induction furnaces overheated and molten iron breached the lining and streamed out on the floor. Well, before I got into the car with the guy I looked at him dead in the face and said, ‘Man, if you are on something lets just forego this whole afternoon and just get this over with and just fess up.’ He swore up and down that he wasn’t, so we went to the hospital.
He went into the back, and 10 minutes later, he calmly sat down back in his seat. Well, the nurse came and handed me the results. Then out of nowhere, he jumped up in this quick motion and grabbed the chair he was sitting in and then just went nuts on the door which lead back to the lab, ramming the legs of the chair into the door. He was screaming, ‘LIARS LIARS LIARS!’ He turned to me with this look of panic, and said ‘Tell them I am not using substances, I need this job!’ I was like, ‘Hey, he isn’t on substances.’ I mean, who wouldn’t? No one wants to be pummeled with a chair. Security came, and about 10 minutes later so did the cops. His test was negative. HR let him go anyway.
I never knew what happened to him. I felt sorry for him, but I am glad I moved to another job years after the fact.”
Anger Issues
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“My boss had been telling me for months that he was going to fire one of my subordinates. Calls the guy in his office, talks to him for 30-45 minutes and the guy walks out. Next morning, I see the guy at work in another area. Boss tells me we are going to try him out in another spot. A few weeks later, the boss tells me he’s going to fire him again. Says this time he wants me to be a witness. I should have known this was trouble.
Boss tells the guy that it’s not working out and we just need to part ways. The guy looks straight at me. Boss tells him that he needs to leave the building. Guy loses his mind. Starts screaming at the top of his lungs at me.
“YOU DID THIS, JERK! YOU SET ME UP TO FAIL, YOU JERK! THIS IS CRAP!!”
He must have picked up on my utter look of amazement.